A recent switch at first base between freshman Jake Slaughter and LSU-Eunice transfer Nick Coomes has provided some juice to the Tigers’ lineup.
Since Coomes has entered the lineup, LSU has a record of 2-1, and Coomes recorded his first home run on Wednesday night.
“It’s nice to finally get on the board in that column,” Coomes said. “Guys on the team were kind of messing with me. I’m starting to feel more comfortable at the plate.”
Coomes played a little first base in high school, but played mostly third base in junior college. He believes the transition to first base for the Tigers isn’t a big maneuver for him.
“It’s not as shaky a position change as people would think,” Coomes said. “I’ve had experience playing that corner of the field before.”
LSU coach Paul Mainieri hinted earlier in the season that Coomes would have to be prepared to play a little catcher as well as first base.
“Coach [Mainieri] kind of put it in the back of my mind,” Coomes said. “He said ‘We’re going to start you out at catching and just be ready to play first.’ I’ve been taking ground balls over there, so I knew it was going to come eventually it was just a matter of time.”
Mainieri likes what Coomes has been able to accomplish at the plate, especially getting the squad out of an early hole Tuesday against Lamar. After LSU dropped to an early 1-0 hole against Lamar, Coomes sent a two-run shot over left field in the second inning to give LSU the lead and momentum.
“He’s done some good stuff for us and he’s really provided a spark,” Mainieri said. “His home run today was huge to get us going.”
The power Coomes brings to the plate is what Mainieri and the team have been waiting for him to showcase and he was able to do just that Tuesday night.
“We’ve been waiting for Coomes to show that power,” Mainieri said. “I knew he had it. He hit 13 home runs last year in junior college, so he really attacked that ball. It just gave us a huge lift.”
Coomes believes he’s done a solid job at first since his promotion, even though there haven’t been many opportunities yet to show off his skill.
“It’s going well,” Coomes said. “I haven’t had too many ground balls over there yet, but I’ve had a couple plays and it’s going to come but it hasn’t been as bad as I thought it would be.”
With the transition comes learning curves, and Mainieri believes Coomes has done as well as expected and is waiting for more of his athletic ability to show at the position.
“He’s done a pretty adequate job,” Mainieri said. “He’s not a reel fleet of foot guy so he doesn’t have great range but he played third base for LSU-Eunice so I know he’s got some athletic ability. He’s handled himself just fine over there.”
A recent switch at first base between freshman Jake Slaughter and LSU-Eunice transfer Nick Coomes has provided some juice to the Tigers’ lineup.
Since Coomes has entered the lineup, LSU has a record of 2-1 and Coomes recorded his first home run on Wednesday night.
“It’s nice to finally get on the board in that column,” Coomes said. “Guys on the team were kind of messing with me. I’m starting to feel more comfortable at the plate.”
Coomes played a little first base in high school, but played mostly third base in junior college. He believes the transition to first base for the Tigers isn’t a big maneuver for him.
“It’s not as shaky a position change as people would think,” Coomes said. “I’ve had experience playing that corner of the field before.”
LSU coach Paul Mainieri hinted earlier in the season that Coomes would have to be prepared to play a little catcher as well as first base.
“Coach [Mainieri] kind of put it in the back of my mind,” Coomes said. “He said ‘We’re going to start you out at catching and just be ready to play first.’ I’ve been taking ground balls over there so I knew it was going to come eventually it was just a matter of time”
Mainieri likes what Coomes has been able to accomplish at the plate, especially getting the squad out of an early hole Tuesday against Lamar. After LSU dropped to an early 1-0 hole against Lamar, Coomes sent a two-run shot over left field in the second inning to give LSU the lead and momentum.
“He’s done some good stuff for us and he’s really provided a spark,” Mainieri said. “His home run today was huge to get us going.”
The power Coomes brings to the plate is what Mainieri and the team have been waiting for him to showcase and he was able to do just that Tuesday night.
“We’ve been waiting for Coomes to show that power,” Mainieri said. “I knew he had it. He hit 13 home runs last year in junior college so he really attacked that ball. It just gave us a huge lift.”
Coomes believes he’s done a solid job at first since his promotion even though there haven’t been many opportunities yet to show off his skill.
“It’s going well,” Coomes said. “I haven’t had too many ground ball over there yet, but I’ve had a couple plays and it’s going to come but it hasn’t been a bad as I thought it would be.”
With the transition comes learning curves, and Mainieri believes Coomes has done as well as expected and is waiting for more of his athletic ability to show at the position.
“He’s done a pretty adequate job,” Mainieri said. “He’s not a reel fleet of foot guy so he doesn’t have great range but he played third base for LSU-Eunice so I know he’s got some athletic ability. He’s handled himself just fine over there.”