LSU baseball coach Smoke Laval waited until this past Saturday to name the team’s third starting pitcher, using the entire off-season to evaluate his untested pitching staff.
But Laval’s announcement still left one important issue unresolved – who will start the Tigers’ mid-week games beginning with tonight’s contest against Centenary at 6:30 in Alex Box Stadium.
The Tigers used four different mid-week starters in 11 games in 2005. In nine of those games, the starting pitcher either lost or was credited with a no-decision.
LSU pitching coach Brady Wiederhold said the coaches will likely again use different pitchers in mid-week games to allow the younger players to gain game-time experience.
“Early in the season you try to spoon feed a freshman-type guy who hasn’t had a lot of experience at the collegiate level yet,” Wiederhold said. “That’s the way we started with [Clay] Dirks two years ago.”
Wiederhold also said finding a consistent mid-week starter is difficult because of how events unfold during the previous weekend series.
“If you have to use certain guys in long relief roles on the weekend, they’re not necessarily going to be ready for a Tuesday night,” Wiederhold said. “When you get close to the SEC [games], you’re going to throw everything you’ve got to throw to win.”
Tonight, the Tigers will start true freshman Louis Coleman, partly because of his performance in the alumni game Feb. 4.
Coleman pitched four shut-out innings in the alumni game and struck out former Tigers Ryan Theriot and Brad Cresse.
Laval said he expected Coleman to perform well in the alumni game despite some inconsistent pitching in fall workouts.
“When we signed him, we saw how everybody saw him in the alumni game,” Laval said. “All fall and really in the beginning of the spring, he really wasn’t like that.”
Coleman said he used the alumni game to get most of his nervousness out.
“I might be a little nervous,” Coleman said. “I need to establish my fastball early. I feel confident in my curve and changeup, so Coach will work those in too.”
Coleman also said he is ready to deal with the recent cold weather with game-time temperatures expected to hover around 50 degrees.
“I’ve never pitched in cold weather before, but I am used to cold weather,” said Coleman, the Schlater, Miss., native. “It takes a little longer to get warmed up, and it’s harder to stay warm during the innings. But it’s really not that bad.”
First-year players Jarred Bogany, J.T. Wise and Steven Waguespack will also try to carry over their impressive hitting performances from the weekend series against North Florida.
Bogany went 8-for-11 in the series with two doubles, two RBIs and a stolen base. Fellow true freshman J.T. Wise batted .400 during the series with two doubles and three RBIs.
Laval said it will be important to see if the young players can stay consistent and respond well when they struggle at the plate in future games.
Junior college transfer first baseman Steven Waguespack began his LSU career going 8-for-12 at the plate with two doubles, two RBIs and three runs.
“I just wanted to come out [and] get that [nervousness] out,” Waguespack said after Saturday’s game. “Getting a few hits definitely helped me settle in.”
 
Contact Kyle Whitfield at [email protected]