The Baton Rouge regional will begin Friday, May 31st, at 10 a.m. MST when the two-seeded Arizona State Sun Devils take on the three-seeded Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles. Regional host in top-seeded, and nationally No. 13 ranked LSU will take on fourth-seeded Stony Brook later in the day at 4 p.m. The winner of this regional is set to face the winner of the Athens regional, hosted by No. 4 ranked Georgia.
Host/No. 1 Seed: LSU (37-24, 17-13 SEC), SEC tournament semifinalists
The Tigers host a regional for the seventh time in the past eight seasons, returning to the NCAA tournament after not making the field in 2018. In those previous seven times hosting, the only occasion in which LSU did not make it out of their regional was in 2014 when they lost to the Houston Cougars.
The Tigers lost in the College World Series Final during their most recent tournament appearance in 2017. They won four of five to close the regular season and three of five in the SEC tournament en route to a semifinal appearance.
Top performers: The Tigers are led by junior infielder Josh Smith at the plate, hitting .343 in addition to 14 doubles, eight home runs and 38 RBI’s. He is followed by senior outfielder Antoine Duplantis, third all-time in the SEC with 349 hits, batting .316 this season with 11 home runs, 11 additional extra-base hits and 61 RBI’s, and then junior outfielder Zach Watson, hitting .312 with a team-high 17 doubles, plus five home runs and 34 RBI’s.
These are the only three Tigers hitting .300 or higher, and sophomore outfielder Daniel Cabrera leads the team with 12 home runs. On the mound, the team’s top starter is Cole Henry with a 3.86 ERA over 51.1 innings pitched in 12 total appearances and nine starts. Eric Walker and Zach Hess have pitched the most innings on the team, with 67.2 and 67 IP, respectively, with Walker posting a 5.32 ERA and Hess’s at 4.70. The duo has combined to start 24 games and appear in 34, and Hess leads the team with 78 strikeouts on the season.
No. 2: ASU (37-17, 16-13 Pac-12), fifth in Pac-12
The Sun Devils were the final one-loss team in the nation at one point, starting the season 25-1. Since that start, ASU has only won one weekend series in the months of April and May combined, but came one out away from taking its final series of the regular season against No. 12 ranked Stanford.
It will be the 40th all-time postseason appearance for the Sun Devils- 34th in a regional- and first since 2016. The last time the Sun Devils made it out of a regional was 2011, last appearing in the College World Series in 2010. The team leads all of division one with 91 total home runs. ASU will try and win their first road regional since 1998, and advance past the regional stage for the first time in the tenure of skipper Tracy Smith.
Top performers: The Sun Devils have one of the hottest lineups in college baseball, led by sophomore first baseman Spencer Torkelson, leading the team with a .348 average in addition to 14 doubles, 21 home runs and 60 RBI’s, as well as junior center fielder Hunter Bishop who leads the team with 22 home runs, and has hit .347 with 15 doubles and 61 RBI’s. In total, the Sun Devils have six starters batting at least .300 and no regular starters batting below .250.
Junior Carter Aldrete will enter the tournament on a seven-game hit streak, with homers in four of his last five games, and junior Lyle Lin will try to stay hot after hitting 16-for-47 (.340) in the month of May with three home runs and five RBI’s.
The team’s ace on the hill is junior Alec Marsh, who has posted a 3.17 ERA in 96.2 IP over 15 starts and 16 total appearances. The team’s other regular starter in sophomore Boyd Vander Kooi has a 5.26 ERA in 87.1 IP over 15 starts this season, but is coming off seven shutout innings against Stanford in which he struck out a career-high 11 batters. He has allowed 5 ER over 20 IP in his last three starts.
No. 3: Southern Miss (38-19, 20-10 Conference USA) Conference USA Tournament Champions
As a result of the Golden Eagles’ fifth Conference USA tournament title, they return to the NCAA tournament for the 16th time in program history. The team is making its fourth consecutive appearance in Regionals, and even hosted one in 2017, but has not made it out since they appeared in the College World Series in 2009. Southern Miss enters the tournament on a four-game win streak as a result of their conference title and finished the month of May 9-6, which includes a win over now No. 22 Ole Miss to start out the month.
Top performers: Junior catcher Bryant Bowen is the team’s top hitter, batting .340 with 10 doubles, 11 home runs and 49 RBI’s. He is followed by junior outfielder/right-hand pitcher Matt Wallner, who hits .324 and leads the team with 21 home runs, and adds 12 doubles and 55 RBI’s. Senior outfielder Hunter Slater gets the job done from the cleanup spot, leading the team with 57 RBI’s while hitting .311 with 11 doubles and 11 home runs. Overall, six of the team’s nine regular starters hit .299 or higher.
The Golden Eagles will be a tough team to face on the mound, with a 4.10 team ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. The team’s ace is junior righty Walker Powell, who boasts a 2.78 ERA in 94 IP over 15 starts this season. Senior lefty and number two starter Stevie Powell is no easy opponent either, as he’s pitched to a 3.45 ERA over 57.1 IP in 13 starts, and 14 overall appearances. Southern Miss’s staff has six pitchers with a 3.81 ERA or lower that have pitched at least 25 innings this season.
No. 4: Stony Brook Seawolves (31-21, 15-9 America East) America East tournament champions
The Seawolves, regular season and tournament champions of the America East in 2019, make their sixth appearance in the tournament and first since 2015. This program last made it out of the regionals in 2012, when they made a run all the way to the College World Series and happened to be in the Baton Rouge regional that year as well.
Top performers: Junior outfielder Michael Wilson leads the team with a .345 batting average, 10 home runs and 44 RBI’s and adds 13 doubles. The team has four other regular starters hitting .300 or above, but nobody else hitting higher than .250. The Seawolves best starter is senior righty Bret Clarke, who owns a 3.76 ERA over 67 IP through 12 starts and 13 appearances.
Redshirt junior Greg Marino has made the most starts for Stony Brook and has a 5.19 ERA over a team-high 86.2 IP in 14 appearances/starts. The team has a fairly reliable closer in righty Sam Turcotte as well, who has seven saves in 23 appearances and a 3.98 ERA in 40.2 IP.
Regional schedule
Friday, May 31, 2019
Game 1: 10 a.m. MST- No. 2 ASU vs. No. 3 Southern Miss- ESPN3
Game 2: 4 p.m. MST- No. 1 LSU vs. No. 4 Stony Brook- ESPNU
Saturday, June 1, 2019
Game 3: Winners of Game 1 & 2
Game 4: Losers of Game 1 & 2
Sunday, June 2, 2019
Game 5: Winner of Game 4 and Loser of Game 3
Monday, June 3, 2019
Game 6: Winner of Game 5 & 3
Game 7: (if necessary) repeat of game 6 teams
