And John, I was thinking along the lines that BHelm said in his post, a little, but mostly I was talking a little smack :grin:....except for the part about anteaters licking and swallowing. :hihi:....That part is very accurate. :thumb:.
23 NCAA Tournament Appearances by LSU before this season. We won each of the 23 Regionals except for 5 (made it to CWS 15 times, won National Championship 6 times) Of those 23, they were all in Baton Rouge except for 4: but all 4 were in TX/LA/MS. This Regional in Los Angeles will be quite the deviation geographically compared to the other 23 NCAA Tournament Appearances we had in our history. Los Angeles Regional 2010 -- ?? Baton Rouge Regional 2009 -- Regional Champs (3-0) -- went to CWS 2008 -- Regional Champs (3-0) -- went to CWS 2005 -- went 2-2 in Regional 2004 -- Regional Champs (3-0) -- went to CWS 2003 -- Regional Champs (3-0) -- went to CWS 2002 -- Regional Champs (5-1) -- lost to Rice in Super Regional 2001 -- Regional Champs (3-1) -- lost to Tulane in Super Regional 2000 -- Regional Champs (3-0) -- went to CWS 1999 -- Regional Champs (5-1) -- lost to Bama in Super Regional 1998 -- Regional Champs (4-0) -- went to CWS 1997 -- Regional Champs (5-1) -- went to CWS 1996 -- Regional Champs (4-0) -- went to CWS 1995 -- went 2-2 in Regional 1994 -- Regional Champs (4-0) -- went to CWS 1993 -- Regional Champs (5-1) -- went to CWS 1992 -- went 2-2 in Regional 1991 -- Regional Champs (4-0) -- went to CWS 1990 -- Regional Champs (5-1) -- went to CWS 1986 -- Regional Champs (4-0) -- went to CWS College Station Regional 1989 -- Regional Champs (5-1) -- went to CWS New Orleans Regional 1987 -- Regional Champs (4-0) -- went to CWS Austin Regional 1985 -- went 0-2 in Regional Starkville Regional 1975 -- went 1-2 in Regional ================================================== Or, to look at in chronologically: Los Angeles Regional 2010 -- ?? Baton Rouge Regional 2009 -- Regional Champs (3-0) -- went to CWS 2008 -- Regional Champs (3-0) -- went to CWS 2007 -- did not make NCAA Tourney 2006 -- did not make NCAA Tourney 2005 -- went 2-2 in Regional 2004 -- Regional Champs (3-0) -- went to CWS 2003 -- Regional Champs (3-0) -- went to CWS 2002 -- Regional Champs (5-1) -- lost to Rice in Super Regional 2001 -- Regional Champs (3-1) -- lost to Tulane in Super Regional 2000 -- Regional Champs (3-0) -- went to CWS 1999 -- Regional Champs (5-1) -- lost to Bama in Super Regional 1998 -- Regional Champs (4-0) -- went to CWS 1997 -- Regional Champs (5-1) -- went to CWS 1996 -- Regional Champs (4-0) -- went to CWS 1995 -- went 2-2 in Regional 1994 -- Regional Champs (4-0) -- went to CWS 1993 -- Regional Champs (5-1) -- went to CWS 1992 -- went 2-2 in Regional 1991 -- Regional Champs (4-0) -- went to CWS 1990 -- Regional Champs (5-1) -- went to CWS College Station Regional 1989 -- Regional Champs (5-1) -- went to CWS 1988-- did not make NCAA Tourney New Orleans Regional 1987 -- Regional Champs (4-0) -- went to CWS Baton Rouge Regional 1986 -- Regional Champs (4-0) -- went to CWS Austin Regional 1985 -- went 0-2 in Regional 1984 -- did not make NCAA Tourney 1983 -- did not make NCAA Tourney 1982 -- did not make NCAA Tourney 1981 -- did not make NCAA Tourney 1980 -- did not make NCAA Tourney 1979 -- did not make NCAA Tourney 1978 -- did not make NCAA Tourney 1977 -- did not make NCAA Tourney 1976 -- did not make NCAA Tourney Starkville Regional 1975 -- went 1-2 in Regional
none of those percentages or national rankings mean jack sh!t. :huh: not when the teams are separated by mere hundredths. there are five spots b/w Kent State with a .318 avg and LSU with a .317. SoS could even it out a lot though. but guys, make no mistake. UCLA is a good team. it took me awhile to warm up to them, as i thought they were overrated all season, but i have about 12 games tivo'ed and let me tell you something. their starting pitching is scary good. typical california. thing is, i'd rather play some of those southern schools that hit the cover off of the ball right now. i think that our pitching is good enough to quell their bats, but i know our bats are definitely hot enough to quell their pitching. but can we hit these guys? time will tell. they have one guy (a lefty) who throws junk and he'll probably baffle our hitters. we have had trouble catching up with "junkball" pitchers, like that one that bama threw against us in the champ game. we eventually came around and hit him, but if UCLA keeps its 'pen ready so that we never get used to a pitcher it will be a long ride home.
yeah i agree, stats mean nothing at this point. they play a different style of baseball on the west coast, and the weather should help us. Maybe playing out west wont drain our starting pitching as much as it does playing in the South.
I think the weather should help us. The weather in South California is known for being the best weather in the USA. I'd think that it would be similar to the weather in Omaha, in that both are less hot and less humid than the weather we have at home. As for the different style of baseball on the west coast, Maineiri pointed out this about it to the LSU Reveille: "California style baseball ... it’s going to be a big adjustment for us." (LINK) He didn't make it sound like a positive, but he's always like that, talking up our opponents, which I think is a good strategy in sports in general. I do think that UCLA's home ballpark, the smallest in the Pac 10, will be an advantage for our team. The smaller the stadium, the less opposing fans will be there (not only is it the UCLA home stadium, but UC Irvine is only an hour drive away--that would be like LSU playing in New Orleans for the Regional). Also, the smaller the stadium, the more it is like playing the ball game in a local park. Baseball is a finesse game, and being calm and relaxed helps you with the delicacy of execution required in baseball, similar to golf or other finesse games. UCLA's ball park looks very calm and relaxing. And it looks very park-like with the minimal amount of human-made structures... and lots of trees and lots of greenery. And apparently, it has a pro-quality playing surface: "Thanks to a major lead gift from the Steele Foundation in the summer of 2007, the baseball program was able to install a state-of-the-art, major-league playing surface in January 2008...one of the cleanest and best surfaces in college baseball." Steele Field at Jackie Robinson Stadium - UCLA OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE
Also, I personally love ballparks with tall trees just beyond the outfield wall like this, I like seeing our guys smash home runs that clear the top of the tall trees
Since 2000, LSU has only gone west of the Louisiana border a few times: to Houston TX in 2002 and 2005. Other than that, the only times LSU has gone west since 2000 were: March-Feb 2003 Long Beach St. at Long Beach, CA, Blair Field (Los Angeles metro area) L 1-12, L 1-5, W 7-2 March 2001 Arizona St. at Tempe, Ariz W 12-11, W 15-7, T 5-5 As for Coach PM, when he was coaching Notre Dame (1995 to 2006), he took his Fightin' Irish team to the Los Angeles metro area several times, including for a Regional... he had a 5-7 record in all his Los Angeles area games with ND...and a 4-2 record in Los Angeles area games since 2000 2004 USC Classic, Dedeaux Field, Los Angeles, California 2/20 vs. San Diego State W 7-1 2/21 at Southern Calif. W 3-1 2003 NCAA Fullerton Regional, Goodwin Field (Los Angeles metro area) 5/30 vs. Arizona W 13-5 5/31 at Cal State Fullerton L 3-4 5/31 vs. San Diego W 6-3 6/1 at Cal State Fullerton L 1-8 1997 Long Beach State Classic (Los Angeles metro area) 2/21 at Long Beach State L 8-10 2/22 vs. Southern Calif. L 4-14 2/23 vs. Ole Miss L 5-11 1995 Anaheim Classic, Fullerton, California (Los Angeles metro area) 2/24 vs.Texas L 6-10 2/25 at Cal State Fullerton L 3-20 2/26 vs. Pepperdine W 14-5 Paul Mainieri, Notre Dame baseball coach, 1995-2006 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 (a clover for every year as Notre Dame head coach) LSU! 2007 LSU! 2008 LSU! 2009 LSU! 2010 (a LSU for every year as LSU head coach)
