LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri has been spending his summer keeping up with his players, most of whom have been playing in summer leagues around the country.”I follow their progress daily,” Mainieri said. “I’ve talked to a lot of them and their coaches over the course of the summer.”Mainieri said the Internet has been a big help because he’s been able to wake up each morning and check the box scores and recaps of every game. He said he was pleased to see the pitchers lighting up the summer leagues after struggling during the season.”[Junior pitcher] Ben Alsup has pitched really well in the Valley League,” Mainieri said. “His first two starts were outstanding.”Mainieri said sophomore pitcher Matty Ott just gave up his first run in seven appearances for the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod League and has a “microscopic” ERA of 0.79.”It looks like he’s regained his old form,” Mainieri said.Junior Daniel Bradshaw pitched a complete game July 2 for the Waynesboro Generals of the Valley League, giving up three hits. Bradshaw currently has a 2.35 ERA with four appearances. Mason KatzAfter a red-hot start with the Danville Dans of the Prospect League, Mason’s Katz’s summer came to a crashing halt.In eight games with the Dans, Katz batted .464 with five RBIs. “In his first half dozen games, he was getting two or three hits a game,” Manieri said.Katz will be spending the rest of the summer at home with a shoulder and collarbone injury, which Mainieri said might be a small fracture.”Unfortunately he ran into an outfield wall, and he’s had to come home for the summer,” Mainieri said. “He tried to make a great catch and hit the wall.”Katz might be sidelined for as long as eight weeks and will not play baseball for the rest of the summer.USA TrialsSophomore right fielder Mikie Mahtook and sophomore shortstop Austin Nola reported Monday to Cary, N.C., for the USA Baseball team trials, which will be held July 6 through 11.Thirty-nine collegiate players will compete for a spot on the 22-man roster with three alternates. The roster will be released Sunday, followed by a training period.If Mahtook and Nola make the team, they’ll get a chance to play in Omaha, Neb. The U.S. team will play against Japan’s all-star team July 21 in Rosenblatt Stadium.”Both of them would really like to make that team,” Mainieri said. “It’s obviously very competitive, but I think they should hold their own.”Mainieri said if they don’t make the team, at least they got to play a portion of the summer. Mahtook and Nola also spent a portion of the summer with Ott’s Harwich Mariners. Nola appeared in 17 games, batting .292 with three RBIs and 19 hits, and Mahtook appeared in 10 games, batting .182 with six hits, one RBI and one home run.Nothing NewThere is nothing new to report on the status of dual football and baseball signee Zach Lee.”I talk to him every so often,” Mainieri said. “He sounds good and is here studying and going through football training.”As for junior pitcher Anthony Ranaudo, Mainieri said he still doesn’t know if he’s coming back, although he talks to him at least twice a week.”He’s scheduled to pitch tonight, which will be his fourth outing,” Mainieri said. “Then he’s going to think about it and talk to me, his advisor and his coaches to decide whether or not he’s going to continue all summer.”Ranaudo has been having a productive summer, with an ERA of 0.00, zero earned runs, and 16 strikeouts.”Anthony hasn’t given up a run in 17 innings,” Mainieri said.–Contact Katherine Terrell at [email protected]