BATON ROUGE, La. – The 2015 LSU baseball squad takes the field for the first time at 3 p.m. Monday, as the Tigers begin their six-week fall practice period in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
The fall practice session continues through November 10. All workouts in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field are open to the public.
The Tigers have engaged for the last month in strength and conditioning drills and individual workouts on the field. The 2015 season begins on February 13, when the Tigers play host to Kansas in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
“We have great anticipation for the start of fall practice; we have a tremendous core of players back for the 2015 season ,” said three-time National Coach of the Year Paul Mainieri, who directed LSU in 2014 to 46-16-1 record and an NCAA Tournament National Seed for the third straight year. “We’re really fired up about the returning players, and when you add the No. 1-ranked recruiting class that joins our program for this season, it’s going to be exciting to see how they all blend together. We feel strongly that something special is going to happen with this group.”
The LSU roster includes 21 lettermen from the 2014 club, including 10 position players with starting experience and eight pitchers that recorded innings last season.
“Our primary goal in the fall is to create a competitive environment with our scrimmages, because we want to see which players can compete at a high level,” Mainieri said. “I tell our pitchers that every time you pitch in an intrasquad game, you’re pitching against a quality SEC hitter. The same holds true for our hitters when they face our pitchers. How the players perform in the fall certainly makes a difference in how we perceive their roles on the team. It’s going to be a competitive environment, but it brings out the best in the players, and they develop a respect for each other.”
The returning players are led by All-American shortstop Alex Bregman, who in 2013 was voted the National Freshman of the Year and the winner of Brooks Wallace Award as the nation’s best shortstop.
Other players returning that were regular contributors to the lineup last season include outfielders Mark Laird, Andrew Stevenson, Jake Fraley and Chris Sciambra; infielders Conner Hale, Kramer Robertson and Danny Zardon; and catchers Kade Scivicque and Chris Chinea.
The pitching staff is led by left-hander Jared Poche’, a 2014 Freshman All-American who posted a 9-3 mark and a 2.45 ERA in the Tigers’ weekend rotation. Other veterans back from last season include left-handers Kyle Bouman, Zac Person, Hunter Devall and Henri Faucheux; and right-handers Alden Cartwright, Parker Bugg and Brady Domangue.
Right-handers Hunter Newman and Russell Reynolds, who sat out last season due to injuries, are scheduled to return to the mound in 2015.
The LSU veterans are complemented by a talented class of 11 newcomers, including six pitchers and five position players. The incoming class was rated No. 1 in the nation last month in the annual Collegiate Baseball recruiting rankings.
“It’s also our goal this fall to have our young players absorb into their demeanor our aggressive, fearless style of play,” Mainieri said. “The intensity of the scrimmages will help them to develop the confidence they need to succeed at this level.”