Before the season began, few people were aware LSU baseball had a bulldog on the roster. The canine in question is sophomore pitcher Joey Bourgeois.”He’s got that temperament about him, and then his body language leads you to believe he’s a bulldog,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “He’s not afraid. He’s going to go right after hitters.”The Metairie native pitched six scoreless innings in his starting debut for the Tigers while striking out seven batters and only allowing four hits in LSU’s 4-0 win against Centenary on Feb. 21″I was a little bit nervous,” Bourgeois said after that game. “Obviously, you’re not human if you’re not nervous. Teammates came by and helped me out and calmed me down. I went out and competed with everything I had.”The road to the mound that Sunday wasn’t the conventional one for Bourgeois. Instead of enrolling directly at LSU following his high school baseball days at Lutcher, the right-hander made a pit stop at LSU-Eunice to play junior college ball despite wanting to play at LSU then.”Coming out of high school, I really wanted to come to LSU,” Bourgeois said. “They were actually the first people to contact me. I went through that process, and then they stopped talking.”Former LSU pitching coach Terry Rooney told Bourgeois in high school he needed to go to junior college to develop, and he would eventually be offered a chance to come to LSU.While in Eunice, Bourgeois did develop.”There were games last year where Joey pitched for us when he was unhittable,” said LSU-E coach Jeff Willis. “When Joey had those three pitches working and he was able to control them and keep that fastball down, there were games where it didn’t matter if you ran the Yankees out there or a junior college out there against him. He’d be able to get guys out.”Willis said he saw flashes of Bourgeois’ bulldog-like personality in his performances on the mound in Eunice. “He’s got that pitcher’s bulldog mentality that you like to have,” he said. “He’s a guy who wants to get the ball and get on the mound and challenge hitters.”Bourgeois finished his one season at LSU-E with a 12-2 record in 15 starts while striking out 98 batters and maintaining a 5.90 ERA.He was also drafted by the Atlanta Braves’ system in the 39th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, but he chose to forego the professional ranks to play at LSU.Bourgeois said it was a goal of his to play baseball for the Tigers — a team he had followed sporadically throughout his life.”I came to a few games as a kid,” he said. “I kind of got lost with high school ball and junior college last year, so we couldn’t get to that many games. I came to a few series last year.”Once he got to campus, Bourgeois impressed the coaches with his performances in the fall and spring drills and was named the Sunday starter for the season-opening series against Centenary. “Earlier in [that] week, coach told me I was going to get the job on Sunday,” Bourgeois said. “I just took advantage, and I did what I had to do and just went with the flow.”Bourgeois’ second outing of the season wasn’t quite as good as his first. He gave up four earned runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings of work in LSU’s 9-6 win against William and Mary, receiving a no-decision for the game.But Mainieri said the Feb. 21 game was an audition for Bourgeois and said if he pitches like he did that day regularly, it would bode well for LSU this season.”His fastball was down on the knees all day,” Mainieri said. “He’s got a good curveball and changeup. He’s a three-pitch guy. When he throws the ball low in the zone, he’s tough.”—-Contact Johanathan Brooks at [email protected]