Omaha, Neb., won’t be sprinkled with purple and gold this summer. After a roller coaster season, the LSU baseball team was left out of the postseason for the third time in the past six years, and the first time since 2006 — LSU coach Paul Mainieri’s first season in Baton Rouge.
“Honestly, I thought we were in,” said Mainieri in a press conference after hearing the news. “To me, this team clearly deserved to be in the NCAA Tournament, and I’m just disappointed so much for the kids that they don’t get the opportunity to do so.”
LSU finished with a 36-20 record overall, including a 13-17 conference mark, and boasted an RPI of 25. But its resume wasn’t quite impressive enough to earn an invitation to the big dance.
The Tigers started the season hot, winning 16 of their first 17 games and jumping as high as No. 8 in the polls before trudging through the brutal SEC schedule, losing five of their first six series while posting a 4-14 record in that stretch.
Failing to make the Southeastern Conference tournament trumped the 12-3 finish LSU posted, causing it to miss out on an at-large bid for a Regional.
“We fought all the way to the end, and we felt like we had a shot all the way,” said junior center fielder Mikie Mahtook in a press conference after the selection show. “I was pretty sure we were going to make it and I was about 100 percent positive that we deserve to be in. I still think we deserve to be in, but that’s not the way it worked out. It’s a tough pill to swallow.”
Despite controversy looming over the decisions made by the selection committee, Mahtook said there’s no reason to point fingers.
“You can’t ever be angry at a committee,” he said. “They look at a tough job that I never would want to have. The whole season has been about this team and the fact that we can’t go on together this year and do things that we wanted to do. It’s trumped all the other feelings I really have right now.”
In the sports world, losing equals change. And just days after finding out the season had come to an early finish, changes around the clubhouse have already begun.
Associate head coach David Grewe, who served as both pitching coach and recruiting coordinator under Mainieri, left the program Tuesday to pursue other career opportunities.
After the annual “exit meetings” Mainieri has with his players, rumors are swirling that long-time starting outfielder junior Trey Watkins may be departing from the team.
After his exit meeting, Watkins tweeted, “Well, its been real BR,” adding to suspicions.
But it hasn’t been all bad news for the baseball program. Mahtook was named to Collegiate Baseball’s second team All-American squad, as well as a first-team All-SEC selection.
Mahtook was also named as one of 30 national semifinalists for the 2011 Golden Spikes Award but was not chosen to the final three.
With the accolades raining down, after being taken No. 31 overall in the MLB draft Monday night, Mahtook will weigh the options and decide where his future lies.
“Knowing we didn’t get in this year and we didn’t do enough to quite get in will weigh a little bit on my decision,” he said. “But at the same time it’s a lot of emotions running through me, and you don’t want to make an emotional decision. When me and my family discuss my future endeavors, we’ll assess all the options and all the pros and cons to coming back as opposed to leaving.”
And despite the down year, Mainieri said Tiger fans shouldn’t worry about the state of the team.
“I don’t feel like the program is in the doldrums,” said the fourth year coach. “I knew we were going to be very young this year. This has been an ongoing process certainly over the last six weeks where I identified a lot of areas where I think we need to improve in. Hopefully we’ll make those improvements and be much better next year.”
 
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Contact Mark Clements at [email protected]