Paul Mainieri hasn't been LSU baseball's head coach since 2021, but he still feels heavily invested. He recruited a good number of the players still on the roster, after all.
And when you come to play for the Tigers, there's an expectation you end up in Omaha. His team made the supers in 2021, but was swept in two games by the Tennessee Vols squad they'll meet again this season. For 5th-year seniors like Gavin Dugas and Cade Beloso, that expectation almost never did occur, not until this season under new head coach Jay Johnson.
"I’m just really so happy for all of them. When we recruited them LSU, it was a given that they were going to get an opportunity to play in Omaha," Mainieri told Mike Detillier and Charlie Long on SportsTalk this week. "We lost two Super Regionals, we had a pandemic year, those things started happening so it’s been a few years since we’ve been to Omaha. So I just can’t say how happy I am for those guys that they’re going to get to experience the College World Series. I’m so proud of them, and to watch the way that they’ve developed over the course of time.”
Listen to the full interview with Paul Mainieri in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
Mainieri led five of his LSU squads to the College World Series bracket during his tenure in Baton Rouge, winning a title in 2009. The Tigers had reached the CWS 18 times, but the most recent trip was in 2017, a visit that no member of the current roster can say they experienced.
That will change after a dominant 5-0 run through the regionals and supers, both at Alex Box Stadium, which was finished off in a 8-3 victory over Kentucky. The Tigers have a large task ahead of them to add another date to the "Intimidator" billboard sitting out over the right field bleachers. So what would a six-time visitor give as words of advice?
Just do what you've done all year, and keep everything focused on the moment ahead of you, not what's coming down the road.
Related
"You can’t all of a sudden just say ‘oh this game is bigger, now I’ve got to play better.’ That doesn’t work. Players get tight, they put pressure on themselves. So they’ve got to find the zone where they can stay relaxed and confident, not lackadaisical, but just not put extra pressure on themselves," he said. "So my style was to put pressure on them everyday. … I used to always make the little things really matter, pay attention to the little details about everything, because I didn’t want to all of a sudden start telling them, ‘hey, we’ve got to start paying attention to details now because we’re in Omaha and we’re playing for the national championship.’ "
The Tigers' opening test in Omaha will come against the Volunteers at 6 p.m. Saturday, and then they'll turn to face one of Wake Forest or Stanford in either the winner's or loser's bracket on Monday.
Related
MORE FROM PAUL MAINIERI
On Jay Johnson's first two years as head coach
“I think Jay has done a terrific job. He’s made a lot of the right decisions this year, and that’s how you get graded as a head coach. Do you make enough correct decisions that allows your team to win? He needed to get to Omaha this year, obviously. It was well-chronicled. Most of the recruiting class that myself and our previous staff had put together, but he added some key pieces to it, he brought in some transfer players that obviously had a major impact. And he’s made the decisions at the right time. I think he’s done a terrific job. He’s gonna learn, though, getting to Omaha is one thing, winning a national championship is another, because it’s really hard. You’re out there with seven other great teams.”
…
“He’s gonna find that LSU fans, they’re happy getting to Omaha, but they’re really happy when you bring home the big trophy. The pressure ratchets up with each passing step. But I think Jay has really done a nice job. He’s fortunate, too, because this transfer portal is a new thing and NIL and so forth. And the additions of Skenes and Hurd and White, those three guys in particular, have paid huge dividends.”
Related
