1996 LSU Tigers baseball team

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The 1996 LSU Tigers baseball team won the NCAA national championship in one of the most memorable College World Series games in history.

The Tigers, coached by Skip Bertman, had already established themselves as a premier college baseball program, having won two previous national championships in 1991 and 1993. The 1996 version built on this reputation by compiling a 52-15 record, including going 20-10 in the Southeastern Conference, winning the SEC championship as well.

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The Tigers regular season record was 43-13 with notable losses coming against conference rivals Alabama and a 3 game sweep at the hands of Florida.

LSU defeated Tennessee in the first game of the SEC tournament but then lost to Florida (their fourth loss to them in as many games) and Kentucky and were eliminated.

LSU cruised through the regional round (hosted by LSU at Alex Box Stadium) of the NCAA Tournament defeating Austin Peay 9-3, UNLV 7-6, UNO 17-4 and Georgia Tech 29-13.

The Tigers opened the College World Series by defeating Wichita State 9-8, the same team they beat in the championship games of 1991 and 1993. LSU then moved on to play conference rival Florida (who had beaten the Tigers in all four games played earlier in the season) 9-4. Florida then came back through the losers bracket to face LSU again. The Tigers won the second game 2-1 to move onto the championship game.

The championship game featured a match up of two college baseball powers in LSU and Miami (Florida). Both teams had previously won 2 national championships (Miami: 1982 & 1985) and were vying for their third. Miami featured future major leaguers Alex Cora and Pat Burrell, who helped the Hurricanes to establish a 7-3 lead in the game. However, the Tiger would fight back to tie the game. Cora then reclaimed the lead for Miami with an RBI single and the Hurricanes then led 8-7 heading into the 9th inning.

With 2 outs and a runner on third base LSU only needed a base hit or a wild pitch to tie the game. An unlikely hero emerged from the LSU dugout in Warren Morris, who had been hurt most of the year. He stepped to the plate and faced pitcher Robbie Morrison. Morris swung on Morrison's first pitch and lined the ball just barely over the right field fence for a 2 out, game winning walk off home run.

Morris' home run would later win an ESPY award for "Showstopper of the Year."[1]

The Tigers won their third national championship and would follow it up with two more in 1997 and 2000. Miami would recover and go on to win two more national championships as well in 1999 and 2001.

Date Opponent Result
Regular Season
Western Kentucky W 9-0
Western Kentucky W 18-0
Western Kentucky W 18-1
Centenary W 6-1
Winn-Dixie Showdown (New Orleans, LA)
Southern Mississippi W 7-4
Ole Miss W 9-7
Mississippi State W 8-4
Regular Season
Tulane W 10-0
Louisiana Tech W 6-1
Duquesne W 14-7
Duquesne W 9-5
Loyola-New Orleans W 22-2
@ Vanderbilt W 15-0
@ Vanderbilt L 2-3
@ Vanderbilt W 14-4
Dayton W 15-2
Dayton L 6-7
Georgia W 14-4
Georgia W 12-5
Georgia W 23-5
UNO W 16-8
Northeast Louisiana W 10-0
@ Florida L 6-7
@ Florida L 5-9
@ Florida L 1-2
Southern W 19-0
McNeese State W 16-0
Tennessee W 9-2
Tennessee W 5-3
Tennessee W 9-1
@ Tulane W 3-1
Northwestern Louisiana L 5-10
Northwestern Louisiana L 5-6
@ South Carolina W 15-2
@ South Carolina L 0-2
@ South Carolina W 4-2
@ Southeastern Louisiana W 5-2
Nicholls State W 14-0
@ Ole Miss W 6-5
@ Ole Miss W 10-1
@ Ole Miss W 9-2
Southeastern Louisiana W 7-4
Arkansas L 2-3
Arkansas W 11-4
Arkansas W 9-4
@ UNO W 8-4
Louisiana College W 20-0
Alabama W 8-6
Alabama L 4-17
Alabama L 5-12
@ Auburn W 14-2
@ Auburn W 6-0
@ Auburn L 3-7
Mississippi State W 8-7
Mississippi State W 17-9
Mississippi State L 10-11
SEC Tournament
Tennessee W 3-1
Florida L 2-6
Kentucky L 11-12
NCAA South II Regional (Baton Rouge, LA)
Austin Peay W 9-3
UNLV W 7-6
UNO W 17-4
Georgia Tech W 29-13
College World Series
Wichita State W 9-8
Florida W 9-4
Florida W 2-1
Miami (Florida) W 9-8

Name Position
Skip Bertman Head Coach
Jim Schwanke Assistant Coach
Mike Bianco Assistant Coach
Dan Canevari Administrative Assistant
Daniel Tomlin Volunteer Assistant Coach

Name Position
Jason Albritton RHP
T.J. Arnett RHP
Tom Bernhardt OF
Eric Berthelot LHP
John Blancher INF
Justin Bowles RF
Matt Colvin LHP
Patrick Coogan RHP
Chad Cooley LF
Casey Cuntz INF
Brian Daugherty RHP
Chris Demouy LHP
Nathan Dunn 3B
Jake Esteves RHP
Eddy Furniss 1B
Dan Guillory RHP
Jeff Harris RHP
James Hemphill OF
Conan Horton C
Sonny Knoll RHP
Mike Koerner CF
Tim Lanier C
Brett Laxton RHP
Antonio Leonardi-Cattolica RHP
Trey McClure INF
Jeramie Moore 1B
Warren Morris 2B
Joey Painich RHP
Keith Polozola INF
Kevin Shipp RHP
Jeremy Tyson RHP
Kevin Ward C
Jason Williams SS
Brad Wilson DH
Jeremy Witten OF
Eddie Yarnall LHP

  1. ^ ESPY Past Winners
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