Lafayette Regional Preview
Baseball America will break down all 16 regionals, including Lafayette, hosted by Louisiana-Lafayette. Alex Simon has the details.
| STAT PACK (National rank in parentheses) |
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| Team | Avg. | Scoring (R/G) | HR | SB | ERA | K/9 | WHIP | Fielding %age |
| 1. UL-Lafayette | .276 (132) | 5.6 (126) | 40 (86) | 58 (122) | 3.21 (23) | 8.6 (22) | 1.13 (4) | .976 (32) |
| 2. Arizona | .292 (61) | 6.2 (76) | 19 (237) | 73 (57) | 3.43 (31) | 6.8 (189) | 1.20 (12) | .975 (35) |
| 3. Sam Houston State | .291 (63) | 6.0 (91) | 29 (155) | 78 (42) | 3.85 (66) | 7.0 (167) | 1.29 (39) | .969 (135) |
| 4. Princeton | .261 (211) | 5.1 (182) | 20 (228) | 31 (256) | 3.82 (63) | 5.2 (291) | 1.35 (67) | .967 (160) |
1. Louisiana-Lafayette (41-19, 21-9 in Sun Belt Conference)
16th appearance (fourth straight), automatic, Sun Belt regular season co-champions, Sun Belt Tournament champion
Top 300 Prospects: None
Season in A Sentence: One of the top 10 pitching teams in the nation statistically, the Ragin’ Cajuns have caught fire at the end of the season, rolling through the Sun Belt Tournament on their way to hosting the regional.
Player To Watch: Dylan Moore, rhp: If the Cajuns get to the late innings with a lead and Moore is available, the game may already be over. The sophomore closer has been incredible all season, allowing just five earned runs in 47 2/3 innings while striking out 56. Moore can get more than three outs, too—more than half of his appearances have been two full innings or longer.
Best Weekend: at South Alabama, May 13-15. ULL needed to take two of three at South Alabama to even have a chance to win the regular season conference title. It looked bleak after a walk-off loss in the opener, but an 11-inning win May 14 and a four-run first May 15 gave Louisiana-Lafayette two of three, and started the 10-game winning streak the Cajuns are bringing to the NCAA tournament.
Outlook: ULL has relied on starters Gunner Leger (6-3, 2.08 ERA) and Nick Lee (7-1, 3.18 ERA) all season long, and the two are a key part of the team’s 22-5 home record. As M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field hosts its third regional ever (the others were in 2000 and 2014), expect the Cajun faithful to be their usual rowdy selves, creating a true home-field advantage.
2. Arizona (38-20, 16-14 in Pac-12 Conference)
38th appearance (last in 2012), at-large, tied for 3rd in Pac-12
Top 300 Prospects: 3B/RHP Bobby Dalbec (89)
Season in A Sentence: Picked to finish ninth in the Pac-12’s preseason coaches’ poll, Arizona vastly outperformed expectations in coach Jay Johnson’s first season on the job and finished with the best RPI in the conference (21).
Player To Watch: Zach Gibbons, of and Cody Ramer, 2b: The two 5-8 seniors have torn up pitching for the Wildcats this season, with Gibbons leading the team with a .385 average and .472 on-base percentage. Ramer is the slugger of the two, with eight triples and one home run giving him a team-leading .494 slugging percentage. Both strike out less than they walk and have finished their careers as one of the strongest top-of-the-lineup tandems in the country.
Best Weekend: vs. Oregon State, May 6-8. After sweeping California in Berkeley two weekends before, the Wildcats swept the other preseason Pac-12 favorite Oregon State. Led by strong pitching performances (they held the Beavers to seven runs all weekend) and Gibbons’ bat, the Wildcats finished the weekend in prime position for a NCAA tournament bid.
Outlook: In what was supposed to be a transitional year, Johnson has Arizona back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since it won the national championship in 2012. The Wildcats do a good job of playing to Hi Corbett Field, but they’ve also found ways to win away from home, going 15-13 away from Tucson. Johnson has the Wildcats focused and believing in themselves, traits that will serve them well this weekend.
3. Sam Houston State (41-20, 24-6 in Southland Conference)
10th appearance (last in 2014), automatic, Southland regular season and conference champions
Top 300 Prospects: None
Season in A Sentence: Slow starts in nonconference (lost first five games) and conference (lost three of first four) play were quickly turned around, as the Bearkats rolled through the Southland regular season and captured the tournament title.
Player To Watch: Andrew Fregia, 3b: The freshman didn’t hit the ball too often this season, batting .268/.316/.512 while playing in every game. But he crushed the ball when he did, swatting 14 doubles, seven triples and eight homers. He bounced all over the lineup for Sam Houston State, batting in each position at least once. When he batted ninth, the Bearkats went 17-5.
Best Weekend: vs. Oklahoma, Feb. 26-28. After starting the year 0-5, the Bearkats hosted the then-25th-ranked Sooners on the second weekend of the season. Sam Houston State swept the series, capping off the weekend with a 4-3 walk-off win in 11 innings.
Outlook: Sam Houston State is rolling right now, having won 10 of its last 11 entering the tournament. The win over Southeastern Louisiana in the Southland Tournament championship game got the Bearkats here, with the pitching only allowing 12 runs in the five games at the tournament. If it can stay hot, Sam Houston State looks ready to do some damage in Lafayette.
4. Princeton (24-19, 13-7 in Ivy League)
12th appearance (last in 2011), automatic, Ivy League regular season champion and tournament champion
Top 300 Prospects: None
Season in A Sentence: Princeton doesn’t have a potent offense, but found ways to win all season long, riding good pitching and opportunistic rallies to win the Ivy League in dramatic fashion.
Player To Watch: Chad Powers, rhp: The junior shone as the second starter for Princeton, using the Ivy League’s doubleheader scheduling to scout the opponents and formulate his game plan. The unanimous Ivy League Pitcher of the Year went 6-3, 2.07 and allowed just four earned runs in 45 innings in conference play.
Best Weekend: vs. Yale, May 14-15. Princeton’s best weekend really was a single day: after losing Game 1 of the Ivy League’s Championship Series to Yale, the Tigers had to sweep Sunday’s doubleheader to claim the title. Powers pitched seven solid innings in Game 2 to earn the win, but Princeton was shut out for eight innings in Game 3. The Tigers rallied in the ninth, and pushed the two runs it needed across on a bases-loaded hit batter and walk-off wild pitch.
Outlook: The Tigers opened their season at Louisville, so they’ve played high-level competition, but they went 0-5 against top-100 RPI teams. Friday will also be Princeton’s first competitive game in nearly three weeks. All of that amounts to a lot of obstacles to overcome this weekend.
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