From 1995-2006 LSU coach Paul Mainieri roamed the dugout at Frank Eck Stadium for Notre Dame.
During his 12-year tenure in South Bend, he won well over 500 games with the Fighting Irish and was the national coach of the year in 2000. But, on Tuesday, he’ll be on the opposing team’s side for the Tigers’ two-game midweek matchup against the Fighting Irish (26-20, 10-12 ACC).
Mainieri said he’ll reunite with about 30-40 of his former players, which he said will be very “emotional” for him.
“In a weird way it’s going to feel like going back in time a little bit,” Mainieri said. “[But] my main focus is simply this group of guys on this bus, going to Notre Dame and winning these games and getting ourselves in best possible position for post season.”
LSU faced Notre Dame back in March 2012, when it lost 7-1, but it’ll be the first visit back to South Bend for Mainieri since he’s been the coach at LSU (31-16, 14-10 Southeastern Conference).
After LSU senior pitcher John Valek III’s last two starts resulted in short outings, in which he gave up 10 hits and seven earned runs. A problem for Valek of late has been getting behind in pitch counts and hitters have been taking advantage of he said.
With the trip to midwest, the former Akron pitcher said he’s eager to get back on the mound against Notre Dame.
“It’s been awhile,” Valek said. “All I want to do is go out there and pitch. It can be frustrating for a pitcher sometimes, especially a starter because you have to wait a week, or in my case a few more days to get back out there. I just want to get back out there and pitch again.”
Mainieri also plans to use junior pitcher Jared Poche’ in a relief situation on Tuesday which Poche’ said will be a little different for him. Poche’ struggled in his last start against Arkansas, when he was pulled after allowing seven hits and four earned runs.
The hurler attributed his bad outings to a lack of “executing pitches,” but said its nothing to dwell on.
Most of the LSU players haven’t played much baseball in the midwest region, with many of them citing it as their first time playing up north.
“It’s going to be a fun experience,” said freshman third baseman Chris Reid. “I’ve never really been up there. I know a lot of guys on the team have never been up there. We’re going to go up there and try to win a few ball games.”
After LSU is done with its two game series with Notre Dame, the team will fly straight to Knoxville for a three-game SEC series against Tennessee which starts on Friday. The five-game road trip will be the first for LSU since 1997, when the team traveled to Arkansas and Alabama for SEC games.
Tennessee (25-23, 7-17 SEC) has had an up and down season, where they won a series against No. 12 Vanderbilt and won a game versus top ranked Florida.
Mainieri said he can’t really understand why the Volunteers have the record that they do.
“If you watch in the games, they have a very talented team,” Mainieri said. “They’ve got two left-handed pitchers that are really good. They’ve good a really good relief pitcher. We have to be ready for everything with them.”
When speaking about his junior shortstop Kramer Robertson, who was hit in the face by relay throw from junior outfielder Jake Fraley, in a game against Arkansas, Mainieri said the only way he wouldn’t play this week is if bone was sticking out of his skin.
Robertson had a 7 a.m. dentist appointment to get braces and saw two other doctors to make sure there were no infections or fractures in his face. The McGregor, Texas native previously had braces when he was younger and said that he isn’t too “excited” to have them again.
“The game is the easy part,” Robertson said. “I’m definitely a little weak right now, but I’ll be ready to go for the game. Like I said, the game is the easy part, you got adrenaline running during the game so you’re not feeling it too much.”
This week’s slate of games might not be considered season defining, but it could position the team for a better placement for the postseason Robertson said.
“I don’t want to say it could make or break us,” Robertson said. “It could be the determining factor if we’re going to host or not. It’s still there for the taking, you can go 5-0 and be three games away from possibly winning the SEC when we play against Florida.”