PREVIEW: LSU vs. Auburn – SEC Baseball Championship HOOVER, Ala. (Interstat) — The 2026 SEC Baseball Championship opens Wednesday with an all-Tigers matchup as seed LSU (30-27) faces seed Auburn (36-18) at the Hoover Met. First pitch is set for 10 a.m. CDT.

LSU arrives after a 6-2 win over Oklahoma on Tuesday, powered by a dominant relief appearance from Deven Sheerin. The right-hander tossed 3 1/3 hitless innings with six strikeouts, earning the victory. Sheerin’s outing was a bounce-back after a rough stretch – he allowed five earned runs in 2/3 of an inning against Florida on May 16, and four earned runs in 2 1/3 innings at Georgia on May 8. However, he also delivered a scoreless four-inning stint against South Carolina on May 2 and struck out six in 3 1/3 innings at Mississippi State on April 24. His ability to miss bats makes him a key weapon out of the bullpen.

Shortstop Steven Milam also starred Tuesday, going 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs. LSU’s offense has been inconsistent, dropping three straight to Florida last weekend before the bounce-back win over Oklahoma. The Tigers finished the regular season on a 4-6 skid.

Auburn, by contrast, enters on a high note after a 14-4 demolition of Georgia on Saturday, in which left fielder Bub Terrell went 3-for-5 with two home runs and four RBIs. Terrell has been a consistent run producer: he homered in two of the three games against Georgia and drove in multiple runs in three of his last four contests. Over his past 10 games, he has four homers and 11 RBIs. He is hitting .310 with 18 home runs on the season.

The Auburn pitching staff has been solid, allowing three or fewer runs in five of its last seven games. The Tigers won their final regular-season series at Mississippi State, taking two of three.

Wednesday’s game marks the first meeting this season between the two Tigers. LSU’s path to the tournament included a 7-3 win over South Carolina on May 2 and a 13-6 win over Tulane on May 5, but the team struggled against ranked opponents down the stretch. Auburn swept Texas A&M on the road May 2-3 before splitting a series at Mississippi State.

Key matchup: LSU’s bullpen – anchored by Sheerin and Gavin Guidry (3 1/3 scoreless innings Tuesday) – against an Auburn lineup that has scored 10 or more runs in three of its last six games. Auburn’s defense will need to contain LSU’s speed on the bases and limit extra-base hits from Milam and catcher Ethan Frey.

The winner advances to the second round of the double-elimination tournament. The loser drops to an elimination game Thursday.