Another chance

• By RANDY ROSETTA
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Jun 19, 2008 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 12:20 a.m.

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OMAHA, Neb. — As the LSU baseball season exploded around him, Derek Helenihi enjoyed the ride as much as anybody else.

But Helenihi’s pleasure was tempered a bit because his contributions to the Tigers’ dramatic turnaround faded noticeably just when everyone around him was taking turns playing hero.

At the most opportune time, however, there are encouraging signals that Helenihi is ready to carry his share of the load again.

LSU (49-18-1) tangles with North Carolina (52-13) at 6 p.m. today at Rosenblatt Stadium in an elimination game of the 2008 College World Series.

And Helenihi has hinted at re-emerging as a key component in any chance the Tigers have of surviving to take on Fresno State on Friday and Saturday with a berth in the championship series on the line.

In Tuesday’s astounding come-from-behind 6-5 triumph against Rice, Helenihi quietly produced three hits and scored the first of four LSU runs in the ninth inning.

He also played a key role in the seventh when he pestered Owls reliever Cole St. Clair into a two-out balk that forced Nicholas Pontiff home with the Tigers’ first run when they trailed 5-0.

“I went through a while when my swing just didn’t feel good at the plate,” Helenihi said. “Something was wrong and I couldn’t tell what it was.”

To say Helenihi has been slumping is generous.

• In LSU’s 27-game surge to reach the Series, Helenihi scratched out only 22 hits in 100 at-bats with 21 runs batted in.
• Over the last 12 games before the Tigers got to Omaha, Helenihi was abysmal, hitting .111 (5-for-45) with 14 strikeouts and only eight RBIs — three on his only home run down the stretch, against Vanderbilt at the SEC tournament.
• Since the NCAA postseason began, Helenihi was batting .115 (3-for-26) in seven games before Tuesday.

“He had a rough stretch and this year physically has taken a toll on him,” LSU hitting coach Cliff Godwin said. “He’s played more games and had more at-bats than he’s ever had in his life and he was worn down. His swing was off and it took us a while to figure out how to fix it.”

Similar to the Tigers’ season, Helenihi may have found a solution because he stubbornly kept plugging away.

While his batting average plummeted from .356 on April 22 to .296 heading into the CWS, Helenihi continued to hone his defense at a still new position and helped solidify LSU’s outfield defense.

Helenihi arrived in Baton Rouge as a highly-touted utility infielder, but a bottleneck on the left side left him as the odd man out after preseason practice ended. He began the season on the bench, starting only three of the first 11 games.

When Helenihi’s bat heated up, LSU coach Paul Mainieri had to find him a spot in the lineup. Helenihi started one game each at second and third base, four games as the designated hitter and two in center field.