Road-tested Tigers excited about playing in electric setting
When Texas Southern’s name showed up during the NCAA Baseball Selection Show, the Tigers were nothing less than excited about being sent to the Baton Rouge Regional.
Facing No. 4 overall seed LSU — a premier program with one of the more raucous fan bases in the country — at Alex Box Stadium was a welcome assignment.
“Just from the expression from our ballclub when our name flashed under LSU, it tells me all along that that was the place that they wanted to go,” TSU coach Michael Robertson said.
Fourth-seeded TSU (2032) will play the regional opener against top seed LSU at 2:30 p.m. Friday on the SEC Network. The teams share the regional with Southeastern Louisiana and Rice, who play at 7 p.m. Friday.
A glance at TSU’s record suggests it has the résumé of a team that didn’t get hot until the conference tournament, and Robertson said that’s true. TSU finished second in the SWAC West and defeated Alabama State in 13 innings to win its second conference tournament title in three years and the league’s automatic NCAA bid.
But 36 road games this season were the real test. The Tigers spent several days in Louisiana taking on the likes of Nicholls State, Southern and Grambling and playing the SWAC tournament in New Orleans. LSU is a different beast, of course, but Robertson believes his team is prepared.
“We’re definitely battletested,” he said. “We’re used to being on a bus. We’re used to being on the road. I don’t think playing at Alex Box will affect our kids as much as people may think.”
Robertson credited his pitching staff for the conference tournament run. Anthony Martinez’s impressive outing against Alabama A&M was a good start before Darius Boykins gave TSU a solid six innings against Jackson State in a game that ended with Christian Sanchez’s walkoff two-run homer.
“I think after that moment, our kids really felt like this was our time,” Robertson said.
Perhaps most impressive was Ryan Hawkins, previously 0-6, getting his first win of the year in the second game against Jackson State, pitching 81⁄3 innings in the process.
It’s interesting that the TSU baseball team’s schedule mimics that of the TSU men’s basketball team, which is well-known for grueling road stretches.
The baseball team’s rise over the last few years coincides with the success of other TSU outfits like the men’s and women’s basketball teams, the women’s golf team and the softball team — all conference champions and all NCAA Tournament participants this spring.
“Of course, our basketball team, they’re the ones that kind of gets things started for us because they’ve been doing nothing but winning championships since 2012,” Robertson said. “Nobody wants to be the team to drop the ball. It’s a very, very competitive situation between our sports.”