It was the nation's birthday, and Paul Mainieri knew he couldn't lose on the nation's birthday. Not while wearing a red, white and blue Team USA jersey.
The LSU baseball coach was leading the USA Collegiate National Team, and it entered a July 4 game against Japan the day after losing to them 1-0. This whole summer was an emotional experience for the always patriotic Mainieri, but this day seemed bigger to him. He stressed the importance to his team before the game.
The contest went scoreless into the ninth inning. Nearly the whole five-game series with Japan was comprised of back-and-forth pitchers' duels.