Only 11 active NCAA Division I coaches have more than 1,100 wins.
Two of them will meet tonight in Alex Box Stadium. LSU coach Paul Mainieri – 1,105 wins in 30 seasons – will face Lamar coach Jim Gilligan – 1,218 wins in 36 seasons – in a midweek contest between the No. 4 Tigers (30-7) and Cardinals (13-21) at 6:30 p.m.
Mainieri said he has a great relationship with the Lamar skipper, who he faced in 1979 while playing for UNO. Gilligan even invited Mainieri’s father to come on Gilligan’s weekly radio show.
“I’ve known Jim Gilligan for way too many years,” Mainieri said. “He’s a legend in college coaching. He’s had some tremendous teams, some tremendous players. Jim’s one of the good guys in college baseball.”
Gilligan and his program also have the honor of touting a winning record against LSU. In six meetings between the teams, Lamar has won five times, including a victory in the 1985 NCAA Regional that eliminated the Tigers from the NCAA Tournament.
“I’m sure that when Lamar beat LSU they were very proud of those games,” Mainieri said. “You give credit where credit is due. We’ll see if we can chip away at that.”
On paper, this would appear to be the year that LSU can cut into that deficit. The Cardinals have a team batting average of .249 and have struck out 248 times this season.
But some of Lamar’s results would beg to differ. The Cardinals have two wins against No. 6 Baylor and a victory against No. 7 Rice.
“Statistically, they don’t look strong,” Mainieri said. “But on the other hand, if you look at some of their results, they have the ability to beat you. Their overall record is not great, so I really don’t know what to expect.”
Mainieri said he expects Lamar to use several pitchers as they prepare for a Southland Conference series against Nicholls State this weekend. Senior Andrew Beasley, who has a 3.60 ERA in 10 innings of work this season, will start for Lamar.
LSU will counter with sophomore Joe Broussard, who has
started three midweek games this year, including a win in his last outing against Alcorn State on April 10. Mainieri said Broussard will throw between three and five innings before giving way to a number of relievers who need work before the weekend.
“I don’t really look at myself as the penciled-in starter every week,” Broussard said. “I just do whatever Coach asks me to do. Whenever he calls me out of the bullpen during the weekend, I’m willing to do
that, too.”
 
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Contact Hunter Paniagua at [email protected]