1 LSU Tigers
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Automatic bid – won SEC Tournament
2017 record: 21-9, 43-17 (first in SEC West)
Head coach: Paul Mainieri (FIU, 1980)
Record at school: 503-199-3 (11 years)
Overall record: 1,367-691-8 (35 years)
Assistant coaches: Alan Dunn, Nolan Cain, Micah Gibbs
Team offense: .294 BA, 407 R, 55 HR, .437 SLG%, .389 OBP%, 64-88 SB
Team pitching: 3.60 ERA, 532.2 IP, 460 H, 222 BB, 511 K
Top hitters: Cole Freeman (.332/2/37/17-23 SB), Greg Deichmann (.330/19/67), Antoine Duplantis (.328/1/52/18-22 SB), Kramer Robertson (.314/8/39), Zach Watson (.312/4/27), Nick Coomes (.295/2/23)
Top pitchers: Hunter Newman (1-1, 1.16, 10 SV, 23.1 IP, 16 H, 14 BB, 24 K), Alex Lange (8-5, 2.59, 97.1 IP, 86 H, 33 BB, 118 K), Jared Poche’ (10-3, 3.18, 90.2 IP, 76 H, 29 BB, 55 K), Eric Walker (7-1, 3.78, 85.2 IP, 74 H, 23 BB, 70 K)
Last NCAA appearance: 2016 (3-1 at Baton Rouge Regional, 0-2 at Baton Rouge Super Regional)
Notes: The Tigers have won 11 straight games and 16 of their past 18. Greg Deichmann was named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award. He was All-SEC First team. He is second in the SEC with 19 home runs, 67 RBI and slugging percentage of .638. Jared Poche’, Friday’s scheduled starter, has a career record of 37-12. He is one win away from the program record of 38 career victories by Scott Schultz (1992-95). LSU is 2-0 all-time vs. Texas Southern.
2 Southeastern Louisiana Lions
Hammond, Louisiana
At-large bid from Southland
2017 record: 20-10, 36-20 (second in Southland)
Head coach: Matt Riser (Tulane, 2007)
Record at school: 155-81 (4 years)
Overall record: Same
Assistant coaches: Daniel Latham, Andrew Gipson, Kaleb Manuel
Team offense: .255 BA, 366 R, 55 HR, .414 SLG%, .368 OBP%, 110-144 SB
Team pitching: 4.09 ERA, 497.1 IP, 474 H, 168 BB, 401 K
Top hitters: Taylor Schwaner (.320/13/68), Drew Avans (.314/4/29/26-30 SB), Derrick Mount (.302/5/34), Carson Crites (.301/14/58), Ryan Byers (.266/11/42)
Top pitchers: Corey Gaconi (6-5, 2.83, 101.2 IP, 93 H, 12 BB, 66 K), Evan Hileman (3-2, 5 SV, 2.87, 31.1 IP, 24 H, 6 BB, 29 K), Mac Sceroler (9-1, 3.24, 97.1 IP, 76 H, 30 BB, 108 K), Carlisle Koestler (4-4, 4.48, 64.1 IP, 52 H, 28 BB, 54 K)
Last NCAA appearance: 2016 (1-2 at Baton Rouge Regional)
Notes: The Lions are making their third trip in four years under Matt Riser, who was hired at the age of 29 and boasts a degree in biomedical engineering from Tulane. SELA is a gritty squad, ranking in the Top 40 in the country in stolen bases (6th), walks (21st), HBP (36th) and sacrifice flies (25th). But they also have some pop, with Carson Crites (14), Taylor Schwaner (13) and Ryan Byers (11) each with more than 10 homers. Mac Sceroler, whose uncle is former LSU star and current ESPN analyst Ben McDonald, turned into the staff ace as a sophomore and topped 100 strikeouts while limiting opposing hitters to a .214 average. The Lions open against Rice – the teams met in the first round last year in Baton Rouge, with Rice winning.
3 Rice Owls
Houston, Texas
Automatic bid from C-USA
2017 record: 16-14 (31-29 in C-USA)
Head coach: Wayne Graham (Texas, 1970)
Record at school: 1,145-495 (26 years)
Overall record: 1,720-608 (38 years)
Assistant coaches: Clay Van Hook, John Pope, Scott Shepperd
Team offense: .291 BA, 354 R, 48 HR, .435 SLG%, .367 OBP%, 39-60 SB
Team pitching: 5.10 ERA, 518.2 IP, 522 H, 295 BB, 477 K
Top hitters: Dominic DiCaprio (.365/6/47), Dane Myers (.360/6/38), Darryn Sheppard (.315/7/50), Ford Proctor (.309/4/35), Tristan Gray (.299/6/34)
Top pitchers: Zach Esquivel (6-5, 3.62, 82 IP, 82 H, 45 BB, 63 K), Matt Canterino (5-4, 3.94, 91.1 IP, 62 H, 47 BB, 105 K), Glenn Otto (6-4, 8 SV, 3.97, 56.2 IP, 48 H, 28 BB, 78 K), Dane Myers (1-5, 4.09, 50.2 IP, 47 H, 29 BB, 35 K)
Last NCAA appearance: 2016 (3-2 at Baton Rouge Regional)
Notes: Ho-hum, the Owls are back in the tourney for the 23rd straight year. Yet, this year, it wasn’t easy as Rice needed to sweep through the C-USA tourney to earn the automatic bid. Since 1995, Rice is 83-51 in the NCAA tournament under the legend Wayne Graham. This year’s team faced nine other NCAA teams, going 10-13. The Owls’ ERA says 5.10, but a core group of arms including Matt Canterino keep them in games – Canterino limits hitters to a .190 average and has 105 strikeouts but is susceptible to the long ball (11 HR allowed). Glenn Otto can be explosive out of the pen, with 78 Ks in 56.2 IP). Sophomore Dominic DiCaprio hit 70 points higher than last year and had six more homers and 27 more RBI. Darryn Sheppard is a graduate transfer from Baylor.
4 Texas Southern Tigers
Houston, Texas
Automatic bid from the SWAC
2017 record: 14-20, 20-32 (fourth in SWAC)
Head coach: Michael Robertson (Huston-Tillotson College, 1987)
Record at school: 171-247 (8 years)
Overall record: 236-418 (15 years)
Assistant coaches: Ehren Moreno, Aaron Garza, Devin Konarik
Team offense: .256 BA, 265 R, 33 HR, .373 SLG%, .349 OBP%, 104-138 SB
Team pitching: 6.56 ERA, 446 IP, 506 H, 309 BB, 306 K
Top hitters: Gaudencio Lucca (.315/6/28), Gerrek Jimenez (.307/0/16), Kamren Dukes (.283/2/29), Christian Sanchez (.281/5/27), Jose Camacho (.273/5/26), Olajide Oloruntimilehin (.253/10/33/22-24 SB)
Top pitchers: Robert Loza (2-1, 3.95, 27.1 IP, 28 H, 23 BB, 14 K), Seth Oliver (4-4, 4.50, 80 IP, 78 H, 43 BB, 65 K), Anthony Martinez (4-3, 4.70, 59.1 IP, 64 H, 27 BB, 34 K), Michael Villanueva (8-4, 5.43, 68 IP, 58 H, 58 BB, 63 K)
Last NCAA appearance: 2015 (0-2 at College Station Regional)
Notes: The Tigers are in the field for the second time in three seasons and fourth time overall after topping Alabama State 4-2 in 13 innings in the SWAC title game. Texas Southern boasts one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tourney history, beating defending champion and No. 1 seed on the first day of the 2004 tourney. Seth Oliver (3) and expected Friday starter Anthony Martinez (2) share the team’s five complete games. Gaudencio Lucca has 53 hits on the year, and 25 have gone for extra bases – 14 doubles, five triples and six homers.