When you have arms, you have a real opportunity to succeed in baseball at any level. A little bit of offense helps as well.

Over a long period of time, LSU has been blessed in both areas. The Tigers have won six national championships since 1991, including in 2009 under Paul Mainieri.

The 2012 Tigers are a team which appears to have a good to very good weekend pitching rotation and the kind of pitching depth essential to compete for a conference title and a trip to Omaha.

LSU is eighth in the country in Baseball America poll and 14th in the USA Today/Coaches preseason poll. Despite the deserved recognition, LSU is just the fourth highest ranked team going into the season, trailing Florida, two-time defending national champion South Carolina and Arkansas. Such is life in the country's best baseball league.

As always, expectations are high for the Tigers. That comes with the territory at one of the elite programs in the country, where the facilities, conference and attendance figures are second to none. LSU has led the nation in attendance for 16 consecutive years.

To illustrate the rabid fan support, LSU announced this past Thursday that they have more social media followers (Facebook and Twitter) than every other college and minor league baseball team in the country as well as the major league Washington Nationals.

Since winning the national championship in 2009, things have not gone as well as planned or hoped for. In 2010, the Tigers were knocked out in three games in the regional round of the NCAA tournament at UCLA.

In 2011, the Tigers were 36-20 overall and 13-17 in the SEC, missing both the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.

The SEC tournament expands to 10 teams in 2012, providing two more teams with an opportunity to compete for a conference championship and a chance to improve their postseason status.

As a guest with Ed Daniels and I on "The Three Tailgaters" Show on WGSO, 990 AM, LSU coach Paul Mainieri expressed confidence and was geuninely excited about the prospects of his 2012 squad.

The enthusiasm surrounding this year's Tigers is largely centered around the weekend pitching rotation of Ryan Eades, Kevin Gausman and Kurt McCune. All are benefiting from the presence of new pitching coach Alan Dunn, who spent the last four years as a pitching instructor in the Baltimore Orioles organization.

"I hope Alan makes a huge difference," Mainieri said. "I remember when Les Miles brought John Chavis in to coach the defense. What a difference that has made with our football program and I'm hoping that Dunn will have the same kind of influence on the baseball program. I just don't think you can find a person in the entire country to come and coach the pitchers in college baseball that has the resume that he has."

Maineri feels Dunn is a perfect fit for LSU's hard throwing staff.

"We've got some power arms and I think they not only have a chance to do great things at LSU but beyond LSU," Mainieri said. "I couldn't imagine somebody better to put them in the hands of than Alan. I watch him work with these kids every day and it's really a sight to behold. He's firm, but he's very positive with the kids. He's obviously very knowledgeable."

Mainieri says his pitchers have responded very well to Dunn's tutelage.

"Just watching the way they react to him every day, they are like sponges, just wanting to absorb the information that he gives to them. I think they have improved already. Time will tell when we get out there in the real games."

As a freshman, McCune surprised many with a 7-3 record and a 3.31 ERA in 14 starts. The former Destrehan star was a Friday night starter much of the year for Mainieri and earned freshman All-American honors.

"I just love that kid," Mainieri said. "He's courageous, tough, a hard-nosed competitor who is very team-oriented. He's a coach's dream. He probably doesn't have the stuff that Gausman and Eades have but he's got the savvy, the moxie that others don't have."

Gausman is the high draft pick in waiting.

"Kevin is a draft-eligible sophomore who is expected to go in the middle to upper first-round of the draft this year," Mainieri said. "We will likely lose him but we are sure pleased to have him. Kevin throws 93-95 consistently and can hit even higher than that. He is a much improved pitcher now and he has a chance to be dominant."

Eades is past the major surgery of a couple of his junior year of high school. As a freshman, Eades was 4-1 with a 4.81 ERA but his innings and pitch count were monitored very closely. Mainieri says the former Northshore star is throwing free, easy, without pain and very hard.

"Ryan looks like a major league pitcher in waiting," Mainieri said. "He is at full strength. We brought him along very slowly last year. By the end of the year, we thought he was ready to be inserted into the rotation. He pitched magnificently at the end of the year and then went off to Cape Cod and was the pitcher of the year in the summer league there.

Mainieri said Eades is a consummate power pitcher now.

"He's throwing 92 to 95 mph. His breaking ball and change-up look good. He's very athletic. He's got a lot of confidence. He's on the same pitch count as Gausman and McCune now."

While the pitching is a strong point, many have questioned LSU's ability to hit this year. With bats toned down even more for 2012, expect the number of runs scored to decrease even more from a year ago when the average dropped significantly from the 2010 season.

Batting averages dropped from .305 to .282, scoring fell from 6.98 runs to 5.58 runs per game (per team), the lowest number of runs scored (national average) since 1975. The average ERA of 4.67 was the lowest since 1980. Home runs per game fell to 0.52 per game (per team), the lowest since 1975, the second year of the aluminum bat in college baseball.

The emphasis on pitching and defense has never been more prevalent.

Gone is power source Mikie Mahtook and his .383 average with a team-leading 14 home runs and 56 RBI. Long known for their long-ball prowess dating back to the "guerilla ball" era from 1996-1998 under Skip Bertman when LSU hit as many as 188 home runs in a season (1997), that production is long gone, no pun intended.

LSU hit just 34 home runs a year ago and 14 of those are gone.

"We don't have a lot of power and we don't have a lot of speed but we do have a lot of good baseball players," said Mainieri. "They play good defense. We have very versatile players who are very scrappy. They remind me a lot of the teams I coached at Notre Dame and some of the teams I played on at UNO."

LSU is counting on returning starters Raph Rhymes, JaCoby Jones, Mason Katz, Tyler Hanover and Austin Nola to provide enough pop in the lineup. All hit over .300 in 2011 with the exception of Nola, who batted. 296. Mainieri knows runs will be hard to come by.

"We will have to string a lot of singles and doubles together because they're not going to knock the fences down," Mainieri said. "Who knows anymore with these new bats and these roster limits?" The LSU coach feels that the bat restrictions have perhaps gone a bit too far from the days of the 1990's reflex bats and run scoring bonanzas.

Mainieri expects catcher Tyler Ross, now a sophomore, to be a much more productive player in 2012. Others Mainieri is excited about are junior college transfer Casey Yocom on the infield and Jackson Slaid, whom Mainieri is high on.

"I'm really excited about Jackson," Mainieri said. "Tiger fans will get used to his name. He was a freshman last year who didn't play a whole lot as a backup catcher but then he went away in the summer and had a tremendous summer. He hit .340 for Danville in the prospect league and he came back here this fall with a great deal of confidence. We have put him in left field where he has handled himself pretty well but he could be our designated hitter."

Another player that Mainieri feels will be much improved is pitcher Nick Rumbelow. "He has a chance to be our closer," Mainieri said. "He is much improved and will be a key to our success." Junior college transfer Nick Goody will be counted on out of the bullpen as well, along with former Holy Cross star Joe Broussard and former Thibodaux and Delgado pitcher Brent Bonvillain.

Mainieri expects some freshmen to step in as impact players immediately.

"Without question, the top freshman is Aaron Nola, Austin's younger brother," Mainieri said. "He played at Catholic High here in Baton Rouge and was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays lower than anyone expected because he set a high price tag for him to be bought away from LSU. Aren't we glad that he was not bought away from LSU? He's going to be a really outstanding pitcher for us."

Mainieri feels the younger Nola compares very well to a pair of former Tiger greats.

"He's cut of the same mold as a Louis Coleman, a Jared Bradford only he probably throws a little bit harder than them. He has the ability to be kind of a hybrid. We could use him to start, we could use him in middle relief, we could use him to close games for us. We will use him where we need him the most."

Mainieri feels Tyler Moore of The Dunham School in Baton Rouge is the other freshman with the best chance to contribute.

"He was an infielder and a catcher in high school," said Mainieri. "He's probably our third catcher behind Ross and Jordy Snikeris. We worked him at first base in the fall and he did a pretty good job there. He also could play third base if we needed him to. He's got a nice left-handed stroke, puts the bat on the ball, he's a tough out. His power will come in time. He's a good hitter. He's got a chance to get some significant at-bats this year for us."

Mainieri is also high on freshman pitcher Cody Glenn, a 6'4, 195" left-hander out of Houston, who was a 15th-round draft choice who decided to attend LSU. Glenn has a real shot at being LSU's mid-week starter.

Mainieri had his jersey retired at St. Thomas University at Miami Gardens, Florida on February 1. Mainieri posted a 179-121-2 record at St. Thomas and was the winningest coach in STU history at the conclusion of his tenure. He is a member of the St. Thomas Athletic Hall of Fame.

Appropriately, that jersey is No.1, the same number he boldly wears for the Tigers Where LSU baseball is concerned, that is the only number that matters, not just in the SEC but in the nation. Mainieri is patently aware of this and keenly concentrated on seeing that his Tigers return to the top of the perch.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Mainieri said. "That's why I came to LSU. We have so many great things going for us. We have a beautiful stadium, unbelievable media coverage, we've got the best fans. We have a good administration that supports our program."

In the midst of last year's disappointing season, Mainieri shouldered the blame publicly, deflecting it away from his players. He agrees with those who feel LSU should be successful on the diamond.

"Why shouldn't we win?" Mainieri stated. "There's no excuses. We play in a tough conference. The expectations have never scared us. All we can do is go out and do the very best that we can and I think we have a very good team put together."

The schedule is very difficult. LSU must travel to play three-game SEC series showdowns at Florida Easter weekend (April 5-7) and South Carolina (May 17-19) to close the season. Arkansas visits Alex Box March 30-April 1.

The Tigers open the season against another of Mainieri's former teams, Air Force, on February 17 at Alex Box Stadium. Mainieri will face yet another of his former teams in Notre Dame March 11-12 in Baton Rouge.

LSU ventures to New Orleans twice, playing at Tulane's Turchin Stadium on March 6 and taking on Southern Miss on April 11 in the Wally Pontiff, Jr. Classic at Zephyr Field. Mainieri is hoping to still be playing in June.

"Hopefully, it will be a long one all the way to Omaha," Mainieri told Daniels.

With the season set to start, hope springs eternal. Rabid LSU fans eternally expect a high level of success for the Tigers. Many have already made plans and reservations to be in Omaha June 15-26. Though there are some reservations about LSU's ability to hit this year, their arms will keep them in the SEC race, with a chance to fulfill Mainieri's hopes.