LSU Gold

Baseball No. 7 in Recruiting Rankings

by Bill Franques
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Baseball No. 7 in Recruiting Rankings

LSU is No. 7 in the 2015 Collegiate Baseball magazine recruiting rankings released on Tuesday, marking the eighth time in nine years the Tigers are in the Top 10 of the survey.
 
LSU was No. 1 in the recruiting rankings in 2007, 2010 and 2014; No. 3 in 2009; No. 4 in 2012; No. 7 in 2011 and No. 10 in 2013.
 
The 16-man recruiting class includes 10 position players, five pitchers and one two-way player. The new Tigers have been engaged in conditioning drills and individual workouts with the returning LSU players since August 27.
 
“This was an extremely important recruiting class for us, since we lost eight of our nine everyday starters from last year’s team,” said 10th-year coach Paul Mainieri, who was named 2015 National Coach of the Year after directing the Tigers to an SEC championship and a College World Series berth. “We needed to bring in a group of guys who could compete for everyday positions, as well as guys who could add depth to our pitching staff. I think we may have some difference-makers in the players that have joined our team.”
 
The newcomers and returning Tigers begin their six-week fall practice period at 1 p.m. on Sunday in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field, and the full-squad workouts extend through November 9.

 “I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited over a fall practice,” said Mainieri, entering his 34th season as a collegiate head coach. “There are so many questions marks and so much teaching because of the new players. To see them compete against each other and see how the pieces fit together will be a lot of fun.”
 
LSU is the only team to earn an NCAA Tournament National Seed in the each of the past four seasons, and the Tigers have a nation’s-best 204 wins since 2012. The 2016 season opens on February 19 when the Tigers play host to Cincinnati in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
 
Florida is No. 1 in the 2015 Collegiate Baseball recruiting survey, followed by South Carolina, Mississippi State, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, UCLA, LSU, Oregon, South Florida and Auburn.