2017 Baton Rouge Regional: Team Previews and Prediction

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1. LSU (43-17, 21-9)

RPI: 4

2017 Season Review

The season started out great for LSU, but then they faltered in the Shriners Classic where they lost to TCU and Texas Tech. They picked it back up before conference play, but then lost back-to-back series to Florida and Texas A&M. They also lost a series on the road at Kentucky, but went on to win 15 of their last 17 games, including 11 straight wins to end the season and win the SEC Tournament. They possess two of the best starting pitchers in baseball in Alex Lange and Jared Poche. But they also hit .294 as a team and have five players hitting over .300 in their lineup.

Players to Watch:

• Cole Freeman: .332, 46 R, 2 HR, 37 RBI, 17 SB
• Greg Deichmann: .330, 45 R, 19 HR, 67 RBI
• Antoine Duplantis: .328, 44 R, 52 RBI, 18 SB
• Kramer Robertson: .314, 76 R, 8 HR, 39 RBI, 7 SB
• Alex Lange: 8-5, 2.59 ERA, 97.1 IP, 118 K
• Jared Poche: 10-3, 3.18 ERA, 90.2 IP, 55 K
• Hunter Newman: 1.16 ERA, 10 SV

 

2. Southeastern Louisiana (36-20, 20-10)

RPI: 27

2017 Season Review:

The Southeastern Louisiana Lions earned an at-large bid out of the Southland Conference even though they went 1-2 in the conference tournament. However, they were 8-6 against the top 50 with big wins over UL Lafayette, Rice, South Alabama and West Virginia. They played a 3-game series at Rice early in the year and took 2-of-3 from the Owls. Now they face them in the first game of the regional. The Lions’ lineup loves to run wild with 110 stolen bases as a team. Look for them to be on the move once they get on base.

Players to Watch:

• Taylor Schwaner: .320, 50 R, 13 HR, 68 RBI, 16 SB
• Carson Crites: .301, 49 R, 14 HR, 58 RBI, 14 SB
• Corey Gaconi: 6-5, 2.83, 101.2 IP, 66 K
• Mac Sceroler: 9-1, 3.24 ERA, 97.1 IP, 108 K

 

3. Rice Baseball (31-29, 16-14)

RPI: 39

2017 Season Review

Rice always plays one of the toughest out-of-conference schedules in the country, and 2017 was no different. Unfortunately for them, they started out the season injured and not playing good baseball. They split a 4-game series with Texas to start the season, but lost 11 of their next 15 games. Then they started out Conference USA play by losing their first five series. However, they started playing great baseball to end the season and won their last five series. They won 18 of their last 22 games to win the Conference USA Baseball Tournament and punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

Players to Watch

• Dominic DiCaprio: .365, 40 R, 6 HR, 47 RBI
• Dane Myers: .360, 48 R, 6 HR, 38 RBI, 14 SB
• Ford Proctor: .309, 55 R, 4 HR, 35 RBI
• Darryn Sheppard: .315, 31 R, 7 HR, 50 RBI
• Matt Canterino: 5-4, 3.94 ERA, 91.1 IP, 105 K
• Glenn Otto: 3.97 ERA, 56.2 IP, 78 K

 

4. Texas Southern (20-32, 14-10)

RPI: 268

2017 Season Review

The Tigers of Texas Southern started out the 2017 season by losing their first nine games. However, they picked things up in conference play and won eight of their first 11 SWAC games. They ended the regular season like they began it, losing eight of their last nine. But they caught fire in the SWAC Baseball Tournament and won four straight games for the championship. They beat Alabama State 4-2 in 13 innings in the championship game.

Players to Watch:

• Gaudencio Lucca: .315, 36 R, 6 HR, 28 RBI, 11 SB
• Olajide Oloruntimilehin: .253, 34 R, 10 HR, 33 RBI, 22 SB
• Seth Oliver: 4-4, 4.50 ERA, 80 IP, 65 K

 

Prediction: This is an interesting regional as it features two of the hottest teams in the country in LSU and Rice. Both teams finished the season very strong and ran the table in their conference tournaments. That is not the case for Southeastern Louisiana, so we’ll see if they can regroup in the regionals. There has already been some matchups between these teams in the regular season. Southeastern Louisiana took 2-of-3 from Rice, while LSU won a midweek game over Southeastern Louisiana. I really think this regional comes down to Rice and LSU. But I think LSU takes this regional fairly easily.