BATON ROUGE - Baseball returned to the city Friday evening as LSU opened the baseball season at home in a match up with Cincinnati.

Join @WBRZ at The Box tonight -- baseball weather is looking great all weekend. pic.twitter.com/KblJEIgikN

— Patrick Shingleton (@Pat_Shingleton) February 19, 2016

LSU is ranked 5th and met Cincinnati in game 1 of a three-game series at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. Game 2 will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday; Game 3 begins at 12 p.m. Sunday.

On LSUSports.net, Coach Paul Mainieri discussed having to replace eight of nine starters from last year's batting order.

"Everybody has this assumption that we are going to be so freshman-oriented, and that's really not going to be the case. I think on opening day we'll probably have two freshmen in our lineup. But the rest of the lineup is going to be filled with one junior college transfer, and then six returning players," Mainieri said.

Life at home

In an interview that aired on WBRZ's 6 pm telecast of Friday at the Box, Mainieri told WBRZ anchor Michael Shingleton he is entering his tenth season at LSU like it was his first-ever baseball game.

"[There is some] excitement, anticipation, anxiety," he said.

"I'm a worry wart. I'm a college baseball coach that wants to win at the highest level," he said.

Mainieri's family helps him stay calm.

"The only place he's not the boss is at home," Karen Mainieri, his wife, laughed in an interview with WBRZ anchor Sylvia Weatherspoon last year. Weatherspoon and Karen Mainieri met to discuss the opening of the 2015 baseball season.

The Mainieris have been married since 1979. Their kids are grown and now there are grandchildren in the mix.

"I remember being a young wife and mom thinking 'oh my goodness here's this Easter Sunday and we're on the road,' or we're out at the ballpark," she said. More recently, she's back at the ballpark with young kids.

"I am officially taking care of my grandson a lot while my daughter finishes her Master's at LSU."

"I tell people that if I never coach another game, I've had a career that I can be proud of," Paul Mainieri said to Michael Shingleton.

Click HERE to watch Sylvia's interview with Karen Mainieri, including to hear about Karen's favorite recipe: her meatballs. 

Karen's famous meatballs

1lb. of ground chuck
1lb. of ground sweet Italian sausage
1 lb. of ground veal
2 eggs
3 cups Italian bread crumbs
2 cups fresh grated Parmesan or locatelli pecorino Romano or combination of both
3 t. Oregano or Marjoram
3 t. Basil
3 t. Garlic powder
3 t. Dried parsley
3 t. Salt
2-3 t. Red pepper flakes
1 t. Black pepper
Splash of milk

Friday at the Box

WBRZ's 6pm newscast originates from LSU's baseball stadium when there is a home baseball game on Friday evenings.  Watch the broadcast live on WBRZ News 2 at 6:00 or on the WBRZ.com live-stream HERE.

SkyEye2 flew above the game Friday.