BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU will play host to the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field beginning at 2:30 p.m. CT Friday when the top-seeded Tigers meet No. 4 seed Texas Southern.
No. 3 seed Rice will face No. 2 seed Southeastern Louisiana at 7 p.m. CT Friday in the second game of the four-team regional.
The regional continues Saturday and Sunday and, if necessary, will finish on Monday. The winner of the Baton Rouge Regional will face the winner of the Hattiesburg Regional, hosted by Southern Mississippi, in an NCAA Super Regional next weekend.
LSU is playing host to a regional for the 25th time in school history. The Tigers are just the second team in NCAA history to earn a National Seed in six straight seasons. Stanford accomplished the feat from 1999-2004.
The LSU-Texas Southern game will be televised by the SEC Network and it may be viewed on ESPN3, accessible at WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app. All other NCAA Baton Rouge regional games will be carried online only on ESPN3.
Baton Rouge Regional Schedule
All times Central and subject to change; Television and streaming assignments also subject to change.
Friday, June 2
Game 1: (4) 1 LSU (43-17) vs. 4 Texas Southern (20-32), 2:30 p.m. SEC Network | WatchESPN
Game 2: 2 Southeastern Louisiana (36-20) vs. 3 Rice (31-29), 7 p.m. WatchESPN
Saturday, June 3
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 2 p.m. TV TBD | WatchESPN
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 7 p.m. TV TBD | WatchESPN
Sunday, June 4
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 3 p.m. TV TBD | WatchESPN
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 8 p.m. TV TBD | WatchESPN
Monday, June 5
Game 7 (if nec.): Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6, 6 p.m. TV TBD | WatchESPN
Mainieri, Players React to NCAA Berth, Seed
LSU NCAA Tournament Selection Monday Quotes
May 29, 2017
LSU Head Coach Paul Mainieri
On being a national seed…
“I’ve never place much emphasis on the seeding. Maybe I should, I don’t know. I know that the number one overall seed has not won since 1999. I can’t even remember what we were seeded in 2009. I’m just glad to be a national seed because it allows you to stay at home, and if you’re fortunate enough to win the regional, then you’re also at home for the super regional. Obviously, your chances of advancing are greater when you get to play in your ballpark with your fans rooting for you. You don’t have to worry about traveling. I think probably about five or six weeks ago it was probably a far-fetched idea that we would even be a national seed. Our guys have played great over the last month, and I think we’ve earned it. One thing we’ve learned is that it doesn’t matter what the name on the chest for the other team is. It might be a traditional power, and it might be a team you’ve never heard of, but every team is in the tournament because they’ve earned their way in either by winning a championship or playing well throughout the season. We have to respect all of our opponents and be more concerned with how we play than who we play.”
On the teams in the Baton Rouge Regional…
“We haven’t played Texas Southern in several years. We played Southeastern earlier this year. And Rice, it seems like we can’t get away from them. Since I’ve been at LSU we’ve played them in Omaha, in the Super Regionals, and in Regionals. I’m not sure Wayne (Graham) will be all that happy about coming to Baton Rouge. Nobody thought Rice was going to be in the tournament this year, but they’ve made a miraculous run to win their conference tournament. They’ve earned their way here. They’ll be a real confident team. Wayne has been in the game an awful long time, so he will have his team prepared. I’m not even worried about Rice or Southeastern, right now. We have to get through Texas Southern first.”
On having a ‘complete team’…
“They weren’t saying that five or six weeks ago. This is a very humbling sport. I’m proud of the way the guys are playing. We’ve figured out the guys to count on and in what roles. We’ve got a confident group. They’ve practiced hard. They genuinely care for each other, and I see a great unselfishness about them. I also see guys that pick up each other. When one guy doesn’t get it done, it seems like another guy is ready to get it done. Greg Deichmann dropped a fly ball yesterday during the game, and Eric Walker pitched out of it. Greg came into the dugout and they hugged each other in the middle of the game. Greg knew he should’ve made the play. If it weren’t for Eric rising up and pitching out of the jam, it could have ended badly for us. That’s just an example of how unselfish our guys are. They work for each other. When I think of a complete team that’s what I think of. I don’t necessarily think we have a perfect team. There are certainly areas that I wish we were a little stronger in, but I’ll take this team and we’ll see what we can do.”
LSU shortstop Kramer Robertson
On the teams they’ll be playing in their Regional…
“We’ll get a good scouting report on each team we play, starting with Texas Southern. We’ll go in there and try to take care of business against them before we look to Rice and Southeastern.”
On looking forward to potential Super Regional matchups…
“It’s important not to look ahead, because you don’t even know who you’re going to play later in your own regional. You have to play your games and take care of your own business. You have to beat teams to even get to a Super Regional. It’s dangerous to look ahead. You have to take it one game at a time, and right now we’re focused on Texas Southern.”
LSU rightfielder Greg Deichmann
Thoughts on the regional matchup…
“It seems like Rice and Southeastern are in our regional every year, it’s crazy. Those aren’t our opponents the first game. We have to deal with Texas Southern first. We’ll come up with our plan throughout the week and get after it on Friday.”
On the completeness of the team…
“We’ve been able to get amazing starting pitching performances for our pitching staff. (Caleb) Gilbert stepped up big on the first day of the SEC Tournament. We’ve had some amazing bullpen performances. And we were able to hit throughout the week. We’re playing complete ball right now and that’s what we want to see moving forward. That’s what we’ve been able to display the past 15 games or so.”
On being the No. 4 National Seed…
“Like Coach Mainieri says, ‘you get what you earn.’ I think our resume’ over the past month put us in this spot. To get a top four National Seed is huge, it’s a great honor. We’re happy to be here and we’re ready to get going.”
NCAA Baseball National Seeds
1. Oregon State
2. North Carolina
3. Florida
4. LSU
5. Texas Tech
6. TCU
7. Louisville
8. Stanford
LSU’s NCAA Regional Tournament Ticket Info
The LSU season-ticket holder deadline to request NCAA Regional tickets is 5 p.m. CT on Monday, May 29. The LSU Athletics Ticket Office is open during normal business hours (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Memorial Day.
LSU Season ticket holders who selected Will Call will be able to pick up tickets beginning Monday morning at 8 a.m. Will Call will be available in the main ticket office during business hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Will Call will open at Alex Box Stadium at 8 a.m. on Friday.
Public sale for all-session tickets will start at 8 a.m. on Thursday. Tickets will be available for purchase online at www.LSUtix.net or over the phone at (225) 578-2184, tollfree at (800)960-8587. Individual-session tickets will go on-sale at 8 a.m. on Friday.
A limited number of parking passes in the Golf Course Lot or Tennis Lot will be available to the public beginning at 8 a.m. on Thursday. Passes are $10 each day.
NCAA Baseball Regional First-Round Pairings, Times and TV/Streaming
All Times Central and subject to change
at Corvallis, Ore.
2 Nebraska vs. 3 Yale, 3 p.m. WatchESPN
(1) 1 Oregon St. vs. 4 Holy Cross, 10 p.m. ESPNU
at Clemson, S.C.
2 Vanderbilt vs. 3 St. John’s, 11 a.m. SEC Network
1 Clemson vs. UNC Greensboro, 6 p.m. WatchESPN
at Long Beach, Calif.
2 Texas vs. 3 UCLA, 6 p.m. ESPN2
1 Long Beach St. vs. 4 San Diego St., 10 p.m. ESPN2
at Palo Alto, Calif. (starts Thursday)
(8) 1 Stanford vs. 4 Sacramento St., Thurs, TBD WatchESPN
2 Cal St. Fullerton vs. 3 BYU, Thurs., TBD, WatchESPN
at Lubbock, Texas
(5) 1 Texas Tech vs. 4 Delaware, 2 p.m. WatchESPN
2 Arizona vs. 3 Sam Houston St., 6 p.m. WatchESPN
at Tallahassee, Fla.
2 UCF vs. 3 Auburn, 11 a.m. ESPN2
1 Florida St. vs. 4 Tennessee Tech, 5 p.m. WatchESPN
at Hattiesburg, Miss.
1 Southern Miss vs. 4 Illinois-Chicago, 1 p.m. WatchESPN
2 Mississippi St. vs. 3 South Alabama, 6 p.m. WatchESPN
at Baton Rouge, La.
(4) 1 LSU vs. 4 Texas Southern (20-32), 2:30 p.m. SEC Network
2 Southeastern Louisiana (36-20) vs. 3 Rice (31-29), 7 p.m. WatchESPN
at Chapel Hill, N.C.
(2) 1 North Carolina vs. 4 Davidson, 5 p.m. WatchESPN
2 Florida Gulf Coast vs. 3 Michigan, Noon WatchESPN
at Houston, Texas
2 Baylor vs. 3 Texas A&M, 2 p.m. ESPN2
1 Houston vs. 4 Iowa, 7 p.m. ESPNU
at Lexington, Ky.
1 Kentucky vs. 4 Ohio, 11 a.m. ESPNU
2 Indiana vs. 3 NC State, 6 p.m. WatchESPN
at Louisville, Ky.
2 Oklahoma vs. 3 Xavier, 1 p.m. WatchESPN
(7) 1 Louisville vs. 4 Radford, 5 p.m. WatchESPN
at Fort Worth, Texas
2 Virginia vs. 3 Dallas Baptist, 3 p.m. ESPNU
(6) 1 TCU vs. 4 Central Connecticut St., 8 p.m. WatchESPN
at Fayetteville, Ark.
2 Missouri St. vs. 3 Oklahoma St., 2 p.m. WatchESPN
1 Arkansas vs. 4 Oral Roberts, 7 p.m. WatchESPN
at Winston-Salem, N.C.
2 West Virginia vs. 3 Maryland, 1 p.m. WatchESPN
1 Wake Forest vs. 4 Maryland-Baltimore Co., 6 p.m. WatchESPN
at Gainesville, Fla.
2 USF vs. 3 Bethune-Cookman, Noon WatchESPN
(3) 1 Florida vs. 4 Marist, 6 p.m. SEC Network