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Previewing the 2017 NCAA College Baseball Tournament

By Benjamin Chase

Jun 30, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; Coastal Carolina Chanticleers players celebrate with the national championship trophy after defeating the Arizona Wildcats in game three of the College World Series championship series at TD Ameritrade Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 30, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; Coastal Carolina Chanticleers players celebrate with the national championship trophy after defeating the Arizona Wildcats in game three of the College World Series championship series at TD Ameritrade Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports /
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Baton Rouge Regional

1. LSU 43-17
2. Southeastern Louisiana 36-20
3. Rice 31-29
4. Texas Southern 20-32

LSU finished strong to get a top seed in the tournament, coming into tournament play with 11 straight wins. LSU has a long history of success in postseason play and a number of their roster have the experience to make a return trip to Omaha.

While another local squad, Southeastern Louisiana is a pretty distant #2 in this region. After a rough finish in the Southland Tournament, the Lions will be looking for redemption as their opening round opponent will be the team that knocked them out last season in Rice.

After opening terribly, Rice finished 18-4 to come into the tournament hot, really deserving the #2 slot over Southeastern Louisiana. Rice has a number of solid young players that aren’t even draft eligible yet, so this year could be a building block for 2018.

Winning the tournament got Texas Southern into the tournament, but they have the worst RPI of any team in the tournament and should really offer little resistance. That said, they really were not expected to do what they did in their own conference tournament, so they could surprise.

Top Draft Prospect
While LSU righty Alex Lange may have peaked performance-wise as a freshman, he’s going to be a guy that’s leaned on heavily if LSU makes another run to Omaha this year. Lange’s likely to hear his name called on the first day of the draft, ranked #33 on Baseball America’s top 500 list, but with a number of teams at the back end of the first round having heavy interest in getting a collegiate starter in hand. Lange’s elite curve and his mid-90s fastball are a lethal combination, but how well his upper-80s change can move down in the zone will determine the effectiveness he will have as a professional.

Projection: LSU

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