Cole Henry to start for LSU in SEC baseball tourney opener

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Photo credit LSUSports.net

LSU got some good news ahead of the SEC baseball tournament.  Freshman Cole Henry will start the game tomorrow night in LSU's tournament opener against South Carolina.  Henry hasn’t pitched in five weeks, after dealing with an arm injury, following his last outing against Florida on April 19th.

“It’s been five weeks of rehab and rest, and seeing doctors.  He, myself and Allen Dunn and all the doctors are confident that he’s 100-percent healthy,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said.

The goal for Henry is to pitch no more than three innings tomorrow night.

The Tuesday night guy ... pic.twitter.com/n5d3F4WPhX

— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) May 20, 2019

The return of Henry to the pitching rotation is certainly good news for LSU ahead of the SEC tournament.  Unfortunately, the news isn’t so good for freshman pitcher Jaden Hill.  Like Henry, Hill has battled an arm injury nearly the entire season.  Mainieri simply told me, “He’s not ready to pitch yet."  The Tigers were hopeful Hill would return for the SEC tournament.  

Mainieri made it clear to his team that the five hour trip to Hoover, Alabama isn’t worth it, unless they win some games.  Right now LSU has 17 conference wins and Mainieri isn’t sure if that is enough to secure a regional host site in Baton Rouge.

“The selection committee is not very transparent in how they make their decisions on national seeds, hosts and who gets at large bids,” Mainieri said.  Coach quickly pointed out his team's focus is on the SEC tournament.