LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri already knows who his starting pitcher will be for the first game in the new Alex Box Stadium.Senior Louis Coleman will likely be LSU’s starter for the opening of the new park against Villanova on Feb. 20, Mainieri said Thursday.”Two days ago I was talking to him,” Mainieri said. “I said ‘Louis, I have not even come close to defining your role … The only thing I know for sure is I want you to pitch that opening game.'”Mainieri also said construction on the new Alex Box Stadium is still on track.He said sod for the field will come in Monday, and seats won’t be installed until closer to the season to avoid possible weather damage.”They’re only in the seventh inning,” Mainieri joked. “There is a lot of work to do.”Mainieri is also dealing with the challenge of raising his team’s performance in the classroom.The program achieved a perfect 1,000 Academic Progress Rate last season but still has a 923 four-year average, below the NCAA-required 925 mark. Teams that fall below 925 are subject to penalty by the NCAA.LSU’s APR was 903 when Mainieri arrived in 2006.”There is a correlation, in my mind, between how [players] perform in the classroom and how they perform on the field,” Mainieri said. “If they have the discipline and the sense of responsibility to get the job done in the classroom … They’re going to go out on the baseball field and play better.” ALLEVA ASKS FANS TO FILL PMACAthletic Director Joe Alleva probably never had to ask basketball fans to fill Cameron Indoor Stadium for home games during his tenure at Duke.At LSU, Alleva is doing just that.Alleva asked fans Thursday to buy season tickets and fill the PMAC for every game.”I understand the last two years there have been a lot of no-shows,” Alleva said.LSU will host several promotional events to draw fans to games, Alleva said.Alleva didn’t mention any exact plans for what those promotional events might be, aside from the annual “Pack the PMAC” event.The men’s basketball team will have a record number — 21 — home games this season, and 12 of those contests will be televised. “That’s a phenomenal number of home games,” Alleva said.The women’s basketball team will have 18 home games this season. Alleva said fans that purchase women’s basketball tickets before Nov. 16 will be able to buy tickets for first- and second-round NCAA tournament games hosted at the PMAC.- – – -Contact Robert Stewart at [email protected]