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

Quite a run here. Can't help but notice 2006 and 2007 missing though. Thanks Smoke!

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.

Wow, we really went to the CWS 15 times in 21 years?

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)

close, 24 yrs.