Less than a year ago, the Houston baseball team ended LSU’s season.
After dropping the first of a best-of-three series in the NCAA Regional last June, the Cougars crushed the Tigers’ dreams of going to the College World Series, knocking them off in consecutive games after LSU was six outs from clinching.
But 2015 is a new season.
“Last year is last year,” said LSU junior shortstop Alex Bregman. “This is the next team on our schedule, and we have to show up and play.”
No. 2 LSU (12-1) will look to end a two-game losing skid against No. 8 Houston (8-5) when the clubs meet at 7 p.m. tonight in Minute Maid Park in Houston.
Six teams will compete in the Houston College Classic this weekend, but the marquee game of the three-day tournament will the top-10 matchup between the Tigers and the Cougars.
The Tigers, who have won nine consecutive games, will also face Baylor at 3:30 p.m. Saturday before concluding the weekend tournament with a match against Nebraska at 11 a.m. Sunday.
LSU sophomore pitcher Jared Poche’ (3-0, 1.96 ERA) will get the starting nod against the Cougars, who will likely go with sophomore pitcher Andrew Lantrip (3-0, 0.46 ERA) on the mound as they try to score a third straight win against the Tigers.
Poche’ didn’t pitch against Houston in last season’s NCAA Regional, but he said he’s not discouraged by facing a team that exploded for 17 runs over the final 13 innings to end his club’s season.
“Things like that happen in baseball,” Poche’ said. “It was last year. We try to put things like that behind us. It’s a new year.”
Unlike Poche’, Lantrip pitched in last season’s series between the Tigers and Cougars.
Lantrip pitched 2 2/3 innings and gave up two first-inning runs to LSU in Houston’s regional-clinching victory June 2, 2014, but the right-hander has been nearly untouchable in his second year with the Cougars.
Lantrip has given up one earned run on 13 hits in 19 2/3 innings of work this season. He also struck out 16 batters against just three walks and hasn’t allowed a run in his last 9 2/3 innings.
LSU coach Paul Mainieri remembers watching Lantrip on the mound in Alex Box Stadium in the regional, but he said the sophomore pitcher has improved in his first year as his club’s ace.
“He’s a strike-thrower who mixes his fastball and slider really well,” Mainieri said. “He’s going to be a challenge. You don’t expect to score a ton of runs against a guy like that, so we’re going to have to pitch great ourselves, play great defense. If it’s a low-scoring, one-run game, we have to put ourselves in position to win a game like that.”
But the Tigers, who have outscored their last nine opponents by 53 runs (80-27), are up for the challenge. LSU has batted .343 during its nine-game winning streak and has cranked out at least 10 hits in six of those games.
The Tigers have nine players batting at least .300 this season, led by senior catcher Kade Scivicque, who’s batting .448 with three home runs and 10 RBIs. LSU has four players with at least 10 RBIs through 13 games, and Bregman has driven in a team-high 11 runs on 17 hits.
But all those runs came in the Box, and now the Tigers will be tested on the road against a team playing in its own city. Bregman said LSU will have to lay everything on the line to notch its first top-10 win of the season.
“They’re a very competitive team, and we’re going to have to match their energy,” Bregman said. “We’re playing in their hometown, and we‘re just going to go out there and give it everything we got.”
You can reach David Gray on Twitter @dgray_TDR.