BATON ROUGE, La. — The LSU baseball program received substantial recognition in Baseball America?s “Best of the Decade” feature as part of the magazine?s year-end issue.
LSU, which claimed NCAA championships in 1991, 1993, 1996 and 1997, was named the No. 1 college baseball program of the decade, followed by Miami (Fla.) and Cal State-Fullerton. The Tigers were the only team to win more than one College World Series title in the ?90s.
LSU head coach Skip Bertman, who directed the Tigers to a 503-179-2 (.737) mark in the ?90s, was voted the best college coach of the decade, followed by Jim Morris of Miami (Fla.) and Gene Stephenson of Wichita State. Bertman is one of just two coaches in NCAA history to win four baseball national championships.
Baseball America selected LSU second baseman Warren Morris? game-winning homer versus Miami (Fla.) in the 1996 national championship game as the decade?s most significant college baseball moment. The magazine?s editors write, “Morris? two-out, ninth-inning blast gave LSU another NCAA title, but even more, it gave college baseball a highlight forever.”
Another LSU second baseman, three-time all-American Todd Walker (1992-94), was selected as the second-best college player of the decade, trailing only outfielder Mark Kotsay of Cal State-Fullerton. Walker, the 1993 College World Series Most Outstanding Player, finished in the survey ahead of third baseman Pat Burrell of Miami (Fla.), catcher Jason Varitek of Georgia Tech and outfielder J.D. Drew of Florida State.
Walker, who hit .400 in his first season (1992) at LSU, was voted the second-best freshman of the decade behind Burrell, who led Miami to the 1996 national runners-up finish. The third-best freshman of the decade was LSU right-hander Brett Laxton, who in 1993 set a College World Series championship game record with 16 strikeouts in a three-hit shutout of Wichita State.
Bertman, entering his 17th season at the LSU helm, and the Tigers begin the 2000 campaign February 12 versus Virginia in Alex Box Stadium.