BATON ROUGE — The LSU baseball squad opens its four-week fall practice session Saturday in Alex Box Stadium, as the Tigers begin the second year of the Smoke Laval era.
Laval, who in his first season directed LSU to a 44-22 record and a No. 11 final national ranking, welcomes 13 returning lettermen and 17 new players for the Tigers opening workout, which is scheduled to culminate with an intra-squad game at 2 p.m. All fall practice sessions and intra-squad games are open to the public.
“Were excited about starting fall practice,” Laval said. “The players came back to school in very good shape, and we feel like theyre anxious to hit the field.”
The 2003 Tigers will feature six starting position players and four starting pitchers from last years team, which finished second in the SEC Western Division and advanced to NCAA Super Regional play.
Missing from the list of returning players is all-SEC third baseman Wally Pontiff, who tragically died in July due to abnormalities in his heart.
Pontiff, a three-year starter and team leader, was also an Academic all-American with a 3.25 gpa in biological sciences.
Laval said his squad is attempting to adjust to Pontiffs absence.
“Its been tough,” Laval said, “because you cant measure what Wally Pontiff meant to this program and to this university. We are all trying to deal with him not being here, but he was so special, and its very difficult.”
Returning position players who started at least 20 of LSUs games last season include sophomore infielder/outfielder J.C. Holt (.349, 3 HR, 23 RBI in 2002), junior shortstop Aaron Hill (.329, 9 HR, 47 RBI), sophomore infielder Blake Gill (.292, 1 HR, 26 RBI), senior first baseman Eric Wiethorn (.278, 3 HR, 17 RBI), sophomore outfielder Jon Zeringue (.245, 2 HR, 8 RBI) and sophomore outfielder Dustin Hahn (.227, 2 HR, 12 RBI).
“We have some experience back, but with the exception of Aaron Hill, no one has played an entire season as a starter day in and day out,” Laval said. “The guys who played some as freshmen last season will need to take on more responsibility as sophomores.”
Pitching should be a strength of the club, as LSUs top four pitchers from last season are on the 2003 roster; however, the status of junior left-hander Lane Mestepey (11-5, 2.59 ERA in 2002) is uncertain after the all-SEC hurler underwent shoulder surgery in the off-season. Mestepey has begun a rehabilitation program, and he may be ready to pitch at some point during the season.
The Mestepey surgery notwithstanding, LSU returns outstanding experience on the mound with right-handers Jake Tompkins, Brian Wilson and Bo Pettit, who last season combined for 26 wins, six saves and 302.1 innings.
Tompkins, a senior, should work in the starting rotation this season after serving as LSUs closer in 2002 (7-1, four saves, 2.68 ERA, 87.1 IP, 96 Ks).
He will be joined in the rotation by Wilson, a junior, (10-5, two saves, 3.54 ERA, 94 IP, 71 Ks) and senior Bo Pettit (9-7, 3.35 ERA, 121 IP, 121 Ks), who was selected last summer in the 13th round of the major league draft by the Minnesota Twins.
Sophomore right-hander Clay Harris, who worked primarily as a middle reliever in 2002 (3-0, 4.15 ERA, 47.2 IP, 37 Ks) also returns to the mound.
“I like the mix of youth and experience we have with the pitching staff,” Laval said. “We can use the intra-squad games as a means to start assigning roles to each pitcher.”
An outstanding recruiting class composed of eight position players and nine pitchers will compliment the LSU veterans. The Tigers have traditionally lost several signees to major league baseball; however, only four members of the 2002-03 signing class opted to sign a pro contract.
LSU opens the 2003 season Feb. 7 versus Northwestern State in Alex Box Stadium.