LSU coach Paul Mainieri said on Thursday he was hesitant to place senior pitcher Louis Coleman into the weekend rotation because he did not want to lose Coleman’s ability to close games.But in the second half of Sunday’s doubleheader, Mainieri got the best of both worlds as Coleman started and closed LSU’s 3-1 win and pitched a complete game four hitter to lock up the series victory for the Tigers.”As one of the leaders on this team, I have times where I tell guys ‘You have to do things this way,’ or ‘You have to do things that way,'” Coleman said. “This was my time to backup what I have been preaching.”The complete game win was Coleman’s second outing of the weekend as the LSU senior also pitched two and two-thirds innings to close Friday’s 5-3 win.Mainieri said he told Coleman before the game that he only expected him to pitch four or five innings in the game.”Not in my wildest dreams did I think he was going to go seven,” said Mainieri.——Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]
Baseball: LSU defeats Kentucky in doubleheader, 3-1
March 14, 2009