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LSU Faces Gonzaga in NCAA Regional Friday Night

NCAA Eugene Regional  No. 3 seed LSU Tigers (34-22) vs. No. 2 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs (33-17)

by Bill Franques | Sr. Associate Communications Director
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LSU Faces Gonzaga in NCAA Regional Friday Night

NCAA Eugene Regional 
No. 3 seed LSU Tigers (34-22) vs. No. 2 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs (33-17)

DATE/TIME
•    Friday, June 4 @ 9 p.m. CT (ESPN3)

STADIUM
•    PK Park in Eugene, Ore.

RADIO
•    LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates
•    Live audio at www.LSUsports.net/live; Live stats at www.LSUstats.com 

TV/ONLINE
•    The game will be televised on ESPNU and streamed on ESPN3

RANKINGS
•    LSU – No. 28 NCAA RPI
•    GU – No. 27 NCAA RPI

SERIES RECORD VS. GONZAGA
Friday’s game marks the first baseball meeting between LSU and Gonzaga. The Tigers are 6-2 all-time against teams from the West Coast Conference – LSU is 3-0 vs. St. Mary’s, 2-0 vs. Pepperdine, 1-1 vs. BYU and 0-1 vs. Loyola Marymount.

NCAA EUGENE REGIONAL SCHEDULE

Full schedule for the Eugene Regional is below; TV/Online schedule for Saturday, Sunday and Monday is TBA:

Friday, June 4
Game 1 – Oregon vs. Central Connecticut – 4 p.m. CT (ESPN3)
Game 2 – Gonzaga vs. LSU – 9 p.m. CT (ESPNU/3)

Saturday, June 5
Game 3 – Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser – 3 p.m. CT
Game 4 – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner – 9 p.m. CT

Sunday, June 6
Game 5 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser – 5 p.m. CT
Game 6 – Game 5 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner – 9 p.m. CT

Monday, June 7
Game 7 (if necessary) – Game 6 Repeat – 9 p.m. CT

LSU HISTORY IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
LSU is in the NCAA Tournament for the ninth straight time and for the 33rd time overall … the Tigers  were an NCAA Tournament Top 8 National Seed for an NCAA-record six straight seasons (2012-17) … LSU has six national championships (1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2009), the second-most in NCAA history … LSU has the second-highest all-time NCAA Tournament winning percentage (.707, 157-65) …. LSU has a 99-24 (.805) all-time record in NCAA Regional games, including an 86-17 (.835) mark at home regionals and an 13-7 (.650) record in regional games on the road.

PITCHING MATCHUP
LSU – Jr. RH Landon Marceaux (6-5, 2.26 ERA, 91.2 IP, 22 BB, 107 SO)
GU – Jr. RH Alek Jacob (7-1, 2.82 ERA, 76.2 IP, 17 BB, 103 SO)

ABOUT THE TIGERS
LSU is No. 28 in the most recent official NCAA RPI rankings, and the Tigers are ranked No. 3 nationally in strength of schedule … LSU won five of its last seven SEC regular-season series, including the last three in a row … after a 1-8 start in SEC play, LSU was 12-9 over the final seven SEC weekends  … LSU has won nine of its last 14 games overall … the Tigers won four of their five SEC road series this season – at Kentucky, at Ole Miss, at Auburn and at Texas A&M.

Paul Mainieri
LSU coach Paul Mainieri announced on May 28 that he is retiring from coaching at the end of LSU’s 2021 season … he is No. 1 among active NCAA Division I Baseball coaches with 1,501 career wins in 39 seasons (six seasons at St. Thomas, six seasons at Air Force, 12 seasons at Notre Dame and 15 seasons at LSU) … Mainieri is No. 7 all-time among NCAA Division I Baseball coaches with the 1,501 career victories … LSU’s 13-6, 12-inning win at Texas A&M on May 21 marked the 1,500th victory of Mainieri’s collegiate career – he is only the fifth NCAA Division I Baseball coach to win 1,500 games and a national championship – the other four who have accomplished the feat are Augie Garrido (Cal State Fullerton/Texas), Gene Stephenson (Wichita State), Jim Morris (Miami) and Mark Marquess (Stanford).

Tre’ Morgan, 1B – Second-Team All-SEC, Freshman All-SEC, SEC All-Defensive Team
Freshman first baseman Tre’ Morgan is No. 2 in the SEC in cumulative batting average (.370), No. 2 in hits (81), No. 2 in runs scored (60), No. 4 in triples (4), No. 3 in doubles (15), No. 3 in on-base percentage (.462) and No. 6 in stolen bases (14) … he is hitting .426 (26-for-61) in his last 14 games with three doubles, one triple, one homer, seven RBI, 18 runs and four stolen bases

Dylan Crews – Second-Team All-SEC, Freshman All-SEC
Freshman rightfielder Dylan Crews enters Friday’s game versus Gonzaga riding a nine-game hitting streak … Crews is No. 8 in the SEC in batting average (.350), No. 8 in hits (76), No. 5 in runs scored (56), No. 4 in total bases (131), No. 6 in on-base percentage (.449) and No. 9 in walks (37). 

Landon Marceaux – Second-Team All-SEC
Junior right-hander Landon Marceaux is No. 4 in the SEC in cumulative ERA (2.26), and he is No. 1 in the league in innings pitched (91.2) and No. 5 in the league in strikeouts (107) … he fired his first career complete game on May 25 vs. Georgia in the SEC Tournament, allowing four runs on nine hits in eight innings with three walks and nine strikeouts … Marceaux posted a streak earlier this season of 33.2 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run.

ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
•    Gonzaga is 33-17 overall, and the Bulldogs won the West Coast Conference regular-season title with a 20-7 mark … Gonzaga has a team batting average of .279 with 102 doubles, 33 home runs and 38 steals in 57 attempts … the Bulldogs pitching staff has an ERA of 4.43 and is limiting opponents to a .240 batting average.
•    The Bulldogs are led at the plate by infielder Brett Harris, who is hitting .353 with 17 doubles, one triple, six homers, 42 RBI and 51 runs scored … infielder Andrew Orzel is second on the club with 13 doubles and 34 RBI, and he also has three homers … catcher Tyler Rando is third on the team with 30 RBI, and he has 11 doubles and three homers.
•    Gonzaga head coach Mark Machtolf played on the Stanford team that defeated LSU in an elimination game of the 1987 College World Series … Machtolf is in his 18th season as Gonzaga’s coach.