Perennial power LSU, Long Beach meet up tonight
Usually when Long Beach State and LSU meet on the baseball diamond, the month is June, the weather is warm, the location is Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb., and the event is the College World Series.
This weekend will be a little different as the month is March, the weather is cold and the location is Baton Rouge. But like the CWS, there will be a playoff atmosphere at Alex Box Stadium tonight when LSU (8-3) begins a three game series with Long Beach State (6-4) at 6:30 p.m.
“I’m sure those guys [at Long Beach State] are pumped to see us because usually the only time we get to play those guys is the College World Series,” said center fielder David Raymer. “To see them early in the season like this is pretty exciting.”
LSU has had a week to recover from losing two-of-three at Houston last weekend. That series saw the Tigers make seven errors in the series’ final game and 12 for the series. But the series also saw the LSU bats ignite against some quality pitching.
“We can catch the ball. For us to make twelve errors the whole weekend, those things happen. But that stuff we can control,” said coach Smoke Laval. “We know we can catch and throw it. That was the best we’ve swung the bats all year, so that’s a positive. That’s exciting for me. We’re talking about hitting against top-notch pitching. We swung the bats real well, I was pleased.” 
Third baseman Wally Pontiff, who struggled early with his bat, has found his stroke and is now hitting .324 with one home run and 10 RBIs.
Sean Barker continues to swing the bat well for LSU with a .422 batting average, one home run and 17 RBIs.
Laval said the Tigers are looking forward to playing a “Southeastern Conference caliber team” like Long Beach State.
“Heck yeah, that’s why we’re playing them. They’re SEC caliber,” he said. “We want to play the best. We want to be the best.”
The Tigers and 49ers — or “Dirtbags” as Long Beach State prefers to be called — have had some classic battles in the past, including four CWS games.
The two teams met three times in the 1993 CWS, where the Tigers, led by current major leaguers Armando Rios, Mike Sirotka and Todd Walker, split the first two games, winning 7-1 and losing 10-8. LSU dramatically rallied in the ninth inning of the third game behind the bats of Rios and Walker and rode the arm of Sirotka to a 6-5 win.
The win advanced the Tigers to the championship game with Wichita State, which they won 8-0 for their second national championship.
LSU beat Long Beach in one game in the 1989 CWS.
The Tigers and 49ers also met in the 1997 South Regional Tournament in Baton Rouge and played an 11-inning classic with LSU winning 14-7. The Tigers scored seven runs in the top of the 11th inning to win the game on route to their fourth national championship.
Presently, LSU is ranked No. 7, and the Dirtbags are placed No. 24 by ESPN/Baseball Weekly. Long Beach has won two games each against Southern California, California and Arkansas.
“They beat USC twice,” Barker said. “They’re a good club. It will be a good team to play this weekend. It will be a good challenge for us to bounce back from last weekend. I think we’ll be ready.”
LSU will start Bo Pettit (1-1, 3.66 ERA) tonight against left-hander Abe Alvarez (2-0, 0.98 ERA).
Lane Mestepey (1-0, 4.12 ERA) will start Saturday’s game against Long Beach right hander Daniel Eisentrager (3-0, 1.56 ERA). Long Beach will send  Jered Weaver (0-2, 7.35 ERA) to the mound Sunday, while LSU has not yet announced its Sunday starter.
Graham Thomas