Special to the American Press

EUGENE, Ore. — The excitement LSU felt when it reached the NCAA tournament didn’t travel well.

Certainly not all the way across the country.

The Tigers, often looking baffled at the plate, lost a regional opener for the first time since 1985 when Gonzaga righthander Alek Jacob held them to just four hits in a complete-game 3-0 victory for the No. 2 seed Zags.

“Needless to say a very disappointing outcome to the game for us,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “The story of the game of course was their pitcher. We just couldn’t solve him.”

Mainieri will be retiring at the end of the season, and that could come as early as Saturday.

LSU will face Central Connecticut State at 3 p.m. in an elimination game that will be streamed on ESPN3.

“It’s a quick turnaround,” Mainieri said. “We’ve got to get ourselves mentally and physically ready.”

It was another hard-luck loss for LSU’s Landon Marceaux (6-6), who has been plagued by lack of support most of the season.

“Landon pitched his heart out,” Mainieri said. “But when you don’t score any runs  you can’t win.”

Jacob, meanwhile, didn’t allow a hit after the fifth inning and retired 16 of the last 17 batters he faced. He struck out nine.

“We thought we had a good  game plan for him,” Mainieri said. “He just has such a unique style of pitching. We haven’t faced anybody like that.

“Not overpowering stuff. He topped out at 85 mph. But he’s all arms and legs and  relies on deception a lot. Not a kid that’s got a great arm or a great pro  prospect …. until you’re in the batters box trying to hit him, it’s hard to describe.”