Arguably the two best teams in college baseball meet Monday night in Omaha, Nebraska.
Wake Forest has been dialed in all season as the No. 1 overall seed in college baseball. The team gets its ace on the mound, Josh Hartle, on Monday against a loaded LSU lineup that is bolstered by Dylan Crews and his 64-game on-base streak. However, the Tigers won't have the best pitcher in college baseball Paul Skenes, is the drop-off too big for the Bayou Bengals?
Here are the odds for Monday's matchup:
LSU vs. Wake Forest odds, run line and total
LSU vs. Wake Forest prediction and pick
LSU's likely starter is Ty Ford, who has a 4.50 ERA and will struggle to keep down the Wake Forest offense that is eighth in on-base percentage and 15th in slugging percentage against the second most difficult schedule in the regular season. Ford has struggled to go deep into games, putting more pressure on the team's bullpen which is middling at best. The Tigers are 44th in overall ERA despite having the National Player of the Year Skenes at the top of the rotation.
Meanwhile, Wake has Hartle set to start in this marquee matchup, who has a 2.28 ERA on the year, the anchor of the best rotation in college baseball that topped college baseball in ERA and WHIP in the regular season.
The Tigers have one of the best offenses in the sport, top five in OBP and slugging percentage but the drop-off on the mound is too pronounced to ignore. I think Wake Forest makes the biggest statement of the College World Series and wins with margin on Monday.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
