Since 1983, every LSU recruiting class has made a trip to Omaha.
Omaha was the deciding factor for senior shortstop Kramer Robertson to return to school.
“Omaha,” Robertson said. “That’s all I care about. That’s all I think about. We don’t want to talk about it too much now in January, but that’s the reason I came back, 100 percent.”
LSU returns eight seniors and nine juniors this season after losing to eventual CWS Champion Coastal Carolina in the NCAA Super Regionals last season at Alex Box Stadium.
Because the loss stuck with the team, seniors Jared Poche’, Robertson, Cole Freeman and junior Greg Deichmann decided to forego their professional careers and return to LSU for another season.
“As things unfolded, talking with Kramer, Greg, and Cole, we kind of all had the feeling we were coming back,” Poche’ said. “We could have something special this year, and I think it’s going to be a fun ride. It’s been good so far.”
Poche’ will be the No. 2 pitcher in the starting rotation behind junior Alex Lange. Poche’ finished last season with a 3.35 ERA and a 9-4 record and is 12 wins away from surpassing Scott Schultz (38 wins, 1992-95) as LSU’s all-time wins leader.
It wasn’t a hard decision for Freeman to make after being drafted late in the 18th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“Long story short: They didn’t get to the number I was looking for,” Freeman said. “Honestly, it was going to take a lot for me to get pulled away from here.”
Freeman, who transferred from Delgado Community College prior to last season, batted a team-leading .329 in 2016 with 27 RBI’s.
“We all realized what we had coming back and what the opportunity was going to be for us,” Freeman said. “This is a one time thing for us.”
LSU coach Paul Mainieri echoed his players sentiment of their goal to reach the CWS.
“Our goal is to make it to Omaha,” Mainieri said. “Our goal is to play for the national championship and hopefully win it. And that will always be the goal, as long as I’m the coach here at LSU.”