High expectations surround the LSU baseball team as new head coach Smoke Laval leads the Tigers, who are ranked as high as fifth, into the 2002 season. LSU and Laval began spring practice Saturday and will open the season Feb. 8 against Birmingham-Southern after a tune-up alumni game Feb. 2.
This will mark the first time since 1983 the Tigers will not start the season under the supervision of legendary coach Skip Bertman. But according to the preseason polls, they should not skip a beat under the leadership of Laval. LSU is ranked fifth in the Collegiate Baseball Top 40, seventh by Baseball America and are picked by the coaches of the Southeastern Conference to win their 13th SEC Championship.
For the second year in a row, Stanford comes off a disappointing loss in the College World Series Championship Game to grab the top spot in both polls. Last year, Stanford lost to Miami in the championship after losing to LSU in the previous year’s title game.
Tulane, who ended the Tigers’ hope of a return trip to the CWS in Omaha, Neb., last year, is ranked third by Collegiate Baseball and 11th by Baseball America.
“Preseason polls are mainly for the fans and the media,” Laval said. “But it’s good to see that other people’s perception of LSU baseball is pretty high.”
Although some reports indicate the Tigers return six starters from last year’s Regional Championship team, Laval disagrees. He said they have lost nearly every position player from last year and several backups.
The Tigers, the defending SEC West Champs, return only two players with more than 140 plate appearances — 2001 All SEC third baseman Wally Pontiff and outfielder David Raymer — and only two pitchers with more than 40 innings pitched — Lane Mestepey and Bo Pettit.
“If we have a weakness, it is our inexperience,” Pontiff said. “We have a lot of guys who haven’t played much, but that will change.”
In regard to the preseason polls, Pontiff said they are just speculation from sports writer and coaches who have not seen any teams play. Pontiff, who led the Tigers a year ago in batting average with men in scoring position said, “Baseball is not played on paper. It’s played on the field.”
The Tigers will have many challenging games this season. Not only is the SEC considered the toughest conference in the country year-in and year-out, LSU plays a total of 19 games against ranked opponents.
Laval would rather see his team perform on the field than be ranked high in the preseason.
“This year we just want to get better game by game, inning by inning and pitch by pitch,” Laval said. “We want to be able to control the controllables and to compete each and every night.”
Laval describes this team as a young, talented team that gets along really well. He said the players root for one another and do not compete against each other for individual accolades.
Pontiff agreed, and said the team’s camaraderie is one of its biggest strengths.
The Tigers’ main goal for the season is to make it back to Omaha for the College World Series.
“That is what we’ve been working so hard for,” said Pontiff. “We want to do our best to represent LSU and the state of Louisiana in Omaha.”
That feat was accomplished 11 times in the 18 years under the leadership of Bertman. Six of those trips to Omaha were assisted by Laval, who coached with Bertman for 11 of his 18 years in Tigertown.
In the five national titles the Tigers have obtained, they captured the top spot in the preseason rankings only once, in 1996. That year, Warren Morris hit the game-winning homerun in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat Miami 9-8 for the CWS Championship. The Tigers’ lowest ranking in the preseason of a national title year was 11th in 1997.
Last season, the Tigers were ranked third in the preseason, but finished ninth.
“This year, we are definitely a Top 25 team, but I would rank us in the high teens or the low 20s,” Laval said.
After leaving LSU in 1993, Laval took over the head coaching job at University of Louisiana-Monroe and was very successful. He returned last season after Bertman hand-picked Laval to replace him as the LSU head baseball coach.
Laval said that he wants to build on what he and Bertman have accomplished here during the last 18 years.
“Our success will depend on how we handle success, both as a team and individually,” Laval said. “How high can we build? Nobody knows.”