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Peter Burns outlines potential disaster scenario for LSU vs. Arkansas-Little Rock

FaceProfileby: Thomas Goldkamp06/02/25
Jared Jones LSU
Jared Jones LSU

LSU was pushed to a winner-take-all game in the Baton Rouge Regional by Arkansas-Little Rock on Sunday night. It was a stunning result, one that few saw coming.

After all, it’s not often the Tigers get pushed to the brink by anyone at Alex Box Stadium. Much less so by a team that needed a miracle run in its conference tournament just to make the postseason.

And that leaves LSU in a precarious position entering tonight’s contest. ESPN’s Peter Burns explained.

“Today sets up what could possibly be the worst loss in LSU baseball postseason history,” Burns said. “They’ve lost to Coastal Carolina. But Coastal Carolina went on to win the College World Series. They lost to Stony Brook back in the day in a Super Regional that looked like they were just going to rubber stamp it on the way to Omaha.

“But if you lose two games to Arkansas-Little Rock it would be the absolute worst disaster for LSU baseball that I have ever seen as I’ve been alive in my 46 years on this earth.”

Such much for the stakes. They are sky high.

It’s hard to fully appreciate just how big an underdog Arkansas-Little Rock was, too. They barely made the field.

“This was an LSU team at home that a lot of times of the year was No. 1 ranked in the country,” Burns said. “And Little Rock had the worst, worst RPI of the entire field. They lost, I believe, 13 of their last 14 games of the regular season. This team is well under .500. They went into Alex Box at night, a place where opponents’ dreams go to die and it was the LSU bats that were dead, that had a funeral. And even the arms as well, too.”

We’ll see what LSU can put together tonight in the winner-take-all game. You’d certainly figure the Tigers are mentally prepared to bounce back after Sunday night.

Then again, the statistics couldn’t be trusted on Sunday. And weird things can happen in NCAA Regionals … just ask any number of the national seeds who will watch Supers from home.

“I thought they used a good statistic last night,” fellow ESPN analyst Chris Doering said. “LSU 19-0 at home against four seeds in regionals, historically. And for them to lose that way, it wasn’t even competitive.

“Credit Little Rock, because they looked much better than the team that you were describing there. But you’re thinking like as you get on with the tournament, even if you don’t have the arms, you’re going to be able to hit. LSU didn’t have a clue at the plate either, and we’re not talking about like the best pitchers in the SEC. We’re talking about deep into the rotation for Little Rock.”

Tonight’s meeting is set for 9 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 and ESPN+.