OMAHA (NCBWA) Highly successful head coach Paul Mainieri of LSU was tabbed as the 2015 National College Baseball Writers Association Coach of the Year by the organization at a national media conference on Saturday, June 13, at TD Ameritrade Park. Mianieri is the eighth recipient of the annual award that is voted upon by the NCBWA Board of Directors.
"Congratulations to Coach Mainieri on his first NCBWA National Coach of the Year award," said NCBWA Executive Director Bo Carter. "He has continued the nationally competitive tradition of LSU Baseball and is much deserving of this award."
Mainieri has directed LSU to a 53-10 record this season and a berth in the College World Series. The Tigers also captured the SEC regular-season championship and have been ranked No. 1 in the nation for 10 consecutive weeks. LSU arrives in Omaha having gone undefeated in NCAA Regional and Super Regional action.
The LSU squad features five first-team All-SEC players, and four Tigers have earned All-America recognition. Eight LSU players were selected in the 2015 MLB Draft conducted this week.
Mainieri was named the SEC Coach of the Year for the second time in his career after leading LSU to its league-best 16th SEC regular-season championship. It was the third title during his nine-season tenure. LSU also won the SEC Western Division title for the 18th time in school history and for the fifth time under Mainieri.
Over the past four seasons, LSU has won a nation's-best 203 games, and the Tigers are the only team in the country to earn a National Seed in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments.
NCBWA membership includes writers, broadcasters and publicists. Designed to promote and publicize college baseball, it is the sport's only college media-related organization, founded in 1962.
ALL-TIME NCBWA COACHES OF THE YEAR
2015: Paul Mainieri, LSU
2014: Mike Gillespie, UC Irvine
2013: Tracy Smith, Indiana
2012: Matt Senk, Stony Brook
2011: David Esquer, California
2010: Jim Schlossnagle, TCU
2009: Brian O'Connor, Virginia
2008: Mike Batesole Fresno State
Related link:
NCBWA Coach of the Year