Here we geaux!
LSU, the No. 6 national seed and top team in the Baton Rouge Regional at Alex Box Stadium, opens NCAA Tournament play this weekend with three challengers: Dallas Baptist, Rhode Island and Little Rock. The Tigers will host a Super Regional if they win the regional.
No. 2. – Dallas Baptist Patriots (40-16)
Coach Dan Heefner, 18th season
• NCAA appearances: 13 overall, 12 of last 13 years
• Conference USA regular-season champion; 15th toughest nonconference slate (per warrennolan.com)
• Key wins: two over Oklahoma, extra-inning victories against Oklahoma State and TCU; dropped a 7-3 decision to LSU on Feb. 26
• Offense: veteran lineup with 97 home runs and 104 stolen bases; Grant Jay paces the team with 19 homers; senior CF Nathan Humphreys is batting .360 with 17 HR and 66 RBIs
• Pitching: junior RHP Ryan Borberg leads the staff at 8-4, 3.36 ERA; James Ellwanger is 4-2, 3.81, with 90 strikeouts in 59 innings; former LSU RHP Micah Bucknam is 6-1, 4.37 with 78 K in 59.2 frames after returning from injury
No. 3 -. Rhode Island Rams
Coach Raphael Cerrato, 11th season
• Atlantic 10 regular-season and tournament champion, earning the conference’s automatic NCAA bid; only A-10 team in field
• Third NCAA Regional appearance, first since 2016, seeded third for the first time
• Offense: averages the sixth-most runs in Division I (527); ranks seventh nationally with a .430 on-base percentage; Brody McKenzie (.509 OBP) sets the table for senior 3B Anthony DePino (.359, 19 HR, 60 RBIs), a potential draftee; team totals include 85 home runs, 125 steals and 38 sacrifice bunts
• Pitching: overall 6.20 ERA but allowed just six runs over three A-10 Tournament games; graduate-transfer LHP Trystan Levesque is 8-1, 3.25 ERA; junior RHP Jeremy Urena is 6-1, 5.10 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 77.2 innings; sophomore RHP Joe Sabbath has eight saves and a 7-2 mark with a 3.11 ERA
No. 4 – Little Rock Trojans (24-32)
Coach Chris Curry, 11th season
• Won Ohio Valley Conference Tournament as the No. 8 seed, winning five games in four days despite losing 13 of 14 entering the event
• Best victory: 7-3 road win at Ole Miss on April 15
• Offense: no player with more than eight home runs; senior 1B Cooper Chaplain leads hitters at .321 with seven homers and 37 RBIs
• Pitching: senior RHP Jackson Wells draws Friday’s start against LSU; he’s 3-6, 5.24 ERA this season but was the 2023 OVC Pitcher of the Year at 1.65 ERA; in his most recent outing, Wells threw a complete game, allowing one run on six hits with eight strikeouts over 129 pitches versus Southern Indiana.
LSU will face Little Rock on Friday at 2 PM CT, with Rhode Island and Dallas Baptist to follow in the double-elimination regional format. The Tigers aim to win the regional and return to host a Super Regional against the winner of the Clemson Regional.
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