After shocking everyone on its run through the American Athletic Conference baseball tournament, Tulane will get the ultimate challenge as it tries to avoid a reality check.

The Green Wave (19-40) learned Monday it would open at No. 5 national seed LSU (43-15) — and potentially against dominant ace Paul Skenes — at 2 p.m. Friday in the Baton Rouge regional.

Skenes might be held out until Saturday — Tigers coach Jay Johnson said Monday he would not comment on his pitching plans — but winning that first game will be a monumental task even if LSU opts for someone other than Skenes (10-2, 1.89 ERA, 169 strikeouts in 90 1/3 innings) on the mound.

The key for Tulane coach Jay Uhlman is making sure his players attack the regional with the same tempo and toughness they exhibited all last week in Clearwater, Florida, when they changed the season narrative from being about the team with the most losses in school history to a celebratory focus on earning its first NCAA regional bid in seven years.

“When you expend this energy and this focus and this intensity and you accomplish something that nobody thought you could, and here you are going to a regional, my main focus is to keep them just charging straight ahead with their head down and their blinders on,” Uhlman said. “We’ve got to move on to the next thing. We enjoyed it last night and maybe a little bit this morning, but we’ve got to keep moving forward.”

Second-seed Oregon State (39-18) faces Sam Houston State (35-22) in the late game Friday, but the David vs. Goliath matinee will garner all of the attention locally.

LSU was ranked No. 1 for the first 11 weeks of the season behind Skenes, the Southeastern Conference pitcher of the year, and SEC hitter of the year Dylan Crews, both of whom are projected to go among the top three picks in the MLB draft.

Tulane won 13 games through 11 weeks and had exactly one winning streak all season (three games) before taking two in a row twice at the AAC tournament. The Wave’s RPI of 157th is the second-worst in the 64-team NCAA regional field behind George Mason’s 176.

The Tigers won the lone regular-season meeting with the Wave 11-5 at Turchin Stadium in an April midweek game.

“It’s another opportunity to shock the world,” Uhlman said. “We’ve played them, so at least the mystery part is out of that. We’re looking forward to the opportunity to get up there and be close for our fan base, to be up there and have butts in the seats. We’re really relishing this opportunity."

History has not been kind to Tulane in regionals at Alex Box Stadium. The Wave is 0-4 against LSU there (last meeting was 2003) and led only once — 1-0 after the top of the first inning in 1992. After reaching the championship round in 1986, the Wave has gone 1-2 in seven consecutive Baton Rouge appearances — most recently in 2015.

None of those teams were seeded last or as big of an underdog as this Wave group.

“We’re just going out there not worrying about the opponent too much,” said outfielder Teo Banks, who was named the most outstanding player at the AAC tournament. “We’re just trying to give it our all. It’s important to do what we did in the (AAC) tournament, stay on the same page and have that goal on our mind.”

The Wave is not worried about being over-awed at Alex Box Stadium after facing the RPI-rated eighth-toughest non-conference schedule in the country, including a weekend series at Hawaii that drew more than 10,000 fans.

“Our schedule prepared us for any moment,” said redshirt senior Brennan Lambert, who went on a 6-for-7 tear in Games 2 and 3 of the AAC tournament and doubled in two runs in the championship game. “We played in all atmospheres and all around the country. That has helped us a lot. I’m excited to see the Tulane fans in Baton Rouge. It’s going to be a fun atmosphere.”

The Wave can make it even more fun by maintaining its new-found success. 

“We’re focused on winning the regional," said shortstop and Holy Cross product Gavin Schulz, who entered the AAC tournament in a 3-for-41 slump and exited it as a member of the all-tournament team after going 10 for 15. “Nobody may believe in us, but we believe in each other. There’s nothing better than a team on a roll.”