Tigers prepare to face California-style baseball against UCLA
The LSU baseball squad faced its share of powerhouse lineups over the course of the 2013 regular season, but when the Tigers travel to Omaha, they’ll have to deal with a different approach as they battle UCLA.
The Bruins achieved a 44-17 record without having a starter bat .300 this season. Instead, they used speed on the basepaths and a dominant pitching staff to propel themselves to the College World Series.
“They invented California-style baseball,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “They emphasize pitching and defense. They emphasize getting on base. They bunt a lot. They’re going to hit and run and try and steal bases, and we’re going to have to be ready for that.”
UCLA stole 66 bases in 108 attempts, including 30 steals by junior outfielder Brian Carroll.
The key to keeping the Bruins off the scoreboard will be to keep runners off the basepaths, and the LSU coaching staff is working on answering the speedy UCLA offense.
“We’ve gotten to watch many games that UCLA has played,” Mainieri said. “We’ve seen their pitchers and their hitters. [LSU pitching coach Alan Dunn] feels that he’s got a good game plan with [sophomore starter Aaron] Nola pitching as he gets ready for UCLA’s hitters.”
Offensively, the Tigers will be challenged against a pitching staff that surrendered only 192 runs in 556 innings. Senior first baseman Mason Katz plans to approach the Bruins in the same way he prepared for a certain Big 12 opponent in the Super Regional round.
“We have good scouting reports on all their pitching,” Katz said. “We plan to go up there and battle. It’s a similar feeling and mindset that we went in to Oklahoma with. We’re going to work pitch counts and really work to get on base and manufacture runs as often as we can.”
TD Ameritrade Park will put emphasis on Tigers’ defense
It has been a primary talking point for anyone and everyone heading to Omaha: TD Ameritrade Park is no home run haven.
The ball park, which became the new home for the annual College World Series in 2011, has the dimensions of a Major League field, as it is 335 feet down both the left and right field lines and 408 feet in center field.
“It’s a bigger ballpark, but we have tremendous outfielders, so they’ll be able to run balls down,” said junior catcher Ty Ross. “I heard TD Ameritrade plays a lot like it does in Hoover. It’s a big field with a lot of space out there, but I think we’re going to have the outfield pretty locked down.”
LSU not concerned about late game time
After defeating Oklahoma in the Super Regionals, many people expected the Tigers to battle UCLA on Saturday.
When the schedule was released and LSU was slated to play at 7 p.m. on Sunday, it gave the Tigers more decisions to ponder about as the weekend drew near. With the later game date and time, rotation decisions became a priority, but Mainieri isn’t worried.
“It is what it is,” Mainieri said. “We could have easily been picked for Bracket Two to start with. There’s really nothing to complain about when you’re going to the College World Series, and I’m certainly not going to start now.”
The players are looking at the later game with a similar mindset.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Katz said. “It doesn’t matter when or who we play. We’re going to go out there and beat them then move on to the next team. We’re going to be excited to play whether we were to play Saturday or on Sunday night.”
