The LSU Tigers will be hosting a regional for the fifth straight year, hosting Utah Valley, Southeastern Louisiana, and Rice. Let’s look deeper into it and see who the Tigers should look out for.
UTAH VALLEY WOLVERINES
RECORD: 37-21
SIMILAR OPPONENTS: Sacramento and Ball State. The Wolverines hold a 3-2 record against similar opponents.
Pitcher to Watch: Kyle Valgardson. Typically a relief pitcher, but has some experience in a starting role. He holds a 3-1 record, nine saves, and a 1.63 ERA. If it gets to the late innings and Utah Valley is close to LSU on Friday, don’t be surprised if you see him come out of the pen.
Hitter to Watch: Craig Brinkerhoff. He’s their power hitter with 11 home runs and 12 extra base hits. If he can get the bat going, be afraid.
SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA LIONS
RECORD: 39-19
SIMILAR OPPONENTS: Tulane, Tennessee, Nicholls, Northwestern State, Lamar, New Orleans, McNeese, UL-Lafayette and LSU. The Lions lost to LSU on April 20th 11-4. They have a 16-7 record against similar opponents.
Pitcher to Watch: Domenick Carlini. He’s started 15 games, has a 7-2 record and a 2.07 ERA. This is their ace and the Rice Owls should be expecting him to start on Friday night.
Hitter to Watch: Jameson Fisher. The junior out of Zachary is a guy on this team that cannot be overlooked. He leads the team in all categories and has a .437 batting average. If there’s any three seeds in any of the regionals teams should be concerned about, it’s the Lions.
RICE OWLS
RECORD: 35-22
SIMILAR OPPONENTS: Arkansas, UL Lafayette, Texas A&M, Lamar, Louisiana Tech. The Owls have a 3-6 record against similar opponents.
Pitcher to Watch: Glenn Otto. This man has been a monster in relief, with 31 appearances and having a 2.24 ERA. The sophomore leads the team with eight saves and be a long relief guy if necessary as he’s pitched 64 and a third innings.
Hitter to Watch: Ford Proctor. He has one of the best bats on this team and that’s saying something as most of the starting nine have batting averages above .250. Proctor has 37 RBIs, 16 extra base hits, and three homers on the year. That being said, anyone facing Rice should worry about most of the lineup.
-Clint Domingue