The pain finally caught up with LSU junior pitcher Joey Bourgeois during the NCAA Los Angeles Regional in June.
“One night I was sleeping and I woke up in the middle of the night and my arm had completely locked out,” Bourgeois said. “As soon as [my trainer] heard that, we scheduled an MRI.”
Sophomore walk-on pitcher Jordan Rittiner was in the middle of a summer league game when his fate was sealed for the 2011 season.
“I was playing summer ball in North Carolina with the Thomasville HiToms,” Rittiner said. “It happened with a single pitch.”
Both pitchers were soon given the news they would have to undergo Tommy John surgery to repair damaged ligaments in their elbows. The procedure, which usually requires at least a year of recovery, replaces the ligament with a tendon from another part of the body.
LSU coach Paul Mainieri was surprised by the news but had to adjust quickly to the loss of the second-year pitchers.
“Once I heard they were going under the knife, you have to develop the staff without them,” Mainieri said. “We had no choice.”
Months later, Bourgeois and Rittiner are still in the progress of recovering and are on track to return in the fall.
But this season has been a new experience for the two pitchers.
Instead of being front and center on the mound at Alex Box Stadium, they are forced to sit in the stands with the average fans.
“It’s very depressing,” Rittiner said. “Especially opening night — that wasn’t too much fun.”
Bourgeois said he’s made every home game and plans to attend the Alabama series in Tuscaloosa, Ala., but it hasn’t been easy.
“I couldn’t even stay for a whole game yet,” Bourgeois said. “It’s the fact knowing that it’s your team out there and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
The two absent hurlers have also affected the pitching staff.
Bourgeois and Rittiner were No. 2 and 3, respectively, in innings pitched last season for the Tigers.
Rittiner, a Metairie native from Jesuit High School, recorded a 4-4 record with a 4.37 ERA and two saves in 2010, while Bourgeois started 12 games last season with a 4-1 record.
Bourgeois, who has a scar on his right elbow, and Rittiner, who has his on his left elbow, aren’t only excluded from the team during games. They also practice and work out separately from the other 36 players on LSU’s roster.
“Let’s say the team stretches at 2:30 p.m.,” Bourgeois said. “We’ll come out here [around 1:15 p.m.] and get our throwing over so we don’t have to be out here while the team’s out here.”
The pair is limited to throwing bullpen sessions and running and lifting weights twice a week under the care of LSU trainers and Baton Rouge orthopedic surgeon Dr. Mark Field.
“We’re still friends with all of them,” Rittiner said. “Baseball-wise, it doesn’t seem like we’re on the same team as them.”
But at least they aren’t in it alone.
“I felt a little better once Rittiner had it just to know I’m not going to be here alone, and I’ll have somebody with me,” Bourgeois said.
Sophomore designated hitter Raph Rhymes said he’s confident his teammates will to into the fold next season.
“They’ll come back, and they’ll be ready,” Rhymes said. [For now] they recruited guys to give us a good chance to win.”
Bourgeois, a transfer from LSU-Eunice, is looking forward to getting back on the mound.
“I’m doing as much as I can to get myself better and hopefully come back next year and be just as good if not better,” Bourgeois said.
Rittiner, eager to get back on the diamond, took things a step further.
“I’ll take any role that puts the team in a good position to win … even if it’s bringing coach water,” he said.
Follow Michael Lambert on Twitter @TDR_Lambert
 
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Contact Michael Lambert at
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