New bats? New pitchers? Same old success

Critics wondered if they could pitch.

So far, the LSU baseball team has proven it can, sporting a sparkling ERA below 3.

Regardless of the Tigers’ unexpected pitching prowess, it’s the team’s bats that have stolen the show to give the team a strong start to the season.

These are the same bats that LSU coach Paul Mainieri lobbied against in the preseason, because the NCAA adjusted the creation of these delicate metal sticks, “watering down” their power to keep baseballs in the park, pitchers safe on the mound and ultimately to make games shorter.

“My honest opinion is there wasn’t a need for a change,” Mainieri said at the team’s preseason media day. “I think offense is something that makes college baseball a little different than professional baseball and I think fans enjoy that. I didn’t want to see the bats change. … I think time has passed and they’ve gotten used to it. I don’t know that the change is going to be as dramatic as maybe I thought it was going to be, quite frankly.”

So far for LSU, the change has, if anything, been for the better for its offense, as the Tigers have stormed into the new season averaging more than 10 runs per game in the first 14 games of the season.

LSU scored 10 or more runs in five of its opening seven contests, including a three-game drubbing of Holy Cross when the Tigers outscored the Crusaders 41-10.

The Tigers’ offense is being anchored by a slew of returnees like multi-year starters third baseman Tyler Hanover and centerfielder Mikie Mahtook, who said it didn’t take him long to realize LSU could have an elite offense in preseason drills.

Mahtook has certainly done his part, including hitting four home runs in the opening weekend of the season.

“We just mesh really well this year,” Mahtook said at media day. “It didn’t take long for us to realize that this team could be something special.”

Mainieri agreed and also added another returnee to the mix, junior shortstop Austin Nola.

After primarily being relied upon as just a defensive standout, Nola has added offense to his wide repertoire, serving as one of the team’s leading hitters – and ultimately best leaders, as well.

That’s quite a change for a player who hit just .240 as a freshman.

“Sometimes we get these kids that play so well in a certain role, and then we ask them to expand their roll and they put so much extra pressure on themselves and they go away from doing the things they’ve always done well,” Manieri said. “Austin Nola is as fine a defensive shortstop as I have ever coached, I marvel at his ability out there as a shortstop. … He’s going to hit in the middle our order, probably fifth. I’m going to count on him to drive in big runs. I think Nola is naturally a little bit more of a leader because he’s a little bit older, but I’m not asking him to do anything too special.”

Aside from the returnees, LSU is also fielding a special group of new starters.

True freshman second baseman JaCoby Jones hasn’t taken long to show the world why he was a 19th Round draft pick of the Houston Astros, hitting .571 with two home runs in his first seven collegiate games.

Mainieri said the team’s focus with Jones the remainder of the season will be to keep him grounded and make sure he doesn’t try to do too much.

After all, he did start the season as the team’s No. 9 hitter – a spot he remains in now even with the fat average.

“I don’t think JaCoby can hit [for that average] the whole year,” Mainieri said. “But he’s a great athlete and he’s off to a very hot start.”

The Tigers will be challenged more in coming days, as national power Cal State Fullerton heads to Alex Box Stadium this weekend.

Maybe then the team’s lack of pitching experience will get its place in the headlines.

For now, the talk is on those LSU bats – because after all, for something that no one in Baton Rouge wanted in the fall, they don’t look so bad as spring approaches and another College World Series rolls around the corner.

“I’m thinking now that the bats certainly are going to make a difference,” Mainieri said. “I don’t think the home run totals are going to be as big but it may not be as dramatic of a change as I thought at one time. The game is still going to be a very fundamental game, we’re not going to sit around and wait for the three-run homer like in the past. We’ve got to get them on, get them over and get them in.”