Back at the Box

• By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: May 27, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

A local May tradition was reprised Monday, with another NCAA tournament regional field being announced for LSU’s Alex Box Stadium.

This one, though, comes after LSU’s two-year absence from NCAA tournament play.

The big plus Monday: the return also carries a coveted top-eight national seed for LSU, No. 7 in the 64-team field.

“It’s definitely special to be a part of something past LSU teams were a part of, continue the tradition anew here,” senior third baseman Michael Hollander said. “It’s a great thing for us to get back to those expectations.”

Southeastern Conference champion LSU (43-16-1) will play Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Texas Southern (16-32) at 1 p.m. Friday at Alex Box Stadium.

Southern Mississippi (40-20), seeded second in the four-team, double-elimination regional, and New Orleans (42-19), seeded third, play at 6 p.m.

The regional winner at LSU will be paired with the winner from the regional at Nebraska in a best two-of-three super regional.

Nebraska, Eastern Illinois, Oral Roberts and UC Irvine play in Lincoln, Neb.

As a top-eight national seed, LSU will host the super regional if the Tigers win their regional.

“The national seed is important only if we get through the first round,” second-year LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “If we don’t take care of business, being a national seed means nothing.”

Hollander played on LSU’s last NCAA tournament team, in 2005. The Tigers, who won five national championships from 1991-2000, had made the College World Series in 2003 and ’04.

For so many years, getting a regional for LSU and Alex Box Stadium seemed a rite of spring, almost a given around here. But that wasn’t the case the last two seasons, with LSU changing head coaches.

Hollander, who grew up watching LSU baseball teams carve a rich tradition, said he didn’t watch the televised selection show last season.