LSU Baseball Earns Bid in Oregon Regional of 2021 NCAA Tournament

Real work can begin now that Tigers have solidified spot in final NCAA Tournament for Paul Mainieri

It's been a long week for LSU baseball but the Tigers can breathe temporary sigh of relief as the purple and gold were placed in the Oregon regional of the 2021 NCAA Tournament on Monday. 

Joining LSU and Oregon in the regional will be Central Connecticut and the Tigers first opponent Gonzaga. The Tigers will face the Zags on Friday at 9 p.m. central.

Entering Monday's selection show, it was a real mystery as to what the tournament committee would decide as the Tigers had one of the tougher schedules in the conference and a solid RPI standing, but didn't exactly navigate its schedule all that well. 

It turns out the Tigers weren't among the "last four in" by the tournament committee, meaning the purple and gold did enough to firmly plant its way to a bid. The Tigers do have experience with traveling to Oregon for a regional as LSU was selected for the Oregon State regional back in 2018, losing twice to the Beavers.

This team was no doubt scoreboard watching as various upsets across the country threatened to put a pin in the Tigers' 2021 campaign without a postseason bid but now that they know they're in, the real work can begin. 

LSU (34-22, 13-17) held a few practices late last week after coming home from Hoover and the SEC Tournament early with a 4-1 loss to Georgia. A number of SEC teams were on the bubble, including Georgia and Alabama, but the Crimson Tide only got in.

This season's tournament will carry a little extra weight for the Tigers as it'll be the last for legendary coach Paul Mainieri. In his 15 years as coach, LSU has only missed the NCAA Tournament twice, in his first season in 2007 and in 2011, when that team coincidentally also went 13-17 in SEC play. 

"I'm all in. I'm not retired yet. The season is not over yet," Mainieri said at his retirement press conference. "I believe wholeheartedly that we'll get a bit, and if we do, the coaching staff is going to be totally engaged and where are we get sent, we are going to play like LSU Tigers are supposed to play. And I think we can win a Regional and then we'll think about a Super Regional after that."

Mainieri and a few players are set to speak with the media shortly about the tournament selection.