BATON ROUGE — LSU is No. 3 in the Collegiate Baseball newspaper 2009 ranking of recruiting classes. The Tigers’ 13-man class includes six pitchers and seven position players.
The newcomers have joined LSU’s veteran players for individual workouts and conditioning drills. The Tigers will conduct a five-week fall practice session beginning on October 13 and continuing through November 20.
Five members of LSU’s recruiting class have been selected in the MLB Draft, and four of the players have earned All-America recognition during their careers.
Florida is No. 1 in the Collegiate Baseball ranking, followed by Arizona State, LSU, Central Florida and Cal State Fullerton. Kentucky, TCU, Vanderbilt, Miami (Fla.) and Virginia round out the Top 10.
Other SEC schools appearing in the ranking include No. 15 Mississippi State, No. 18 Ole Miss, No. 20 Georgia, No. 30 South Carolina, No. 34 Tennessee and No. 38 Arkansas.
LSU head coach Paul Mainieri, who directed the Tigers to the 2009 College World Series title, credited associate head coach/recruiting coordinator David Grewe with attracting exceptional student-athletes to the baseball program. Grewe joined the LSU staff in the summer of 2008 after serving for three seasons as the head coach at Michigan State.
“David Grewe has made a tremendous impact on our program in a very short time,” Mainieri said. “His work as our pitching coach last season was vital to our drive to the national championship, and now he is recognized for signing one of the best classes in the nation. It’s very apparent David is proving every day that he is one of the outstanding young coaches in the country.”
LSU begins the 2010 season on February 19 when the Tigers play host to Centenary in Alex Box Stadium.
“We have a great deal of confidence that we can have an outstanding team this season,” Mainieri said. “We lost some key performers from the national championship club, but we have a strong returning core of players to join this very talented group of new players. We’re very excited about the process of molding this team for the 2010 season.”