LUBBOCK, Texas – LSU coach Paul Mainieri is one of eight finalists for the 2015 Skip Bertman National Coach of the Year Award, the National College Baseball Hall of Fame announced Thursday.
The Skip Bertman Award, named for the legendary former LSU coach, honors the nation’s top collegiate coach from any level of college baseball. The award will be presented as part of the College Baseball Night of Champions ceremony on June 29.
“The Bertman Award has been presented twice, and the winners were from junior college one year and Division I in the other,” said Hall of Fame executive director Mike Gustafson. “We have been proud of the selection committee’s willingness to look at every level of college baseball to find a truly deserving winner.”
Bertman coached at LSU from 1984 to 2001. During his tenure, he won five national championships and was named National Coach of the Year six times. He coached 31 players who went on to play Major League Baseball and was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class in 2006. Since that time, three of his players – pitcher Ben McDonald, second baseman Todd Walker and first baseman Eddy Furniss – have joined him in the Hall of Fame.
The award finalists and winner are selected by a national committee of active and retired coaches from all levels of college baseball.
Mainieri has directed LSU this season to a 53-10 record and a berth in the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. The Tigers also captured the SEC regular-season championship and have been ranked No. 1 in the nation for 10 consecutive weeks.
The LSU squad features five first-team all-SEC players, and four Tigers have earned all-America recognition. Eight LSU players were selected in the 2015 MLB Draft conducted this week.
Over the past four seasons, LSU has won a nation’s-best 203 games and the Tigers are the only team in the country to earn a National Seed in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments.
The other finalists for the Skip Bertman Award are Joe Brown of SUNY Cortland, Dan Hartleb of Illinois, Doug Martin of Northwest Florida State College, Jeremiah Robbins of Lewis Clark State, Joe Urso of the University of Tampa, Jeff Willis of LSU-Eunice and Doug Wren of Tyler Junior College.
“Six of these coaches have already led their teams to national championships, and one more has his team in Omaha for the College World Series,” Gustafson said. “I think all of them would make coach Bertman proud.”
For more information on the College Baseball Hall of Fame’s Night of Champions, contact the Hall of Fame at (806) 749-CBF3 or visit www.collegebaseballhall.org.