LSU Baseball Coach Paul Mainieri says he has championship caliber personnel heading into the 2019 season. But Mainieri says a key to next year is a healthy shortstop Josh Smith, who missed all but six games of 2018 with a back issue. Mainieri says Smith has yet to resume baseball activities, but he’s feeling good…
cut 30 (20) “…the back”
Mainieri says pitcher Eric Walker is throwing bullpen session and looking good after missing all of 2018 to recover from Tommy John Surgery. The coach says Antoine Duplantis should be back to full speed in a week or two after hurting his shoulder while playing for the USA national team.

At Sun Belt Media Day in New Orleans, first-year UL Lafayette Coach Billy Napier says he’s committed to bringing a winning program to Acadiana after taking over for Mark Hudspeth, who led the Cajuns to a 5-7 record last season….
cut 29 (23) “…about the future”
Napier needs to figure out a starting quarterback. Fall camp will feature a battle between sophomore Levi Lewis and senior Andre Nunez.

ULM’s dual-threat quarterback Caleb Evans is looking to build on a sophomore campaign that saw him rush for 13 touchdowns and throwing for 17 more scores. The Warhawks kick off the season on Thursday August 30th against Southeastern Louisiana.