His last team finished 38-25, won four of its last five SEC series to position itself for an NCAA tournament at-large bid and then staved off elimination four times in regionals to knock out Oregon on its home field.
“A lot of people didn’t expect us to get here,” Mainieri said.
Asked what was going through his mind in the last inning, Mainieri said he was thinking about his father.
A 6-year-old Paul was in the dugout when Miami Dade won the 1964 national title, and the Mainieris were the first father and son to be inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Thomas, six at Air Force, 12 at Notre Dame and 15 at LSU.
Mainieri said he and his wife plan to remain in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for the rest of their lives.