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baseball Edit

More difficult now to have June success

A major change for the format of the NCAA baseball tournament was implemented in 1999.

No longer did a team simply have to win one six-team regional in order to reach the College World Series. Beginning in 1999, a team had to win two levels of competition in order to reach Omaha.

Paul Mainieri with LSU legendary coach Skip Bertman
Paul Mainieri with LSU legendary coach Skip Bertman
Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

First, a team had to survive a four-team regional. Second, a team had to win a best-of-three super-regional series. If a team was considered one of the eight best teams in the country, it would remain at home for both of those first two weekends of the NCAA tournament.

A change in the format of the College World Series took place in 2003. After the two bracket winners were determined, there was a three-game series to decide the national champion. Previously, there was one game played to determine the national champion.

So, a team now needs to win two four-team double-elimination tournaments (regional and CWS bracket) and two three-game series (super-regional and CWS championship round) to be the No. 1 team in college baseball.

LSU coach Paul Mainieri was expected to have the same type of postseason success as former Tigers coach Skip Bertman. Under Bertman, LSU won five national titles in a ten-year span from 1991-2000. Mainieri has won one national championship in his first ten years as Tigers coach.

Following some discussions between Texas and Mainieri about its vacant head baseball job, the current LSU coach has received a salary increase. Presently, Mainieri’s contract calls for a base salary of $750,000. It runs through the 2020 season.

Mainieri’s new base salary has not been made public, but one would believe that it is somewhere between $900,000 and $1 million – obviously, a nice pay day. However, that figure is the going rate for the premier college baseball coaches in the country today.

So, do the expectations for Mainieri’s teams rise with his new contract? Well, it’s pretty hard for those expectations to become much greater. Like Alabama football fans and Kentucky basketball fans, a segment of LSU fans expect nothing less than a national title every year.

That’s the reason there are some Tigers baseball supporters who aren’t happy with Mainieri’s new contract. These people do not expect LSU to have its season ended at home by the likes of Stony Brook (2012 super-regional), Houston (2014 regional) and Coastal Carolina (2016 super-regional).

There is no questioning that Mainieri’s teams have performed quite well during the regular season and the Southeastern Conference tournament. Under Mainieri, LSU has won three SEC titles and five SEC tournament championships. The Tigers have been a top-eight national seed seven times in ten years.

One cannot compare Mainieri’s body of work with that of Bertman. One needs to look at Mainieri’s postseason results with the Tigers’ postseason results under the present NCAA tournament format.

In eight years under the present format, LSU teams under Bertman and Smoke Laval won six regional tournaments and three super-regional series. The Tigers reached the Final Four once – in 2000 – and won the national title that year.

In ten years under Mainieri, the Tigers have won six regional tournaments and four super-regional series. LSU reached the Final Four once – in 2009 – and won the national title that year.

Basically, what Mainieri’s teams have accomplished in the postseason are pretty close to what the Bertman/Laval clubs did under the same NCAA tournament format.

Not only with Mainieri as coach but also with Bertman and Laval in charge of the program, LSU has been a pretty good team in the regionals. Under Bertman and Laval, the Tigers had a 22-5 record in seven regional tournaments. Mainieri’s teams have a 21-5 record in eight regional tournaments.

But, the problems for LSU have surfaced as the competition has increased. The Tigers have a 16-12 super-regional record – 7-7 under Bertman and Laval and 9-5 under Mainieri. It must be pointed out that three of the four super-regionals under Bertman and Laval were played on the road.

LSU has been a .500 team in Omaha since the current format began – 4-4 under Bertman and Laval and 7-7 under Mainieri. The Tigers have nine of their 11 CWS victories in the two years in which they won national titles.

So, what does LSU have to do to make deeper runs during the NCAA tournament?

Look at the rosters of the Tigers’ two national championship teams in the past 18 years and it’s pretty obvious. Have future major league players on the team. It’s all about recruiting and talent.

Five future major leaguers played key roles in the 2000 College World Series – first baseman Brad Hawpe, second baseman Mike Fontenot, shortstop Ryan Theriot and pitchers Brian Tallet and Trey Hodges. That list does not include team leaders Blair Barbier and Brad Cresse.

When LSU won the 2009 CWS crown, there were also five future big-leaguers on the roster – second baseman DJ LeMahieu, leftfielder Ryan Schimpf, centerfielder Mikie Mahtook and pitchers Louis Coleman and Anthony Ranaudo. That list does not include Blake Dean and Jared Mitchell.

It is hard right now to determine how many of the recent LSU teams will have players reach the major leagues. Four pitchers who played on Tigers teams beginning with 2012 have reached the major leagues – Kevin Gausman, Nick Goody, Aaron Nola and Nick Rumbelow.

No position player from LSU since the end of the 2011 season has reached the majors. Certainly, individuals like Alex Bregman and JaCoby Jones are on the proper path to do so.

There is no denying that Mainieri is one of the best game-managers in college baseball. However, Mainieri and his staff must be able to gather more major league-caliber talent in order to seriously challenge for a College World Series championship.

Here are LSU’s NCAA tournament results since the present format began in 1999.

1999

Regional at LSU: 4-1 (beat East Carolina in finals)

Super-regional at Alabama: 0-2

2000

Regional at LSU: 3-0 (beat UL-Monroe in finals)

Super-regional at LSU: 2-0 vs. UCLA

CWS: 4-0 (beat Stanford in finals)

2001

Regional at LSU: 3-1 (beat Virginia Commonwealth in finals)

Super-regional at Zephyr Field: 1-2 vs. Tulane

2002

Regional at LSU: 4-1 (beat UL-Lafayette in finals)

Super-regional at Rice: 0-2

2003

Regional at LSU: 3-0 (beat North Carolina-Wilmington in finals)

Super-regional at LSU: 2-1 vs. Baylor

CWS: 0-2 (losses to Cal State Fullerton and South Carolina)

2004

Regional at LSU: 3-0 (beat College of Charleston in finals)

Super-regional at LSU: 2-0 vs. Texas A&M

CWS: 0-2 (losses to Miami and South Carolina)

2005

Regional at LSU: 2-2 (lost to Rice in finals)

2006

No NCAA tournament

2007

No NCAA tournament

2008

Regional at LSU: 3-0 (beat Southern Mississippi in finals)

Super-regional at LSU: 2-1 vs. Cal Irvine

CWS: 1-2 (two losses to North Carolina)

2009

Regional at LSU: 3-0 (beat Minnesota in finals)

Super-regional at LSU: 2-0 vs. Rice

CWS: 5-1 (beat Texas in finals)

2010

Regional at UCLA: 1-2 (losses to UCLA and Cal Irvine)

2011

No NCAA tournament

2012

Regional at LSU: 3-0 (beat Oregon State in finals)

Super-regional at LSU: 1-2 vs. Stony Brook

2013

Regional at LSU: 3-0 (beat UL-Lafayette in finals)

Super-regional at LSU: 2-0 vs. Oklahoma

CWS: 0-2 (losses to UCLA and North Carolina)

2014

Regional at LSU: 2-2 (two losses to Houston)

2015

Regional at LSU: 3-0 (beat North Carolina-Wilmington in finals)

Super-regional at LSU: 2-0 vs. UL-Lafayette

CWS: 1-2 (two losses to TCU)

2016

Regional at LSU: 3-1 (beat Rice in finals)

Super-regional at LSU: 0-2 vs. Coastal Carolina

LSU regional record (1999-2016): 43-10

LSU super-regional record (1999-2016): 16-12

LSU CWS record (1999-2016): 11-11

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