How former LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri is doing in first season at South Carolina
LSU baseball faces its former head coach Paul Mainieri for the first time since his departure. Now the head coach of South Carolina, Mainieri's team hosts the top-ranked Tigers for a three-game series starting Thursday.
LSU brings a 17-10 SEC record into the series fresh off taking two of three games from then-No. 3 Arkansas in Baton Rouge. In its fourth season under head coach Jay Johnson, the Tigers aim to make runs at the SEC and NCAA championships.
The Gamecocks rank second-to-last in the SEC with a 5-22 record against conference opponents. Their lone series win came against No. 11 Ole Miss in April, but they rode a six-game losing streak into a midweek contest against Winthrop on Tuesday.
In Mainieri's inaugural season, South Carolina struggles to keep pace on the mound while battling inconsistency at the plate. In its most recent SEC series, it allowed 46 runs to Auburn after giving up 22 runs to Florida the week before. At the plate, the Gamecocks scored 10 or more runs against conference teams three times but were shut out three times.
Relief pitcher Brendan Sweeney ranks inside the SEC's top 10 with six saves and five eligible players bat over .300. Nathan Hall leads with 62 hits, 38 RBI, and 34 runs scored.
The active leader in Division I with 1,505 wins, Mainieri guided LSU to five College World Series appearances. The Tigers won the national championship in 2009 and finished second in 2017. His teams won six SEC Tournaments in his 15 seasons in Baton Rouge.
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