BATON ROUGE — Tuesday was Media Day for the LSU baseball and softball teams. Each opens the 2000 season this weekend as softball plays host to the Tiger Classic on Saturday and Sunday while baseball entertains Virginia for a three-game homestand.
The LSU baseball team has been ranked eighth preseason, while the softball team has earned a No. 7 preseason ranking.
Baseball will begin play Saturday with a doubleheader against Virginia starting at 2 and 7 p.m. and finish with a 1 p.m. contest Sunday at Alex Box Stadium.
The Softball schedule for this weekend’s Tiger Classic at Tiger Park in Baton Rouge is as follows:
Saturday, Feb. 12
Game 1: 9 a.m. LSU vs. Nicholls State
Game 2: 11 a.m. Ohio State vs. McNeese State
Game 3: 1 p.m. Nicholls State vs. Ohio State
Game 4: 3 p.m. LSU vs. McNeese State
Game 5: 5 p.m. LSU vs. Ohio State
Game 6: 7 p.m. McNeese State vs. Nicholls State
Sunday, Feb. 13
(teams are seeded 1-4 after the round robin play)
Game 7: 9 a.m. 1 vs. 4
Game 8: 11 a.m. 2 vs. 3
Game 9: 1 p.m. Loser game 7 vs. Loser game 8
Championship Game:
Game 10: 3 p.m. Winner game 7 vs. Winner game 8
For ticket information, please call 225-388-2184.
Quotes from Skip Bertman‘s Press Conference:
“The weekend is going to be a big one. I hope some people get out to see some basketball in the morning, and of course some baseball at 2 p.m. and some softball at 3 and 4, and of course that night at 9 p.m. for some more softball. The men’s basketball plays on Sunday.
Boy, the gymnastics team is running in the top 10, the men’s and women’s tennis is running in the top 25, it’s been an amazing spring. The golf team is in first place in Bay St. Louis as we speak, and of course track and field are running in the top 10 as they usually do, so its a really great spring. I know Glenn will continue that. Obviously he’s very strong and he’s got a lot of people back. I hope we are able to continue as well. We’ve got an experienced team. We’ve got guys who’ve been with the team for four years, and we don’t often see that. We’ve got four guys that can be in the lineup at any time that have been with us for four years, and that’s pretty rare.
On the other hand, we’ve got a lot of guys back from last year, even though they weren’t satisfied with the performance that they had last year, they’re certainly capable of better. Some were injured, some didn’t perform as well as they’d like, for one reason for another. But this year, in the fall and the early spring, they have appeared to have really taken on an stronger look. They’re probably a team that’ll do well in my opinion.
The same coaches, Dan Canevari, who worked with the pitchers, and Bill Dailey, who worked with the infielders, along with a new coach, Turtle Thomas, who worked with the catchers, outfielders, and the hitters, coming from the University of Miami, has just finished up his first fall and has had a good impact, he’s done a good job.
There’s been a lot of leadership that’s been displayed by a player that’s here today, the unanimous voted team captain, Blair Barbier, in his fourth year, and Jeremy Witten in his fifth year is here today, and Brad Hawpe, who had four hits in the alumni game, is here with us today. Hunter Gomez, who’s coming off a sore shoulder, but likely to pitch some time on Saturday, he’s here today. The starting pitcher on Saturday is here today, Brian Tallet, along with four year player Brad Cresse, who led the conference in home runs and RBI’s two years ago, but had a fractured hand most of last year is back with us. So we’re pretty strong.”
Coach Bertman then opened up to questions from media in attendance at the press conference
Will the new bats approved by the NCAA have any effect on your team’s offensive production?
The bats are the same as last year’s bats. Now they have something in the bat now that certifies that it has been tested for a 95 mile per hour exit speed.
But it’s pretty much the same bat, and you’ll see the same production from teams as you saw last year, but not the same in ’98.
In ’98, the bats were stronger, and home runs were easier, what with bigger barrels and weight differential. But I think everyone will still play the style of people they have. Just because the bats won’t hit as many homers won’t make any difference as long as you still have the team that can hit the homers. If you have the most, even though you don’t have as many as ’98 or ’97, you’re still ahead of the game. So I don’t think that the bats are going to make a lot of difference, unless the teams have recruited smaller players or guys who can’t reach the fences. We don’t have a lot of power. We figure to run a little more and bunt a little more.
Who do you think is the best team in the SEC?
I think far and away it’s Alabama. I rarely ever say that, but he’s got a lot of people back. Like Glenn {Moore, LSU’s softball coach} said, you’ve got a lot of people back and they’re a self motivating team that knows how to win. They’re only missing two players off last year’s team, and I think one pitcher, and he’s replaced them well recruiting, so I think far and away the best. I think Arkansas has done a lot and Ole Miss has really made a strong move.
Have you finalized your weekend rotation past first game starter Brian Tallet?
Yeah, Bo Pettit is pitching the second game. He’s a sophomore out of Houston, Texas. The third game will be Billy Brian, third year player out of Covington.
What do you think about the Super Regional format in the College World Series?
I think it was a huge financial success, which is the reason it was put in there. One of the drawbacks is that somebody is going to have to go back to the other guys ballyard and win two out of three.
Personally, I’d like to see them switch to a 64 team, 32 games between seeds, and then go to the regional format. But I think they think that might not be enough money. So the answer is that we’ll probably go where the money is at, and stay with the format, which took them about 8 years to implement, it’s a good format, it’s good for all sports, and its good for baseball.
Does the Super Regional take away the advantage of a team like LSU and Alex Box Stadium?
This is what the new format did, take that advantage away. They want somebody new in the College World Series. I think Sam wrote an article in the paper about the teams in the Super Bowl, and how one had never been, and the other had a losing record last year, and everyone was excited. I think that they don’t want a team like LSU back in the World Series, they want someone new.
I think one way to do that is to give teams from the east a chance, and that’s what they’ve done. On the other hand, no team bid in the east last year, and nobody made it into that segment except for Ohio State. So, it hadn’t happened yet, but its likely to happen.
Do you think they’ll still match up conference teams in the Super Regional?
That was unfortunate, but one of the reasons they made a lot of money. I’m not on the committee, but those who are told me one of the reasons they made a lot of money was on travel. Of course, sending us to Alabama, which is only a five hour bus ride, and generally they sent them across the country, traveling with a total of 40 people, and they would spend a lot of money, so I think that will continue.
What keeps you interested in coaching?
I’ve been blessed. I never wanted to do anything but like sell a car or a house, or write a story. I never did any of the tough things that other people had to do. The relationship with kids is very unique. The relationship goes way beyond parental. The emotional highs of winning and the lows of losing, and going through the years and seeing them at the alumni game and remembering a lot of stuff. I’m not sure you can get that kind of satisfaction from just any job. So I’ve been lucky. I’m going to coach awhile, the wins and losses take care of themselves. Coaching is very overrated. The ability of the coach to get them to win. It’s all about recruiting.
How tough will it be to dominate in the next decade like LSU did in this decade?
I think in the last ten or twelve years we’ve got the most of our team, and the most out of those who chased us. I think in the next ten years I would be amazed if someone could dominate in this age of parity. We only have 11.7 scholarships, the lowest of any sport in the NCAA. It’s tough. It’s possible, but I don’t think so.
What do you think about Ron Polk’s recent naming as head coach at the University of Georgia?
Ron Polk has been a friend for 30 years. He’s been an advocate of baseball and he’s stepped out. He’s put in the time and he’s got a right to come out. He’s been president of the American Baseball Coaches, and I haven’t done that. I think he missed baseball, and I think its an amazing coup for Georgia to get a coach of his quality without a lot of effort. I think he’ll do incredibly well there, just like he did at State. He’ll do well.
What kind of impact has Turtle Thomas had on recruiting?
He’s brought a dimension to our recruiting. He recruits as aggressively as anyone I’ve ever seen, in the sense that he will pick up and travel to see the player immediately. He travels a lot, but Joe Dean is happy because he’s willing to sleep in his car. He’s great, and he’s an outstanding evaluator. He recruits more people more aggressively than most the other coaches than I’ve ever met.
Talk about Blair Barbier.
Blair Barbier is a great player, and more importantly a great young man. He had a great freshman year in which he hit around .357. Then he had an off year by most people’s standards, since most were judging him by his freshman year. I explained to him that in baseball, and probably softball, it’s not like football or basketball, you can have a great year and come back and have a bad year, even though you’re a year older and bigger or faster. You can have a great year and then have a bad year, it won’t make a difference. They pitch you harder once your reputation gets around. Last year he had a good year. This year I would expect him to have a better year. He’s a great hitter, and last year he hit 13 homers, and that’s a lot, he can field well, and he makes the play when it counts. He runs the bases well, hardly ever makes mistakes on the basepath. If you graded it out, I think he’s one of the players that’s most key for us, he’s one of the players that are most valuable on offense and defense.
Comment on your non conference schedule.
Yeah we beefed up a lot from the past. We got caught by a snag with Central Florida and they came down, and finally when the dome shut down, we were able to play three games where we can finally go down there, which coincidentally is the opening of their new stadium. He’s a great coach and it’ll help him some to have a ranked team there.
On the other hand, we scheduled Arizona State in a home and home, and we also scheduled Houston two to one, and they’ll be here twice before we have to go there. Houston is a good team, and you’re right we’ve beefed up the schedule, and we’ve dropped some of the non division one teams that we used to play, and we’re hoping that the intensity will keep the kids focused. Hopefully we’ll be good at the end.
Comment on what you can do about injuries.
Last year’s injuries were so fluke, and there were so many and they happened so rapidly at one time that it was very unusual. The seriousness of the injury to Brad Hawpe to where he had to sit out six weeks and then he had to take time to find his stroke back. The same thing for Brad Cresse, and some pitching arms, like Bryan Grace.
This year we’re not likely to have anywhere near the injuries, because I think it is a matter of chance and we’re better equipped than last year, since we’re deeper. We have lots of people who can pitch and last year we didn’t.