There are 16 teams remaining in the hunt for a berth in the College World Series and the Super Regional in Baton Rouge may be the best matchup on paper.
LSU, the No. 3 seed nationally, has won eight in a row since dropping the opening game of the Southeastern Conference Tournament and the Tigers are winners in 21 of their last 25 games.
No other team remaining in the NCAA Tournament field has won as many games as LSU (49-16) has and the Tigers just may be the hottest team in the country.
While the Tigers went undefeated in the Baton Rouge Regional – defeating Southern (10-2), Baylor (3-2) and Minnesota (10-3), Rice had to bounce back in the Houston Regional after falling to Kansas State, 7-6.
Facing elimination, the Owls won twice on Sunday – beating Xavier, 12-5, and shutting out Kansas State, 8-0, – then rolled over Kansas State again on Monday, 13-4, to advance to face the Tigers.
After losing their final regular season series of the year and their only conference series to UAB, the Owls breezed through the Conference USA Tournament, going undefeated and beating Southern Miss in the championship, 8-6.
Rice is 6-2 this season against teams that made it to a Super Regional, taking two of three during the season against Southern Miss and East Carolina, along with the victory over Southern Miss in the C-USA tourney and a 7-4 win over the No. 1 seed Texas on the Longhorns own field.
LSU has faced three teams that are still vying for a trip to Omaha as the Tigers took two out of three against the three SEC teams that are still in the hunt – Ole Miss, Arkansas and Florida.
The last time LSU and Rice met was last year in Omaha and the Tigers scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth for a 6-5 victory that eliminated the Owls.
These two teams have met twice before on the road to Omaha with Rice winning the Baton Rouge Regional in 2005, which was the only time that LSU has lost when hosting a Regional since the NCAA went to its current postseason format in 1999.
The Owls also defeated LSU in two straight in 2002 to capture the Super Regional in Houston.
The games are set for Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m. then Sunday at 6 p.m. if a third game is necessary in the best-of-three series.
Below are capsules on both teams with much more to come throughout the week.
LSU Tigers
Overall Record: 49-16
SEC Record: 20-10
SEC Finish: (Co-champs/Tournament Champs)
Baton Rouge Regional Record: 3-0
Rankings: #2 (Baseball America)
RPI: #8
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 23
NCAA Tournament All-Time Record: 112-44
Super Regional Appearances: 8
Super Regional All-Time Record: 9-8
Notable Hitters
DJ LeMahieu – .339 AVG, 81 H, 11 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, 38 RBI, 9-12 SB
Sean Ochinko – .333 AVG, 69 H, 13 2B, 7 HR, 47 RBI, 2-4 SB
Jared Mitchell – .333 AVG, 65 H, 11 2B, 4 3B, 9 HR, 42 RBI, 33-41 SB
Ryan Schimpf – .332 AVG, 77 H, 16 2B, 1 3B, 18 HR, 59 RBI, 18-25 SB
Blake Dean – .326 AVG, 75 H, 15 2B, 15 HR, 64 RBI, 4-6 SB
Mikie Mahtook – .323 AVG, 52 H, 6 2B, 3 3B, 6 HR, 29 RBI, 9-13 SB
Tyler Hanover – .315 AVG, 64 H, 7 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 44 RBI, 6-9 SB
Leon Landry - .305 AVG, 50 H, 10 2B, 12 HR, 41 RBI, 9-15 SB
Micah Gibbs - .291 AVG, 16 2B, 2 3B, 6 HR, 38 RBI, 2-3 SB
Austin Nola – .232 AVG, 22 H, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 16 RBI, 3-4 SB
Possible Rotation
Anthony Ranaudo– 9-3, 2.09 ERA, 102 IP, 71 H, 38 R, 35 ER, 41 BB, 138 K
Louis Coleman – 12-2, 2.72 ERA, 106 IP, 83 H, 38 R, 32 ER, 19 BB, 119 K
Austin Ross – 5-7, 4.94 ERA, 78.1 IP, 90 H, 45 R, 43 ER, 20 BB, 72 K
Notable Pitchers
Daniel Bradshaw – 4-0, 3.38 ERA, 45.1 IP, 41 H, 17 R, 17 ER, 11 BB, 32 K
Nolan Cain – 5-0, 4.60 ERA, 29.1 IP, 32 H, 15 R, 15 ER, 7 BB, 32 K
Matty Ott – 3-2, 15 SV, 2.22 ERA, 44.2 IP, 43 H, 13 R, 11 ER, 4 BB, 62 K
Paul Bertuccini – 2-0, 3.18 ERA, 22.2 IP, 17 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 14 BB, 30 K
Rice Owls
Overall Record: 43-16
C-USA Record: 16-8
C-USA Finish: (2nd place/Tourney champs)
Houston Regional Record: 4-1
Rankings: #6 (Baseball America)
RPI: #11
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 15
NCAA Tournament All-Time Record: 67-32
Super Regional Appearances: 9
Super Regional All-Time Record: 13-7
Notable Hitters
Anthony Rendon – .384 AVG, 91 H, 12 2B, 1 3B, 19 HR, 70 RBI. 9 SB
Michael Fuda – .351 AVG, 61 H, 14 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 18 RBI, 6 SB,
Brock Holt – .346 AVG, 83 H, 13 2B, 2 3B, 10 HR, 40 RBI, 11 SB
Steven Sultbaugh – .327 AVG, 70 H, 6 2B, 6 3B, 7 HR, 30 RBI, 7 SB
Rick Hague – .324 AVG, 80 H, 17 2B, 9 HR, 57 RBI, 11 SB
Chad Mozingo – .324 AVG, 68 H, 16 2B, 3 3B, 8 HR, 50 RBI, 10 SB
Possible Rotation
Taylor Wall – 7-5, 3.45 ERA, 94 IP, 80 H, 45 R, 36 ER, 37 BB, 77 K
Ryan Berry – 7-1, 2.00 ERA, 76.2 IP, 48 H, 23 R, 17 ER, 15 BB, 62 K
Mike Ojala – 5-0, 1.73 ERA, 62.1 IP, 57 H, 17 R, 12 ER, 24 BB, 68 K
Notable Pitchers
Jordan Rogers– 8-3, 7 SV, 4.42 ERA, 53 IP, 39 H, 26 R, 26 ER, 29 BB, 52 K
Mark Haynes – 2-0, 1 SV, 4.35 ERA, 49.2 IP, 58 H, 25 R, 24 ER, 17 BB, 22K
Matthew Reckling – 2-2, 2 SV, 5.70 ERA, 36.1 IP, 32 H, 29 R, 23 ER
Matt Evers – 4-3, 3 SV, 6.60 ERA, 41.1 IP, 50 H, 35 R, 31 ER, 15 BB, 26
| |
Tale of the Tape |
|
| LSU |
Team Stats |
Rice |
| .315 |
Batting Average |
.322 |
| 92 |
Homeruns |
66 |
| 121 |
Doubles |
117 |
| 17 |
Triples |
20 |
| 313 |
Walks |
245 |
| 422 |
Strikeouts |
382 |
| 108 |
Stolen Bases |
73 |
| .511 |
Slugging % |
.490 |
| .405 |
On Base % |
.395 |
| .974 |
Fielding % |
.971 |
|
Pitching |
|
| 4.01 |
ERA |
.407 |
| 570.1 |
Innings Pitched |
525.2 |
| 551 |
Hits Allowed |
491 |
| 164 |
Walks |
238 |
| 613 |
Strikeouts |
407 |
| 94 |
Doubles Allowed |
104 |
| 8 |
Triples Allowed |
8 |
| 64 |
Homeruns Allowed |
37 |
| .254 |
Opponents Batting Average |
.255 |
|