STARKVILLE, Miss. (Interstat) — seed Louisiana-Lafayette faces Lipscomb on Saturday afternoon in the opening round of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship at Starkville, Mississippi.

The Ragin’ Cajuns (38-24) enter the regional as the higher seed after posting a 12-6 victory over Texas State on May 23. They dropped their most recent game, 12-2 at Cincinnati on Friday. Lipscomb (29-25) lost 10-1 at Mississippi State on Friday.

Louisiana-Lafayette is expected to start right-hander JR Tollett. In his last outing Friday, Tollett allowed three earned runs on no hits with five strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings. Over his past five appearances, Tollett has struggled with command, allowing a combined 12 earned runs in 15 innings. He threw 3 scoreless innings in a 5-4 win at Coastal Carolina on May 22 and 4 2/3 innings with one earned run at Southern Mississippi on May 24.

Lipscomb counters with right-hander Alexander Llinas. In Friday’s loss to Mississippi State, Llinas took the loss, allowing six earned runs on no hits with three strikeouts in six innings. The stat line reflects two hit batters and five walks. Llinas has shown inconsistency: He threw 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball in a 4-1 win over Florida Gulf Coast on May 21 but also allowed four earned runs in seven innings in a 4-1 loss at Central Arkansas on May 14.

Lipscomb won two of its final three regular-season series, taking two of three at Central Arkansas and sweeping a three-game set against Bellarmine. Third baseman Cam Pruitt went 2-for-4 in Friday’s loss. The Bisons played two extra-inning games against North Alabama on May 22-23, winning 4-3 in 14 innings and 5-4 in 10 innings.

Louisiana-Lafayette won 10 of its final 12 regular-season games, with series wins at Texas State and at Coastal Carolina. The Ragin’ Cajuns’ offense has been productive, scoring at least five runs in 10 of their past 13 games.

The winner advances in the double-elimination format while the loser faces an elimination game Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.