Baseball: Comparing, contrasting LSU, UL fans

Staff Reports, Gannett, March 21, 2016

 

LSU Tigers catcher Chris Chinea (26) throws out UL Ragin’ Cajuns infielder Joe Robbins (12) during last season’s NCAA Super Regional game at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge on June 7, 2015. The Tigers defeated the Cajuns 6-3 to capture the NCAA Super Regional championship and advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.(Photo: Advertiser file photo)

 

 

BATON ROUGE — It was one of the most exciting postseason games in the rich history of such at Alex Box Stadium.

First, University of Louisiana at Lafayette sophomore Brenn Conrad launched a solo home run to right field off undefeated LSU All-American and national pitcher of the year Alex Lange to lead off the top of the ninth inning and tie the NCAA Super Regional opener at 3-3.

Then, in the bottom of the ninth, LSU senior Chris Sciambra homered to the same spot as Conrad for the walk-off, 4-3 victory on June 6, 2015. LSU won the next day, 6-3, to advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

The two teams meet again at 7 p.m. Tuesday night in the Wally Pontiff Classic at Zephyr Field in Metairie. The No. 10 Tigers are 14-5 overall and 1-2 in the Southeastern Conference, while the Cajuns are unranked at 12-8 overall and 3-3 in the Sun Belt.

Here are the guidebooks to the fan bases of LSU and UL, a version of which we originally ran before the Super Regional last summer.

10 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT LSU BASEBALL FANS:

1.We have won six national championships in baseball. In case anyone forgets, there are some very large reminders in right field of our Alex Box Stadium.

2. We are like Alabama football fans and Kentucky basketball fans. We have the best baseball program in the country and have had it for a very long time. And if you don’t believe that, just ask us.

3. We are the flagship “University of Louisiana,” and the only one that has a national brand as opposed to a regional direction, no matter how many times those directional schools change their name, or try to do so.

4. We have NEVER changed our name.

5. Yet we get really mad when another school tries to change its name, which is really as ridiculous, if not more ridiculous, than the schools who go crazy about their name change. When you think of it, how could any Louisiana school’s name change really hurt LSU?

6. We invented football tailgating, and then we invented baseball tailgating.

7. At baseball games, we cheer when a great play is made in the field — even if it is by another team.

8. There is the Lambeau Leap, and the Alex Box Lap. Our baseball players make a lap around the stadium after every NCAA Regional and Super Regional championship at the Box to shake hands with and congratulate the fans.

9. We chant “Geaux Tigers” at every game.

10. We love the “K Lady,” who has been celebrating every single strikeout by LSU pitching for three decades.

10 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT UL BASEBALL FANS:

1. We haven’t won a national championship yet, but we did go to the College World Series in 2000.

2. We have beaten LSU in the NCAA postseason — 5-0 in 2002 in Alex Box Stadium.

3. We were ranked No. 1 in the nation in 2014 in all major polls and beat LSU that season, 4-1 in Alex Box Stadium.

4. If you don’t play the national anthem before a game, we will stand up and sing it anyway.

5. During the seventh-inning stretch, we will sing “Centerfield” by John Fogerty. And we will sing both verses, even if the music has ended.

6. We will get into the game. And you will hear us. Whether we are chanting “Ball Four!” or cheering a great Cajuns play or heckling an opposing coach, we are loud and proud.

7. We ARE The University of Louisiana. We don’t care what the school’s legal name is or what LSU A&M fans want to call us. We ARE Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns. And Lafayette is much more classic Louisiana than is Baton Rouge.

8. Don’t ever count us out. Our Cajuns will play their hearts out until the final out, and we will be there to cheer them on the whole way.

9. You might think that we don’t have a lot of flash. That’s OK. We are proud of our history and image as grinders, eking out wins any way we can — often with pure grit and determination.

10. We will turn anything into a party. We sell beer in our stadium. We dance every chance we get. And our tailgating club is so important to us, it has a permanent home right next to the bullpen. And that’s just the party inside the stadium. There’s a party in the parking lot, too.