Despite LSU sophomore catcher Robert Lara’s struggles throughout the first half of the season, the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native is focused on one thing – winning. “I’m very competitive, and I know I can compete, so I want to do whatever helps our team win,” Lara said. Lara began the season as LSU’s starting catcher, but inconsistencies at the plate forced LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri to replace Lara with freshman Sean Ochinko. “Most of [my problems] were mental,” Lara said. “I was hitting the ball hard, but I was striking out, and I don’t usually strike out a lot. But mostly it was mental. I got down, and I wasn’t hitting the way I usually hit.” To get Lara into the lineup, Mainieri experimented with using him as a relief pitcher, where he recorded a win but gave up six earned runs just over three innings. Lara said he does not have a preference to where he plays as long as the team is successful. “Whatever it takes,” he said. “If [Mainieri] needs me coming out of the bullpen and we’re winning, then that is fine with me.” Lara said he expects more successful pitching later in the season because he has had some unfortunate breaks. “I got a little bit unlucky pitching because I know I can pitch,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who we’re playing against.” Tuesday night in LSU’s 6-3 win against the University of New Orleans, Lara broke out with a three-hit game, including a tape-measure, three-run home run, his first of the season. “When he jumped all over that hanging curveball and hit that home run, boy was that a beautiful site seeing that ball fly out of the park,” Mainieri said. “I was really happy for Rob because the team needed that desperately, but so did he because he has had a really rough year.” With the three-hit game, Lara’s batting average jumped over 50 points to .217. Mainieri said Lara will need to continue to hit well because Ochinko has a hand injury that will prevent him from catching indefinitely. “He started last night because [Ochinko] has an injury to his hand that has prohibited his ability to catch because of the constant pounding on the hand,” Mainieri said. “I’m not even sure when he will be able to catch again. It was great that [Lara] took advantage of the opportunity and helped his team win.” Mainieri said he hopes Lara’s performance against UNO is a sign of things to come because the bottom of the LSU lineup has been troublesome to LSU all season, something Mainieri said has kept the team’s offense from being successful. “That is why we are scoring four to six runs a game,” he said. “But when you get everyone going is when you score eight to 12 runs a game. And we have guys taking turns doing it, so we know we are all capable. We just can’t get them all to do it at the same time.”
—–Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]
Lara looks for wins despite slow start to season
March 28, 2007