Baton Rouge Region 2014 Baseball World Series Breakdown
#8 LSU, Houston, Bryant, Southeastern Louisiana
LSU grabbed the eighth and final national seed for the postseason after winning their final eight games of the season, including four straight to win the SEC Tournament. The Tigers lineup is on fire from top to bottom right now and is a big reason that the team is on a roll. Over the past eight games, LSU has failed to score seven runs in a game just once. Five different starters are hitting over .300 and five different players have hit at least four home runs. Shortstop Alex Bregman, who leads the way with a .301 average, is tied for the team lead in home runs with six and leads in RBI’s with 44. Sean McMullen, who also has six home runs, hit the game winning two run shot against Florida that gave LSU the SEC Tournament championship and he should ride that momentum into the regional. On the mound, LSU has one of the best pitchers in the country in Aaron Nola. Nola is 10-1 with a 1.49 ERA and holds batters to a .173 batting average. The second starter, Jared Poche’, is no slouch, sporting a 9-3 record and a 2.21 ERA. And the bullpen has a number of quality arms.
Houston is a very tough two seed. The Cougars just missed out on hosting after winning the American Athletic Conference Tournament and have a 44-15 record. Houston has had success this season because of their pitching staff, which has the best overall ERA in the nation at 2.04. Tyler Ford has been electric out of the bullpen, posting an 8-0 record with a 1.26 ERA and closer Chase Wellbrock has 12 saves and a 1.15 ERA. The Cougars top four starters have ERA’s below 3.00 and the overall depth of the pitching staff should help the Cougars contend in the regional. The third seed is Bryant out of the small Northeast Conference. But don’t let the conference size fool you, Bryant is a very dangerous team that ranks in the top 12 in the country in batting average, slugging percentage, stolen bases per game, doubles per game and scoring offense. Junior outfielder Carl Anderson leads the team in stolen bases, 29, home runs, 7, and RBI’s, 40, and freshman outfielder Matt Albanese has added 16 doubles. Bryant also has a trio of veteran pitchers on the mound that all have at least nine wins this season. Rounding out the regional is Southland Conference Tournament champ Southeastern Louisiana. The Lions are led by the duo of Anthony Cutura and Tate Scioneaux on the mound and have a dangerous lineup that features a 2-3-4 combo that has combined to hit 52 doubles, nine home runs and drive in 135 runs. LSU is the favorite, but don’t be surprised if one of these teams is able to take them down.
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