Junior outfielder Mason Katz could only remember kicking a chair in disgust as he learned that LSU would not be in the postseason in 2011.
Luckily for Katz, and Walk-On’s Restaurant, no chairs were harmed during the 2012 watch party.
Players, families and coaches gathered Monday to learn the fate of the regular-season Southeastern Conference champion Tigers (43-16), fresh off a late-inning loss to eventual SEC tournament champion Mississippi State.
They held their collective breath as the eight national seeds were announced, letting them all out in relief as the Tigers were named the No. 7 national seed, ensuring LSU’s potential path to Omaha will go through Alex Box Stadium.
“I felt that we had clearly earned a national seed being the outright SEC champion,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “I’m just really glad that it ended up playing out that way.”
The Tigers welcome Sun Belt tournament champion University of Louisiana at Monroe, Atlantic Sun regular season and tournament champion Belmont University and Pac-12 power Oregon State to the Baton Rouge Regional, beginning Friday.
Oregon State and Belmont kick off the action at Alex Box Stadium on Friday at 2:00 p.m, with LSU and ULM on deck for 7:00 p.m.
“They’re not going to come down here and lay down for us,” Katz said. “It’s going to be a tough regional.”
The Tigers will likely see a familiar face on the mound – ULM southpaw Randy Zeigler - in Friday’s opener.
Zeigler was a member of LSU’s 2009 national championship team before injuries derailed his progress, prompting his transfer to Bossier Parish Community College and eventually ULM.
“He was Tyler [Hanover]’s roommate and we got to be good friends,” said senior shortstop Austin Nola. “He had really good stuff on the mound.”
Mainieri lauded ULM, saying it would be the “best four seed” LSU has faced in the three home regionals the Tigers have hosted during his tenure.
“They’re a legitimately qualified team that is capable of beating anyone in our field,” Mainieri said. “The worst thing we could possibly do would be to take them lightly.”
Oregon St. comes into Baton Rouge fresh off a sweep of No. 5 national seed Oregon to end the season. The Beavers also took series from No. 2 national seed UCLA and Stanford, a regional host.
The Beavers are perhaps most familiar to college baseball fans for their back-to-back College World Series championship runs in 2006 and 2007.
Belmont is making it’s second consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament, but has never played any of the other three teams in the Baton Rouge regional. The Bruins surprised last year as a No. 4 seed in the Nashville Regional, dropping the championship game to host Vanderbilt.
“It’s going to be a very competitive tournament,” Mainieri said. “I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
 
____ Contact Chandler Rome at [email protected]