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Baseball Faces Coastal Carolina for Spot in OmahaBaseball Faces Coastal Carolina for Spot in Omaha

Baseball Faces Coastal Carolina for Spot in Omaha

Baseball Faces Coastal Carolina for Spot in Omaha

BATON ROUGE, La. – Fifth-ranked LSU (45-19) plays host to Coastal Carolina (47-16) at 8 p.m. CT Saturday in Game 1 of the NCAA Baton Rouge Super Regional.

Game 2 is set for Sunday at 8 p.m. CT, and Game 3, if necessary, will be played on Monday at a time to be announced. The winner of the best two-of-three game series advances to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

The series will be carried on affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network, including WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge, Live audio of the games may be accessed at www.LSUsports.net/live with live stats at www.LSUstats.com.

Saturday’s game will be televised on ESPNU, and Sunday’s game will be televised by either ESPNU or ESPN2. The TV network for Monday’s game has yet to be determined. All of the Super Regional games may be viewed online at WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app.

LSU, the No. 8 National Seed in the 2016 NCAA Tournament, is making its 12th appearance in a Super Regional, which is tied with Cal State Fullerton, South Carolina and Miami (Fla.) for the second-most Super Regional berths. Florida State has the most Super Regional appearances with 15.

LSU has won seven of the previous 11 Super Regionals in which it has participated. The Tigers are 16-10 (.615) overall in Super Regionals, including a 15-5 (.750) mark at home. LSU has won seven of the eight previous Super Regionals that have been held in Alex Box Stadium,

LSU, which has won 17 of its past 20 games, is an NCAA Tournament National Seed for the fifth straight season and for the seventh time in nine seasons. Stanford, with six straight from 1999-2004, is the only other school to earn five National Seeds in a row. LSU and Florida are the only schools to capture seven in the past nine years.

Saturday’s game marks the first meeting between LSU and Coastal Carolina of the Big South Conference. LSU has faced only one current member of the Big South Conference — the Tigers swept a three-game series versus Winthrop in 2003 in the original Alex Box Stadium.

LSU coach Paul Mainieri said sophomore right-hander Alex Lange (8-3, 3.46 ERA) will start Saturday’s game on the mound for the Tigers. Lange will face a Coastal Carolina team that is No. 2 in the nation in home runs with 91.

“Obviously, Alex Lange is going to pitch the opening game; it was probably the worst kept secret in America,” Mainieri said. “He’s rested. He’s our No. 1 guy, and hopefully, he can go out there and pitch great to get us off to a good start. I think Alex is pitching the best baseball he has all year. There have been five or six weeks where he’s been really consistent. He’s a winner.

“I know he’s going to be facing a tough lineup in this club. There’s no question about that, but I know he will go out there and give it everything he’s got. I feel very confident in him. Our team feels very confident in him. He’s the right guy to take the ball opening night.”

Coastal Carolina will counter with junior right-hander Andrew Beckwith (12-1, 1.82 ERA), who will face an LSU club that is hitting .295 as a team with 45 home runs and 95 stolen bases in 135 attempts. The Tigers will take on a CCU pitching staff that has a 3.45 ERA and 497 strikeouts in 556.1 innings.

The Tigers are led at the plate by junior shortstop Kramer Robertson, who is hitting .331 with 20 doubles, two triples, two homers, 39 RBI, 59 runs and 14 steals.

Junior centerfielder Jake Fraley is batting .324 with 10 doubles, five triples, five homers, 35 RBI, 59 runs and 28 stolen bases, and sophomore first baseman Greg Deichmann leads the Tigers in home runs (10) and RBI (54).

Coastal Carolina is hitting .301 as a team with 91 homers and 102 steals in 127 attempts. The Chanticleers will take on an LSU pitching staff that has a 3.86 ERA and 520 strikeouts in 574 innings.

The CCU offense is paced by senior outfielder Connor Owings, who is batting .373 with 15 homers and 51 RBI. Sophomore outfielder/infielder Billy Cooke is hitting .352 with three homers and 33 RBI, and senior infielder Zac Remillard is hitting .348 with 18 homers and 67 RBI.

 

 

NCAA BATON ROUGE SUPER REGIONAL
Coastal Carolina (47-16) vs. LSU (45-19)

DATES/TIMES
Saturday, June 11 – 8 p.m. CT
Sunday, June 12 – 8 p.m. CT
Monday, June 13 (if necessary) — TBA

STADIUM
Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field in Baton Rouge, La.

RANKINGS
LSU – No. 5 by Baseball America, No. 6 by D1 Baseball; No. 6 by USA Today
CCU – No. 11 by Collegiate Baseball; No. 15 by Baseball America; No. 16 by USA Today

RADIO
LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates (WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge); live audio and live stats at www.LSUsports.net

TV/ONLINE
Saturday – ESPNU
Sunday – ESPNU or ESPN2
Monday (if necessary)– TBA
All games may be viewed online at WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app

SERIES RECORD
Saturday’s game marks the first meeting between LSU and Coastal Carolina of the Big South Conference. LSU has faced only one current member of the Big South Conference — the Tigers swept a three-game series versus Winthrop in 2003 in the original Alex Box Stadium.

PITCHING MATCHUP (Game 1)
LSU – So. RHP Alex Lange (8-3, 3.46 ERA, 106.2 IP, 47 BB, 117 SO)
CCU – Jr. RHP Andrew Beckwith (12-1, 1.82 ERA, 89.0 IP, 14 BB, 59 SO)