BATON ROUGE — LSU head coach Skip Bertman said it would take between 43 and 45 victories to play host to an NCAA Super Regional this season. In order to reach that high total, an emphasis on middle-of-the-week games will begin tonight when LSU takes on Southeastern Louisiana.
The game is set to start at 7 p.m. in Alex Box Stadium.
The Tigers (3-0) are fresh off a three-game sweep of Virginia and have moved up to No. 6 in the national according to Baseball America.
To show he’s serious about these in-state opponents and to get his efficient staff some innings, Bertman will start senior Hunter Gomez and use senior Ben Saxon in relief.
Gomez was second on the team in innings pitched last season with 98.2. He appeared in 31 games with two starts, holding a 4.38 ERA with a 4-3 record.
Saxon, who earned a place on the 1999 NCAA Regional All-Tournament team, was 2-0 in 19 appearances last season with a 4.91 ERA.
He pitched two innings in Saturday evening’s 13-2 win over Virginia this past weekend, giving up two hits and one earned run while striking out one batter.
Leading the Tigers at the plate are Jeremy Witten (.455), freshman Mike Fontenot (.385) and senior catcher Brad Cresse (.364). Each started in all three games last weekend, combining to go 14 of 35 with nine runs scored and 10 RBI.
SLU (4-4) just handed Louisiana-Lafayette its first loss of the 2000 season Sunday. The Lions won 7-5 in Hammond.
The Lions are led by senior right fielder Brad Stephens who is batting .412 (14 for 34) with six doubles and seven RBI.
Junior righthander Steve Sawyer will start for SLU. He has had two apprearances this season, going 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in eight innings pitched.