LSU’s baseball team is going to be without Louis Coleman and a few other key senior arms in the bullpen heading into the 2010 season.But after seeing the pitching performances by his players in this week’s Purple and Gold World Series, LSU coach Paul Mainieri isn’t too worried.”Our pitching is going to be deeper than it was last year,” Mainieri said. “I don’t know if we are going to have anyone as good as Coleman, but we are clearly deeper in terms of quality arms.”Pitching fueled the victory for the Yellow Dragons, who took Thursday’s match against the Purple Pirates, 5-3, and the overall Purple and Gold World Series, 2-0-1, with an 11-6 run differential.Sophomore shortstop Austin Nola paved the way offensively for the Gold squad Thursday, going 2-for-2 with a run, RBI and a pair of walks.The Baton Rouge native added on a pair of outstanding defensive plays ranging to the hole between short and third in the game.”Nola is a heck of a player,” Mainieri said. “I wouldn’t trade him for anyone. Defensively, he is outstanding. A lot of people wanted to criticize him last year because he didn’t hit for high average, but he had some great bats last year … He’s going to be a much better hitter this year because he’s got that year of experience under his belt.”Sophomore southpaw Chris Matulis started Thursday for the Gold Dragons, going 3 2/3 innings while giving up two runs on two hits.After giving up a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning — one of which came from a single by senior first baseman Blake Dean — Matulis settled down in the second with a three-up, three-down inning. He wouldn’t look back from there.Sophomore right-hander Joey Bourgeois finished off the game for the Dragons.”Joey really came in and charged the mound and competed hard against those hitters,” Mainieri said. “He’s got some moxie about him. Not only that, but he has a great arm and a great breaking ball, and he’s going to help us.”The Gold Dragons got the scoring started early with a run in the top of the first on a double by Nola to score sophomore centerfielder Mikie Mahtook, who reached on a throwing error to start the game.Purple junior starter Anthony Ranaudo settled down in the second inning with a three-up, three-down performance with two strikeouts but gave up a pair of runs in the third that gave the Gold team a 3-2 lead.Ranaudo finished the game with four strikeouts and three runs given up on two hits.”Ranaudo wasn’t quite on,” Mainieri said. “He was pitching to a different catcher, and he never got into a good groove today.”Pitching was at the forefront for both teams in the first two games of the series, as a total of nine combined runs were scored between the squads.The Gold team took home a 5-2 victory in the first game thanks to junior catcher Micah Gibbs and sophomore shortstop Austin Nola’s two RBI apiece.Junior right-hander Ben Alsup got the victory for the Gold team, limiting the Purple Pirates to one run in four innings with six strikeouts.The second game ended in a 1-1 tie again in part because of strong pitching performances from both teams.Purple team junior starter Austin Ross went four innings, allowing one run while striking out six, while Gold starter junior Daniel Bradshaw pitched three innings, allowing one run while striking out five.Mainieri said he was pleased overall with how the series went.”There were some things where you can see we have a lot of room for improvement,” Mainieri said. “We’ve got another five weeks of practice prior to our first game, and we will get Landry and Hanover back and become a better offensive team.”—–Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]