By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE – Nobody expected LSU to have to rally past Arkansas-Little Rock to emerge from the Baton Rouge Regional.
But that’s what the Tigers did Monday night in a come-from-behind 10-6 victory, earning the right to host an NCAA Tournament Super Regional upcoming this weekend, just as everybody expected.
The opponent is a surprise. The Baton Rouge Regional was paired with the Clemson Regional in the Super Regionals round of the College World Series bracket, but Clemson didn’t make it out of town. West Virginia went unbeaten as the No. 2 seed and is headed south for the weekend.
The LSU-WVU winner heads off to Omaha and the College World Series.
Here’s a quick look at what’s next for the Tigers:
No. 6 national seed LSU (46-15) overall, 19-11 SEC) vs. West Virginia (44-14, 19-9 Big 12), NCAA Tournament Super Regionals, Alex Box Stadium
Game 1 Saturday, 1 p.m., ESPN; Game 2 Sunday, 5 p.m., ESPN2; (if necessary) Game 3 Monday, TBA.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
LSU – Won Baton Rouge Regional as the top seed, beat No. 4 seed Arkansas-Little Rock 7-0 and No. 3 seed Dallas Baptist 12-0, lost 10-4 loss to Arkansas-Little Rock and beat Arkansas-Little Rock 10-6.
West Virginia: Won Clemson Regional as the No. 2 seed, beat No. 3 seed Kentucky 4-3, beat No. 1 seed (also No. 11 national seed) Clemson, 9-6, beat Kentucky 13-12.
LSU IN THE SEC THIS YEAR
Series wins (7): 3-0 vs. Missouri, 3-0 vs. Mississippi State, 3-0 at Oklahoma, 2-1 vs. Alabama, 2-1 vs. Tennessee, 2-1 vs. Arkansas, 2-1 at South Carolina.
Series losses (3): 1-2 at Texas, 0-3 at Auburn, 1-2 at Texas A&M
WEST VIRGINIA THIS YEAR IN THE BIG 12
Series wins (6): 1-0 at Oklahoma State (two games cancelled because of weather), 2-1 at BYU, 3-0 vs. Utah, 3-0 at Houston, 3-0 vs. Cincinnati, 2-1 vs. Texas Tech.
Series losses (4): 1-2 vs. Arizona, 3-0 at UCF, 1-2 at Kansas State, 0-3 vs. Kansas.
LSU vs. WEST VIRGINIA SERIES
LSU and West Virginia have never played.
LSU IN NCAA TOURNAMENT
Overall NCAA tourney record: 180-75 (.706) in 37 appearances, including 112-27 at home (.806), 23-19 away (.548), 46-20 neutral sites (.613), 115-30 (.793) in regionals, 20-16 (.555) in Super Regionals, 46-20 (.613) in College World Series.
Won 33 of 40 home regionals and Super Regionals, won 3 of 13 away regionals and Super Regionals, won 7 of 19 College World Series.
WEST VIRGINIA IN NCAA TOURNAMENT
Overall NCAA tourney record: 18-28 (.391) in 16 appearances, including 2-4 at home (.333), 16-24 away (.400). Won 0 of 2 home regionals, won 2 of 14 away regionals, won 0 of 1 Super Regionals.
A LOOK AT WEST VIRGINIA
West Virginia is hitting .299 with 55 home runs, 11 triples, 122 doubles, and 411 singles. The Mountaineers’ pitching staff has an ERA of 4.35 in 517 innings, averaging 9.4 strikeouts and 4.4 walks per game. Designated hitter Sam White leads the Mountaineers in batting average (.352). Left fielder Kyle West is hitting .347 with 36 RBI and a team-high 10 homers. Center fielder Jace Rinehart is hitting .317 with eight home runs and a team-leading 51 RBI. Shortstop Armani Guzman is batting .333 after hitting .666 with six RBI as the Most Outstanding Player in the Clemson Regional. Starting pitcher Griffin Kirn is 5-2 with a 3.13 ERA in 95 innings and has struck out 100 and walked 29. Top reliever Reese Bassinger is 7-1 with five saves a 4.28 ERA in 61.1 innings, and has struck out 43 and walked 12.
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com