BATON ROUGE — LSU coach Paul Mainieri honored on Monday two of his senior players – infielder Grant Dozar and shortstop Austin Nola – during the Tigers’ postseason gathering.
The team met to watch the NCAA Tournament bracket announcement on ESPNU.
“It’s a great pleasure for me as a coach to honor two young men who have meant so much to our program,” Mainieri said. “They epitomize everything student-athletes should be. They are excellent players, but they are even greater human beings who demonstrate the merits of leadership and a strong work ethic.”
Just after the tournament field was revealed, Mainieri presented Dozar with the Skip Bertman Award, which goes to the player who best exemplifies the spirit of the LSU Baseball program.
Dozar, a native of Morgan City, La., earned his LSU degree in management earlier this month.
The Skip Bertman Award is named for the Tigers’ legendary former coach and director of athletics. Bertman directed LSU to five national championships during his coaching tenure (1984-2001), and he served a highly successful seven-year term as athletics director.
Mainieri then presented Nola with the Wally Pontiff Jr. Scholar Athlete Award. Pontiff was an all-SEC third baseman at LSU who played for the Tigers from 2000-02 and died tragically in 2002 due to a heart abnormality.
Nola, a Baton Rouge native, is a member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll, and he earned his LSU degree in sports administration earlier this month. A four-year starter for the Tigers at shortstop, Nola is also a two-time member of the SEC Community Service Team.