Shortstop Austin Nola will return to LSU for his senior year, according to an Athletic Department news release.
Nola, a three-year starter and a 2010 second-team all-Southeastern Conference honoree, was taken in the 31st round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Toronto Blue Jays.
“Coming back for my senior year is just a great opportunity that I couldn’t pass up,” Nola said in the release. “I’ve grown up following LSU and having the chance to play baseball and go to school here has been an incredible experience. You enter college with the idea that it’s a four-year commitment, and I want to earn my degree and help us get back to Omaha [for the College World Series].”
Nola’s younger brother Aaron, an incoming freshman also drafted by the Blue Jays, will join the LSU baseball team as a pitcher in the fall, choosing not to sign a pro contract.
Senior third baseman Tyler Hanover announced immediately after the draft he would return to LSU for his final season.
Hanover was chosen in the 40th round of the draft by the New York Yankees.
Fellow senior Mikie Mahtook is negotiations with the Tampa Bay Rays, the team that drafted him as the 31st pick overall.
The outfielder said he is not ruling out a return to LSU, and is in no rush to make a decision either way.
Mahtook led the team in hitting in 2011, batting a .383. He also led the Tigers with 61 runs scored, five triples, 14 home runs, 56 RBIs and 29 stolen bases.
The senior outfielder has garnered all-SEC and All-American honors in three years as a starter with LSU.
All three players played a key part in winning the 2009 College World Series.
 
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