Will start Poché in opener

BATON ROUGE — It seemed like a curious move for a coach who often pushes the envelope on such decisions.

But LSU coach Paul Mainieri is playing it straight. He will send veteran No. 2 starter Jared Poché to the mound this afternoon when the Tigers open the NCAA baseball tournament in the Baton Rouge Regional against heavy underdog Texas Southern.

LSU (43-17) is the No. 4 national seed. Texas Southern (20-32) has the worst Rating Percentage Index (No. 266) in the 64-team tournament field.

Mainieri had other options — reliever Caleb Gilbert (4-1, 2.92 ERA) started LSU’s opening game of last week’s SEC Tournament — and Mainieri probably would have been safe in this game going with a pitcher even further outside his three weekend starters.

But if a team stays out of the losers’ bracket, it can advance out of this regional to next week’s super regionals with three victories.

Mainieri said he didn’t want a situation — albeit, best-case scenario — in which one of his top three pitchers didn’t get any work this weekend.

That could leave out freshman Eric Walker (7-1, 3.78), the right-hander coming off one of his best starts in the SEC championship game.

“As well as he’s pitching, I want to keep him going,” Mainieri said.

So Poché (10-3, 3.18) will have a chance to tie the school record for career victories (38 by Scott Schultz) against Texas Southern.

Maybe.

There are exceptions, but normally a starting pitcher needs five innings to qualify for the win, and Mainieri suggested that if all goes according to the script, that might not happen today.

“Just because we’re starting Jared Poché tomorrow doesn’t mean we’re burning him up (for the tournament) tomorrow,” Mainieri said. “We’ll see how the game plays out.”

Mainly, though, Poché is LSU’s best-suited pitcher to come back on short rest, particularly if it’s a brief outing today.

He did it last year in the regional after starting and winning the first game against Utah Valley. When LSU was later extended to the regional’s Game 7 against Rice — LSU’s fourth game — Poché came on in relief and allowed one hit in six innings in the final of a nail-biter victory.

Weather delays had pushed that game back to the following Tuesday. And weather could be a factor this weekend as the forecast is dicey at best, particularly after today.

At any rate, Texas Southern is expected to counter with Anthony Martinez (4-3, 4.70)

In today’s other regional game at 7 p.m., No. 2 seed Southeastern Louisiana (36-20) of the Southland Conference takes on No. 3 seed Rice (31-29), the Conference USA tournament champion.

The first-round winners will meet at 7 p.m. Saturday in the key game of the regional.

In going with Poché, it’s also possible Mainieri was sending a message to his team not to take any team lightly.

“Our guys have played great over the last month, and I think we’ve earned (the national seed),” Mainieri said. “But one thing we’ve learned is that it doesn’t matter what the name on the chest for the other team is.

“It might be a traditional power, and it might be a team you’ve never heard of, but every team is in the tournament because they’ve earned their way. We have to respect all of our opponents and be more concerned with how we play than who we play.

“I’m proud of the way the guys are playing. We’ve figured out the guys to count on and in what roles. We’ve got a confident group.”

Left-hander Jared Poché draws the opening assignment for LSU today in the Baton Rouge Regional.

Associated Press