Fewer big names on LSU baseball slate

• By RANDY ROSETTA
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Jul 3, 2009 - Page: 2C

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LSU’s baseball schedules of the future will include some bigger names than recent seasons, but not as many or as often as in the past.

And the Tigers aren’t likely to hit the road for any high-profile nonconference series in the near future.

The biggest nonconference name on the 2009 national champions’ home schedule next season is Kansas.

While that may not strike the same chord as visitors from LSU’s glory years, the Jayhawks were an NCAA tournament team in 2009 and are an upgrade from nonleague foes from the past few seasons.

KU finished 39-24 in 2009, anchored by early season victories at Arkansas and Arizona State, along with a weekend league sweep of Texas — all five wins vs. College World Series teams.

The Jayhawks also won two of three games from Big 12 co-champion Oklahoma, giving Kansas a 5-1 mark against the conference’s two top teams.

Besides KU and 12 home games with in-state foes, the Tigers will also entertain William & Mary, Pepperdine, Brown and Binghampton, another NCAA tourney  team.

LSU and fellow CWS participant Southern Miss square off in Metairie at the Wally Pontiff Jr. Classic in April.

Future home nonleague opponents include a weekend set against perennial West Coast power Cal State Fullerton in 2011 and a three-team round-robin tourney featuring Notre Dame and Michigan in 2012.

When LSU coach Paul Mainieri was hired, former Athletic Director and baseball coaching legend Skip Bertman told him to schedule a minimum of 35 home games a season.

That makes scheduling road trips to face fellow college baseball powers a challenge.

“I like for us to play a nationally renowned team the weekend before our SEC season begins to give us a good barometer of where we are,” Mainieri said. “If you want to schedule a top-25 caliber team, those programs usually expect a home-and-away series. That makes it hard to schedule those teams as much as I’d like to. Fullerton didn’t ask for a return trip, so that worked out.

“With teams from the North, they’re glad to come down here and play so they don’t have to battle the weather.”