Coach Paul Mainieri at today's press conference
FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
BATON ROUGE — LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri said Tuesday that his team is planning to move into the New Alex Box Stadium early next week. Mainieri said he hopes the Tigers will be able to practice in the new facility for the first time on Tuesday, February 3.
“We are very excited to move into a beautiful, new ball park,” Mainieri said during a press luncheon at Walk-On’s Bistreaux, which also featured LSU associate athletic director Eddie Nunez. “I lose sleep on some nights thinking about how great it will be to play in the New Alex Box Stadium.”
Mainieri said the squad plans to move into the new stadium clubhouse on Monday and practice on the field for the first time next Tuesday.
“That’s our plan right now,” Mainieri said. “That’s what we hope to do as long as everything continues to go well. The contractor has done phenomenal work. I just hope our team plays as well as the park will look.”
Before the team moves into its new home, the Tigers will hold one final practice in the original Alex Box Stadium on Sunday at Noon. Sunday’s workout marks LSU’s first full-squad practice in preparation for the 2009 season.
The Tigers are ranked No. 1 in the Collegiate Baseball and ESPN/USA Today preseason polls.
Nunez said construction on the new stadium continue to progress at a steady pace, and the facility will be ready for the 2009 season opener on February 20 versus Villanova.
“The team locker room and clubhouse are 99 percent done, the seating is complete, the field is in good shape, and the scoreboard is being installed right now,” Nunez said. “Our contractor, Buquet & LeBlanc, has worked very diligently to make sure we have a great facility. We’re looking forward to the first pitch in the new stadium on February 20.”
“I think our fans will be very pleased when they come to the new park,” Mainieri said. “I just hope they don’t get too comfortable – we need them to be as loud and supportive as they were in the old stadium. We know they will be because they are great LSU fans.”
The New Alex Box Stadium is located at the corner of Nicholson Drive and Gourrier Lane, about 200 yards south of the original Alex Box Stadium. The new park will seat over 8,700 fans, and it will feature the same field dimensions as the original stadium – 330 feet down the lines, 365 feet in the power alleys and 405 feet in center field.
