Freshman Spencer Ware had a unique stipulation for a highly touted football recruit.
He wanted to know if he could also play baseball.
The Cincinnati native said he made LSU football coach Les Miles aware of his desire to play both football and baseball immediately.
“We talked about it when he was recruiting, before he offered and when I committed verbally and signed,” Ware said. “We talked about it numerous times.”
Most fans may not have been aware of Ware’s passion for baseball. It’s not often a football player who rushed for 102 yards in the Cotton Bowl could be just as serious about another sport.
It’s no joke. He hit more than .300 his sophomore and junior seasons at Princeton High School alongside former LSU outfielder Marcus Davis, who is no longer with the Tigers.
“It’s in my heart, and I’m going to compete at it every chance that I get,” Ware said. “I love it just as much as football, and I can’t put one in front of the other.”
Ware said he has practiced all across the outfield in his brief time on the LSU baseball team.
“I didn’t start playing outfield until my junior year in high school,” Ware said. “I was at second base my freshman year and shortstop my sophomore year. When I was growing up little, I was always in the infield.”
Ware said he plans to stay with the baseball team until spring practices start, when he will return to the football team.
“We have a new offensive coordinator,” Ware said. “I have to learn all the schemes, and right after the spring football game I’ll be back with baseball full time.”
Even though Ware will take a hiatus from football, he said he doesn’t need to completely ignore his tailback instincts while running the bases.
“It’s the same thing with just hitting the hole,” he said. “You have an aiming point. On the bases, to be a good baserunner, you have to hit the correct angles.”
Ware did say there is one advantage baseball has over football.
“I don’t have to worry about people tugging on a ball,” he said.
The Tigers have had success in the past turning football players into juggernauts on the diamond.
Former LSU football players Jared Mitchell and Chad Jones both played integral roles on the 2009 College World Series Championship team.
Mitchell was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2009 CWS, and Jones threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings in game three of the CWS Finals.
Ware said seeing the duo perform so well made him realize he could do the same thing.
“They gave me confidence, because it is possible,” he said.
 
Ware said seeing the duo perform so well made him realize he could do the same thing.
“They gave me confidence, because it is possible,” he said.
 
 
 
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Contact Rowan Kavner at [email protected]