Baseball On The Road: Louisiana, Day Two
May 31, 2012
BATON ROUGE, La. - Tyler Smith was asked after the Beavers' practice this afternoon what the team felt about playing in a stadium the size of Alex Box Stadium.
Smith answered it like a veteran, saying the team is excited to be at Alex Box, a crown jewel of a college baseball field.
There's no doubt the Beavers feel that way, and based on the club's workout, which lasted one hour, 15 minutes, it appears Alex Box will be a great experience for Oregon State players and staff. Of course, that's not the goal for the weekend; winning the regional is.
Alex Box is not the largest stadium the Beavers will have played in this season; that distinction goes to the ballpark in Surprise, Ariz. That, however, saw attendance figures that were in the hundreds and that will not be the case: LSU averages more than 10,000 a game this season.
The attendance figure for OSU's game against Belmont won't get that high, most likely, but LSU fans like their baseball so there's no doubt a good crowd will be at the park.
Each team worked out for the one hour, 15-minute allotment as allowed by the NCAA. The Beavers were lucky: OSU practiced from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Belmont practiced right after and ran smack into early afternoon thunderstorms that lasted a couple hours and drenched the Baton Rouge Regional. We're expecting some more tonight but fortunately we're looking at nothing but sun tomorrow afternoon after some early run (well, we hope the forecast stays that way).
We obviously don't need any delays like the six-plus hours in Florida two years ago.
It is humid but doesn't feel like it did in either Nashville or Gainesville. Certainly something for the Beavers to keep an eye on, to say the least, and athletic trainer Josh Therrien has done a great job making sure the Beavers are prepared and are staying hydrated.
Suffice it to say, the LSU community has been nothing but awesome since the team arrived in Baton Rouge on Wednesday. The program has a number of greeters at the park and have been helpful in accommodating the club. We look forward to the rest of the week.
After practice, the Beavers returned back to their hotel where they went through study hall (a fact that was surprising to many at Alex Box as LSU is done with school for the year) and then a team dinner before retiring for the night. The club is still mostly on West Coast time so there's a need for sleep as tomorrow will be a relatively early wakeup call.
If you haven't seen it yet, here's some notes about how to follow tomorrow's game (this is posted in a separate story on osubeavers.com).
The Beaver Sports Radio Network will carry the game throughout the state with Mike Parker calling all the action. Affiliates airing the game live include: KEJO 1240-AM (Corvallis), KPOJ 620-AM (Portland), KICE 940-AM (Bend), KCMX 880-AM (Medford) and KSKR 1490-AM (Roseburg). KICE 940-AM in Bend will not carry the pre-game show.
The game will also be on the Internet through Beaver Nation Online (osubeavers.com).
Fans can also follow the game on Comcast SportsNet Northwest which will air all of Oregon State's games at the Baton Rouge Regional. The games will air on channels 37 and 737 for Comcast customers.
This will most likely be our last blog during the team's trip to Baton Rouge as we'll be playing games the rest of the trip. So enjoy the video and photo gallery above and let's look for a regional-opening win on Friday.
Go Beavs!
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