9/29/2020
By: Terrill J. Weil
Da Boot Sports!

    LSU Baseball Coach Paul Maineiri held his first press conference of the fall ball season which officially starts Wednesday, Sept. 30th. Tomorrow's first day of practice will mark the first time the entire LSU baseball team will be together on the diamond since their last game of the 2020 season on March 11th. Maineiri mentioned the entire team is very healthy. No one has had the coronavirus recently and no one has had to be quarantined for any reason. LSU has also announced that all fall ball practices and scrimmages will not be open to the public this season due to COVID-19. 
Below is a two part video of today's press conference, courtesy of LSU Sports Information.. 

                Press Conference video Part 1

                Press conference video Part 2

9/29/2020
By: LSU Sports Information
Da Boot Sports!


​LSU BASEBALL TO OPEN FALL PRACTICE PERIOD ON WEDNESDAY; ALL PRACTICE SESSIONS AND SCRIMMAGES WILL BE CLOSED TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC
 
BATON ROUGE, La. – The 2021 LSU baseball squad will take the field for the first time on Wednesday afternoon as the Tigers begin their six-week fall practice period in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
 
Due to concerns about COVID-19 exposure, all practice sessions and scrimmages will be closed to the general public this fall.
 
“We traditionally welcome our fans to all of the fall workouts and scrimmages, but it’s simply not possible this year,” explained LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “We have an obligation to create a safe and secure environment for our student-athletes, and we appreciate our fans understanding the need for this policy.”
 
Fall practice is scheduled to continue through November 10.

9/28/2020
LSU Sports Information
Da Boot Sports!


​THREE FORMER LSU BASEBALL PLAYERS TO PARTICIPATE IN 2020 MLB PLAYOFFS
 
BATON ROUGE, La. – Three former LSU players will participate in the 2020 Major League Baseball playoffs that begin on Tuesday.
 
The former Tigers who are on active MLB playoff rosters include second baseman DJ LeMahieu of the New York Yankees, third baseman Alex Bregman of the Houston Astros and catcher Austin Nola of the San Diego Padres.
 
A total of 40 former LSU Tigers have played for MLB playoff teams since 1990; 13 of the players were part of World Series Championship teams in that time frame.
 
The 2020 MLB Wild Card round, featuring 16 teams playing in eight best-of-three series, begins on Tuesday as the Yankees will face the Cleveland Indians, and the Astros will meet the Minnesota Twins. The Padres will take on the St. Louis Cardinals in a series that starts on Wednesday.
 
Other Wild Card matchups include Toronto vs. Tampa Bay, Chicago White Sox vs. Oakland, Milwaukee vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, Cincinnati vs. Atlanta, and Miami vs. Chicago Cubs.
 
LeMahieu, a three-time All-Star and Gold Glove recipient and winner of the 2019 Silver Slugger Award, won the MLB and American League batting titles this season and became the first player in modern Major League history to win a batting title in each league. LeMahieu won the 2016 MLB and National League batting titles while playing for the Colorado Rockies.
 
LeMahieu is the first Yankee to lead the entire MLB in hitting since Mickey Mantle in 1956, and the first Yankee to lead the American League since Bernie Williams in 1998. He batted .364 (71-for-195) this season with 10 homers and 27 RBI to help New York reach the playoffs.
 
Bregman, a two-time All-Star and the 2018 All-Star Game MVP, batted .242 in 42 games for the Astros this season with 12 doubles, one triple, six homers and 22 RBI.

Nola, who began the season with the Seattle Mariners and was traded to San Diego in August, batted .273 in 48 games this season with nine doubles, one triple, seven homers and 28 RBI.
 

9/10/2020
LSU Baseball Report
By: William Franques

    ​FORMER LSU TIGERS ALEX BREGMAN AND AARON NOLA NOMINATED FOR ROBERTO CLEMENTE AWARD
 
BATON ROUGE, La. – Former LSU players Alex Bregman of the Houston Astros and Aaron Nola of the Philadelphia Phillies have been nominated by their respective MLB clubs for the 2020 Roberto Clemente Award.
 
The award is given annually to a player who demonstrates the values Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente displayed in his commitment to community and understanding the value of helping others. Each club nominates a player in September.
 
The winner is selected from 30 nominees during the World Series. Originally the Commissioner's Award, the honor was named for Clemente in 1973.
 
The Roberto Clemente Award winner will be selected via a blue ribbon panel that includes Commissioner Rob Manfred, representatives from MLB-affiliated networks and MLB.com, as well as Roberto’s children, Enrique, Luis and Roberto Jr.
 
Fans can vote for the Roberto Clemente Award via mlb.com/clemente21.
 
“It has been a hallmark of our program for years that our players are very giving of their time to help others in need,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri.  “Some of our greatest players we’ve had here at LSU – like Alex and Aaron – are some of the most giving people we have ever had in our program. For example, I remember Aaron’s brother, (current San Diego Padres catcher) Austin Nola, doing over 100 hours per year of community service when he was here.
 
“I always told our players that sacrificing for others is one of the best things you will ever do in your life. You do things for others, but you get back more than you give. The feeling of helping others is something that is hard to describe.”
 
The Astros nominated Bregman, an All-America shortstop at LSU from 2013-15, for his work with the Houston Food Bank, as he and his fiancée, Reagan Howard, have engineered a food drive that has raised nearly $2 million. On April 10, Bregman, in conjunction with his "Bregman Cares" charity, launched #FEEDHOU, a campaign to raise funds for the Houston Food Bank to help feed struggling residents during the COVID-19 crisis.
Every dollar donated provides three meals for families in need.
 
In addition to his #FEEDHOU campaign, Bregman has been active in supporting several non-profit organizations, including autism research efforts, youth sports. In recent weeks, Bregman has turned his attention towards Louisiana, where the southwest portion of the state was devastated by Hurricane Laura.
 
The Phillies nominated Nola, an All-America pitcher at LSU from 2012-14, for his work with the ALS Association’s Greater Philadelphia and Louisiana-Mississippi Chapters; the anti-bullying program “Shred Hate;” and Philadelphia Futures, a high school mentoring organization that helps students gain admission to and succeed in college.
 
Nola also works with Philabundance, the region’s largest hunger relief organization; Hospitality Assistance Response of Pennsylvania (HARP), which is helping restaurant workers during the COVID-19 crisis; and more

9/10/2020
LSU Sports Information
By: William Franques


    The LSU baseball team will participate in Operation BBQ Relief for Lake Charles this Sunday, September 13.
 
The team will depart from Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge at 7 a.m. on Sunday morning, and they will arrive in Lake Charles around 9:15 am and work until 1:30 pm. They will be working in the Wal Mart parking lot at 3415 Gerstner Memorial Blvd.
 
The team will be preparing BBQ (pulling from smokers, saucing, and packaging); loading smokers; preparing sides (vegetables and rice); loading meals for the distribution partners; and taking meals into the community (to evacuees, first responders).
 
Operation BBQ Relief is a national nonprofit organization, providing free hot meals to the Lake Charles community. To date, it has served over 191,000 meals for families that have no power or water access, as well as first responders, utility workers and members of the military. The project involves volunteers from all over the country along with multiple semi-trucks and thousands of pounds of food and BBQ smokers.
 

9/2/2020
Da Boot Sports!
Article courtesy of LSU
By: William Franques


​
LSU NO. 2 IN BASEBALL AMERICA RECRUITING RANKING
 
BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU is No. 2 in the 2020 Baseball America magazine recruiting ranking released on Wednesday, marking the Tigers’ third Top 5 finish in the past four years and their 13th  Top 10 finish in the past 14 years.
 
The Tigers have finished No. 1 in a recruiting ranking in 2007, 2010, 2014 and 2018; No. 2 in 2020; No. 3 in 2009; No. 4 in 2012; No. 5 in 2017; No. 6 in 2019; No. 7 in 2011, 2015 and 2016; and No. 10 in 2013.
 
The 2020 ranking marks the third Top 5 class for LSU assistant coach Nolan Cain, who has served as recruiting coordinator since 2017. Cain’s classes have been ranked No. 5 in 2017, No. 1 in 2018, No. 6 in 2019 and No. 2 in 2020.
 
The 17-man 2020 recruiting class is composed of 10 pitchers, six position players and one two-way player.
 
“We're trying to develop a championship ball club, and I think we have the makings of a really great team,” said LSU head coach Paul Mainieri, who will enter the 2021 season this spring as the NCAA Baseball Active Coaches Wins Leader with 1,467 career victories.  “We've added to an already elite pitching staff with some really electric arms in this recruiting class. I just think our pitching staff has the chance to be one of the best pitching staffs we've ever had.
 
“The incoming class also features some tremendously talented position players with exceptional abilities that can make an immediate impact upon our program. The new players combined with our returning veterans give us the chance to have a very potent offensive lineup.”
 
The new Tigers are engaged in conditioning drills and individual workouts  with the returning LSU players, and the team will hold its first full-squad workout of the fall practice period on Sunday, September 20.
 
Fall practice concludes with the intra-squad Purple-Gold World Series October 27-29.
 
2020 Baseball America Top 25 Recruiting Class Ranking
1. Miami
2. LSU
3. Vanderbilt
4. Arizona
5. Florida
6. South Carolina
7. Stanford
8. Texas
9. Arkansas
10. Georgia Tech
11. Florida State
12. Georgia
13. Texas Christian
14. Auburn
15. Texas Tech
16. Oklahoma
17. Mississippi State
18. North Carolina
19. Tennessee
20. Oklahoma State
21. Mississippi
22. Louisville
23. Arizona State
24. Southern California
25. Florida International