Over the weekend LSU head coach Paul Mainieri said that Louis Coleman will be his opening-night starter Feb. 20 against Villanova, though the head man isn't necessarily committed to having Coleman work every Friday night. It still looks as though he's going to reprise the role Jared Bradford had the last two years.

Meanwhile, there is some very encouraging news on freshman lefty Chris Matulis. The coaching staff is taking a real liking to the Floridian, and with a dire need for a left-hander to emerge as a key guy on the Tigers' 2009 staff you can imagine Matulis will get every opportunity to step up and be counted on - either as a weekend starter or at least a bullpen guy who sees the hill all the time. Matulis isn't a power pitcher; he only throws 85-87 miles per hour. But he has a good assortment of junk pitches and he throws strikes. And at 6-6, he presents batters with a difficult ball to find.