Making reservations for a weekend date with LSU’s baseball team is as hard as getting a table at Walk-On’s right after a football game. In fact, it’s harder.And LSU coach Paul Mainieri doesn’t even reach out for teams to come. In fact, Villanova is the only team Mainieri has called to schedule a date with, when the teams faced in the season opener last year.The main reason for Mainieri wanted to play Villanova is because their coach, Joe Godri, is a friend of Mainieri’s from when he coached Notre Dame, and Mainieri needed someone who would understand the pomp and circumstance surrounding the opening of the new stadium.Now with a national championship and one of the most recognizable collegiate ballparks in America, the Tigers’ schedule is booked through 2013, and they are even starting to build the 2014 schedule.With what Mainieri called “non-household names” on the Tigers’ schedule – from Harvard last season to William and Mary this past weekend and extending to a few more Ivy League teams this weekend — one would think LSU’s pre-Southeastern Conference schedule would be a cake walk.But not so fast.”It’s a double-edged sword,” Mainieri said. “When a team calls you to play, that means they have confidence in themselves, so you know you are taking on some pretty good teams.”William and Mary proved this past weekend to be one of those “double-edged sword” teams Mainieri mentioned.Tribe coach Frank Leoni called Mainieri a few years back asking for a weekend series knowing his team would be young and looking for experience.”I wanted us to get an opportunity to come down here and see what it’s like to play at the highest level,” Leoni said. “It’s priceless getting the experience we got [during the weekend]. Having an opportunity to say that [we played] a couple of good games against the national champions should carry forward for us when we get into our conference schedule.”Outside of those so-called “cake walk” teams, the next few years will bring in such powerhouses as Cal State Fullerton next season and even Mainieri’s old club Notre Dame in 2012.Though none of those bigger name teams are coming to the Red Stick this season, there are a few teams noticeably missing from the Tigers midweek, pre-SEC schedule: Grambling and Southern. But Mainieri gave a reason for that back at LSU’s media day.The former coach at Grambling, Barret Rey, moved to Alcorn State to take the head coaching job, so Mainieri, a friend of Rey, decided to play Alcorn this season instead of Grambling.Southern was scheduled to play at Alex Box this season, but the Jaguars’ coach, Roger Cador, wanted the Tigers to travel to play Southern on the road, something Mainieri wouldn’t do to for various reasons.So Southern was scratched from the Tigers’ schedule for the next few years, though Cador would later tell Mainieri he regretted his decision.”Frankly, I think we’ve got a pretty nice facility, and it’s an attractive place for people to come and play,” Mainieri said. “You just can’t squeeze everybody in there with the 56-game limit.”—————Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]