Lafayette Regional: Saturday game times, preview, and open thread

Will the weather hold off on Saturday?

Friday's Lafayette Regional games saw a five hour delay, but they were able to get both games in, with the Arizona Wildcats and Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns picking up their first wins of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.

Weather will play a factor again on Saturday, but here are when the games are supposed to start:

Elimination game: (3) Sam Houston State Bearkats vs. (4) Princeton Tigers -- 11 AM PT (Delayed)

Winner's bracket game: (1) Louisiana-Lafayette vs. (2) Arizona -- 5 PM PT

All games will be on Watch ESPN and the ESPN App

Whenever the Wildcats and Cajuns get started, I would expect JC Cloney to take the mound for Arizona based on how many left-handed hitters Louisiana had in its lineup on Friday night. The Cajuns will likely be starting Gunner Leger, the team's usual Friday night starter.

Leger, a left-handed sophomore, was the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year last year, and was also a Freshman All-American. In 15 starts this year, he has posted a 6-3 record with a 2.08 ERA. Last Wednesday, he set down a season-high ten batters via strikeout. In a game earlier this year, he hit four batters, so there is at least the possibility of him getting wild, especially in the slippery conditions that will be facing these teams.

As we saw on Friday when Arizona smacked a season-high three home runs out of the yard, the ballpark plays small, which has allowed third baseman Joe Robbins to hit nine round-trippers this year. As a team, the Cajuns have hit 40 long balls. By comparison, Arizona has hit 19.

Two Louisiana hitters are above .300 this year. They are center fielder Kyle Clement and first baseman Alex Pinero. Pinero is a very impatient hitter though, as he rarely walks in the 36 games he has started.

Having really only used up Nathan Bannister and Rio Gomez since Bobby Dalbec threw just seven pitches on Friday, Arizona has plenty of options out of the bullpen to avoid having to go through the loser's bracket. UL-Lafayette also only used three pitchers on Friday, so this one could get interesting if it's tight in the late innings.

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