The LSU baseball team will seek to avenge its performance in the regional round of last year’s postseason this weekend in the NCAA Regionals beginning at 3 p.m. on Friday at Alex Box Stadium.
LSU (48-10, 21-8 Southeastern Conference) will serve as the regional host and No. 1 seed as it welcomes No. 2 UNC Wilmington, No. 3 Tulane and No. 4 Lehigh to its ballpark.
Lehigh (25-29) will face the Tigers in the opening game of the tournament and second NCAA Regional appearance in school history. The Hawks will come to Alex Box behind a head of steam after their Patriot League conference championship series victory against top-seeded Navy.
The Tigers welcome their regional opponents in hopes of a good weekend of baseball.
“We have a lot of respect for all of these [teams],” said LSU freshman pitcher Alex Lange. “They have played hard all year, went into their conference tournaments and won them. It’s going to be a fun atmosphere and a good weekend here at the Box.”
Lange, who is expected to start on Saturday, represented the team well in the SEC tournament. After 100 pitches, he held Florida scoreless through seven innings.
Lange was followed by an array of relief pitchers, who eventually allowed two runs, losing the Tigers their chance to compete in the championship game.
LSU coach Paul Mainieri looks for his group of pitchers to recover from a disappointing ending to their last game.
“I think we are still in the learning phase with some of the guys,” Mainieri said. “I have not lost any confidence in any way though. I know that they are all ready to go. They are all going to do a great job for us.”
Mainieri plans to start sophomore right-handed pitcher Alden Cartwright against Lehigh, but starting may be the extent of Cartwright’s day for the Tigers.
With rain in the forecast, Mainieri does not want a rain delay to make his starter go cold and lose confidence in the first game of this postseason. He expects the rest of his pitching staff to be ready when needed.
“The guy starting will only go a couple of innings,” Mainieri said. “After that, we’ll put in a guy based on the flow of the game. It will be treated like a midweek game. I reserve the right to make decisions based on how the game develops. I can’t map it out because I don’t know how the game will go.”
Senior ace Nick Macaione will pitch for Lehigh in the opening game of the regional. A left-handed near side-armed pitcher, Macaione has thrown a no-hitter and a 10-inning complete game win this season for the Hawks while averaging an ERA of 2.82 for the season.
Senior shortstop Alex Bregman, informed on who they’ll be facing on the mound, said the Tigers’ offense will be ready to face the Lehigh ace.
“A lot of guys are going to come out aggressive, swinging the bats and try to use the whole field,” Bregman said. “We will run the bases aggressively and take advantage of the speed we have. If we take the fight to the other team offensively, pick it up on defense and throw strikes, we will be successful.”
After being ousted from national championship contention at the regional stage of the postseason last season, Mainieri is trying to keep the regionals as normal as possible.
“I try to make them do everything perfect in practice and of course in games,” Mainieri said. “You want them to focus each game because it is important. I do it so that when we get to the postseason and the regional, they don’t have to try harder or do anything out of the ordinary.
“It’s still the game of baseball. I’m big about setting the standard every day. They can relax, have fun and play the game like they do.”