Baton Rouge Super-Regional breakdown
LSU coach Paul Mainieri had some words ready for his team as regards its opponent in the Baton Rouge Super-Regional Series, which starts Saturday night at The Box.
Here was Mainieri’s message. ‘Don’t think of this team as Coastal Carolina. Think of them as Texas A&M.’
The Chanticleers may not be a Power 5 Conference school, but they are developing a very good baseball tradition. Coastal Carolina will be making its third trip to the super-regionals in the last nine years this weekend. LSU will be making its sixth super-regional appearance in this same span of time.
Now, there have been no super-regional series victories for the Chanticleers. In fact, Coastal Carolina dropped two straight games in their two previous appearances – against North Carolina in 2008 and South Carolina in 2010.
But, no LSU baseball supporter should be overlooking the Chanticleers, who have won 47 games – two more than the Tigers. All Mainieri has to bring up is Stony Brook – the No. 4 seed, which won two of three games from LSU at The Box in the 2012 super-regionals.
Under Mainieri, the Tigers have faced a power conference team only once in five super-regional series – Oklahoma in 2013. LSU’s other super-regional series opponents have been Cal Irvine (2008), Rice (2009), Stony Brook (2012) and Louisiana-Lafayette (2015).
The Tigers had to win two straight games against Cal Irvine after losing the series opener. LSU lost two straight games after winning the first game of the series to Stony Brook. Just last year, the Tigers won two close games against UL-Lafayette, 4-3 and 6-3.
Coastal Carolina has a powerful offense with four players having hit at least 15 home runs – Zach Remillard (18), G.K. Young (16), Connor Owings (15) and Michael Paez (15). Those four players are all seniors and juniors. The Chanticleers have a .301 team batting average.
Coastal Carolina’s top two starting pitchers have won a combined 21 games – 12 for Andrew Beckwith and nine for Alex Cunningham. The Chanticleers’ best pitcher is closer Mike Morrison, who has seven wins and ten saves with an ERA below 1.00.
Being a veteran team, Coastal Carolina should be able to handle playing in a big series at The Box. In the regional tournament, the Chanticleers went on the road and knocked off top-seed North Carolina State at Raleigh.
Here is the schedule for the Baton Rouge Super-Regional series. All times are Central.
SATURDAY
Game 1: Coastal Carolina vs. LSU, 8 p.m.
SUNDAY
Game 2: LSU vs. Coastal Carolina, 8 p.m.
MONDAY
Game 3: Coastal Carolina vs. LSU, TBA (if necessary)
Here is a breakdown of the teams in the Baton Rouge Super-Regional.
LSU
Seed: 1
Coach: Paul Mainieri
Overall record: 45-19; SEC record: 19-11
Record against teams in NCAA tournament: 15-12 – victories against Florida (3), Mississippi State (2), Rice (2), Vanderbilt (2), Louisiana Tech, Ole Miss, Southeastern Louisiana, Texas A&M, UL-Lafayette, Utah Valley State; losses to Florida (2), Ole Miss (2), Mississippi State (2), Texas A&M (2), Tulane (2), Rice, Vanderbilt.
Record against teams in super-regional series: 6-6 – victories against Florida (3), Mississippi State (2), Texas A&M; losses to Florida (2), Mississippi State (2), Texas A&M (2).
NCAA tournament appearances: 29
Regional tournament titles: 22
Super-regional series appearances: 12
Super-regional series titles: 7
Batting average: .295
ERA: 3.86
Fielding percentage: .977
Top hitters
SS Kramer Robertson, Jr. -- .331 BA, 2 HR, 39 RBI
OF Jake Fraley, Jr. -- .324 BA, 5 HR, 35 RBI
OF Antoine Duplantis, Fr. -- .323 BA, 2 HR, 36 RBI
1B Greg Deichmann, So. -- .285 BA, 10 HR, 54 RBI
Top pitchers
Alex Lange, So. – 8-3, 3.46 ERA
Jared Poche, Jr. – 9-4, 3.26 ERA
Caleb Gilbert, Fr. – 4-4, 5.04 ERA
Hunter Newman, Jr. – 1-0, 8 saves, 2.00 ERA
COASTAL CAROLINA
Seed: 2
Coach: Gary Gilmore
Overall record: 47-16; Big South record: 21-3
Record against teams in NCAA tournament: 9-9 – victories against North Carolina State (2), UNC-Wilmington (2), Duke, Ohio State, St. Mary, Virginia, Wake Forest; losses to Georgia Tech (3), North Carolina State (2), Ole Miss, Ohio State, South Carolina, Wake Forest.
Record against teams in super-regional series: 0-1 – loss to South Carolina
NCAA tournament appearances: 14
Regional tournament titles: 2
Super-regional series appearances: 2
Super-regional series titles: 0
Batting average: .301
ERA: 3.45
Fielding percentage: .971
Top hitters
OF Connor Owings, Sr. -- .373 BA, 15 HR, 51 RBI
3B Zach Remillard, Sr. -- .348 BA, 18 HR, 67 RBI
DH G.K. Young, Jr. -- .342 BA, 16 HR, 63 RBI
SS Michael Paez, Jr. -- .291 BA, 15 HR, 50 RBI
Top pitchers
Andrew Beckwith, Jr. – 12-1, 1.82 ERA
Alex Cunningham, Jr. – 9-3, 3.66 ERA
Zack Hopeck, So. – 3-3, 3.83 ERA
Mike Morrison, Sr. – 7-1, 10 saves, 0.79 ERA