This weekend’s opponent isn’t as familiar to LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri as his first two.
Mainieri, who played for the New Orleans baseball team in the late ’70s and befriended Wake Forest coach Tom Walter, lacks a close connection to Holy Cross, which is traveling more than 1,500 miles from Worcester, Mass., this weekend to face the No. 20 LSU baseball team for the first time.
“They’re very experienced. They have quality arms, and I think they have seven starting players coming back in their lineup,” Mainieri said. “I’m expecting a very confident, tough, experienced team coming down to play us.”
While the Tigers prepare for their fifth game of the season, the Crusaders are about to play their first.
Holy Cross maintained a .500 winning percentage last season with a 26-26 overall record and a 10-10 conference record, finishing third in the Patriot League, where it is projected to finish again this year.
The Crusaders made their first Patriot League Championship Series last season and return 20 letterwinners, including four players who received All-Patriot League recognition.
“They’ve got a lot more kids back on their team than we have coming back on our team,” Mainieri said. “It’s like I tell our team all the time, you respect all of your opponents and be in awe of none of them.”
Mainieri said he admires players from the Northeast who continue to play baseball despite the harsh climate.
“Their love of the game is beyond measurable numbers, and because they have to play in those conditions, they’re tough,” he said. “To stand out there on the field when that wind is whipping and the temperature is so cold, you have to have a toughness about you.”
Mainieri originally had freshman pitcher Ryan Eades starting Saturday with freshman pitcher Kevin Gausman opening the series Friday and senior pitcher Ben Alsup starting Sunday’s series finale.
He decided to switch Eades with freshman pitcher Kurt McCune, who was named the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Week after tossing six scoreless innings Sunday against Wake Forest.
“I never faced college batters, and for me to do that in my first outing, it proves something,” McCune said. “It shows I have the ability. This weekend I’m going to go in a lot more confident.”
Mainieri said it’s crucial not to overwork Eades, who had shoulder surgery before his senior season in high school. He said Eades’ velocity dropped in the third inning Saturday, and he will likely limit the freshman to two or three innings per outing for the next few weeks to protect his arm.
“I started to say to myself, this kid had major surgery less than two years ago,” Mainieri said. “I’m getting carried away here a little bit. I need to slow down and take this step by step with this kid for his own future.”
Follow Rowan Kavner on Twitter @TDR_Kavner.
 
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