Twenty years ago, LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri sat fixated on a television, dressed in a tuxedo.
On the afternoon June 8, 1996, Mainieri’s sister was to be married in Colorado Springs, Colorado — the same location of the Air Force Academy where Mainieri coached from 1989-1994. Paul’s wife, Karen, and their children were ready to leave for the wedding, but the skipper couldn’t miss a second of the action in front of him.
Paul already knew the baseball game he was watching was one of the best he had ever seen, even before — as some call it — “the greatest moment in college baseball history” occurred.
“‘Go without me,’” Paul recalled telling his family, hoping the game wouldn’t go into extra innings. “‘I’ll be there as soon as I can.’”
The now-LSU coach thanks former Tigers second baseman Warren Morris for allowing him to sneak into the wedding just in time. His sister forgave him, too.
“My wife couldn’t believe it,” Paul said laughing. “She said, ‘Are you serious?’ I said, ‘It’s LSU, Karen, come on.’”
Morris, whose walk-off, two-run home run against Miami handed LSU its third National Championship, will be among the 1996 team members honored Saturday before Game 2 of the No. 5 Tigers’ (26-11, 9-6 Southeastern Conference) series against No. 7 Mississippi State at Alex Box Stadium.
Former LSU first baseman Eddy Furniss, a key piece of that 1996 team and statistically the best career hitter in SEC history, will have his No. 36 jersey retired before tonight’s series opener, which starts at 7 p.m. today.
Though he wouldn’t command the program for another 10 years, Mainieri cherishes the history behind 1996 team’s epic run, and it was used as motivation for the 2008 baseball team’s 23-game winning streak.
Before every game of that streak, the Tigers played the highlight tape of 1996 team, while wearing gold jerseys up until the NCAA prohibited the team from doing so in the postseason.
Mainieri countered the NCAA home-team guideline of wearing white jerseys by encouraging all fans to wear gold for the Tigers’ regional opener against Texas Southern. Similarly, fans are being asked to wear gold to match the gold jerseys the team will wear all weekend against Mississippi State.
“[2008] was such a pivotal year in the LSU program and in my coaching career. My first year — 2007 ­— to put it mildly, was not very spectacular,” Mainieri said. “Forty games into our second season, we were still scuffling along, pretty much. Then, all of a sudden, we started that 23-game winning streak and went to Omaha.
“Even though we didn’t win it, it set the tone for us to win it the next year. I credit the ‘96 team a lot for our current situation of how we progressed with the program over the last nine years.”
The Tigers’ series against the rival Bulldogs (25-12-1, 8-7 SEC) has significance beyond the ceremonies and commemorations.
Mississippi State sits one game behind second-place LSU in the SEC West standings, possessing one of the league’s best offenses in multiple major categories.
On top of that, Bulldog junior ace Dakota Hudson, projected to start Friday, ranks fourth in the conference in ERA, contributing to the pitching staff’s 364 strikeouts, which is fourth in the league.
Coincidentally, both teams played games that stretched into the late hours of Wednesday night. Mississippi State squeaked out a 1-0 victory against Louisiana-Monroe in 14 innings, while LSU waited out a two-hour, 24-minute rain delay to complete its 11-4 win against Southeastern Louisiana.
Mainieri said, like against Vanderbilt the key against the Bulldog offense will be keeping the leadoff hitters off base, something the Bulldogs struggled with against the Warhawks. Mississippi State put the leadoff man on base just once Wednesday night, which came via a hit batter in the sixth inning.
“If you get the leadoff hitter out, you’re limiting to what the offense can do in the inning,” said sophomore right-hander Alex Lange. “So, that’s something that’s very important, getting the leadoff hitter out and not having guys in scoring position with less than two outs.”