LSU baseball to face Cal State Fullerton

LSU (53-11) seeks to remain alive in its quest for a seventh national championship at 2 p.m. today when the Tigers face Cal State Fullerton (39-24) in an elimination game at the College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park.
Today’s game will be televised by ESPN2, and it may be viewed at WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app.
The game will be carried on affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network, including WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge. Live audio and stats may be accessed at www.LSUsports.net.
LSU dropped a 10-3 decision to TCU Sunday afternoon in its CWS opener. Cal State Fullerton suffered a 4-3 loss to Vanderbilt in the CWS first round in a game that was completed Monday after being suspended Sunday night due to severe weather.
The winner of today’s LSU-Cal State Fullerton game will play the loser of TCU and Vanderbilt at 7 p.m. Thursday.
The Tigers are playing in their 17th College World Series, and all 17 appearances have come since 1986. LSU is tied with Texas for the second-highest number of CWS championships with six. Southern California has the most NCAA baseball titles with 12.
The Tigers practiced for two hours Monday afternoon at Creighton University in preparation for today’s contest.
“We’ve got a veteran team that is tough mentally,” LSU head coach Paul Mainieri said in a news release. “Their faith in themselves and in their coaches does not waver. We’ve been through a lot this season, and nothing is a smooth sail. When you get knocked down and get your nose bloodied, you can choose one of two things — you can feel sorry for yourself or you can come back fighting. Our players have always come back fighting, and they’re going to go out there with all of the confidence in the world and do everything they can to win the game.”
Mainieri said that freshman right-hander Alex Lange (11-0), the National Freshman Pitcher of the Year and a first-team All-American, will be the Tigers’ starting pitcher today. Cal State Fullerton coach Rick Vanderhook will counter with freshman right-hander Connor Seabold (5-3).
“If you had to give the ball to one guy to win a game, Alex is the guy you’d give the ball to,” Mainieri said Monday. “He’s going to give us his very best effort. He’s going to be very composed and very poised, and he’s obviously very talented. That doesn’t guarantee that we’re going to win tomorrow, but we have a lot of confidence in Alex Lange. I know he’s very excited about this opportunity.”
Junior centerfielder Andrew Stevenson, a third-team All-American, is LSU’s leading hitter this season, batting .354 (85-for-240) with 12 doubles, five triples, one homer, 22 RBIs, 53 runs and 26 stolen bases.
Senior catcher Kade Scivicque, a second-team All-American, is hitting .350 this season with 20 doubles, six homers, and 46 RBIs, and he has thrown out 19 runners attempting to steal.
Junior first baseman Chris Chinea, a third-team All-American, is batting .349 with 17 doubles, 11 homers, 58 RBIs and 42 runs.
Cal State Fullerton is batting .265 on the year with 20 home runs and 68 steals in 89 attempts. The Titans’ pitching staff has a 2.84 cumulative ERA.
Junior infielder/outfielder Josh Vargas is the Titans’ leading hitter, batting .340 with eight doubles, two triples, 15 RBIs, 42 runs and 13 stolen bases. Junior outfielder Davi Olmedo-Barrera is batting .328 with eight doubles, five triples, 10 homers, and 45 RBIs.
LSU leads the all-time series with Cal State Fullerton, 6-4, and today’s game marks the third meeting between the teams in the College World Series.
Cal State Fullerton has won both prior CWS meetings with LSU — 20-6 in 1994 (second round elimination game) and 8-2 in 2003 (first round game).
LSU is 3-3 against the Titans in the six NCAA Tournament meetings between the schools. LSU and Cal State Fullerton last met in the 2011 regular season in Baton Rouge, where the Tigers posted a three-game sweep of the Titans by scores of 7-6, 7-6 and 10-2.