U.Va.‘s O’Connor, LSU’s Manieri to renew acquaintances

CHARLOTTESVILLE For the Virginia baseball team, the road to the College World Series title goes through Louisiana State University. U.Va. coach Brian O'Connor wishes that wasn't the case, and not because he fears the mighty Tigers.

LSU coach Paul Mainieri, you see, is O'Connor's mentor and best friend in the coaching profession.

"We've talked about it plenty of times before," O'Connor said yesterday, "that we would never play each other until the NCAA said that we need to play each other.

"And now it's happening, and it just so happens to be in Omaha."

That Nebraska city is home to the College World Series, at which the NCAA crowns its baseball champion each year. If Virginia and LSU have to meet, Mainieri told reporters in Louisiana, Omaha is "the best place for it to happen. It means we've both had great years."

Virginia (48-13-1) will face LSU (51-16) at storied Rosenblatt Stadium in the CWS opener for both teams, probably Saturday. This is O'Connor's sixth season at U.Va. and Mainieri's third at LSU. If their clubs look similar, there's a reason.

"What I learned as a coach, I have learned from Paul Mainieri, and I think he's the best in the business," O'Connor said. "That's the professional side of it. The personal side of it is, he's one of my best friends. . . . Paul and I talk three, four times a week during the season and a couple times a week in the offseason."

O'Connor was 23 years old, barely out of Creighton University and with only one season of coaching experience, when Mainieri, then the head man at Notre Dame, interviewed him for a position on the Fighting Irish staff.

"I knew shortly after my time meeting with him that I wouldn't want to work for anybody else," O'Connor said. "That's why I stayed at Notre Dame for nine years, just because I enjoyed my relationship with Paul and working with him every day. . . . The way that I think as a coach and the way that I treat the players and the way that we develop players and what we do here at Virginia is what I learned from Paul Mainieri."

O'Connor might not have been looking to leave Notre Dame, but his interest was piqued when Dennis Womack retired as U.Va.'s coach after the 2003 season. O'Connor's boss called the athletic director at Virginia and didn't mince words in his sales pitch.

"I told Craig Littlepage he could search the world and never find a better young coach than Brian," Mainieri told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in 2007, "and I think he's proven I was correct."

As Mainieri's top assistant, O'Connor helped the Irish reach the College World Series in 2002. In all, Notre Dame advanced to the NCAA tournament six times in O'Connor's nine seasons in South Bend.

"When he left," Mainieri told The Times-Dispatch, "it was like I lost my right arm."

Their reunion this weekend in Omaha -- O'Connor's birthplace -- figures to be bittersweet for both. It won't, however, damage their relationship.

"We'll be friends up to the game, through the game and after the game," O'Connor said. "The players will decide the game on the field."

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NOTE: Fans are invited to attend the Cavaliers' practice today from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Davenport Field. The team leaves for Omaha tomorrow.

Free parking will be available in the University Hall and John Paul Jones Arena lots after 5 p.m. Fans should enter the stadium via the Klockner/Davenport entrance on Copeley Road. Concessions and U.Va. merchandise will be sold at the stadium.