It’s all pretty simple for LSU designated hitter Matt Gaudet, at least the way he describes it.
“Just drive in runs,” Gaudet said. “That’s my job.”
With a team-leading 16 homers this season, business has been pretty good for Gaudet, but then again there’s never really been a power shortage for the 6-2, 220 pound slugger from Metairie, La.
In his freshman season at Delgado Community College in New Orleans, Gaudet broke the school home run record with 17 dingers and also added 60 RBI. The next season he earned JUCO All-Region Honors with nine homers and 42 runs driven in.
“In the fall I was calling the pitches in our scrimmages, and he was the scariest hitter I’ve ever had to call pitches for,” teammate Micah Gibbs said of Gaudet. “Whenever he’s in the lineup, I feel like he’s going to hit every pitch about 600 feet.”
“I’m not really sure where it comes from,” Gaudet admits. “I try to just go up there and swing as hard as I can.”
When Gaudet arrived at LSU in 2008 it appeared as though he would continue to get the job done as he ripped 15 RBI in 21 games, including a walk-off homer to beat Arkansas. However, less than halfway through the 2008 season, Gaudet was sidelined with a back injury and was forced to miss the rest of the season.
Bad news got worse for Gaudet in 2009. Still struggling to return from his back injury, LSU was forced to cut Gaudet because of the new 35-man roster limitation in order to accommodate pitcher-outfielder Chad Jones.
“That was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make in my 27 years of coaching,” LSU head coach Paul Mainieri said. “I knew Matt didn’t deserve to be cut, but we had this silly new roster rule.”
After sitting out the 2009 college season, Gaudet caught on with the Hannibal Cavemen of the Prospect League, a summer baseball league for up-and-coming professional prospects. Gaudet hit well there with four homers, 12 doubles and 24 RBI in 38 games. In the midst of a solid summer season, rumors began to circle Gaudet about his college future. Other schools were interested in Gaudet’s services, but the life-long Tiger fan stayed true to his dream.
“I’ve always wanted to play for LSU my whole life,” Gaudet said. “Once I got here I knew it was the place for me. There was a lot of talk of people saying that this place wanted me to play there, or that place wanted me, but I didn’t want to be anywhere else.
“I wanted to be a Tiger and play for LSU baseball. I wanted to end my college career at LSU. There’s no other place like this, and I didn’t want to ruin what I had here and forget about it. If I had the chance to come back here, I’d take it.”
One evening that summer, Gaudet received a much-anticipated phone call that served as vindication for the year-long trial he endured.
“I was sitting in a hotel and Coach Mainieri called and said he had a spot for me and that he’d love to have me back,” Gaudet recalled. “I was so relieved because I had no idea before that if I’d be able to come back to LSU. All the hard work I did to get back in shape and prepare myself finally paid off.”
There was still one more task ahead of Gaudet when he arrived back at LSU in the fall-earning a spot in the lineup. He knew the job wasn’t going to be given to him, but his experience in this situation before and the confidence he had in himself eased the transition.
“Coach Mainieri told me I didn’t have a guaranteed spot,” Gaudet said. “Being one of the older guys on the team and knowing what to expect put me at ease and took some of that pressure off. I knew I had the talent to play so I just went out every day and hit the ball like I knew how.”
“This year there is no question we had a place for him, but he earned the designated hitter position,” Mainieri said. “I didn’t give him the job because I felt sorry for him after I cut him.”
Matt Gaudet‘s story of perseverance, determination and loyalty to LSU highlight his senior season as a Tiger and will continue to follow him when he leaves. That’s all fine according to him.
“I don’t give up,” Gaudet said. “I worked as hard as I could to achieve all my goals, especially with everything that happened. I’d want people to remember me as a hard worker and someone that never gave up.