BATON ROUGE, La. – Top-ranked LSU (48-10), the 2015 SEC regular-season champion, opens the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional at 3 p.m. CT Friday in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field as the Tigers meet Lehigh (25-29), champions of the Patriot League Tournament.
LSU is the top seed in the regional, while Lehigh is the No. 4 seed. No. 2 seed UNC Wilmington and No. 3 seed Tulane will meet in the second game of the regional at 7 p.m. CT Friday.
The regional continues Saturday and Sunday and, if necessary, will finish on Monday. The winner of the Baton Rouge Regional will meet the winner of the Houston Regional – hosted by the University of Houston – next weekend in an NCAA Super Regional series.
All LSU games in the Baton Rouge Regional will be televised on the SEC Network, and they will be carried on affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network, including WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge. Live audio and stats may be accessed at www.LSUsports.net, and the LSU games may be viewed at WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app.
All Baton Rouge Regional games not involving LSU may be viewed at ESPN3.com.
LSU is ranked No. 1 this week in the six primary college baseball polls, marking the eighth week in a row and the 11th week overall the Tigers are No. 1 in at least one poll. LSU has won 25 of its last 30 games and 18 of its last 22.
LSU captured the 2015 Southeastern Conference championship, claiming their league-best 16th SEC title and their third championship during coach Paul Mainieri‘s nine season-tenure. LSU also won the SEC Western Division title for the 18th time in school history and for the fifth time under Mainieri.
Mainieri said Thursday morning after the Tigers’ practice that the regular season has prepared LSU well for postseason play.
“I try to make the regional as normal as possible,” Mainieri said. “During the course of the year, I put a lot of pressure on the kids. I try to make them do everything perfect in practice and, of course, in games. You want them to focus on each game because it’s important. I do it so that when we get to the postseason and the regional, they don’t have to try harder or do anything out of the ordinary.
“It’s still the game of baseball. The only thing that is different is that the margin of error is much smaller. You have to take advantage of your scoring opportunities, you can’t make base running mistakes, you’ve got to make big pitches, and you have to make the plays, because the stakes are so much higher. If all of a sudden you act differently, then the players get tight. They won’t play as well as they did all year. I’m big about setting a standard every day. They can relax, have fun and play the game like they do.”
LSU enters the NCAA Tournament No. 2 in the nation in base hits (691) and No. 3 in the nation in team batting average (.320). LSU has the best batting average (.320) and ERA (2.94) among SEC teams.
Four LSU players received 2015 All-America recognition Thursday from Collegiate Baseball magazine. Junior shortstop Alex Bregman and freshman pitcher Alex Lange were named first-team All-Americans; senior catcher Kade Scivicque was voted to the second-team All-America squad; and junior first baseman Chris Chinea received a third-team All-America designation.
LSU and Lehigh have never met on the baseball diamond. Lehigh is the alma mater of LSU director of athletics Joe Alleva, who was the quarterback of the Mountain Hawks football squad and team captain in 1974. The Tigers are 20-4 all-time against members of the Patriot League – LSU is 2-0 vs. Army, 2-1 vs. Bucknell, 4-0 vs. Colgate, 3-0 vs. Holy Cross, 0-1 vs. Lafayette and 9-3 vs. Navy.
2015 NCAA BATON ROUGE REGIONAL
#4 seed Lehigh Mountain Hawks (25-29) vs. #1 seed LSU Fighting Tigers (48-10)
DATE/TIME
Friday, May 28 – 3 p.m. CT
STADIUM
Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field in Baton Rouge, La.
LSU RANKINGS
(No. 2 National Seed in NCAA Tournament) – No. 1 Baseball America; No. 1 USA Today; No. 1 D1 Baseball; No. 1 Collegiate Baseball; No. 1 Perfect Game; No. 1 NCBWA
RADIO
LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates, including WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge
LSUsports.net – live audio and live stats
TV
SEC Network
STARTING PITCHERS
LSU – So. RHP Alden Cartwright (0-0, 3.79 ERA, 19 IP, 4 BB, 28 SO)
Lehigh – Sr. LHP Nick Macaione (3-4, 2.82 ERA, 67 IP, 17 BB, 43 SO)
LSU IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
LSU has the highest all-time NCAA Tournament winning percentage (134-53, .717), and the Tigers are appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the 28th time. LSU has an 85-21 mark in regional games, a 14-10 record in super regional games and a 35-22 mark in the College World Series. The Tigers have won 20 regional titles, six super regional titles and six College World Series championships (1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2009). The Tigers are playing host to an NCAA Regional for the 23rd time since 1986, including 22 of the past 26 seasons. LSU has a 74-16 (.822) mark in NCAA Regional games at home. LSU is 26-1 in NCAA Regional opening games – the Tigers’ only loss in a regional opener came to Houston in the 1985 Central Regional at Austin, Texas.