2009 Baton Rouge Super Regional

Capsules compiled by Christina De Nicola, Duncan Phillips, Sean Ryan, Phil Stanton

3. LSU Tigers

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Automatic bid – won SEC Tournament, 3-0 at Baton Rouge Regional

2009 record: 20-10, 49-16 (tied for first in SEC West)

Head coach: Paul Mainieri (Florida International, 1980)

Record at school: 127-61-2, 3 years

Overall record: 991-553-6, 27 years

Assistant coaches: David Grewe, Javi Sanchez, Will Davis

Team offense: .315 BA, 507 R, 92 HR, .511 SLG%, .405 OBP, 108-147 SB

Team pitching: 4.01 ERA, 570.1 IP, 551 H, 164 BB, 613 K

Top hitters: DJ LeMahieu (.339/4/38/11 2B), Sean Ochinko (.333/7/47/13 2B), Jared Mitchell (.333/9/42/33-41 SB), Ryan Schimpf (.332/18/59/18-25 SB), Blake Dean (.326/15/64/15 2B), Mikie Mahtook (.323/6/29), Tyler Hanover (.315/4/44), Leon Landry (.305/12/41/10 2B), Micah Gibbs (.291/6/38/16 2B)

Top pitchers: Matty Ott (3-2, 15 SV, 2.22 ERA, 44.2 IP, 43 H, 4 BB, 62 K), Louis Coleman (12-2, 2.72 ERA, 106 IP, 83 H, 19 BB, 119 K), Daniel Bradshaw (4-0, 1 SV, 3.38 ERA, 45.1 IP, 41 H, 11 BB, 32 K), Anthony Ranaudo (9-3, 3.09, 102 IP, 71 H, 41 BB, 138 K), Austin Ross (5-7, 4.94 ERA, 78.1 IP, 90 H, 20 BB, 72 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2008 (3-0 at Baton Rouge Regional, 2-1 at Baton Rouge Super Regional, 1-2 at College World Series)

Notes: LSU won a record-eighth SEC Tournament title and second straight. The Tigers captured their 18th NCAA Regional title with wins over Southern, Baylor and Minnesota. The Tigers returned to Omaha a season ago for the first time since 2004. It was the 14th College World Series appearance for LSU, all since 1986. The Tigers have five national championships (1991, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 2000). The Tigers hosted a regional for the 19th time. LSU posted a 31-9 record this season in new Alex Box Stadium. The Tigers have two pitchers with more than 100 strikeouts: Anthony Ranaudo with 138 and Louis Coleman with 119. Ranaudo was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Baton Rouge Regional for his complete-game victory over Baylor with three hits and 14 strikeouts. This will be the second Super Regional meeting between LSU and Rice. The Owls posted a pair of shutouts over the Tigers in the 2002 Houston Super Regional. LSU topped Rice 6-5 to eliminate the Owls from the 2008 College World Series. Paul Mainieri has taken two different teams to the College World Series. He guided Notre Dame to Omaha in 2002 and took LSU a season ago.

Rice Owls

Houston, Texas

Automatic bid – Won Conference USA Tournament, 4-1 at Houston Regional

Won Houston Regional

2009 record: 16-8, 43-16 (second in C-USA)

Head coach: Wayne Graham (Texas, 1970)

Record at school: 830-315, 18 years

Overall record: 1,405-428, 29 years

Assistant coaches: David Pierce, Mike Taylor, Patrick Hallmark

Team offense: .322 BA, 443 R, 65 HR, .490 SLG%, .395 OB%, 73/100 SB

Team pitching: 4.07 ERA, 525.2 IP, 491 H, 238 BB, 407 K

Top hitters: Anthony Rendon (.385/19/70), Michael Fuda (.351/3/18), Brock Holt (.346/10/40), Steven Sultzbaugh (.327/7/30), Rick Hague (.324/9/57), Chad Mozingo (.324/8/50), Jimmy Comerota (.295/1/26), Diego Seastrunk (.289/6/44).

Top pitchers: Mike Ojala (5-0, 1.73, 62.1 IP, 57 H, 24 BB, 68K), Ryan Berry (7-1, 2.00, 76.2 IP, 48 H, 15 BB, 62 K), Travis Wright (2-0, 2.45, 14.2 IP, 11 H, 6 BB, 12 K), Taylor Wall (7-5, 3.45, 94 IP, 80 H, 37 BB, 77 K), Mark Haynes (2-0, 4.35, 49.2 IP, 58 H, 17 BB, 22 K), Jordan Rogers (8-3, 4.42, 7 SV, 53 IP, 39 H, 29 BB, 52 K).

Last NCAA appearance: 2008 (3-0 at Houston Regional, 2-0 at Houston Super Regional, 0-2 at College World Series)

Notes: For the first time in 13 years, Rice did not win a regular season title. No matter. The Owls are in the Super Regionals for the ninth time – only Cal State Fullerton, Florida State and Miami (Fla.) have appeared in as many Super Regionals. Rice rolled through the C-USA tourney and ran into a speed bump in the Regional, dropping the second game to Kansas State. With backs against the wall, the Owls won three straight games by a 33-9 count. Taylor Wall, a freshman lefty who entered with a 3.81 ERA, tossed a three-hit shutout against Kansas State to force a deciding game. He and teammate Anthony Rendon were District 20-5A co-players of the year as seniors in high school. Diego Seastrunk had a solid Regional, showing signs of the hitter who drove in 61 runs a year ago – he had seven RBI to bring his total to 44. Anthony Rendon is the first player in C-USA history to be named both the conference player of the year and freshman of the year. Rendon, one of 16 finalists for the Dick Howser Award, and Rick Hague drove in six runs during the Regional round. Ryan Berry lost his first game of the year to Kansas State and came back to throw a couple of innings in relief against the Wildcats. Berry, who missed part of the year with a shoulder injury, tossed four complete games, including two shutouts early in the year, and has held opponents to a .181 average. Ojala, who missed time with an injured elbow, is the other part of the two-headed pitching monster, allowing opponents to hit .248. Nine pitchers have started at least two games. Pitcher Matthew Reckling, who picked up the win against Kansas State in the final game, is the grandson of former player Tommy Reckling (1952-54), a major donor for whom Rice’s stadium is named.