By JAMES MORAN | Tiger Rag Associate Editor
LSU finally knows its opponent for this weekend’s Baton Rouge Super Regional.
In fact, the Tigers know them quite well.
Andy Cannizaro and Mississippi State beat host Southern Miss twice Monday to take the Hattiesburg Regional and set up a best-of-three playoff with a trip to Omaha on the line and storylines about. The Bulldogs won 8-6 in the nightcap, its fourth win in two days, to advance.
LSU handled Cannizaro and the Bulldogs in their regular-series meeting, sweeping three games in Starkville to claim the Southeastern Conference and SEC West crown during the final weekend of the season.
The series will begin on Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Box. Game two will be played Sunday at 8 p.m. Game three, if necessary, will happen Monday at a time to be determined.
The matchup of Paul Mainieri and Cannizaro will generate plenty of headlines as the week goes on. It’s underscored by the storyline of the former hitting coach squaring off with his former charger to go to the College World Series.
It’ll be the first time LSU takes on another SEC club in the super regionals since 1999, the year the current format started. The Tigers swept two games from Alabama.
The entire super regional round has a strong SEC flavor. LSU and Mississippi State are joined by Florida, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt and Kentucky. The league tied its own record with six super regional participants.
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