The No. 1 LSU Tigers will host the unranked Butler Bulldogs on Tuesday evening. The Tigers just beat the Bulldogs by a 10-run margin on Friday behind excellent pitching from starter Paul Skenes. However, another win by that margin wouldn’t be enough for them to cover today’s runline. Tonight’s action will start at 7:30 p.m. ET, and bettors looking to get in on it should back Butler — DraftKings has set the runline too wide, making this the best college baseball bet today.
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Best College Baseball Bet Today | Butler-LSU
Butler Bulldogs (+10.5) vs. LSU Tigers
The No. 1 LSU Tigers are good at baseball. Great, even. They have gone 10-1 to start the season with their lone loss coming to Iowa at the Round Rock Classic. They are also 2-0 in weekday games with wins over Southern University and Texas. Outfielder Dylan Crews has led the way this year with an absurd 1.398 OPS in 36 at-bats. Three of LSU’s pitchers who have started games, Paul Skenes, Chase Shores and Ty Floyd, own ERAs of 1.6 or below.
But even though the Tigers are good, they aren’t 10.5 runs better than their opponents good — especially not with weekday pitching on the mound. They’ll trot out Thatcher Hurd tonight. Hurd has made two starts and owns a 5.4 ERA through 6.2 innings pitched. He recorded a much more impressive 1.06 ERA through six starts and 34 innings pitched at UCLA last year but has struggled early for the Tigers. He allowed six hits and gave up three walks before getting pulled after two innings against Southern.
The Butler Bulldogs haven’t started the season off well and own a 2-9 record. The Bulldogs went a bad 20-35-1 last year so their struggles aren’t exactly unexpected. While Butler is overmatched by a tough LSU squad, it’s hard for any baseball team to win by 11 runs. The Bulldogs have kept all but two of their games within an 11-run threshold, including their 10-run loss to LSU. Likewise, the Tigers have won only four games by 11 runs or more.
The Tigers may also opt to conserve some of their stuff. LSU has a tough matchup against the Lamar Cardinals coming up on Wednesday. The Cardinals are 10-2 on the year and own wins over Texas A&M And Kansas State. They also won’t play on Monday or Tuesday, so they’ll enter Wednesday’s contest with a leg up rest-wise. Those factors could keep LSU’s best relievers off the mound.
Getting any baseball team plus 10.5 runs should yield a positive return. Teams don’t have any more incentive to win by double-digit margins than by single-digit ones. If the Tigers get out to an early and sustainable lead, they may take their foot off the gas. Butler isn’t good at baseball, but getting them plus the runs at +115 via DraftKings makes for a sharp play. Those yet to register at DraftKings can score $150 in bonus bets by winning a $5 moneyline wager!
Best College Baseball Bet: Butler +10.5 (+115 for 0.25 Unit) at DraftKings
