BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU coach Paul Mainieri honored on Monday two of his players – junior pitcher Jared Poche’ and junior outfielder Jake Fraley – during the Tigers’ postseason gathering at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
The team met to watch the NCAA Tournament bracket announcement on ESPNU.
“Jared and Jake have made a tremendous impact upon the LSU baseball program for the past three years,” Mainieri said. “They’re obviously great ball players, but they also are outstanding young men that represent our state on a first-class level. I am extremely grateful to have the opportunity to serve as their coach.”
Just before the tournament field was revealed, Poche’ received 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. The award was presented to Poche’ by Pontiff’s father, Wally Pontiff Sr.
Poche’, a native of Lutcher, La., is a kinesiology major who has pitched in the Tigers’ weekend starting rotation in each of his three seasons, compiling 25 career wins. This season, Poche’ is 7-4 with a 3.61 ERA in 84.2 innings, and he has recorded 67 strikeouts.
Legendary former LSU coach Skip Bertman then presented Fraley with the Skip Bertman Award, which goes to the player who best exemplifies the spirit of the LSU Baseball program. 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.
Fraley, a native of Middletown, Del., is hitting .321 this season with nine doubles, five triples, three homers, 31 RBI, 54 runs and 26 stolen bases. A three-year starter in the LSU outfield, he is No. 2 in the SEC this season in steals, No. 4 in triples, No. 6 in runs scored, No. 8 in hits (78) and No. 10 in walks (34).