LSU Baseball is Back Baby!

By Garrett Lumpkin

It has been nine long years since the LSU Tigers last won the College World Series, but there is a very good chance that the streak will end later this month. The Tigers are wrapping up their most impressive season since that last national title back in 2000.

LSU won all five of its baseball national championships in a ten year stretch between 1991 and 2000. With that kind of success, LSU Tiger fans grew to expect a run at the national title every year, or at least an annual trip to Omaha, Nebraska, site of the College World Series.
However, that has not been the case for much of the last decade.

Since Skip Bertman stepped down as head coach of the LSU baseball program in 2001, the Tigers have produced some pretty good results. But in Baton Rouge, pretty good is not good enough for the LSU baseball program.

Longtime LSU assistant coach Smoke Laval succeeded Bertman as head coach of the Tigers in 2002, and learned just how hard it is to replace a legend. Laval experienced some highlights at LSU as he led the Tigers to the College World Series in 2003 and 2004. However, LSU went 0-2 on each of those trips to Omaha and looked nothing like the dominant Tiger teams of the 1990’s.

Things started going downhill for Laval and the Tigers after that. In 2005 LSU failed to win a NCAA Regional in Baton Rouge for the first time in 11 years. Then in 2006 the Tigers won just 35 games, their lowest win total since Bertman’s rookie year in 1984, and weren’t even invited to the NCAA Tournament.

It was time for a change, and Smoke Laval was forced to resign after the 2006 season.
In June of 2006 LSU began an extensive nationwide search for its next head coach. Notre Dame Head Coach Paul Mainieri was familiar with LSU baseball having played one season for the Tigers in 1976. He saw the potential in Baton Rouge and decided to leave Notre Dame for LSU.

During his initial press conference Mainieri made it very clear that he understood the tradition of LSU baseball.

“Make no mistake about it,” Mainieri said, “The goal is to return LSU to the pinnacle position in college baseball. I have all the confidence in the world that we can do that here.”

When Mainieri took over in 2007, the LSU baseball program was in rough shape. The Tigers won only 29 games that season and finished tenth in the SEC, their worst conference finish since 1955.

The 2008 season looked like more of the same as the Tigers were hovering around the .500 mark at 23-16-1 with four weeks remaining in the regular season. At that point Mainieri’s record at LSU was 52-42-2 and I’m sure that many LSU baseball fans were questioning the hire.

Then something amazing happened. LSU went on to win its next 23 games, establishing a new SEC record for consecutive wins. Mainieri was named the college baseball coach of the year, and LSU won its first game at the College World Series since the championship game in 2000. The 49 victories were also the most for LSU since 2000 when the Tigers won 52 games.

The 2009 season began with great expectations as LSU entered the year ranked number one in the nation.

That preseason ranking, the strong finish to the 2008 season, and the fact that the Tigers were opening up a new ballpark in 2009, put LSU under the microscope all season long.

With all of that pressure, the Tigers have performed remarkably, never once even dropping out of the top ten in the college baseball polls. LSU started the season with a bang winning its first nine games of the year. The Tigers went on to win the SEC regular season championship, and their second straight SEC Tournament championship. The Tigers swept their NCAA Regional in Baton Rouge 3-0, and also swept Rice in the Super Regional 2-0.

LSU is back in Omaha, and for the first time since 2000, the Tigers are one of the favorites to win it all. They started the College World Series with victories over Virginia and Arkansas. That’s significant because 17 of the last 19 College World Series champions began the tournament 2-0.

If LSU wins the national championship, that would give the Tigers six titles which would tie them with Texas. Only Southern California has more College World Series championships with 12.

Summer Sports

By Garrett Lumpkin 337 Sports


The 2008-2009 school year has officially ended. And for high school and collegiate student athletes, that means it’s time for a break. However, in the sports world, there is no break. There is a common perception that nothing exciting happens in the sports world over the summer. I don’t buy into that notion, and I have five reasons why local sports fans should be excited about the summer:
LSU Baseball
Head coach Paul Mainieri has assembled the best LSU baseball team since 2000 when the Tigers won the last of their five national championships. The Tigers roared through the Southeastern Conference this year winning the SEC regular season title and the SEC tournament championship.

LSU has what it takes to win it all, and that is balance. In the SEC, which is considered the most competitive college baseball conference, the Tigers led the league in pitching and ranked second in both hitting and fielding.

Put it this way… If LSU doesn’t play deep into the College World Series, it will be very disappointing because the expectations are extremely high for this team.
From here on out every LSU baseball game will be nationally televised by ESPN. The College World Series takes place June 13-24 in Omaha, Nebraska.

Louisiana Swashbucklers
The Swashbucklers may be playing in a different league, but they’re producing the same one-sided results that fans have grown accustomed to. After winning two consecutive Intense Football League championships in 2007 and 2008, the team moved over to the Southern Indoor Football League.

It’s been a seamless transition as the Bucs have started the 2009 season 5-1. They are leading the SIFL in scoring offense (55 pts per game), and scoring defense (25 pts per game).
The Swashbucklers will be playing at the Lake Charles Civic Center throughout June and July, and I’m thinking they’ll end the season with a third straight championship.

Golf Tournaments
With the summer comes a plethora of local golf tournaments around Southwest Louisiana.
Graywood is hosting the McNeese Cowboy Club Tournament on June 20.

Mallard Cove has its annual Cameron State Bank Lake Charles Men’s City Golf Championship on June 26-28. Mallard Cove will follow that with the Junior City Championship July 6-7 and the Women’s City Championship July 11-12.

The Sulphur Men’s City Championship will be held at Frasch Park on July 10-12.

Pine Shadows will host the Red, White and Blue Tournament on July 4. Pine Shadows also has its Summer Invitational on August 1-2.

The Lake Charles Country Club will host the US Amateur Qualifier on August 3, the Prien Lake Four Ball on August 7-9, and the Louisiana Golf Association Senior Amateur on August 20-22.
If you are a competitive golfer, then you have plenty of opportunities to strut your stuff this summer.
Youth Baseball
Southwest Louisiana is known for producing top baseball talent, and it all starts in the youth leagues.

On just about any night during June and July you can find a great little league baseball game in the lake area.

Two local Bullet Baseball teams have already qualified for the Elite World Series at Disney World. The Bullet Baseball 9 year olds will be in Orlando, Florida August 2-9, and the Bullet Baseball 10 year olds will be in Orlando July 12-19. The Bullet Baseball 10 year olds finished third at the Elite World Series last year.

There is also the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in August. In 2006 and 2008 the South Lake Charles All-Stars advanced to the Little League World Series. SLC always has a loaded all-star roster, and I’m sure those young guys will make another run at Williamsport later this summer.

Closer to Football Season
My final reason for you to be excited about the summer is this: We are that much closer to football season!

In just two short months, the high school and college kids will be dressed in full pads getting set for another football season.

NFL teams will hit the practice field even earlier as all 32 NFL teams will be in training camp by the final week of July.

It’s highly likely that the McNeese Cowboys and LSU Tigers will each begin their respective seasons ranked in the top 20.

Meanwhile, the New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys should each be improved in 2009 after each team missed the playoffs one year ago.