New stadium, same results for LSU

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- LSU opened one of the premier ballparks in college baseball earlier this year with every intention of seeing the new Alex Box Stadium host its first NCAA tournament this spring.

Presumptuous? Perhaps.

Then again, the old Alex Box hosted 18 NCAA regionals since 1986, including last season, when LSU closed down the 70-year-old park with a victory that sent the Tigers to their 14th College World Series.

On Friday afternoon, LSU (46-16) opens tournament play 200 yards down the street in a stadium with 9,200 seats - about 1,500 more than the old one - and 19 private suites hanging above the main grandstand.

Their opponent will be Southern (30-15), the champions of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, who'll be visiting from just across town. Minnesota (38-17), which finished second in the Big Ten tournament, takes on Baylor (29-24) on Friday night.

The Tigers are seeded third nationally in the NCAA tournament, meaning they'd also host a super regional should they advance beyond this weekend. And, yes, they like their chances.

"We've got so much talent here it's just outrageous," said outfielder Jared Mitchell, who also plays wide receiver for LSU's football team.

"If I'm an opposing team, to be honest with you, I wouldn't want to be a pitcher against us. I wouldn't want to be a defense against us, knowing that this guy could run on us or this guy could hit one out against us. I think we have a scary lineup."

Catcher Micah Gibbs' .284 batting average is the lowest among LSU starters and the only one below .300.

A year ago, LSU entered the tournament on a 20-game winning streak, momentum that carried them back to national prominence after several down years.

This season, LSU lost its Southeastern Conference tournament opener, then rattled off five straight victories to win a second-straight league crown.

"The thing that makes us better than we were last year is we don't lose two games in a row," said designated hitter Blake Dean, batting .327 with 14 homers.

LSU's longest losing streak this year is two games, which happened only once during a midseason series against Tennessee. Since then, the Tigers are 18-4.

LSU's top two pitchers, Louis Coleman (11-2) and Anthony Ranaudo (8-3), each have more than 100 strikeouts, but Austin Ross (5-7) will start against Southern.

LSU coach Paul Mainieri declined to say his regional rotation was designed to save his best pitchers for tougher games later in the weekend, but Southern coach Roger Cador said the game has an obvious "David and Goliath" component.

Southern lost to LSU, 11-5, earlier this season. Still, the Jaguars won't be intimidated. They play LSU every year and have beaten the Tigers twice this decade (2001 and 2005).

"If you're ever going to make a name for yourself, you're certainly not going to do it whipping up on a little baby," Cador said. "You better go beat that bully - not that LSU is a bully, but they are somebody you want to beat."

Cador said he hoped to start Jarrett Maloy (8-2), but would not decide until warm-ups on Friday because he feared Maloy's arm was tight from the 242 pitches he threw in the SWAC tournament last weekend.

Senior ace Tom Buske (9-3) will start for Minnesota against Baylor, which will start Willie Kempf (4-5).

Baylor's pitching has been a weakness at times; the team's earned-run average is 5.32.

"Our numbers wouldn't indicate that we really pitched well enough to be here right now," Baylor coach Steve Smith said. "But we pitched better here of late."

Baylor lost 12 of its last 14 regular season games before salvaging its tournament hopes with a pair of victories in the Big 12 tournament over Texas and Kansas.

"We all kept showing up to the ball park and ended up winning some big games at the end of the year that gave us an opportunity," pitcher Kendal Volz said. "That kind of shows something about the guys on our team."

Minnesota players said they feel like the outsiders, being the only northern team in Baton Rouge.

"It's kind of like they put us down here just to get rid of us," said second baseman Derek McCallum, who's hitting .404. "It's kind of a motivating factor. You feel like the underdog a little bit."

Minnesota is no stranger to the tournament, making its 29th appearance.

They won this season with consistent pitching and the best fielding percentage (.976) in the Big Ten, despite having three redshirt freshmen starting in the infield.

"Those guys proved they could play and really field at a high percentage," Buske said. "It's just really helped us as a pitching staff to just throw the ball over the plate and let them work behind us."

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