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Source: LSU baseball adds Tulane assistant Eddie Smith to coaching staff; Ochinko no longer with LSU

• STAFF REPORT
• PUBLISHED JUL 7, 2019 AT 5:16 PM | UPDATED JUL 7, 2019 AT 7:54 PM
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LSU head coach Paul Mainieri at practice ahead of the weekend's NCAA Baseball Super Regional, Friday, June 7, 2019, at LSU's Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.

Advocate staff photo by Facebook

Tulane baseball assistant coach Eddie Smith will join the coaching staff of the LSU baseball team, a source familiar with the situation told The Advocate on Sunday.

Smith has been a member of the Tulane staff for the past three seasons. He's been the hitting coach and third base coach as well as recruiting coordinator for Green Wave coach Travis Jewett.

It wasn't immediately known who Smith might be replacing on Paul Mainieri's staff.

 

Responding to a text from The Advocate late Sunday afternoon, Mainieri said he could neither confirm nor deny changes to his staff.

Earlier Sunday, LSU sports information director Michael Bonnette declined to confirm the hire.

"We can't confirm anything regarding personnel until they've cleared the background check, which in this case will be the end of the week," he said.

D1Baseball.com's Kendall Rogers later tweeted that Smith will take over as volunteer coach and hitting coach for Sean Ochinko, who is no longer with the program.

Smith could not be reached for comment.

A native of Olympia, Washington, Smith played for two years at Notre Dame. He was a senior in 2006, a member of the last Fighting Irish team that Mainieri coached before coming to LSU.

Before joining the Tulane staff, Smith was the head coach at Lower Columbia College, a junior college in Longview, Washington. He also has been an assistant at Virginia, Notre Dame and Santa Clara.

Smith has tutored 48 players that were chosen in the Major League Baseball draft. Twenty-three have gone in the first 10 rounds, and he has coached 13 players who have made it to the majors.

At Lower Columbia, Smith compiled a 146-49 record and led the Red Devils to three consecutive West Region titles and Northwest Athletic Conference championships in 2015 and 2017.

 

He was named the 2015 ABCA/Diamond Pacific Association Division National Coach of the Year after his team finished the season ranked 10th nationally.

In all, 27 of his players received Division I opportunities.

While at Virginia from 2007-11, Smith helped the Cavaliers win three Atlantic Coast Conference titles and went to the College World Series twice in his five seasons there.

He moved to Santa Clara in 2012 and then returned to his alma mater in 2013 for a two-year stint before taking the Lower Columbia job.