Baseball: LSU, UL players named to LSWA All-Louisiana baseball teams

Anna Claire Thomas, Special to The Advertiser, June 18, 2015 

RUSTON – In the midst of an appearance in the College World Series, LSU continues to collect postseason accolades with eight players selected to the first and second teams, while the Tigers also earned four of the five specialty awards for the 2015 All-Louisiana College Baseball Team, as selected and announced by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.

Ten different programs in the state were represented on the two teams as LSU led the way with a combined eight players named to both squads. LSU ended the regular season with an overall record of 45-9 and is currently participating in the College World Series. The Tigers also nabbed four of the five special awards, while UL and Southeastern Louisiana followed up with five selections on both the first and second teams.

LSU’s Alex Lange earned both Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors, while Tiger shortstop Alex Bregman was voted Player of the Year by the LSWA. UL second baseman Stefan Trosclair was voted Newcomer of the Year following his breakout season for the Ragin’ Cajuns.

Five different coaches from the state were nominated for Coach of the Year, which was awarded to LSU skipper Paul Mainieri (14 votes) for the fifth time in his nine seasons with the Tigers. UL’s Tony Robichaux (5), Southeastern Louisiana’s Matt Riser (3) and Tulane’s David Pierce (3) also received votes on the ballot.

Bregman ended the regular season with a .329 average, while the Albuquerque, N.M., product totaled 22 doubles, nine homers, 47 runs batted in and swiped 32 bases for the Tigers. A two-time all-American, Bregman was selected as the No. 2 overall pick by the Houston Astros in last week’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. The junior shortstop is a finalist for the 2015 Golden Spikes Award and was also named first team All-Southeastern Conference and to the SEC All-Defensive Team.

As a freshman pitcher for LSU, Lange was voted the National Freshman Pitcher of the Year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association after posting a perfect 10-0 record throughout the 2015 regular season with a 1.94 earned run average. The Lee’s Summit, Mo., native struck out 98 batters he faced and held opposing hitters to a .208 average at the dish on his way to being named SEC Freshman of the Year and first team all-conference. Lange helped lead the Tigers to a 50-win season over the course of the year and a No. 2 national seed in the NCAA Tournament.

After spending two years at LSU-Eunice, Trosclair was second on the team with a .358 clip in his first season as a junior second baseman for the Ragin’ Cajuns. A product of Sulphur, Trosclair was voted first team All-Sun Belt and the Sun Belt Tournament Most Outstanding Player after the middle infielder recorded 15 doubles, 16 home runs and 53 home runs throughout the campaign, in which he helped lead UL to an NCAA Tournament appearance.

Mainieri is currently finishing up his ninth season at the helm of the LSU baseball program and was voted as the LSWA Coach of the Year for the fifth time after leading the Tigers to a 45-9 regular season record in 2015. Mainieri was recently voted the NCBWA Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his coaching career after guiding LSU to its fourth College World Series appearance in nine years. The No. 1 ranked Tigers earned their 16th SEC regular-season championship this season, which led to Mainieri being named the 2015 SEC Coach of the Year for the second time in his tenure at LSU.

In addition to LSU’s Lange earning Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year awards, the right-hander was a first team selection by the LSWA along with five of his teammates, including Kade Scivicque (C), Chris Chinea (1B), Alex Bregman (SS), Conner Hale (3B) and Andrew Stevenson (OF).

UL had two first team selections with Tyler Girouard (Utility) and Stefan Trosclair (2B) being named to the squad, while Southeastern Louisiana had pitcher Tate Scioneaux and outfielder Jacob Seward voted to the All-Louisiana first team. Rounding out the first team honorees was LSU-Alexandria pitcher Adam Hines, Nicholls State hurler Justin Sinibaldi and Northwestern State outfielder Cort Brinson.

The teams were selected on the basis of nominations made by the sports information and media relations contacts from the four-year baseball playing schools in the state. The list of nominations, based on stats and honors accumulated through the conference tournaments, was voted on by a panel of media and sports information representatives who are LSWA members.

2015 LSWA ALL-LOUISIANA COLLEGE BASEBALL TEAMS

(Stats based on games played through conference tournaments)

FIRST TEAM

POS/NAME, SCHOOL/CL/HOMETOWN/NOTES

P/Adam Hines, LSU-Alexandria/Jr./Bunkie, La./10-1, 0.96 ERA, 76 K, RRAC Pitcher of the Year

P/Alex Lange, LSU/Fr./Lee’s Summit, Mo./10-0, 1.94 ERA, SEC Freshman of the Year

P/Tate Scioneaux, Southeastern La./Jr./Reserve, La./9-3, 2.53 ERA, 96 K, 1st Team All-Southland

P/Justin Sinibaldi, Nicholls St./Jr./Kenner, La./10-1, 1.40 ERA, Southland Pitcher of the Year

C/Kade Scivicque, LSU/Sr./Maurepas, La./.356 BA, 19 2B, 42 RBI, 1st Team All-SEC, All-Defensive Team

1B/Chris Chinea, LSU/Jr./Miami, Fla./.363 BA, 16 2B, 11 HR, 55 RBI, 2nd Team All-SEC

2B/Stefan Trosclair, UL-Lafayette/Jr./Sulphur, La./.358 BA, 15 2B, 16 HR, 53 RBI, 1st Team All-Sun Belt

SS/Alex Bregman, LSU/Jr./Albuquerque, N.M./.329 BA, 22 2B, 9 HR, 47 RBI, 32 SB, 1st Team All-SEC

3B/Conner Hale, LSU/Sr./New Port Richey, Fla./.352 BA, 17 2B, 53 RBI, 1st Team All-SEC

OF/Cort Brinson, Northwestern St./Jr./Hattiesburg, Miss./.350 BA, 9 HR, 42 RBI, SLC Hitter of the Year

OF/Jacob Seward, Southeastern La./So./New Orleans, La./.350 BA, 35 RBI, 19 SB, SLC Player of the Year

OF/Andrew Stevenson, LSU/Jr./Youngsville, La./.361 BA, 10 2B, 5 3B, 20 RBI, 24 SB, 1st Team All-SEC

UTIL/Tyler Girouard, UL-Lafayette/Sr./Lafayette, La./.337 BA, 18 2B, 3 HR, 28 RBI, 2nd Team All-Sun Belt

PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Alex Bregman, LSU

Vote totals – Bregman (19), Seward (3), Brinson (1), Rasch (1), No vote (1)

PITCHER OF THE YEAR – Alex Lange, LSU

Vote totals – Lange (16), Sinibaldi (4), Hines (3), Scioneaux (2)

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR – Alex Lange, LSU

Vote totals – Lange (22), Leger (2), Hemphill (1)

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR – Stefan Trosclair, UL-Lafayette

Vote totals – Trosclair (19), Reese (3), Duester (1), Johnson (1), No vote (1)

COACH OF THE YEAR – Paul Mainieri, LSU

Vote totals – Mainieri (14), Robichaux (5), Pierce (3), Riser (3)

SECOND TEAM

POS/NAME, SCHOOL/CL/HOMETOWN/NOTES

P/Kyle Cedotal, Southeastern La./Jr./Denham Springs, La./9-2, 2.08 ERA, 95 K, 2nd Team All-Southland

P/Stuart Holmes, Nicholls St./Sr./Vancleave, Miss./1.11 ERA, 27 APP, 15 SV, SLC Relief Pitcher of the Year

P/Gunner Leger, UL-Lafayette/Fr./Lake Charles, La./6-4, 2.95 ERA, 79 K, Sun Belt Freshman of the Year

P/Jared Poche’, LSU/So./Lutcher, La./7-1, 3.35 ERA, 15 GS, 88.2 IP, 54 K, .257 B/AVG.

C/Garrett Parsons, Louisiana College/Sr./Channelview, Texas/.359 BA, 10 2B, 34 RBI, 2nd Team All-ASC

1B/Kevin Carr, Southeastern La./Sr./Chandler, Ariz./.336 BA, 15 2B, 4 HR, 36 RBI, 1st Team All-Southland

2B/Mitch Huckabay, LSU-Alexandria/Sr./Mansfield, Texas/.365 BA, 42 RBI, 18 SB, 1st Team All-RRAC

SS/Blake Trahan, UL-Lafayette/Jr./Kinder, La./.336 BA, 15 2B, 28 RBI, 17 SB, Sun Belt Player of the Year

3B/Keelin Rasch, ULM/Sr./Harrisburg, Ill./.359 BA, 13 2B, 9 HR, 41 RBI, 2nd Team All-Sun Belt

OF/Kyle Clement, UL-Lafayette/Jr./Jeanerette, La./.358 BA, 17 2B, 8 HR, 29 RBI, 2nd Team All-Sun Belt

OF/Mark Laird, LSU/Jr./Monroe, La./.323 BA, 9 2B, 22 RBI, 23-27 SB-ATT, SEC All-Defensive Team

*OF/Kade Billeaudeaux, LSU-Shreveport/Sr./Welsh, La./.335 BA, 13 2B, 37 RBI, 14 SB, 1st Team All-RRAC

*OF/Andrew Guillotte, McNeese St./Sr./Moss Bluff, La./.313 BA, 14 2B, 21 SB, 2nd Team All-Southland

UTIL/Daniel Midyett, Southeastern La./Jr./Shreveport, La./.306 BA, 8 HR, 46 RBI, 1st Team All-Southland

*Tied for position