The LSU baseball team’s 6-2 loss to Vanderbilt in the regular season finale Saturday, coupled with Tennessee’s win against Florida, will keep the Tigers out of next week’s Southeastern Conference tournament for the first time since 1984.
The SEC tournament begins Wednesday at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala.
Prior to this season, LSU (29-26-1, 12-17-1 SEC) had participated in 22-straight conference tournaments. And without a berth in the SEC tournament, the Tigers chances of receiving an NCAA tournament at-large bid are slim, first-year LSU coach Paul Mainieri admitted after the Tigers’ final home game May 13 against Florida.
“We had hoped to extend our season into the SEC Tournament, but we fell short of that goal this weekend,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said in a statement after Saturday’s loss. “I think the fact that we were still alive for a bid to the tournament on the final day of the season says a lot about the way our kids competed this year. I feel like in a lot of ways we overachieved this season and I’m very proud of our players for the effort they gave throughout the year.”
Vanderbilt (46-10, 22-8 SEC) swept LSU in the three game series, winning Thursday’s game 4-1 and Friday’s game 6-2. The sweep helped the Commodores to their first-ever outright SEC regular season championship.
“We’re going right to work to prepare for next season,” Mainieri said. “I’m excited about our incoming recruiting class and the players we have returning for next year. We’re looking forward to making LSU one of the nation’s prominent programs very soon.”
—Contact Kyle Whitfield at [email protected]