STARKVILLE, Miss. (Interstat) — seed Cincinnati and seed Louisiana-Lafayette open the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship on Friday at with a first-round playoff game at Dudy Noble Field.

The Bearcats (37-20) enter as slight favorites, while the Ragin’ Cajuns (38-23) look to overcome a late-season stumble. An Interstat’s game simulator projects a 7-6 victory for Cincinnati.

Louisiana-Lafayette counters with right-hander JR Tollett, who has been inconsistent recently. On May 24, Tollett tossed 4⅔ innings of scoreless relief, striking out four while allowing no hits in an 11-7 loss to Southern Mississippi. He followed a three-inning scoreless outing against Coastal Carolina on May 22. However, on May 5 he surrendered three earned runs in one inning against New Orleans.

The Ragin’ Cajuns dropped their finale 11-7 at Southern Miss on May 24. Left fielder Mark Collins homered and drove in three runs, and second baseman Lee Amedee added a homer and two RBIs. Louisiana-Lafayette had won four of its previous five, including a 5-4 victory at Coastal Carolina on May 22.

Cincinnati will rely on reliever Adam Buczkowski, who has been a steady force. In his last six outings, Buczkowski has thrown 10⅔ innings, allowing four earned runs while striking out 14. He gave up one run in 2⅓ innings on May 21 in a 10-2 loss at Arizona State. On May 15, he threw 2⅔ combined shutout innings with five strikeouts in a doubleheader split against Texas Tech.

The Bearcats lost their finale 10-2 at Arizona State on May 21. Pitchers Nathan Taylor (three innings, two earned runs) and Dominic Mauro (one shutout inning) also performed well in defeat. Cincinnati had won seven of its previous eight before that loss, including a three-game sweep at Houston on May 2-3 and a series win over Texas Tech.

The game marks the first postseason meeting between the programs. First pitch is scheduled for . The forecast calls for temperatures around .