Rosetta: Bradford gets to rest another day

• By RANDY ROSETTA
• Published: May 11, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 1:45 a.m.

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Bradford gets to rest another day

Jared Bradford isn’t about to take anything for granted.

As sizzling as the LSU baseball team is right now, Bradford doesn’t want to make any assumptions about where the Tigers season might continue after today’s final regular-season home game at Alex Box Stadium.

So, yes, Bradford would like to take the mound one more time at the Box today because he doesn’t know if the NCAA Selection Committee will be in the nostalgic frame of mind to award a regional to LSU two weeks from now.

The OK-to-have quandary for Bradford and Tigers coach Paul Mainieri is this: As well as LSU is playing right now, particularly this weekend, the senior may not get that chance to step on the mound again at the Box.

Jordan Brown is slated to start the series finale against Mississippi State, and if the Tigers stick to the path that has revived their 2008 season, they might not need the kid who has been their best pitcher for two years.

With back-to-back lopsided romps past the last-place Bulldogs in the first two games this weekend, LSU has nudged its winning streak to 11 games overall and eight straight in the Southeastern Conference. That’s the Tigers’ longest league binge since 1997.

The current surge — during which LSU has vaulted from 11th in the SEC to first place in the West Division and having a remote chance at a second-place overall finish — a robust RPI and the historical significance of one more chance for memories at the Box make a regional bid a realistic possibility.

That means Bradford may get a few more opportunities at home in NCAA play — maybe.

“Nothing is set in stone yet, so the only thing we want to focus on is to keep winning,” said Bradford, who last weekend claimed a win and two saves in the Tigers’ three-game sweep at Kentucky. “We’re peaking at the right time and have come together well, but we still have some work to do.”

That work right now is being spread more among a Tigers pitching staff that is showing more depth and diversity than it has all season. Enough so that Bradford may get an entire weekend of rest.

The reason Bradford has remained inactive so far this weekend is because the Tigers evolving staff kept its confidence moving forward.

Louis Coleman and Anthony Renaudo were flawless in relief Friday, slamming the door after State had clawed back within 12-6.