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Poche and Fraley ready for postseason run

Coach Paul Mainieri announced Thursday that Jared Poche will be the starting pitcher for LSU in its Baton Rouge Regional tournament opening-round game against Utah Valley State at The Box on Friday (2 p.m. Central/ESPN Digital).

Jared Poche
Jared Poche

There was no question that Jake Fraley will bat second and be in centerfield when the Tigers begin their run for the College World Series against the Wolverines.

Poche and Fraley are the two leaders of this LSU squad. Both players have taken on huge roles since joining the program two years ago. In all likelihood, both Poche and Fraley will bypass their senior seasons in favor of professional baseball.

Neither Poche nor Fraley put together an All-Southeastern Conference-type junior campaign, but there is no denying what this duo has meant to Tigers baseball these last three years.

Poche has won at least seven games in his three years. The only other pitcher under Mainieri to win at least seven games in the first three seasons of his career was current Philadelphia Phillies’ hurler Aaron Nola.

Fraley has batted higher than .300 in each of his first three seasons at LSU. Fraley joined some exclusive company by being a .300 hitter as a freshman, sophomore and junior. Only three other players accomplished that feat since Mainieri became coach – Blake Dean, Mikie Mahtook and Alex Bregman.

“The biggest think I worked on with (LSU hitting) coach Andy (Cannizaro) this year was making sure I would be consistent,” Fraley said. “As you go level by level in baseball, you see talented players. The guys who are the best are the ones who do it most consistently.

“That’s what makes Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels) and Miguel Cabrera (Detroit Tigers) great. They are consistent. I have just tried to do better each year. I feel I have had a great year. I have helped the team out in a lot of ways.”

Entering the NCAA tournament, Fraley is batting .321 – the third highest average on the team. He leads the team in runs scored with 54 and he shares the team lead with Antoine Duplantis in triples with five. Fraley, who leads the team in walks with 34 and steals with 26, has not made an error in centerfield.

Poche has not been as consistent on the mound this season as he had been his first two years. Poche entered 2016 with an 18-5 record with a 2.78 career earned run average. He has a 7-4 record with a 3.61 ERA this year. However, Poche delivered one of his best outings last week against Mississippi State.

“I have been a little bit up and down this year,” Poche said. “But, my confidence was never down. I have had the same mindset and the same approach all year. I have to not try to do so much on the mound. I kept my confidence. Eventually, it was going to work for me.”

Poche won two NCAA tournament games in 2015 – against North Carolina-Wilmington in the regional championship game and against Louisiana-Lafayette in the clinching game of the super-regional. He also made the start in LSU’s CWS opener against TCU last June.

“I am excited about the opportunity to pitch in the first game of the regional,” Poche said. “I hope to get us off to a good start. I pitched the first game of the regional at home two years ago. I had a lot of adrenalin early in the game. I have to get in control of that.”

Most college baseball observers didn’t expect LSU to be a regional host, much less a national seed, in 2016. The Tigers won 14 of their last 16 games to be given the No. 8 national seed.

“There was not one game which turned things around for us,” Fraley said. “We got a lot of momentum by winning all but one of those last 12 (regular-season) games. It was sort of out of coach Mainieri’s character to tell us to try to go out there and win all 12 games.

“But, (Mainieri) knew we had the maturity to still take it one game at a time. I knew in the fall that we had the type of team which would get better. So, it’s no surprise to me that we got better. Each and every person on the team has the same mindset. We have jelled.”

Poche also felt all along the Tigers had the makeup of being a contender to reach the College World Series in Omaha.

“I knew in the fall we would be pretty good,” Poche said. “When we started the off SEC at 2-5, I questioned that a little bit. But, we got on a run with 12 games left in the regular season. Coach (Mainieri) told us we were going to win 12 in a row and we won 11.

“We definitely exceeded the expectations of a lot of people. But, this hasn’t really surprised me. Even with all these new position players, I said ‘why not do it all and shock the world.’”

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