As the No. 8 LSU baseball team begins its five-game week tonight against Stephen F. Austin, don’t be surprised if the usual faces aren’t gracing the Tiger lineup.
In an effort to both give his starters a much-needed day off and get bench players game experience before Southeastern Conference play, LSU coach Paul Mainieri said he’d be shifting the lineup starting with the Tigers’ (10-1) tussle with the Lumberjacks at 6:30 p.m.
The shuffling began Sunday as junior outfielder Sean McMullen replaced sophomore Chris Sciambra in right field and at the top of the order after Sciambra cooled off at the plate after a hot start.
McMullen, who responded by ripping a single and scoring one of the two Tiger runs, said Mainieri didn’t give him any advance notice of the start but he wasn’t caught off guard.
“Coach Mainieri always tells us four outfielders [McMullen, Sciambra and freshmen Mark Laird and Andrew Stevenson] to be ready no matter what,” McMullen said.
Although Sciambra stumbled his way into a 1-for-11 slump in the three games prior to Sunday, Mainieri said his decision to play McMullen wasn’t at all a punishment or message.
“I just wanted to give [McMullen] a game,” Mainieri said. “Chris Sciambra’s a very mentally tough kid, so I wouldn’t worry about that.”
Mainieri said he also considered inserting true freshman Chris Chinea at catcher for Sunday’s 2-0 win against Nicholls State, but after conversing with pitching coach Alan Dunn, he stuck with junior Ty Ross.
While bench players have gotten action in mop-up duty during late innings, Mainieri said tonight and Wednesday would prepare them for unforeseen injuries sustained through the grind of conference season.
“We’re 11 games into the season now, so I’ve got to use some of these other guys just to keep them sharp,” Mainieri said. “You never know when there’s going to be a little bit of an injury.”
The Lumberjacks (3-6) will send senior righty Justin Choate to the mound, facing LSU senior southpaw Brent Bonvillain, who has a 3.12 ERA in three appearances this season.
Bonvillain will have a tough act to follow as Tiger starters did not allow an earned run in all three games over the weekend. The last time a starter surrendered an earned run was Feb. 24 against Southeastern Louisiana.
Contact Chandler Rome at [email protected]
Twitter: @Rome_TDR
