LSU Baseball: Omaha or Bust!

The calendar says we’re still more than a month away from spring; however, with the start of the LSU baseball season tomorrow, it at least feels like spring is here now.

LSU is the favorite to win the 2015 SEC Western Division title as determined by the league’s 14 baseball coaches in the 24th annual preseason SEC poll, just announced today.

The Preseason All-SEC First and Second Teams, as determined by the head coaches, also were announced, with LSU garnering four selections. Shortstop Alex Bregman and outfielder Andrew Stevenson were named to the first team; catcher Kade Scivicque and outfielder Mark Laird were named to the second team.

LSU enters the 2015 campaign as a top ten team, according to several polls:

No. 2 – Baseball America
No. 4 – Collegiate Baseball
No. 4 – Coaches Poll
No. 9 – D1 Baseball

More from LSU Baseball

LSU starts off the season with a three-game series at Alex Box Stadium against the Kansas Jayhawks. The Tigers are looking to improve on their 46-16-1 (17-11-1 SEC) record from a year ago, and to return to the College World Series in Omaha. The 2014 season ended in disappointment, as Houston bested LSU in the Baton Rouge Super Regional.

The good news is that a veteran core of players are returning in 2015, including shortstop Alex Bregman, outfielder Andrew Stevenson, and southpaw pitcher Jared Poché. Another bit of good news is having the No. 1-ranked signing class – featuring four freshman pitchers that coach Paul Mainieri will rely upon to round out the starting rotation, with the main concern being the weekend rotation.

Mainieri is set to begin his ninth season at the helm for LSU, with a 360–149–3 as the Tigers’ skipper.

Even with some great incoming (albeit unproven) talent, Mainieri acknowledges there are a couple of huge holes to fill with the departures of third baseman Chrisitan Ibarra and pitcher Aaron Nola.

Maineri said the following at the recent Tigers’ Media Day in January:

"“I feel great about our team. I thought we had an excellent fall practice. We knew what we had position-player wise. The one question we still have is who is going to man third base for us, although, we are narrowing in on that. I think we will be just fine there, but not as good as Christian Ibarra defensively. Christian Ibarra has become the standard-setter. He is the greatest third baseman I’ve ever coached. It would be like replacing Brooks Robinson with the Orioles. Everyone tries, but no one was ever quite like him. I don’t think we will ever have someone like Christian Ibarra. I think we’re very capable of doing a good job there. I have a few options, and I think it is going to be a good solid lineup.”"

Maineri has announced that the starting third baseman will be Danny Zardon, who will certainly have his work cut out for him in filling Ibarra’s shoes.

Regarding the pitching situation, Maineri is looking to Poché as the ace of the staff, and as it stands currently, freshmen pitchers Jake Latz, Alex Lange, Doug Norman, and Jake Godfrey will all be in the mix to be weekend starters.

Maineri addressed the pitching during Tigers’ Media Day:

"“We have a lot of experience, but I’m equally excited about the young freshmen. These kids have the chance to be really fine players. We just don’t need them to play as much right away as we would with our pitching staff in years gone by. I think we will be solid with our position players. It is just the matter of these young pitchers…As we go into the spring season, the biggest question is who forms your weekend rotation. I can’t tell you that 100% for sure right now as we go into the SEC schedule. What we plan to do is use the first three to four weeks of the non-conference schedule before we open up against Ole Miss in March and get the freshmen as many innings we possibly can. We may start them, and it is quite possible one of them may move into the last couple innings role of the game like a closer or key set-up guy.”"

Here’s a brief look at the projected position-player starting lineup:

Catcher – Kade Scivicque
First Base – Connor Hale
Second Base – Kramer Robertson
Third Base – Danny Zardon
Shortstop – Alex Bregman
Left field – Jake Fraley
Center field – Andrew Stevenson
Right field – Mark Laird

Starting pitchers:

Jared Poché, Alex Lange, Jake Godfrey, Doug Norman, Austin Bain

Bullpen:

Jesse Stallings, Zac Person, Kyle Bouman, Russell Reynolds, Parker Bugg, Alden Cartwright

Our friends at the “As The Valley Shook” website have done a great job of breaking down the position players and pitchers on the roster. It’s worth a look.

Here’s a look at the 2015 schedule, from lsusports.net. There will be ample opportunites to catch the Tigers in action on television, as all 56 regular season games will be televised.

As always, expectations are high as the Tigers are set to play ball. Hopefully 2015 results in a return to Omaha, and the seventh national championship for LSU.

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