By Luke Johnson | LSU Reveille
Just like Greg Jennings in a popular viral video, the LSU pitching staff will need to put the team on its back in 2012 if the Tigers want to make it back to the postseason.
LSU's preseason No. 8 ranking is due in large part to the expected growth of the team's trio of sophomore weekend starters in Kevin Gausman, Ryan Eades and Kurt McCune.
All got a taste of the Southeastern Conference last season, when they anchored LSU coach Paul Mainieri's weekend rotation as true freshmen at the end of the season, and their in-season improvement helped LSU win 12 of its last 15 games.
"It didn't happen because we just needed somebody to pitch," Mainieri said of using three freshmen in his weekend rotation at the end of the year. "Those three guys were outstanding."
Combine the late-season successes with some impressive play in various summer leagues, and the Tigers look to have what is their most talented rotation since the 2009 season.
Leading the way will be hard-throwing right hander Gausman, who came on strong toward the end of last season when he posted a 2.40 ERA in his final six starts.
The 6-foot-4 Colorado native spent the summer pitching both in the Cape Cod league and with Team USA, and he looks to be primed for a breakout sophomore campaign after working with new pitching coach Alan Dunn this fall.
Baseball America magazine named Gausman to its First-Team Preseason All-American squad last week.
Rounding out the weekend rotation will be Eades on Saturday and McCune on Sunday.
Eades might be the biggest unknown heading into this season because he didn't start in a weekend series until late in his freshman campaign.
The Slidell native won three of his final four starts and posted a 4-1 record with a 4.81 ERA in 43 innings in 2011.
His strong finish, combined with his summer performance in the Cape Cod league where he was named the league's pitcher of the year, earned him the Saturday slot in the rotation.
"This summer I really tried to concentrate on becoming a better pitcher and having command on all of my pitches," Eades said. "I also focused on executing my fastball on both sides of the plate and trying to develop my change-up."
McCune rounds out the rotation as the Sunday starter. The Norco, La., native was LSU's most consistent starter last season, earning him Second-Team Freshman All-American honors from Baseball America.
McCune tallied a 7-3 record last season, recording 68 strikeouts in 89.2 innings while leading all starters with a 3.31 ERA.
Mainieri said he knew he had a rare group when he was watching Gausman and Eades throw a bullpen session together this fall.
"I couldn't help but stand there and say to myself, ‘What a lucky coach I am,'" Mainieri said. "Those two guys have a chance to be really special — and I'll take Kurt McCune any day of the week. He's a real competitor."
Mainieri said he hopes freshman left-hander Cody Glenn can take hold of the weekday starter slot this season — which would mark the first time in Mainieri's six-year tenure that he's consistently used just one pitcher in the weekday starter's slot.
But Glenn's availability for weekday starts depends on the success of the bullpen, something Mainieri called the "Achilles' heel" of the 2011 squad.
Since the beginning of the Florida series last season, the Tigers were just 4-10 in games decided by one or two runs.
To shore up LSU's late-game problems from last season, Mainieri tabbed freshman Aaron Nola, junior college transfer Nick Goody and sophomore Nick Rumbelow.
Rumbelow looks to have the first shot at closing games for LSU this season after a confidence-boosting summer in an Illinois league, where Rumbelow ditched an ineffective slider for a breaking ball.
"He really threw the ball well; I think he even had a 14-strikeout performance," Mainieri said. "Because of that, his confidence has gone through the roof. He came back here this fall and was lights out."
Mainieri said he understands his team's success begins and ends with his pitchers' effectiveness.
"Our pitching staff is going to need to lead the way for our club this year, and I think it will," Mainieri said.
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