LSU Coach Paul Mainieri says he is going to start Austin Ross on the pitcher's mound tonight as he and the Tigers try to win a national title.
It comes a day after his team needed 11 innings to get a victory in the first game in a best of three series.
"It was one of the more remarkable experiences of my coaching career. What a game. What an atmosphere," Mainieri told WWL First News.
Click here for more on game 1...
Mainieri says the high temperatures and short rest for his ace Anthony Ranaudo are big reasons he is not starting Ranaudo tonight. He says the heat was intense last night.
"It was suffocating; and I saw Lewis Coleman, who has great endurance, really wither in the heat. I just though that with Ranaudo being on three days rest, it's a little bit too much to think he can go out there in this heat and be able to pitch seven or eight innings."
Listen to the coach with WWL's Kristian Garic:
He says that while Ross will start the game, Ranaudo could come out of the bull pen.
"The possibility that I could use Ranaudo to close the game is there, especially since Matty Ott threw 45 pitches last night. I just think this is the best way to do it," Mainieri said.
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