After his 12-6 victory over Rice Friday night, Southeastern Louisiana head coach was blunt with the media about Southeastern’s relationship with LSU and what needs to happen ahead of their game two against the Tigers.
“One day little brother grows up and becomes a man,” Riser said. “What has to happen to us this weekend is for us to grow up a little bit and little brother to grow up to be a man.”
In a way, little brother did just grow up. Southeastern’s victory over Rice was the only the second opening round victory in Southeastern’s history and the first since 1992. For those in Louisiana and those who follow the game closely nationally, Friday night’s result was a long time coming for a program that was generally seen as being on the rise.
But in order to get over the hump, they’ll need to beat LSU with one of the country’s best aces throwing in one of the hardest places to play in college baseball. The odds are stacked against the Lions, as they always are.
History is also on LSU’s side, with the Tigers holding a 68-17 advantage in the series history that dates back to 1937. LSU is 22 of their last 23 against their foe from down I-12, with Southeastern’s lone win in that span coming in 2008. LSU has one game up on SLU this season after they pulled away late in an 8-2 victory back in late March.
SLU will match LSU’s throwing of Alex Lange with Mac Scerloler, who is the nephew of LSU great Ben McDonald, whom Alex Lange passed on the list of career strikeouts at LSU in the SEC Tournament. Sceroler is an ace in his own right, posting an ERA of 3.24, which is far up from his first two seasons, on 97.1 innings pitched and posting a K/BB of 3.60 (108/30). For comparison, Alex Lange is sitting at a 2.59 ERA in the same amount of innings with a K/BB of 3.57 (118/33).
The game will start at 7:00, or more accurately 30 minutes after Texas Southern-Rice concludes, whenever that may be, and will be broadcast online only via WatchESPN.