With the Tigers about to open NCAA tournament play, LSU coach Paul Mainieri has been happy with the production he’s gotten out of his entire lineup recently.But two freshmen specifically have had their bats catch fire to help spark the offense from the five and nine holes in the Southeastern Conference tournament — shortstop Austin Nola and outfielder Mikie Mahtook.Both players were named to the SEC All-Tournament Team, and Mahtook was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.Mainieri said Mahtook had the “deer in the headlights” look when he first got to LSU, but he has adjusted to the game and has been a huge asset to the team.”It took him a little while to get used to the speed of the college game and get comfortable with the whole experience,” Mainieri said. “But once I saw that he was there, I thought he could bring something to our team that others couldn’t. He’s such an outstanding athlete that can beat you with his power, speed and defense.”Mahtook leads the team with a .336 average and is first among the starting outfielders with a .989 fielding percentage and only one error.”In the outfield, I’ve always felt comfortable,” Mahtook said. “At the plate, it was more of an adjustment period.”Nola has also come into his own recently, upping his average to .229 and leading the team with six sacrifices.The Baton Rouge native said he is starting to realize his job up at the plate”Seeing more pitching and getting more comfortable up at the plate is helping,” he said. “I’m also starting to realize that my job is to get on base and hit the ball hard somewhere and hope it drops.”Nola said there isn’t much of a change from high school to college on the defensive side of the ball.”It’s a little quicker,” Nola said. “But it all comes down to fundamentals of playing defense — catching and throwing the ball.”While the Tigers will need the offensive boost from the freshmen, pitching will also be key in the NCAA tournament.With the Tigers facing No. 4 seed Southern in their first game, Mainieri decided to start sophomore right-hander Austin Ross instead of sophomore right-hander Anthony Ranaudo.One of the main reasons for the move is the game being in the heat in the middle of the day.Ranaudo is a Jackson, N.J., native who is not as accustomed to the heat as Ross — a Shreveport native who has started the most games on the team this season with most of those starts coming on Sunday in the middle of the day.Mainieri feels if Ross only goes five or so innings, his bullpen can handle finishing the game. But Ranaudo, on the other hand, has the ability to go out and dominate a game from start to finish in a night game with less heat, Mainieri said.”If [Ranaudo] had any control problems, or if he had to work extremely hard, all of a sudden his pitch count could go up,” Mainieri said. “Ross grew up in this heat.”Mainieri added Ross started the first game of the SEC tournament and threw the ball well, even though the team lost.Ross threw six-plus innings, giving up four runs on eight hits against Vanderbilt in the Tigers’ 4-1 loss.”He has been throwing the ball really well,” Mainieri said. “I know he will throw a lot of strikes for us.”Even though the Tigers don’t know yet who their second-round opponent will be, one thing is certain: The Tigers will not be looking past any team in their bracket.”Every team that’s coming in here is a good ball club,” said LSU junior outfielder Jared Mitchell. “Trust me, they didn’t get into the NCAA tournament by being a push over.”—–Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]