The Last Hurrah

It's gameday at Alex Box as the final weekend in the venerable stadium's history begins, with a College World Series berth on the line between LSU and UC-Irvine. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. CT and, unfortunately the game will be on ESPNU, so most of the country won't get the chance to watch.

All those people will be missing out on what could turn out to be a pretty good pitching duel. Friday night starter Ryan Verdugo takes the hill for LSU. The ninth-round MLB Draft pick this week is 9-2 on the year and won las weekend's crucial winner's bracket game against Southern Miss.

On the other side, All-American Scott Gorgen will start for UC-Irvine. Gorgen was a fourth-round pick on Thursday and is the Anteaters' ace.

However, if you look around the country on Friday night, pitching didn't really hold up in the first three Super Regional Games as only No. 1 Miami was held below four runs. Georgia and Wichita State each hit double-digits.  So, even though both teams are throwing their ace, don't expect a 3-2 thriller, especially the way LSU has been mashing lately.

However, Friday wasn't necessarily good to host teams as two lost and another was trailing when this was posted. And who can overlook the fact that UCI is undefeated in regional and super regional games over the last two years -- ALL on the road.

It should be an interesting weekend at The Box, one sure to be full of plenty of emotion, plenty of tension and plenty of good baseball. Let's just hope LSU can ride this wave one more time and find its way back to Omaha.