Olsen No Stranger to Louisiana, LSU

Cal State Fullerton senior first baseman D.C. Olsen is no stranger to Louisiana, Louisiana State and the Tigers’ Alex Box baseball stadium.

Olsen lived in nearby Mandeville, La., for three years before his family moved to Fullerton after his freshman year in high school.

LSU, in fact, tried to recruit him for football.

“I think they must have known about me from my high school coaches in Louisiana since I started on the varsity there as a freshman,” Olsen recalled Thursday. Olsen was an all-county linebacker at Fullerton High.

“I made a recruiting trip to LSU, as well as to BYU,” Olsen said. “But my father and I talked about it and we made the decision that I would concentrate on baseball. We both thought I had a better future in baseball, rather than in Division I football, because of my size.”

The next time he ended up at LSU was in 1992 and he was wearing a Titan baseball uniform in the NCAA regional hosted by LSU.

Olsen entered the tournament as Jim Betzsold’s backup at first base as a freshman. When Betzsold was injured in a collision at home plate, Olsen took over at first base and started the final two games of the tournament and later played in the College World Series.

He started in 49 of 51 games as a sophomore, and 31 of 52 last year. This season he has become one of the Titans’ top offensive players with a .306 batting average and 50 runs batted in. Olsen is second on the team in homers with 13, trailing only Mark Kotsay’s 18.

Coach Augie Garrido praises Olsen as much for his leadership as his performance.

“That’s one of the most important things he brings to the table,” Garrido said. “He has the support from others on the team and he’s accepted by them as a leader. He’s one of the guys we go to to get something straightened out, on or off the field. . . . He deserves a lot of credit for helping this team move forward this season.”

Olsen hasn’t forgotten LSU’s frenzied fans from the last time he was here. LSU ranks as one of the national leaders in attendance each year and this season averaged 3,966 for 32 home playing dates.

“I remember in our game against LSU their first batter up hit the wall, and the crowd was so loud I jumped,” Olsen said. “But I think that got us fired up too. We came back that much more determined and won the game.”