When Louisiana College coach Mike Byrnes celebrates his wedding anniversary, he comes to Alex Box Stadium.
Two days before his Wildcats were scheduled to face No. 12 LSU for a mid-week tilt, Byrnes asked LSU coach Paul Mainieri for a pair of tickets so he and his wife could take in the Tigers’ series finale with then-No. 3 Arkansas. Mainieri obliged, but don’t assume the coaches’ familiar relationship will hinder the competitive spirit when the two teams meet tonight at 6:30 p.m.
“We’re not taking the game lightly at all,” Mainieri said. “When you line up with a LSU uniform on, you play to win. But we’re going play some different guys and hopefully their enthusiasm is a major factor.”
When Mainieri scheduled Louisiana College as a makeup for the rained-out game against Notre Dame, he had a plan as to who he would have pitch. He originally hoped freshman Cody Glenn could throw at least five innings with a couple relievers finishing the game.
But once freshman Aaron Nola went down with shoulder soreness, Mainieri had to adjust.
“The plan has to be somewhat changed because of the status of Aaron Nola,” Mainieri said. “We’re going to need to have Cody Glenn available for us down in Gainesville [when LSU meets Florida this weekend.”
Glenn will likely start the game but will only last for one or two innings, Mainieri said. Juniors Kevin Berry and Brent Bonvillain will also see action after not appearing last weekend against Arkansas. Freshmen Aaron Johnson and Carson Baranik could also see significant time.
“After that we’ll just see what it takes to win the game,” Mainieri said.
Offensively, Mainieri will follow the same script as he has in many mid-week games and play as many position players as he can. He said every reserve player will likely get in the game.
“We’re going to give some other guys an opportunity to play,” Mainieri said. “You probably won’t recognize the lineup that’s out there. Our reserve players haven’t played as much recently as I would have liked, and we have to keep them sharp.”
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Contact Hunter Paniagua at [email protected]