As much as he tries, there’s some things LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri can’t control — namely the weather.
But that won’t stop him from fretting about projected thunderstorms moving into south Louisiana during the next few days. With games against Louisiana Tech on Tuesday and McNeese State on Wednesday, Mainieri has good reason to be concerned about potential postponement of one or both contests.
“People say you shouldn’t worry about things you can’t control,” Mainieri said. “But, the reality is, I worry about the weather because it affects your [pitching] rotation. I want us to play. I don’t want to go a whole midweek without getting any games in.
“I do think we’re getting close to being the team that we’re going to be capable of being. I just don’t want to have to take a step back by not getting any baseball in this week, and then the guys get a little stale.”
Mainieri said he is closely monitoring the weather, seeking opinions from local meteorologists, and has already consulted with Bulldog coach Greg Goff about moving the game to a later date, if need be.
While he wouldn’t yet say when either of this week’s midweek games could be rescheduled, Mainieri doesn’t want Louisiana Tech to make the more than three and half hour drive to Baton Rouge on Tuesday morning and find out the game can’t be played.
On top of that, Mainieri said the Bulldogs (8-3) would have to alert the bus company by 8:30 a.m. about cancelling the trip to avoid being charged for it.
For an No. 6 LSU team (9-2) coming off of a sweep of Fordham, finally cementing its middle infield for the foreseeable future, Mainieri is anxious about keeping momentum going heading into a weekend series with Ball State.
The series against the Cardinals will be just a week away from the Tigers’ Southeastern Conference opening series against Alabama, and he acknowledges there’s still aspects of his team to further examine before league play begins.
At the very least, more games mean more repetition for a developing team, especially since Monday may have been the only day LSU will be able to take batting practice on the field.
“Baseball is game that you have to play to get your timing, your instincts, your reactions and all of those type of things,” Mainieri said. “The more you play, the better you get.”
Because he is unsure of how the weather will play out tomorrow, Mainieri plans to start junior right-hander Alden Cartwright against the Bulldogs. Part of his reasoning is the idea the game could be interrupted at some point, like what happened in a 6-1 loss to then-No. 10 Louisiana-Lafayette in 2014.
That top-10 matchup was called after just six innings, so the 10th-year wants to make sure a veteran reliever, who is used to pitching a limited number of innings, can get the Tigers off to a solid start.
A productive start from Cartwright is even more important as he will square against the Bulldogs ace, senior left-hander Tyler Clancy. The Gilbert, Arizona native is usually Louisiana Tech’s Friday night starter, but Goff has elected to use Clancy in his team’s previous two midweek wins against then-No. 6 Louisiana-Lafayette on Feb. 24 and then-No. 12 Arkansas on March 2.
Despite Clancy’s (3-0) prowess, entering the game with 1.00 earned run average, Cartwright is focused on himself.
“I just know [Clancy is] experienced, and he’s going to give his team the best chance to win,” Cartwright said. “That’s what we like. We like a great opponent, and we’re going to have that tomorrow night.”
For hitters like junior center fielder Jake Fraley, facing the opponent’s ace is nothing new in this early part of the season and neither is facing a lefty.
“Every team we’ve played so far, we’ve gotten their best guy, for the most part,” Fraley said. “Fordham’s Friday guy was up to 94 [miles per hour]. The Saturday guy was up to 93, and the Sunday guy was up to 92. So, it’s no surprise to us. It’s no different than the guy we’re facing tomorrow.”
Bryce Jordan questionable for weekend series
After crashing into a photographer during the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, sophomore first baseman Bryce Jordan suffered no broken bones in his ankle, Mainieri said two X-rays revealed.
In the third inning, Jordan chased a fly ball in foul territory and went down for a few minutes after barrelling into the photographer. But he remained in the game and was later taken out with other starters as LSU had built a comfortable lead against Fordham. But Mainieri sat him for the second game due to swelling, and he is now wearing a boot and is using crutches.
Should the weather hold up, Jordan will not play in either of the midweek games, and Mainieri classifies him as questionable the series against Ball State.
Jordan is third on the team in batting average and is tied for second in RBIs. He’s also been hit by the most pitches on the team, being plunked five times.
“It’s a shame,” Mainieri said. “It was kind of a freak accident, but it could have been worse. So it will give somebody else an opportunity, and we’ll see how those guys do. Hopefully, Bryce we’ll be back sooner than later.”
Severe weather threatening Tigers’ midweek games versus LA Tech, McNeese State
March 7, 2016
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