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Getting in by the skin of their teeth, the LSU Tigers hope that their stay in the 2021 NCAA Baseball Tournament will be a long one.
Postseason play begins for the Tigers late Friday night (9 p.m. central on ESPNU) when third-seeded LSU (34-22) takes on second-seeded Gonzaga (33-17) in the nightcap of the Oregon Regional. Top-seeded and host Oregon will face fourth-seeded Central Connecticut State at 4 p.m. central.
“Fired up to face the Gonzaga Zags,” an exuberant and soon-to-be retired Paul Mainieri said. “This situation reminds me so much of a team I had at Notre Dame when we didn’t know if we were going to get into the NCAA Tournament. It came down then to that last bracket shown on television. It was heartwarming to see the kids react that way then and now. I’m a passionate person and love to see emotion move you. When we got in and I saw our team react; I had a tear in my eye.
“It shows how much they care and how passionate they are about it. Sometimes when that passion comes out, it rejuvenates you and teaches you not to take things for granted. When you do that, you give more of an effort. That’s what I’m counting on this weekend. I know they are going to give it everything that they got.”
Junior right-hander Landon Marceaux (6-5, 2.26 ERA, 91.2 IP, 107 K) gets the start Friday night for the Tigers against Gonzaga right-hander Alek Jacob (7-1, 2.82 ERA, 76.2 IP, 103 K). Other than that, Mainieri said he was going to keep his pitching rotation close to the vest.
“I’m so totally focused on Gonzaga right now,” Mainieri said. “I just feel like we are going to be in for a real battle Friday night. We have studied Alek Jacob so much and he scares me; honestly. He has got a real unorthodox way of pitching. He’s all arms and legs. He doesn’t have outstanding stuff, but somehow he gets the job done.
“At the plate, Gonzaga is a scrappy team that doesn’t strike out much. I told Landon that exact thing; you are a strikeout pitcher but you can’t get frustrated if you can’t strike these guys out. They have a really good approach when they get two strikes on them. They are tough guys who hit the ball the other way. They put the ball in play.”
In terms of the status of his team, Mainieri said Giovanni DiGiacomo and Gavin Dugas are near back to 100-percent strength. Devin Fontenot and Garrett Edwards are also back after Fontenot was suffering a neck issue and Edwards had a muscle problem in his forearm. Alex Milazzo is also back to near full-strength after a groin injury.
“I think this team is back to 100-percent and ready to go,” Mainieri said. “I’m excited about this weekend and I think we can win this thing. I have a lot of family coming to the games and I wanna win this thing. We are going to go after this thing with both barrels blazing. I got nothing to hold back now; let’s go after it. We are going to do the best we can.”
Full schedule for the Eugene Regional is below; TV/Online schedule for Saturday, Sunday and Monday is TBA:
Friday, June 4
Game 1 – Oregon vs. Central Connecticut - 4 p.m. CT (ESPN3)
Game 2 – Gonzaga vs. LSU - 9 p.m. CT (ESPN3)
Saturday, June 5
Game 3 – Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser - 3 p.m. CT
Game 4 – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner - 9 p.m. CT
Sunday, June 6
Game 5 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser - 5 p.m. CT
Game 6 – Game 5 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner - 9 p.m. CT
Monday, June 7
Game 7 (if necessary) – Game 6 Repeat - 9 p.m. CT
