Ivan Naccarata is not ashamed to admit the aura of LSU baseball can be a lot to handle for those new to the experience.
The LSU baseball tradition, Alex Box Stadium atmosphere, fans and demand for excellence can lead to enormous pressure on the back of anyone who dons the LSU baseball jersey, thus affecting his performance — most specifically Naccarata.
His nervousness showed in the first game of the season against Northwestern State. In his first fielding opportunity at LSU, Naccarata dropped a routine fly ball at second base. He started the season 1-for-7 at the plate and continued to struggle in the field at second base with four errors early in the season.
Naccarata said he would find himself standing at second base just staring in awe at the big crowds, which may have led to his slow start offensively and defensively.
“To tell you the truth, I was kind of intimidated of LSU and the fans and everything,” Naccaratta said.
After Kansas swept LSU at home, Tigers head coach Smoke Laval decided to make a position switch, moving Naccarata to third base and Aaron Hill back to shortstop in an attempt to shorten the reaction time for Naccarata on plays hit to him.
Naccarata said there is often too much time to think about a play when playing second base but at third base there is no time to think.
The move seems to have paid off for both Naccarata and the Tigers. Since moving Naccarata to third base, he has only made one error and at the same time increased his production in the batter’s box.
Naccarata currently is in the middle of a 14-game hitting streak, where he has hit 21-for-53 (.396) and now leads the team with a .367 batting average and is second on the team with 12 RBIs.
“I’m seeing the ball bigger, and I’m trying to slow the game down like Smoke told us to do,” Naccarata said. “I’m just trying to stay focused and not worry about anything.”
Naccarata said it is harder to hit during a hitting streak because a player can get so focused on the streak itself and not concentrate on just getting good swings.
“I try and clear my mind up and just try and hit the ball,” he said. “I just have to play the game how it’s played, and things will happen.”
Laval said he was never concerned about Naccarata’s struggles at the beginning of the season. He said Naccarata, a native Canadian, just had to adjust to the speed of the game.
“The more he plays, the more he gets into the flow of the game,” Laval said. “That’s all it is. You can’t prepare against speed.”
Naccarata, a 40th round selection of the Montreal Expos in 2000 and 21st selection of the Houston Astros in 2002, also admitted to the self realization of having to force himself to adjust to the big crowds, tradition and demand for excellence.
Now he feels more comfortable and ranks playing baseball at LSU as one of the greatest experiences of his life along with playing on the Canadian Junior National Team in 2000.
“Winning in front of the home crowd is great; it’s incredible,” he said. “I’ve never played in front of so many people. When you get a hit, the fans are always into it. They steadily encourage us. Even if we’re doing bad, they’re there encouraging us.”