The NCAA baseball tournament selection committee must have really enjoyed last year’s Baton Rouge regional.
The committee all but created a sequel Monday while awarding LSU a coveted national seed for the sixth straight year.
Sub in SWAC tournament winner Texas Southern for last year’s regional No. 4 seed, Utah Valley, and it’s Part Deux.
The Tigers will also welcome Southeastern Louisiana as the region’s No. 2 seed, with Rice as the No. 3.
Not exactly strangers.
Last year the roles were reversed — Rice was No. 2 and SLU was No. 3 in Baton Rouge.
“It seems like Rice and Southeastern are in our regional every year,” LSU outfielder Greg Deichmann said. “It’s crazy.”
It’s not real original.
Southeastern, which got an at-large bid out of the Southland Conference and lost to the Tigers in Alex Box Stadium earlier this season, will be making its third trip to the Baton Rouge regional in the last four years.
“Rice — it seems like we can’t get away from them,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “Since I’ve been at LSU we’ve played them in Omaha, in the super regionals, and in regionals.”
LSU played the Owls three times in last year’s regional, winning the first and third games to advance.
“Nobody thought Rice was going to be in the tournament this year,” Mainieri said of the Owls, who had to score two runs in the ninth inning to beat Southern Miss in the Conference USA Today tournament final to earn the automatic bid. “But they’ve made a miraculous run to win their conference tournament. They’ve earned their way here.”
For the super regional, the Baton Rouge regional winner will be paired against the Hattiesburg Miss., regional where top-seeded Southern Miss is hosting Mississippi State (2), South Alabama (3) and Illinois-Chicago (4).
LSU’s late-season surge earned it the No. 4 national seed when the 64- team complete field was announced Monday. It was the sixth straight year for the Tigers to get one of the eight national seeds, tying the NCAA record also held by Stanford.
“I think probably about five or six weeks ago it was probably a far-fetched idea that we would even be a national seed,” Mainieri said. “Our guys have played great over the last month, and I think we’ve earned it.”
Other national seeds were Oregon State, North Carolina, Florida, Texas Tech, Louisville, TCU and Stanford.
It means the Tigers would not have to leave Alex Box Stadium to earn a trip to the College World Series — as long as they win there.
“I’m not even worried about Rice or Southeastern right now,” Mainieri said. “We have to get through Texas Southern first.”
Play opens Friday when the Tigers (43-17), riding an 11-game winning streak and fresh off winning the SEC tournament, will play Texas Southern (20-32) at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
Southeastern (36-20), the only state team to make the tournament, and Rice (31-29) will play in the second game at 7 p.m. That game features an interesting coaching matchup with the Lions’ 32-year-old Matt Riser against Rice’s ageless wonder, 81-year-old Wayne Graham.
LSU was one of eight SEC teams to make the field — the most of any conference — joined by No. 3 national seed Florida, while Kentucky and Arkansas will also be hosting regionals.
Others who will be traveling are Mississippi State (Hattiesburg), Auburn (Florida State), Vanderbilt (Clemson) and Texas A&M (Houston).
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