LSU to host UC Irvine in super regional

• By RANDY ROSETTA
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Jun 2, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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LSU’s path to the 14th College World Series in program history will be blocked by a team coached by a familiar face.

After downing Oral Roberts 8-0 Sunday to claim the Lincoln regional championship, UC Irvine heads to Baton Rouge later this week for super regional play. The Anteaters are seeking their second straight CWS berth after advancing to Omaha last year for the first time in their history.

UC Irvine is coached by former Southern California coach Mike Gillespie, who twice brought the Trojans to Alex Box Stadium for regional play.

In 1990 and 1994, USC came to Baton Rouge and pushed LSU to the brink in both tournaments.

The Trojans beat the Tigers 5-4 early in the 1990 regional, but lost two tightly contested games in the championship round, 5-4 and 7-6. LSU handed Southern Cal two losses in ’94 as well.

The Tigers also clipped the Trojans 12-10 in a 1998 CWS opening-round matchup. But Gillespie and Troy gained revenge the following week, ending LSU’s season with 5-4 and 7-3 triumphs en route to the Trojans’ 12th national championship.

Gillespie returned to a college dugout this season after he retired in 2006, ending a 20-year run at USC that included a 763-471-2 record, five Pac-10 championships, four World Series trips and the 1998 national championship.

Also a former USC player, Gillespie and Arizona’s Jerry Kindall are the only men who played for and coached NCAA championship baseball teams. Gillespie was the Trojans left fielder on the 1961 title team.

With Sunday’s regional-sealing victory, LSU is now 15-3 in home regionals since first hosting in 1986.

The Tigers won nine in a row at home from 1996-2004 before losing to Rice in 2005.

Since super regional play began in 1999, the Tigers have won the three times they have hosted — beating UCLA in 2000, Baylor in 2003 and Texas A&M in 2004.