Austin Ross to Start Friday’s Regional Opener for LSU
LOS ANGELES – Defending national champion LSU arrived in Los Angeles early Wednesday afternoon and began preparing for the NCAA Regional that begins on Friday.
LSU conducted a two-hour practice Wednesday night at Dedeaux Field on the University of Southern California campus. The second-seeded Tigers (40-20) will face third-seeded UC Irvine (37-19) in the opening game of the regional at 2 p.m. PT Friday at UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Top-seeded UCLA will face No. 4 seed Kent State at 6 p.m. PT Friday. All games of the NCAA Los Angeles Regional will be televised by Cox Sports Television. The LSU games can be heard on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network, and live audio and stats will be available at www.LSUsports.net.
The Tigers practiced Wednesday in ideal sunny Southern California conditions with temperatures in the upper 60s.
“We had a great trip out here and beautiful weather for practice,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “Our players are confident and excited about the tremendous challenges we’ll face in this regional.”
Mainieri said that junior right-hander Austin Ross will start Friday’s game on the mound for the Tigers. UC Irvine will counter with senior left-hander Daniel Bibona.
“We thought Austin would be a good matchup for UC Irvine’s style of play,” Mainieri said. “They take a lot of pitches, and they don’t strike out very much, so you need someone who will throw strikes. Austin has been very effective in his recent starts, and we hope he can give us another very strong outing.”
“I’m not really going to change my approach, although I know UC Irvine likes to bunt and manufacture runs,” Ross said. “It’s important that I throw strikes and stay ahead of the hitters, and that might limit what they can do.”
LSU and UC Irvine last met in the 2008 NCAA Super Regional in Baton Rouge, where the Tigers won two of three games over the Anteaters to advance to the College World Series.