BATON ROUGE — The LSU baseball squad opens its four-week fall practice session Saturday in search of an identity which combines past success with a fresh outlook for the future.
The Tigers begin workouts under first-year head coach Smoke Laval, an LSU assistant from 1984-93 and the head coach at Louisiana-Monroe from 1994-2000. Laval replaces Skip Bertman, who in 18 seasons guided the Tigers to five NCAA titles and 11 appearances in the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
Adjusting to a new head coach while attempting to enhance LSU’s phenomenal legacy will be a demanding challenge for the 2002 Tigers, according to Laval.
“I think this club is trying to come up with its own new identity, which is very difficult when you’ve had 11 trips to Omaha and five national championships,” explained Laval, an assistant on LSU’s 1991 and 1993 NCAA title teams. “This team wants to do what the past teams did, but not in the same way. They’ve got to get their own identity and go from there.”
Saturday’s practice session will feature an intra-squad game scheduled to begin at 1:45 p.m in Alex Box Stadium. All fall practices and intra-squad games are open to the public.
Laval said his squad, which includes 15 returning lettermen and 17 incoming freshmen and transfers, has enjoyed an outstanding off-season conditioning period.
“What I like about this club is the players seem to have a great work ethic,” Laval said. “We get them up early to lift weights and run, and their will to get better appears to be there. They came back in great shape. Mentally and physically, we’re actually further along than I thought we’d be.”
The fall workouts continue through October 20, and Laval said he and his staff will use the intra-squad games to determine the Tigers’ strengths.
“As coaches, we need to determine what kind of club we’re going to have,” Laval explained. “Are we going to be a physical team that hits the long ball, or do we need to pitch better and play better defense to help us combat not hitting 120 homers? Based on the guys who are back from last year and the new players coming in, our chances are good to be another physical club, but we don’t know for sure.”
The 2002 Tigers will feature five starting position players and seven pitchers from last year’s team, which captured the SEC Western Division title and advanced to NCAA Super Regional play. LSU will have to compensate for the loss of four 2001 all-SEC players — second baseman Mike Fontenot, shortstop Ryan Theriot, first baseman Bryan Moore and outfielder Todd Linden, all of whom have signed professional contracts.
The Tigers’ depth has also been diminished by the departure of three veteran players — infielder Victor Brumfield, outfielder Billy McBride and first baseman Zeph Zinsman. Laval said Brumfield and McBride have left the baseball team but will remain at LSU to complete their degree requirements. Zinsman has returned to his home in northern California.
Returning position players who started at least 20 of LSU’s games last season include junior third baseman Wally Pontiff (.347, 7 HR, 58 RBI in 2001), senior outfielder Matt Heath (.293, 10 HR, 47 RBI), senior outfielder David Raymer (.324, 4 HR, 30 RBI), sophomore infielder Aaron Hill (.299, 5 HR, 36 RBI) and senior outfielder Sean Barker (.338, 3 HR, 16 RBI).
The returning pitchers are led by sophomore left-hander Lane Mestepey, the 2001 Collegiate Baseball magazine National Freshman of the Year. Mestepey posted an 11-3 mark last season with a 3.75 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 139.1 innings.
LSU’s other veteran hurlers include junior right-hander Bo Pettit (4-0, 2.42 ERA in 2001), junior left-hander Brad David (2-1, 4.40 ERA), senior right-hander Weylin Guidry (1-3, 5.65 ERA), sophomore right-hander Brian Wilson (3-2, 5.67 ERA), senior right-hander Justin Hill (1-1, 6.16 ERA) and senior right-hander Billy Brian (0-0, 9.00 ERA).
True freshmen like catcher Jon Zeringue and outfielders Jay Mattox and Dustin Hahn should play prominent roles for the Tigers, as will JUCO transfers like first baseman Jason Columbus and right-handed pitcher Jake Tompkins. Red-shirt freshmen infielders Blake Gill and Rocky Scelfo are also top contenders for playing time.
“We’re trying in the fall to see where we can give a little,” Laval said. “If you don’t have a power-hitting team, you’ll have to work more on the short game and striking out less. If you do have a power-hitting team, you can afford to give up some runs, and you don’t need as much speed. If you’ve got a power-pitching, strikeout team, you can afford to give up a little defensively at first and third base. If you have a lot of soft throwers on the mound who give up grounders, then you have to play better defense.”
LSU opens the 2002 season Feb. 8 versus Birmingham Southern in Alex Box Stadium.