BATON ROUGE — For either LSU or Baylor, the dream of making a trip to the College World Series will become reality this weekend as the Fighting Tigers host the Bears in a best-of-three NCAA super regional series at Alex Box Stadium.
The series is scheduled to get underway at 6:05 p.m. today, but that could change due to heavy rain that is moving into the Baton Rouge area this morning and is expected to continue throughout the day. Fans are urged to monitor www.lsusports.net for further updates on the situation.
Games two is scheduled for 11:35 a.m. Saturday, with a decisive game three to be played at 1:35 p.m. Sunday, if necessary. NCAA officials have assured both teams that one game per day will be played unless it is absolutely necessary to play a doubleheader. The series must be completed by Tuesday to allow the winner time to travel to the Omaha for the first CWS game on Friday.
Today’s game will be syndicated by ESPN productions and shown in south Louisiana by Cox Sports Television. Saturday’s game is set for broadcast by ESPN2, with ESPN handling the telecast of game three if it is played. The games on Saturday and Sunday will be shown without interruption throughout Louisiana and eastern Texas, while other parts of the country will see live cut-ins to the game, along with action from other super regional sites.
All three games will be broadcast by the LSU Sports Network (WDGL-98.1 FM in Baton Rouge), with live audio available at www.lsusports.net. Live statistics and scores from all eight super regional sites will be available at www.ncaasports.com.
LSU (43-19-1) swept through the Baton Rouge regional by defeating Northeastern (11-8), Tulane (13-5) and UNC Wilmington (9-8 in 11 innings) to win its eighth consecutive regional championship and 15th overall since 1986, 13 of which have come at home. The Tigers are one of only three teams to reach the super regional round each of the five years it has been in place, along with Florida St., Miami (Fla.) and Stanford.
The Tigers (No. 7 Collegiate Baseball, No. 8 Baseball America, No. 10 ESPN/USA Today) have set their rotation as it was during the final weekend of the regular season at Arkansas, with junior right-hander Nate Bumstead (11-2, 3.92), a second team All-SEC selection, going on Friday, followed by senior right-hander Bo Pettit (9-2, 5.38) and freshman right-hander Justin Meier (7-3, 2.61), a Freshman All-American.
Should any of those pitchers falter, the Tigers will likely turn to redshirt freshman left-hander Jason Determann (6-0, 2.81), who was also named a Freshman All-American on Thursday.
The Tigers’ top hitter continues to be shortstop Aaron Hill, the 2003 SEC Player of the Year who comes into the super regional batting .368 with 27 doubles, 63 runs scored and 59 RBI.
LSU’s hottest hitter entering this round is center fielder J.C. Holt, who hit two home runs in the regional opener vs. Northeastern and went 9-for-14 in the three regional games to earn Most Outstanding Player honors.
Baylor (44-21) was the only No. 1 seed in the regionals not to host, but the Bears swept through the Hattiesburg regional by defeating Murray St. (7-6), Southern (10-3) and host Southern Miss (3-2) to reach the super regional for the first time since 1999.
The Bears’ only other super regional appearance ended in disappointment, as Big 12 Conference rival Oklahoma St. won in Waco 2 games to 1.
Baylor (No. 11 Baseball America, No. 12 Collegiate Baseball, No. 15 ESPN/USA Today) suffered a big loss earlier this week when ace reliever Zane Carlson broke his right hand when it was slammed into a car door, taking him out of action for the super regional. Carlson leads the Bears with 11 saves and a 3-4 record with a 2.61 ERA.
The Bears will start the Big 12’s strikeout leader, senior right-hander Steven White (8-4, 4.31) in the opener, followed by sophomore right-hander Sean Walker (8-5, 4.79). Bears coach Steve Smith was undecided on a third game starter, but it will likely be either Ryan LaMotta (7-2, 3.500 or Mark McCormick (6-2, 5.19), both of whom are freshman right-handers.
Baylor is the top hitting team in the Big 12, batting .327 with 81 home runs. Leading the way is first team All-Big 12 right fielder David Murphy, who is batting .420 with 11 home runs and 64 RBI. Murphy was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Hattiesburg regional and was the first round selection of the Boston Red Sox (No. 17 overall) in Tuesday’s draft.
LSU and Baylor are meeting for the first time since the Tigers swept a three-game series to open the 1997 season. LSU also won a 13-6 decision in the 1993 South Regional at Alex Box Stadium.
The winner of the LSU-Baylor super regional will play the winner of the Arizona St.-Cal St. Fullerton super regional on Friday, June 13 in the opening round of the College World Series.
Other super regionals set to open on Friday are North Carolina at South Carolina and Long Beach St. at Stanford.
Super regionals set to open on Saturday are Texas at Florida St., North Carolina St. at Miami, Southwest Missouri St. at Ohio St. and Houston at Rice.
The 57th College World Series will run June 13-23 at Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium.