LSU Coach Receives Honor At Annual Convention In Dallas

ABCA Coach of the Year Paul Mainieri

Mainieri received four National Coach of the Year awards after leading LSU to the 2009 NCAA national championship.  He was also honored by Collegiate Baseball newspaper, Baseball America magazine and Rivals.com.

Mainieri’s 2009 national championship club completed the season with a 56-17 record, marking the second-highest wins total in LSU history. The CWS title was the sixth for LSU and its first since 2000, when ABCA Hall of Famer Skip Bertman led the Tigers to their fifth NCAA championship.

Mainieri has a 134-62-2 (.682) record in three seasons at LSU, including the ’09 national championship, two CWS appearances, one SEC regular-season title, two SEC Tournament titles and two SEC Western Division crowns.

He has a 998-554-6 (.642) career record in 27 collegiate seasons, including tenures at St. Thomas (Fla.), Air Force, Notre Dame and LSU.

Mainieri is the second LSU coach to win the ABCA award, joining Bertman, who was named National Coach of the Year in 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 2000.

The ABCA also honored several Regional Coaches of the Year.  They are:

Atlantic:  Brian O’Connor-Virginia

East:  Bill Brown-George Mason

Mideast: Scott Goodgins-Xavier

Midwest:  Brad Hill-Kansas State

Northeast:  Joe Sattolano-Army

South:  Paul Mainieri-LSU

South Central:  Steve Peterson-Middle Tenn. State

West:  Mike Gillespie-UC Irvine  (Gillespie was also inducted into the ABCA Hall of Fame.)