No. 6 Overall Seed LSU Plays Arkansas-Little Rock At 2 P.M. Friday In NCAA Regional At Alex Box

GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

So, how is Rhode Island going to handle the 83 percent humidity at Alex Box Stadium this weekend?

That may be fun to watch. But the No. 3 seed Rams (38-20) will get the 6:30 p.m. game on Friday with 67-degree temperatures and high humidity when they play No. 2 seed Dallas Baptist (40-16) in the second game of the Baton Rouge NCAA Regional with a 17 percent chance of rain.

As expected for weeks, LSU nabs a national top 8 seed at No. 6 to host Super Regional if it advances this weekend from Regional round. pic.twitter.com/Bg5P5dDkAM

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) May 26, 2025

The No. 6 national seed Tigers (43-14) will open at 2 p.m. amid mid-80s temperature and humidity with a 54 percent chance of rain against No. 4 seed Arkansas-Little Rock (24-32). The two winners will play at a time to be announced on Saturday in the double-elimination tournament.

LSU coach Jay Johnson knows Louisiana weather and how it wreaks havoc on NCAA postseason play, so his strategy will remain choosing the first game, which he did with LSU’s bid for the host site.

“We’re playing the first game,” Johnson said Monday after the NCAA Selection Show. “It’s already done. With the weather here, lightning delays and rain, and you have to play games in order, so having the first one done – whether you win or lose – is probably an advantage for your team.”

Johnson previously consulted with former LSU coach Skip Bertman, who was at the selection show on Monday.

“I did a lot of research,” Johnson said. “I talked to Skip about what he preferred, and he had done both. He had some good advice.”

Early in his tenure as LSU’s coach in the mid-1980s and early 1990s, Bertman liked to open with a night game in an NCAA Regional to make sure he had big crowds, as that would lead to future Regional home sites. As LSU became so entrenched as the power of college baseball throughout the 1990s with five national titles from 1991-2000, Bertman realized he could play at any time of day and draw a crowd. Avoiding bad weather, prolonged delays and late nights moved Bertman to like postseason by day.

LSU experienced double-digit weather delays this past season at Alex Box Stadium. Johnson used the same day-time strategy the only previous time he hosted an NCAA Regional at LSU in 2023 with the Tigers beating Tulane, 7-2. LSU went on to win the Regional in two more games and the Super Regional in two before winning the national championship at the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

The Tigers received one of 16 host NCAA Regional sites on Sunday night and – as expected for several weeks – got one of the coveted top eight national seeds on Monday. The top eight national seeds get to play the NCAA Regional at home this weekend along with the best-of-three Super Regional the following weekend, should they advance.

LSU is paired with the NCAA Regional in Clemson, S.C., meaning if LSU advances, the Tigers will host the winner out of Clemson on the weekend of June 6-9. No. 11 national seed Clemson (44-16) plays South Carolina Upstate (36-23) Friday, while Kentucky (29-24) plays West Virginia (41-14).

The eight Super Regional winners advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, on June 13-23.

“I wouldn’t say we were nervous,” LSU slugger Ethan Frey said of the Tigers getting one of the top eight seeds. “We were expecting it. Can’t wait to play more baseball here. The fan base will be so electric. It’s just so loud. It’s crazy. We may see 14,000 here.”

The top eight seeds included six SEC teams – No. 1 overall seed Vanderbilt, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Arkansas, No. 4 Auburn, No. 6 LSU and No. 7 Georgia. The two non-SEC top seeds were No. 5 North Carolina and No. 8 Oregon State.

LSU had been ranked No. 1 for two weeks going into the Southeastern Conference Tournament last week and was projected as the No. 5 national seed over the weekend as it split two games at the SEC Tournament, beating Texas A&M, 4-3, and losing to Ole Miss, 2-0.

Johnson first said his team deserved a top eight seed after taking the first two of a three-game series against No. 3 Arkansas on May 10 in Alex Box. LSU lost the next one to Arkansas and its opener at second-to-last place (SEC) South Carolina, but won the next two to take the series and split two games at the SEC Tournament.

The angst over Top 8 for LSU (I think they are in, regardless of what happens), is largely based on what numbers the committee values most. Conf rec, RPI, Q1 wins, road record…

LSU is a lock IMO b/c they don’t fall out the top 8 in any of those. Q1 (t7), RPI (8), conf wins(t3)

— Charles Hanagriff (@C_Hanagriff) May 18, 2025

LSU hovered around the eighth spot in the RPI rankings over the last few weeks, but few seriously thought the Tigers (19-11 in the SEC for third) were in any danger of not getting a national seed.

“I’m proud of our team to be picked to be a national seed,” Johnson said. “Tremendous accomplishment. It’s awesome and not to be taken for granted. We’re very deserving. We were very consistent throughout the regular season.”

Johnson said he would not announce his starting pitcher for Friday until the day of the game.