BATON ROUGE — LSU coach Paul Mainieri honored on Monday two of his senior players ? pitcher Louis Coleman and outfielder Nicholas Pontiff ? during the Tigers’ postseason gathering at Walk-On’s Bistreaux.
The team met at Walk-On’s to watch the NCAA Tournament bracket announcement on ESPN.
“It’s a great pleasure for me as a coach to honor two young men who have meant so much to our program,” Mainieri said. “They are individuals of great character and tremendous examples of the values of hard work and dedication. They epitomize everything student-athletes should be.”
Just before the tournament field was revealed, Mainieri presented Coleman with the Skip Bertman Award, which goes to the player who best exemplifies the spirit of the LSU Baseball program.
Coleman, a native of Schlater, Miss., was named the SEC Pitcher of the Year and he was voted to the league’s community service team. He earned his LSU degree in agricultural business earlier this month.
The Skip Bertman Award is named for the Tigers’ legendary former coach and director of athletics. 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.
Mainieri then presented Pontiff with the award named in honor of his late brother, the Wally Pontiff Jr. Scholar Athlete Award. Wally Pontiff Jr., an all-SEC third baseman at LSU who played for the Tigers from 2000-02. Pontiff, an SEC Academic Honor Roll selection, died tragically in 2002 due to a heart abnormality.
Nicholas Pontiff is a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll . The Metairie, La., native earned his LSU degree in management earlier this month.