When the LSU baseball team took the field Sunday night against UCLA, Omaha suddenly became more than just a desire for two Tiger teammates.
For juniors Christian Ibarra and Sean McMullen, the College World Series is a once impossible situation turned possible. Both position players were at the junior college level only a season ago and monitoring the games from home.
Now, they’re living the Omaha dream, and they don’t have to wake up.
“I remember last year when I was committed [to LSU], and the team was a game away from Omaha; I just couldn’t believe it,” McMullen said. “It was crazy how they were a game away from their dreams coming true. I’m just fortunate enough to play on a team who, in their next year, punched their ticket to Omaha.”
Both players had different roads to Alex Box Stadium in 2013.
Ibarra, who played at Rio Hondo College in Whittier, Calif., hit .396 with six home runs and 50 RBIs as a sophomore before earning the attention of LSU coach Paul Mainieri. After former Tiger shortstop Austin Nola left LSU following his senior season, Mainieri began scouting for a replacement.
What resulted was the pickups of Ibarra and freshman Alex Bregman — both of whom now man the left side of the LSU infield.
“You can’t say enough about Ibarra and how he’s jumped into the lineup,” said senior first baseman Mason Katz. “It adds a missing piece, and it was a spark for us from the beginning of the season to now.”
McMullen caught Mainieri’s eye early in the designated hitter’s career at an LSU baseball camp.
“I remember [Sean] very vividly [when he came to our baseball camp],” Mainieri said. “At the end of the camp, I told Sean, ‘I don’t think you’re ready to play at LSU, but we’ll watch you over the next two years, and if you develop, then we’ll invite you to come join our program at the appropriate time.’”
The designated hitter destroyed JUCO pitching as a sophomore, batting .452 with five home runs, nine triples, 37 RBIs and a .525 on-base percentage. The success carried over to the Tigers, as McMullen was inserted into the leadoff spot in the LSU batting order at the beginning of Southeastern Conference play and thrived.
In 53 games in 2013, McMullen batted .310 with two home runs, 30 RBIs and 24 runs scored.
“Looking over everything, it’s amazing how everything works out,” McMullen said. “If you would have told me coming out of high school that I would lead off for LSU on an Omaha-bound team, I would’ve thought you were crazy.”
Mainieri isn’t surprised by the emergence of Ibarra and McMullen after transferring from JUCO. He wants to erase the idea that junior college is for less-talented players.
“I hate that baseball has that stigma that all the dummies go [to junior college],” Mainieri said. “That’s so unfair. That’s not the case at all. It’s a very good grooming ground for college baseball.”
