1996 LSU Tigers baseball team

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

1996 LSU Tigers baseball
National Champions SEC Champions
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Western Division
Record	52-15 (20-10 SEC)
Head coach	Skip Bertman
Home stadium	Alex Box Stadium

1996 Southeastern Conference baseball standings

	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Eastern Division
No. 3 Florida  x‍†‍‍	20	–	10		.667			50	–	18		.735
No. 12 Tennessee  ‍‍‍	18	–	12		.600			43	–	20		.683
Kentucky  ‍‍‍	15	–	14		.517			35	–	24		.593
Vanderbilt  ‍‍‍	14	–	16		.467			29	–	25		.537
South Carolina  ‍‍‍	13	–	17		.433			25	–	28		.472
Georgia  ‍‍‍	8	–	21		.276			24	–	30		.444
Western Division
No. 5 Alabama  x‍†‍‡‍	20	–	10		.667			50	–	19		.725
No. 1 LSU  x‍†‍‍	20	–	10		.667			52	–	15		.776
No. 27 Mississippi State  ‍‍‍	17	–	13		.567			38	–	24		.613
Arkansas  ‍‍‍	15	–	15		.500			39	–	20		.661
Auburn  ‍‍‍	12	–	18		.400			32	–	24		.571
Ole Miss  ‍‍‍	7	–	23		.233			24	–	30		.444
x – Division champion † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1996 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

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.

Regular season

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.

SEC tournament

LSU defeated Tennessee in the first game of the 1996 SEC baseball tournament but then lost to Florida (their fourth loss to them in as many games) and Kentucky and were eliminated.

NCAA Tournament Regional

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.

College World Series

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). LSU won 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 Tigers 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 inches over the right field fence for a 2 out, game winning walk off home run. This was his first home run of the season.

Aftermath

Morris' home run would later win the 1997 Showstopper of the Year ESPY Award.

The Tigers won their third national championship and would follow it up with five more in 1997, 2000, 2009, 2023, and 2025. Miami would recover go on to win two more national championships as well in 1999 and 2001.

Schedule/Results

1996 LSU Tigers baseball game log
Regular Season # Date Opponent Site/stadium Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall record SEC record 1 - Western Kentucky Alex Box Stadium 9–0 - - - - 1–0 - 2 - Western Kentucky Alex Box Stadium 18–0 - - - - 2–0 - 3 - Western Kentucky Alex Box Stadium 18–1 - - - - 3–0 - 4 - Centenary Alex Box Stadium 6–1 - - - - 4–0 - 5 - Southern Mississippi Winn-Dixie Showdown (New Orleans, LA) 7–4 - - - - 5–0 - 6 - Ole Miss Winn-Dixie Showdown (New Orleans, LA) 9–7 - - - - 6–0 - 7 - Mississippi State Winn-Dixie Showdown (New Orleans, LA) 8–4 - - - - 7–0 - 8 - Tulane Alex Box Stadium 10–0 - - - - 8–0 - 9 - Louisiana Tech Alex Box Stadium 6–1 - - - - 9–0 - 10 - Duquesne Alex Box Stadium 14–7 - - - - 10–0 - 11 - Duquesne Alex Box Stadium 9–5 - - - - 11–0 - 12 - Loyola-New Orleans Alex Box Stadium 22–2 - - - - 12–0 - 13 - Vanderbilt Hawkins Field 15–0 - - - - 13–0 1–0 14 - Vanderbilt Hawkins Field 2–3 - - - - 13–1 1–1 15 - Vanderbilt Hawkins Field 14–4 - - - - 14–1 2–1 16 - Dayton Alex Box Stadium 15–2 - - - - 15–1 - 17 - Dayton Alex Box Stadium 6–7 - - - - 15–2 - 18 - Georgia Alex Box Stadium 14–4 - - - - 16–2 3–1 19 - Georgia Alex Box Stadium 12–5 - - - - 17–2 4–1 20 - Georgia Alex Box Stadium 23–5 - - - - 18–2 5–1 21 - UNO Alex Box Stadium 16–8 - - - - 19–2 - 22 - Northeast Louisiana Alex Box Stadium 10–0 - - - - 20–2 - 23 - Florida McKethan Stadium 6–7 - - - - 20–3 5–2 24 - Florida McKethan Stadium 5–9 - - - - 20–4 5–3 25 - Florida McKethan Stadium 1–2 - - - - 20–5 5–4 26 - Southern Alex Box Stadium 19–0 - - - - 21–5 - 27 - McNeese State Alex Box Stadium 16–0 - - - - 22–5 - 28 - Tennessee Alex Box Stadium 9–2 - - - - 23–5 6–4 29 - Tennessee Alex Box Stadium 5–3 - - - - 24–5 7–4 30 - Tennessee Alex Box Stadium 9–1 - - - - 25–5 8–4 31 - Tulane Greer Field at Turchin Stadium 3–1 - - - - 26–5 - 32 - Northwestern Louisiana Alex Box Stadium 5–10 - - - - 26–6 - 33 - Northwestern Louisiana Alex Box Stadium 5–6 - - - - 26–7 - 34 - South Carolina Carolina Stadium 15–2 - - - - 27–7 9–4 35 - South Carolina Carolina Stadium 0–2 - - - - 27–8 9–5 36 - South Carolina Carolina Stadium 4–2 - - - - 28–8 10–5 37 - Southeastern Louisiana Alumni Field 5–2 - - - - 29–8 - 38 - Nicholls State Alex Box Stadium 14–0 - - - - 30–8 - 39 - Ole Miss Oxford-University Stadium at Swayze Field 6–5 - - - - 31–8 11–5 40 - Ole Miss Oxford-University Stadium at Swayze Field 10–1 - - - - 32–8 12–5 41 - Ole Miss Oxford-University Stadium at Swayze Field 9–2 - - - - 33–8 13–5 42 - Southeastern Louisiana Alex Box Stadium 7–4 - - - - 34–8 - 43 - Arkansas Alex Box Stadium 2–3 - - - - 34–9 13–6 44 - Arkansas Alex Box Stadium 11–4 - - - - 35–9 14–6 45 - Arkansas Alex Box Stadium 9–4 - - - - 36–9 15–6 46 - University of New Orleans Maestri Field 8–4 - - - - 37–9 - 47 - Louisiana College Alex Box Stadium 20–0 - - - - 38–9 - 48 - Alabama Alex Box Stadium 8–6 - - - - 39–9 16–6 49 - Alabama Alex Box Stadium 4–17 - - - - 39–10 16–7 50 - Alabama Alex Box Stadium 5–12 - - - - 39–11 16–8 51 - Auburn Samford Stadium – Hitchcock Field at Plainsman Park 14–2 - - - - 40–11 17–8 52 - Auburn Samford Stadium – Hitchcock Field at Plainsman Park 6–0 - - - - 41–11 18–8 53 - Auburn Samford Stadium – Hitchcock Field at Plainsman Park 3–7 - - - - 41–12 18–9 54 - Mississippi State Alex Box Stadium 8–7 - - - - 42–12 19–9 55 - Mississippi State Alex Box Stadium 17–9 - - - - 43–12 20–9 56 - Mississippi State Alex Box Stadium 10–11 - - - - 43–13 20–10
Post-Season SEC Tournament # Date Opponent Site/stadium Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall record SECT Record 57 - Tennessee Regions Park 3–1 - - - - 44–13 1-0 58 - Florida Regions Park 2–6 - - - - 44–14 1-1 59 - Kentucky Regions Park 11–12 - - - - 44–15 1-2 NCAA South II Regional (Baton Rouge, LA) # Date Opponent Site/stadium Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall record NCAAT Record 60 May 23 Austin Peay Alex Box Stadium 9–3 - - - - 45–15 1-0 61 May 24 UNLV Alex Box Stadium 7–6 - - - - 46–15 2-0 62 May 25 University of New Orleans Alex Box Stadium 17–4 - - - - 47–15 3-0 63 May 26 Georgia Tech Alex Box Stadium 29–13 - - - - 48–15 4-0 College World Series # Date Opponent Site/stadium Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall record NCAAT Record 64 June 1 Wichita State Rosenblatt Stadium 9–8 - - - - 49–15 1-0 65 June 3 Florida Rosenblatt Stadium 9–4 - - - - 50–15 2-0 66 June 6 Florida Rosenblatt Stadium 2–1 - - - - 51–15 3-0 67 June 8 Miami (Florida) Rosenblatt Stadium 9–8 - - - - 52–15 4-0

Roster

Coaches

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

Players

Name	Position
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
Bill Bridges	RHP
Kevin Ward	C
Jason Williams	SS
Brad Wilson	DH
Jeremy Witten	OF
Eddie Yarnall	LHP

External links

• USAToday.com: LSU dramatics trigger memory