Carl Dubois for May 6

• By CARL DUBOIS
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: May 6, 2008 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — The largest crowd to see an LSU baseball game at Alex Box Stadium was 7,607 for the second and final game of the 2004 super regional, Tigers vs. Texas A&M. It broke a day-old record by nine fans.

There are three games left at the Box. Will LSU and Mississippi State break the record Sunday at the final scheduled game at the 70-year-old ballpark?

Maybe I am asking the wrong question.

Are there only three games left at the Box? We might not know for sure when we leave there after Sunday’s game.

LSU’s nine-game winning streak puts the Tigers at 32-16-1 overall, first in the SEC Western Division at 12-11-1.

You figure LSU is due to cool off a bit, but maybe not a lot. The final homestand features three games against the 12th-place team in the SEC.

Then LSU plays a nonconference game against UNO and ends the regular season at Auburn, the 11th-place team in the SEC.

Considering the competition and the newfound confidence and chemistry these LSU Tigers possess, it’s not out of the question to imagine them winning, say, five of their last seven regular-season games.

That would put LSU at 37-18-1 and comfortably into the SEC tournament, where Paul Mainieri’s team could dare to take aim at the magic 40-win mark.

A team with that résumé and the solid RPI it would generate with LSU’s schedule would be an attractive postseason draw.

Could the NCAA then say no to the prospect of sending Alex Box Stadium out with one more regional, one more chance for LSU to showcase the greatest postseason atmosphere in college baseball outside of Omaha?

The Tigers would earn serious consideration if they keep playing like they are. Then the NCAA would have to decide whether LSU could once more live up to its former glory as a regional site.

Among the reasons the Tigers are moving into a new Box next season is the place has become increasingly ill-equipped to handle the demands of a modern regional.