Tennessee travels to Hattiesburg to face Southern Mississippi in the Super Regionals round with Game 1 on Saturday.
Both teams had wild runs to the Super Regionals with Tennessee needing extra innings to get past Clemson and Southern Mississippi using ace Tanner Hall for over 100 pitches in a loss. However, both won advanced out, setting up an interesting Super Regionals matchup.
Hall is slated to start the opener for the Golden Eagles while Tennessee is set to counter Andrew Lindsey with a far superior offense behind him. Can the Vols justify being road favorites in Game 1?
Let's check out the odds:
Tennessee vs. Southern Mississippi odds, run line and total
Tennessee vs. Southern Mississippi prediction and pick
The Vols offense is going to be the difference in this one. While Southern Miss has an elite pitching staff, Tennessee can match it with a rotation that bolsters a top 25 ERA in the regular season, anchored by Lindsey, who bolstered a 3.25 ERA in 19 appearances this season.
The Golden Eagles are around the national average in runs per game, as the team outside the top 75 nationally in home runs per game and on-base percentage. While the team is anchored by a pitching staff that checked in 53rd in total ERA, it pales in comparison to the Vols.
Tennessee's offense has proven it can hum, fifth in home runs per game and elite at drawing walks, 26th in OBP.
While Southern Miss rallied to advance out of the Auburn Regional, I believe its in deep trouble against a far more talented Tennessee team. With Lindsey on the mound, take Tennessee on the run line to pounce on a taxed Hall (off a 123-pitch start last weekend) and push one game closer to Omaha.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
