BATON ROUGE — Former LSU baseball head coach Jim Smith, who coached the Tigers from 1966 through 1978, died Wednesday in Baton Rouge after a long illness.
Smith, 69, led LSU to its first NCAA postseason appearance in 1975 after winning the Southeastern Conference title.
Visitation is today from 5 to 9 p.m. at Rabenhorst Funeral Home East at 11000 Florida Blvd. Religious services will be at St. Thomas More Catholic Church at 1 p.m. Friday, conducted by the Rev. Randy Cuevas.
In 1975, Smith’s Tigers set the school record with 40 wins, beating the previous mark by 19 when Smith’s 1972 team won 21.
LSU won the SEC title with a 19-3 record, breaking the record for league wins by three, and defeated Georgia, 6-5 at home and 8-3 in Athens, in a best-of-three playoff to reach the NCAA playoffs for the first time in school history.
Smith, a native of Lake City, Ark., is survived by his wife Julia Cruse Smith, sons Jerry and Joey and two grandchildren.