BATON ROUGE — The eighth-ranked LSU baseball squad, currently riding a 17-game win streak, has posted impressive numbers in the classroom and in the community as well as on the diamond.
The team’s cumulative GPA for the recently-completed spring semester was 2.89, the highest figure in LSU Baseball history. The cumulative GPA for the entire 2007-08 academic year was 2.77, also the highest ever recorded by the baseball program.
The Tigers also logged 345 hours of community service work during the 2007-08 academic year, the most this season by any of the LSU men’s sports programs.
“I’m very proud of our players for all they have done on the field this year,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “I’m equally proud of their accomplishments in the classroom and in the community. We have a great group of kids who care about the right things, and they are outstanding representatives of LSU.”
The Tigers regularly participated in children’s hospital visits in the Baton Rouge area, meeting with patients and their families while signing autographs, posing for pictures and lifting their spirits.
The team participated in the ALS Walk on the LSU campus ? the two-mile walk was conducted to raise money and heighten awareness of Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The Tigers were also participants in the Buddy Walk, an event designed to promote inclusion for people with Down Syndrome.
The Tigers annually take part in the Halloween “Boozar” at LSU, as they dress in Halloween costumes and distribute candy to children in the Baton Rouge community.
In an effort led by senior third baseman Michael Hollander, the squad also raised money so that an underprivileged family could provide Christmas gifts for their child.