LSU baseball saw its SEC Tournament stay end prematurely at the hands of Kentucky and Tennessee, and it appears to have cost them: the Tigers are NOT among the 16 teams set to host a regional in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers were squarely in the tournament with an overall record of 38-20 (17-13 in conference play) in the first year of Jay Johnson's tenure. But they clearly didn't do enough to impress the selection committee. Johnson made his pitch for the Tigers to be a host with their impressive resume and with the caveat that the team was playing in the conference tournament without stars Jacob Berry and Cade Doughty, but it wasn't enough.
Four SEC teams did earn host honors: Auburn, Florida, Texas A&M and Tennessee.
Louisiana Tech, SE Louisiana, UL and LSU mark a solid in-state contingent in the overall field.
SEC representatives in the field include:
- LSU
- Tennessee
- Vanderbilt
- Texas A&M
- Ole Miss
- Arkansas
- Georgia
- Florida
The Tigers will be headed to Hattiesburg, Mississippi for their regional, beginning on Friday at Pete Taylor Park.
Their opponents will include:
- 11. Southern Miss (43-16, 23-7 C-USA)
- Army Black Knights (31-23, 18-7 Patriot)
- Kennesaw State Owls (35-26, 19-11 A-Sun)
THE SCHEDULE
Friday, June 3
- Game 1: Southern Miss vs Army (1 p.m./ESPN+)
- Game 2: LSU vs Kennesaw State (6 p.m./ESPN+)
Saturday, June 4
- Game 3: Game 1 loser vs Game 2 loser, TBA
- Game 4: Game 1 winner vs Game 2 winner, TBA
Sunday, June 5
- Game 5: Game 3 winner vs Game 4 loser, TBA
- Game 6: Game 5 winner vs Game 4 winner, TBA
Monday, June 6
- Game 7 (if necessary): Game 6 opponents rematch, TBA
Related
The winner will face off against the winner of the Coral Gables regional, which includes Miami, Canisius, Ole Miss and Arizona. There are a handful of mega-intriguing storylines for this year's tournament, possible none more so than a potential matchup of Johnson's LSU squad and his former Arizona team, should both land upsets in their respective regionals.
Many of the players on this Tigers squad will be comfortable hitting the road to play spoiler, having done so a year ago with a victory in the Eugene regional over host Oregon. LSU was swept by Tennessee in the Super Regionals. The Tigers are aiming to make their first trip back to Omaha since 2017.