The Knoxville Super Regional Series is over, the 2021 LSU baseball season’s is over and Tigers Coach Paul Mainieri’s career is over. After losing a hard fought 4-2 game on Saturday night in game one, Tennessee clobbered six home runs in a 15-6 rout of the LSU Tigers on Sunday.
Tennessee is making its first trip to the College World Series since 2005 and they will be looking for their first national championship in baseball. While the Bayou Bengals season ends with a 38-25 record.
“We got counted out a lot of times during the course of this year and our guys never gave up, they are a resilient bunch, I love them to death, I’ll always remember them, they are my last team,” said Mainieri.
Landon Marceaux (7-7) suffered the loss on Sunday. The junior from Destrehan didn’t have it after appearing twice in the Eugene Regional. He went three innings and allowed three runs on Sunday.
When Edwards left the game, Tennessee led 3-2. But the Volunteer hitters teed off on LSU’s middle relief. Freshman Garrett Edwards recorded just one out and gave up two runs, before leaving with an arm injury. Fellow freshman right-hander Will Helmers allowed four runs in two-thirds of an inning and Trent Vietmeier was touched up for two runs.
Tennessee exploded for six runs in the fifth inning. Volunteers third baseman Jake Rucker hit two home runs and drove in four runs.
Game three scheduled starter AJ Labas entered the game in the sixth inning and gave up a two run homer in the 8th inning and another run in the ninth inning.
LSU hit four home runs in tiny Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Dylan Crews was responsible for LSU’s first two runs, with back-to-back solo shots. Fellow freshmen Tre Morgan and Brody Drost each drilled two-run homers, but it wasn’t enough.
So it’s the end of an era for LSU baseball as Mainieri has coached his last game in Purple-and Gold. His career record at LSU was 641-285-3. In 39 seasons as a coach, he won 1,505 games. That’s the seventh most in Division 1 in NCAA Baseball history. In the bottom of the ninth as the final three outs were taking place, Mainieri was visibly emotional.
“Hey listen, I don’t want people to be sad for me, I’ve been the luckiest guy in the world, 39 years of heaven really, got to live out a childhood dream, got to do what I wanted to do with my life, who could ask for more,” said Mainieri in the postgame.
So who will replace Mainieri? Athletic Director Scott Woodward has plenty of choices, but an announcement might not come soon. LSU is reportedly interested in hiring former Tigers catcher and Ole Miss Coach Mike Bianco. But his Rebels are still playing. Vanderbilt Coach Tim Corbin has the Commodores back in the CWS.
There are a couple of candidates who have seen their seasons end already. East Carolina’s Cliff Godwin was Mainieri’s hitting coach at LSU for his first two seasons in Tiger Town and just led the Pirates to the Super Regionals, before losing to Vanderbilt. Louisville Coach Dan McDonnell has led the Cardinals to the College World Series five times during his 15 seasons as the Cardinals head coach. McDonnell is a two-time National Coach of the Year and no coach in college baseball has won more games than him since 2007. But Louisville did not make the NCAA Tournament this past season for the second time during McDonnell’s run as head coach at Louisville.
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