Omaha.

Maybe no word in any collegiate sport rings with more significance than the east Nebraska city. It is the pinnacle of college baseball and what every SEC team strives for each season.

In Tony Vitello’s fourth season, Tennessee is two wins away from punching its ticket to Omaha for the first time in 16 years, a truly miraculous feat considering the program he inherited. Standing in Vitello and the Vols' way is Paul Mainieri and LSU.

The retiring Mainieri has reached Omaha six times in his 33-year career, making it once at Notre Dame and five times at LSU.

The scene in and around Lindsey Nelson Stadium will be a wild one this weekend. Vitello’s squad has reinvigorated the Big Orange fan base and Mainieri’s comments in March calling Tennessee fans “nasty, nasty fans” will surely create an even more raucous environment this weekend.

This isn’t the first time this season that Tennessee was playing in its most anticipated home season “since” and Vitello is confident the stage won’t be too big for his team.

“Incredibly comfortable, especially based off of prior experience,” Vitello said on if he is comfortable that his team won’t be distracted by the scene. “I don’t want to say I wasn’t confident when we went to Hoover in 2019. I feel like if we prepare well I'm confident regardless which coaching staff I’ve been a part of. … It was a very uneasy environment in Hoover for a group of guys who were doing something for the first time that was kind of out of their norm. These guys (2021 team), while they;ve done some things like the SEC final that was their “first” they’ve done incredibly well in those situations and whether it’s gone well or poorly— like losing a series to Vanderbilt— they’ve taken some nuggets in those situations and kind of put them to use.”

The last time Tennessee saw LSU was in late March as the Vols swept the Tigers in Knoxville behind a three home run game from Evan Russell, a walk off grand slam from Drew Gilbert and a walk off single from Luc Licpius to secure the sweep.

Things got worse before they got better for LSU. The Tigers lost weekend starter Jaden Hill for the season the next weekend as LSU was swept at home by Vanderbilt.

Three weekends into the SEC season and the Tigers were 1-8 and needed a massive turn around to make the postseason. With the hardest part of its conference slate behind it, LSU made a strong run, going 12-9 in conference play after the Vanderbilt series to finish 13-17 in the conference. Pair a 13-17 conference record with a first round exit in the SEC Tournament and in most years you have a team who’s sitting on the couch in June to watch the NCAA Tournament. Instead, the Tigers benefitted from an incredibly weak bubble and took advantage, advancing out of the Eugene Regional as the three seed.

“I think when you talk about playing a team, like for instance we played Arkansas in the SEC Championship game very shortly after playing them in the regular season,” Vitello said. “There wasn't a very big gap in time. I think when there’s been this big of a gap you have freshmen who act completely differently and have a bunch of different reps under their belt. Any team has probably maneuvered some things differently in the bullpen. You’re never 100% healthy when the season starts but you also have differences in how injuries are or minor knicks and knacks guys have. I think both programs— or teams in this particular case— have evolved over the course of the year and we’ve had some other things evolve around here as well.”

At the plate, the faces are the same for LSU. Freshmen Tre’ Morgan and Dylan Crews have been the Tigers’ two best hitters and perhaps the two best freshmen in the SEC. Morgan, LSU’s starting first baseman, is hitting .361 with five home runs, 40 RBIs and 15 stolen bases.

Crews has been even better, also hitting .361 but with 16 home runs, 40 RBIs and 12 stolen bases.

Gavin Dugas and Cade Doughty are two other Tigers to watch. Dugas is hitting .302 with a team high 19 homers and 66 RBIs. Doughty is hitting .301 with 12 homers.

The top of the Tigers’ lineup is as strong as any in the SEC outside of Arkansas but the bottom of LSU’s lineup is softer and something Tennessee needs to capitalize on this weekend.

On the mound, LSU’s rotation looks different due to Jaden Hill’s season ending injury. Landon Marceaux and A.J. Labas remained weekend starters for the Tigers while after some tinkering following Hill’s injury, Mainieri and the Tigers settled on Ma’Khail Hilliard as the third weekend starter.

“That LSU staff is a pretty talented staff,” Tennessee outfielder Evan Russell said. “Marceaux, he’s legit. He reminds me of Garrett Stallings a couple years ago. He commands his pitches. He’s a true competitor and the numbers speak for themselves. He’s a true Friday night guy in this conference and if you’re a Friday night guy in this conference you’re pretty talented.”

Hilliard has been LSU’s Sunday starter since earning the third weekend starter spot but will lead off the weekend pitching on Saturday night. The senior right hander has a 4.56 ERA in 49.1 innings this season. Hillaird has been better against SEC opponents, however, where he has a 2.84 ERA in 31.2 innings.

Marceaux is without a doubt LSU’s ace. The junior allowed two runs (one earned) in 5.1 innings in his regular season start against Tennessee and finished the season with a 2.44 ERA and 112 strikeouts in 99.2 innings pitched. The right hander will pitch on Sunday against Tennessee to give him extra rest after pitching twice last weekend in the regional.

Labas has gotten the ball on Saturday’s since Hill’s injury. The redshirt junior has been inconsistent while turning in a 5.42 ERA. He will pitch Monday if the series goes three games.

Tennessee is treating the super regional “like another SEC weekend” but a ninth conference series win would send the Vols to the place they’ve been dreaming of since Vitello took over four June’s ago.

Omaha.