LSU's baseball team did as expected this weekend and dropped two of three to top-ranked oSouth Carolina. The Gamecocks have become the gold standard of the SEC over the past eight years or so, repeatedly having the most talent in the conference and often living up that promise. LSU (13-9) is a long way from where it was as a program in the 90s and one wonders whether they'll ever get back there. I don't know of anyone who ever expects to win five national titles in a 10-year span again, but it wouldn't hurt to see the Tigers threaten to go to Omaha every once in a while.
It's way too early to start piling on new head coach Paul Mainieri, but it's obvious this team doesn't have the talent to compete for a championship right now, especially in a league as tough as the SEC. It's not his fault as he just took over, but with an anemic .236 batting average, this team is clearly going to struggle the rest of the way. The pitching staff isn't doing much to pick up the slack with a 4.59 earned-run average. How has this team won 13 games? It's a miracle!