LSU Coach Gives Cal State Fullerton Room for Optimism

Louisiana State has won the last two College World Series, but this year’s team might be vulnerable to a surprise, perhaps as soon as in this week’s NCAA regional tournament.

Take that from LSU Coach Skip Bertman, who has guided the Tigers to four national championships in the last seven years.

“If there’s a year that we’re going to need the home-field advantage, this is it,” Bertman said. “This is not the best team we’ve put in a regional. This team is not as complete as the ones we’ve had the last two years.”

If there is a team capable of stopping LSU, it is probably Cal State Fullerton.

The Titans (44-15) tossed in one surprise before the first pitch by deciding to start freshman left-hander Jon Smith in their opening game of the South II Regional at 1 p.m. (PDT) today against Harvard (34-10). Smith will be making his first start since March 7.

“We didn’t want to get outsmarted by Harvard,” Titan Coach George Horton said, joking. “That’s why he’s starting.”

Smith was a high school honor student and had straight A’s in his first semester at Fullerton, but his pitching hasn’t been seriously tested in more than two months because of arm trouble. Smith pitched 1 2/3 innings May 10 against UC Santa Barbara in the final regular-season series, giving up three hits and walking one.

Horton said pitching coach Dave Serrano decided to start Smith (2-0, 3.75 earned-run average) in the opener, saving top starters Erasmo Ramirez (10-5) and Benny Flores (12-0) for later in the double-elimination tournament.

“We’re rolling the dice a little, but we felt Jon was going to pitch some time in the tournament, and he’s back at full strength,” Serrano said. “We’ll have him on a pitch count, but we hope he can go four or five innings.”

The decision was an indication that the Titans are taking aim at Tulane (47-13) and LSU (42-17) with Ramirez and Flores.

Tulane plays Southwestern Louisiana (39-20) this morning with the winner going against the Fullerton-Harvard winner on Friday night. LSU plays Nicholls State (28-32), the only team with a losing record in a regional, tonight at 5:30. If LSU wins, the Tigers would play the loser of Tulane-Southwest Louisiana.

LSU, ranked fifth in the country, has lost four of its last five games. The Tigers lost two of three in their final regular-season series against Mississippi. Then LSU dropped two of three in the Southeastern Conference tournament. losing to Arkansas and Mississippi State.

LSU is 28-3 at home but only 14-14 away.

Pitching has been more of a key to LSU’s success this season than the hitting that carried the Tigers to the last two titles. LSU is batting only .292 compared to .328 for Fullerton. However, Eddy Furniss, Trey McClure and Brad Cresse are home run threats. Furniss has 25, McClure 24 and Cresse 22. Aaron Rowand and Ryan Moore are tied for the Titan lead with 13 homers.

“From everything we know, LSU has had more trouble this season with left-handed pitchers,” Serrano said.

Flores and Ramirez are left-handed, as is No. 3 starter Greg Jacobs.

“I just hope this Fullerton team isn’t as good as the last two that played here in regionals,” Bertman said. “They ended up first and second in the College World Series.”

Fullerton won regional titles at LSU in 1995 and 1992. Those are the only times in the 1990s that LSU hasn’t reached the World Series.

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College Baseball

* What: NCAA Division I double-elimination regional playoffs.

* At stake: Winners advance to College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

* When: Regionals begin today and continue through Sunday. College World Series is May 29-June 6.

* Today’s games: (All Pacific Daylight times)

East Regional, Clemson, S.C.: Game 1--USC (40-15) vs. Fordham (27-18), 8 a.m.; Game 2--Clemson (42-14) vs. Citadel (36-22), 4 p.m.; Game 3--Virginia Commonwealth (44-13) vs. South Alabama (39-17), noon

Atlantic I Regional, Coral Gables, Fla.: Game 1--Miami (46-9) vs. Bowling Green (34-19), 4:30 p.m.; Game 2--South Carolina (42-16) vs. Florida International (40-22), 12:45 p.m.; Game 3--North Carolina (39-21) vs. Texas Tech (43-18), 9 a.m.

Atlantic II Regional, Tallahassee, Fla.: Game 1--Florida State (49-18) vs. Liberty (32-27), TBA; Game 2--Auburn (43-16) vs. Rutgers (32-14), TBA; Game 3--Delaware (43-8) vs. Oklahoma (40-18), TBA

South I Regional, Gainesville, Fla.: Game 1--Florida (42-15) vs. Monmouth (30-19), 4 p.m.; Game 2--Wake Forest (41-21) vs. Illinois (39-19), TBA; Game 3--Baylor (40-18-1) vs. Richmond (40-15-1), TBA

South II Regional, Baton Rouge, La.: Game 1--LSU (42-17) vs. Nicholls State (28-32), 5:30 p.m.; Game 2--Cal State Fullerton (44-15) vs. Harvard (34-10), 1 p.m.; Game 3--Tulane (47-13) vs. Southwestern Louisiana (39-20), 9 a.m.

Central Regional, College Station, Texas: Game 1--Rice (45-14) vs. Oral Roberts (44-18), 10 a.m.; Game 2--Texas A & M (43-18) vs. North Carolina Charlotte (43-17), 6 p.m.; Game 3--Washington (39-15) vs. Mississippi State (37-20), 2 p.m.

Midwest Regional, Wichita, Kan.: Game 1--Wichita State (55-5) vs. Southeast Missouri State (32-22), 6 p.m.; Game 2--Georgia Tech (38-20) vs. Oklahoma State (38-19), 2 p.m.; Game 3--Arizona State (34-21) vs. Arkansas (37-19), 10 a.m.

West Regional, Stanford: Game 1--Stanford (41-12-1) vs. Loyola Marymount (33-21-1), 7 p.m.; Game 2--Alabama (43-16) vs. Minnesota (45-13), 3 p.m.; Game 3--Long Beach State (37-20-1) vs. North Carolina State (39-21), 11 a.m.

* Friday’s games: (Same for all regionals) Game 4--Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser; Game 5--Game 1 winner vs. Game 3 loser; Game 6--Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner