BATON ROUGE — LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri said Wednesday he has been pleased with the progress his team is making as the Tigers’ five-week fall practice period reaches the halfway mark.
The Tigers began fall drills on Sept. 15, and they will continue through Oct. 23 in Alex Box Stadium. All workouts are open to the public.
“Practice has gone as well as we hoped it would,” Mainieri said. “The competition has been tremendous in each of our intrasquad games. Our goal is for our hitters to face the best pitchers they’ll see all year in the fall, and for our pitchers to face the best hitters they’ll see all year in the fall. If that happens, then we know we’ll be well prepared for the regular season.”
After enjoying an off day Wednesday, LSU resumes practice at 2:30 p.m. Thursday with a six-inning scrimmage. The Tigers will work out at 2:30 p.m. on Friday and at Noon on Saturday, when the team will engage in a scheduled eight-inning scrimmage prior to LSU’s football game versus Florida.
LSU’s roster features nine position players with starting experience, including 2006 all-SEC shortstop Michael Hollander and a pair of 2007 Freshmen all-SEC selections ? outfielder Blake Dean and catcher Sean Ochinko.
The Tigers return eight pitchers who recorded innings last season, including 2007 all-SEC selection Jared Bradford, LSU’s leader in wins (10) and saves (five).
The veterans are complemented by a talented class of 19 newcomers, including nine players selected in the Major League Baseball draft. LSU’s recruiting class was ranked No. 1 in the nation last month by Collegiate Baseball newspaper.
“We have much better depth this season,” Mainieri said, “and I feel we will be much improved in every phase of the game. Our returning players have provided great leadership in helping our new players make a smooth transition into a new environment.”
LSU opens the 2008 regular season on Feb. 22 against Indiana in Alex Box Stadium.
“I’m very optimistic about the upcoming season,” Mainieri said. “Our challenge right now as a coaching staff is determine how to arrange the pieces of the puzzle. We have the material to work with; it’s now a matter of determining which roles the guys will play. It’s an exciting challenge for us as coaches and one that we embrace enthusiastically.”