A Winning Legacy: LSU-Marucci Homegrown Partnership Helps Power Tigers’ Baseball Success
June 13, 2025
As the LSU Baseball team makes its 20th appearance in the College World Series, the Tigers will be geared up by Marucci, a Baton Rouge homegrown equipment company founded by LSU alumni.
Kurt Ainsworth
“Having the baseball team use our products has been something really spectacular. To see them win a national title a couple of years ago was so special—and to be there in person, at the university I played for, watching them use our products and win a national title—is something you can’t put a value on,” said Kurt Ainsworth, co-founder of Marucci, LSU graduate, and former LSU baseball player.
The company was born and raised in Baton Rouge in 2004, when Ainsworth, then a member of Major League Baseball’s Baltimore Orioles, was injured and asked the team if he could do his rehab at LSU.
— Video by Callie Boyd
“I cold-called Jack Marucci, who was the athletic trainer for LSU’s football team, and asked if he would handle my rehab and send reports to the Orioles. He said, of course, he would, and that’s really where it all started—in the training room of LSU Football,” Ainsworth said.
With Marucci on board, a new company began to take shape.
“Joe Lawrence, another former Major League player who was playing football at the time, blew out his knee and was rehabbing here. I was rehabbing a shoulder. Jack was our trainer. Fast forward several months into our rehab, and we decided to give it a shot and start a bat company here in Baton Rouge,” Ainsworth said.
Brett Laxton
Today, Marucci is the number one bat used and the Official Bat of Major League Baseball. Their products are also widely used by Division I college baseball and softball teams, as well as youth sports programs across the country.
“We always thought we would build something really special with bats,” Ainsworth said. “We never could have expected it to grow into something this big and this special.”
Ainsworth is joined by many other LSU alumni, some of whom were part of the company from the beginning, or were former members on the LSU Baseball team.
Brett Laxton, Marucci’s master craftsman, has been with the company for almost 20 years. “Back in 2006, we made about 1,300 bats—pretty much just me and one other guy putting all the stickers on,” he said.
Michael Uffman
Today, Marucci is producing over 1,000 bats per day, and that number and their product line continue to grow and include gloves, bags, protective gear, and even footwear.
One product, the torpedo bat, which shifts the mass from the end of the bat down toward the barrel to the sweet spot, has taken the baseball world by storm and has had professional baseball players requesting to test the model.
"I’ve been here about 10 years, and I think we’ve acquired four companies. We’ve sold twice. We’ve probably done six capital raises. I give credit to LSU and their finance program," said Michael Uffman, chief financial officer.
Micah Gibbs
The company has also expanded into player assessment and analysis. LSU graduate Micah Gibbs was in high school in Texas when he was recruited by then-head coach Paul Mainieri.
“Growing up, I always loved watching LSU baseball on TV. I’d keep score of all their games when they made it to Omaha. I still have a scorebook at home with all the games in it,” Gibbs said.
Gibbs played baseball at LSU from 2008 to 2010, then continued his professional career with the Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, and Los Angeles Dodgers minor league organizations. He later returned to LSU—first as a volunteer and hitting coach, then as director of player development—and earned his LSU degree in 2015. Marucci eventually asked Gibbs to launch their Baseball Performance Lab.
MC Huntsberry
“It’s basically taking all the information we know about each athlete and the bat, and combining it to help them get the best fit possible,” Gibbs explained.
Senior marketing manager MC Huntsberry also returned to Baton Rouge after earning her LSU degree in 2013 and working for a marketing agency in Atlanta and the footwear company ASICS in Boston.
“When it came time to consider what my next move might be, there was an opening here at Marucci—and it was a no-brainer. I got to move back to Louisiana and work with Marucci,” Huntsberry said.
She credits LSU with leading her into sports marketing.
“I did the LSU in Ireland summer study abroad program and had three wonderful professors on that trip. That summer, before the 2012 Olympic Games in London, there was a ton of advertising and marketing in both Ireland and the UK. I decided—that’s what I want to do. I came home, changed my major to mass communication, and graduated in 2013. I think the rest is history,” she said.
Kyle Achord
The company’s connection to LSU and Baton Rouge remains as strong as ever.
“LSU is what Baton Rouge is about. Everybody eats, breathes, and sleeps the Tigers, as well as the university itself. So, the more successful the university is, the more successful Baton Rouge is,” said Kyle Achord, vice president of team sales.
Ainsworth says that even as the business grows, Marucci will always be rooted in Baton Rouge.
“We’re going to be recruiting more and more talent out of that university, and hopefully we can play a big part in bringing great students here and keeping them in Baton Rouge, instead of letting them leave our state and go elsewhere.”
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