LUBBOCK, Texas -- The National College Baseball Hall of Fame is proud to announce LSU coach Paul Mainieri as the 2015 Skip Bertman National Coach of the Year.
Mainieri will be honored at the Hall of Fame's annual Night of Champions celebration on Monday, along with the National Pitcher of the Year, the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year and the Brooks Wallace Award winner.
The award, sponsored by Easton Sports, is named for Bertman, who coached at LSU from 1984 to 2001. During his tenure, he won five national championships and was named National Coach of the Year six times. He coached 31 players who went on to play Major League Baseball and was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class in 2006. Since that time, three of his players have joined him in the Hall of Fame.
"I'm really excited for coach Mainieri," said Mike Gustafson, president and CEO of the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. "I'm sure this will be a special honor for him given his respect for coach Bertman."
In 2015, Mainieri led the Tigers back to the College World Series for the second time in the past three years and the 17th time in program history. The Tigers finished with a 54-12 record. LSU also captured the Southeastern Conference regular-season championship and spent 10 weeks ranked No. 1 in the country.
This year's LSU squad has five first-team All-SEC players and four All-Americans. Eight players total were selected in June's Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, including the No. 2 overall pick, shortstop Alex Bregman.
Mainieri was also named the SEC Coach of the Year for the second time in his career.