It is June 24, 2009 and LSU freshman shortstop Austin Nola is about to realize what it feels like to win a national championship for LSU.
Fast forward three years, Nola, a Baton Rouge native and the Tigers’ starting shortstop for four seasons, dreams of ending his collegiate baseball career at the pinnacle of college baseball, Omaha. Nola actively reflects about his experience at the College World Series in 2009.
“Going to the College World Series made college baseball seem easy my freshman year,” Nola said. “Then I learned the past three years after that, college baseball is not easy. You have to work for everything.”
Nola is no stranger to hard work. Not only does he excel on the field, but also in the classroom and community. Nola was named to the 2011 SEC Academic Honor Roll and the 2011 SEC Community Service team, and he is a candidate for this year’s Lowe’s Senior Class award.
“It is special to be recognized for something besides on-the-field achievements,” Nola said. “I have a lot of great people around me that help me. I have great coaches, great teachers, great academic advisors and great teammates. It is a team thing, and that’s how I’ve always viewed it.”
Hospital visits, Read Across America, ALS Walk and serving food at homeless shelters are a few examples of charitable events in which Nola takes part.
“I love working out here at the field with the kids, too,” Nola said. “The mentality they bring to the park is about fun, and that rubs off on you when you are playing the game. It is fun to be out here. Just look at the kids running the bases after our games.”
On top of juggling baseball, academics and community service, Nola has stepped into one of the leadership roles on this year’s team. After starting over 200 games in his career at LSU and being selected twice in the MLB Draft, the leadership position only seems natural.
Nola developed his leadership skills after playing with former Tiger greats like Blake Dean and DJ LeMahieu.
“They taught me how to handle adversity and how to handle success,” Nola said. “You learn a lot from body language. In particular, how to carry yourself and how to talk to the younger guys in a different way because there is a different way you can communicate with them. I really appreciated those guys and what they did.”
As the Tigers head into the postseason, Nola finds his team in a prime position to become great. He only hopes that his leadership can propel the squad all the way back to the College World Series.
“It would be an accomplishment for this team to make it to Omaha,” Nola said. “To get to go your freshman year and your senior year, I can hardly imagine it, but then I can. It is like you can taste it. We’re so close.”
With only a handful of games left for the Tigers, dreams may become reality for Nola and the LSU baseball team as they gear up to travel the road to Omaha.
“We just want to continue to build upon what we’ve started and cherish these last days as a team,” Nola said. “The sad part about it is, this team will only be together for so many games. A team has to break up at the end of the year. We’re going to take every moment as it comes and enjoy it.”