The Geaux Show for June 10th, 2009

After a long break, Wee and Pat return to give the best CWS preview money can't buy (even if we did think Strasburg was starting for UVA, Doh!) Get all of the semi-accurate and completely biased info you need for Omaha.

Omaha Bound! Tigers Sweep Rice; Will face Virginia

Leon Landry, a.k.a. Spider ManEven though the Tigers played some of their worst baseball in months, it was still enough to sweep Rice. Ranaudo wasn't particularly good on Friday and some ball-handling and base running errors kept the Owls in it all weekend. But thanks to some timely hits from Schimpf and another great performance from Coleman and Ott on Saturday led LSU to victory.

The Tigers 1st opponent in their 15th trip to Omaha will be 1st timer Virgina (who apparently prefer wahoo's to cav's). UVA took Ole Miss to Sunday but eventually prevailed in Oxford, which makes them friends of the program in my book. Date and times of the CWS matchups will be announced tonight at 9 CST on ESPN.

Super Regional Game 1-LSU v Rice-6pm-ESPN, Radio

The Final series in the 1st year of the new box, and it's a good one. Rice is ranked 6th nationally and is the CUSA champ. And we have never beat them in Regional/Super play. So, no worries then

Damn Strong® weekend for a baseball series too, clear with just a light breeze off the river all weekend

ESPN for Fri/Sat, then to The Deuce for Sunday. If you don't live in the LA/Houston area, be prepared for whip-around coverage if it turns into a blowout. Comcast folks can also enjoy the game on ESPN360 for free and watch us all be extremely envious of you. The dulcet tones of Mr Hawthorne and Co. await you on the classic rock dial.

Pitching Matchup

LSU – So. RHP Anthony Ranaudo (9-3, 3.09 ERA, 102.0 IP, 41 BB, 138 SO)
Rice – Jr. RHP Mike Ojala (5-0, 1.73 ERA, 62.1 IP, 24 BB, 68 SO)

 GAME THREAD

 Coverage Map

LSU - Rice: The Geaux Show Takes its Stab at a Preview

If you believe that past statistics hold any relevance to the LSU - Rice Super Regional this weekend, you may want to stop reading now.  LSU has not faired well against Rice in Regional or Super Regional games.  In fact, if I remember this little fun fact correctly from the Times-Picayune, LSU is something like 0-6 against Rice in regional play. 

LSU will look to right that ship this weekend in Baton Rouge at Alex Box Stadium beginning with the 1st pitch at roughly 6:04pm local time on Friday evening.  As speculated by one highly acclaimed Geaux Show columnist...err...blogger, Anthony Ranaudo will get the start against the Owls.  The Owls will counter with Mike Ojala, a right hander who is 5-0 with a 1.73 ERA this year. 

I am not going to even pretend to know anything about Ojala, but that record and low ERA is impressive.  At the same time, I do not know against what type of competition those numbers come against. 

Overall, the two teams compare pretty favorably.  Both team ERA's are a shade over 4.00.  LSU has a little bit more pop, while Rice holds a slight edge in batting average.

The main guy offensively for Rice is Anthony Rendon.  He is hitting .384 with 19 homeruns and 70 RBI's.

The Geaux Show consensus:  Rice will be no easy obstacle for LSU.  They are always a consistent team.  Good pitching, solid hitting, and overall smart baseball has made Rice one of the most consistent teams in college baseball over the last decade.

The best 2 of 3 format sets up perfectly for LSU starters, Ranaudo and Louis Coleman.  Offensively, LSU needs to regain some of the swagger they had late last season and earlier this year. 

Prediction: Of course, I am going to go with LSU at home.  Ranaudo and Coleman have been outstanding in the postseason to this point.  In the past, LSU hitting has led the way to Omaha.  This year, everyone in college baseball will be talking about the pitching.

GEAUX TIGERS!!!!!!!!

Writers note - I am in no mood to edit this preview for spelling, grammatical errors, etc.  Those who know me well, know I am a real grammar nerd.  I am asking those who expect a lot of me on this front, to please excuse me this one time.  Your acceptance of this will not go unnoticed.  Thank you and good night.

LSU to Face Rice in Super Regional: Schedule Announced

In our last entry, LSU's Super Regional opponent was yet to be determined.  But the Rice Owls fought theire way out of the loser's bracket at the Houston, TX regional and beat Kansas State on Monday to advance to the Super Regional this weekend.  Rice defeated K State in the deciding game 13-4.

LSU and Rice will square off in the best of three series this weekend at Alex Box Stadium.  Game one is Friday night at 6:00pm.  ESPN is slated to televize games 1 and 2 this weekend.  Game 2 is 4:00pm on Saturday.  If necessary, game 3 will be at 6:00pm on Sunday.  Should that game take place, ESPN 2 will carry that one.

With only two wins needed  to advance to Omaha, I figure LSU will start either Anthony Ranaudo or Louis Coleman in game 1, with the other getting the game 2 start.  Smart money would be on Ranaudo since it seems to follow the sequence.  Both Ranaudo and Coleman were outstanding in the Baton Rouge Regional this past weekend.

Should there be a game three, I would expect Austin Ross to get the nod.  Ross was shaky at times during the regular season, but has pitched pretty well in the 2009 postseason.

Keep an eye to the Geaux Show website for updates, or perhaps, a possible mid-week show preview LSU and Rice this weekend.