BATON ROUGE — United States Olympic gold medalists Kurt Ainsworth and Ben Sheets will be featured at LSU Baseball Fun-tastic Night V on Wednesday, Nov. 8, in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The banquet, which will honor LSU’s 2000 national champions, begins at 6 p.m. with a social hour, followed by dinner at 7 p.m.
Ainsworth and Sheets each delivered dominated pitching performances to lead the U.S. Olympic team to the gold medal in Sydney, Australia. Ainsworth, a Baton Rouge native who played at LSU, posted a 2-0 mark and a 1.54 ERA, allowing just two earned runs in 11.2 innings with six strikeouts and two walks. Sheets, a St. Amant native who played at UL-Monroe, was 1-0 with a 0.41 ERA, allowing one earned run in 22 innings with 11 strikeouts and one walk. Sheets pitched a masterful three-hit shutout against Cuba in the gold medal game.
LSU Baseball Fun-tastic Night also features head coach Skip Bertman, the six-time National Coach of the Year who directed the Tigers last June to their fifth College World Series title in 10 seasons. Bertman, who is entering his 18th and final season at LSU, will make special presentations to the members of the national championship squad. Other attractions include the debut of LSU’s 2000 highlight video and appearances by former Tigers now playing in the major leagues.
The event also includes a live auction for LSU and major league memorabilia, and a silent auction for several unique baseball items autographed by some of the game’s greatest players.
Special raffles will be also be conducted for a variety of prizes, including restaurant gift certificates and electronic merchandise.
Tickets for LSU Baseball Fun-tastic Night V are $50 per person, and they are on sale in the LSU baseball office. Checks may be made payable to Tiger Athletic Foundation/Baseball. To order tickets, call Virginia Robertson in the LSU baseball office at (225) 388-4148.