BATON ROUGE — The LSU baseball program earned its second consecutive final Top 10 ranking, as the Tigers finished No. 7 in the Baseball America poll and No. 8 in the Collegiate Baseball poll released Wednesday.
The 2004 polls mark the 14th time in 19 seasons LSU has finished in the Top 10.
The final rankings culminate a magnificent 2004 season that also featured record-breaking marks for academic achievements and attendance figures.
The 2004 Tigers advanced to the College World Series for the second straight season, recording a 46-19 overall record, LSU’s best mark since the 2000 club finished 52-17.
LSU played host to an NCAA Regional for the 15th straight season, winning the tournament with consecutive victories over Army, Southern Mississippi and College of Charleston. The Tigers then played host to an NCAA Super Regional for the third time in five years, defeating Texas A&M in a best two-of-three series to earn a berth in the CWS.
LSU coach Smoke Laval, the 2003 SEC Coach of the Year, was named in 2004 the Louisiana Sportswriters Association Coach of the Year for the third straight season.
During his three-year tenure, Laval has guided LSU to two College World Series berths, two NCAA Super Regional titles, three NCAA Regional championships, one SEC title and Top 10 finishes in each of the last two seasons.
The Tigers have the best SEC regular-season record in the past three seasons, posting a 57-31-1 (.646) mark. South Carolina has the second-best SEC record (57-32, .640), and Florida is third (50-39-1, .561).
The 2004 Tigers had the best offensive club in the SEC, completing the year with a .333 team batting average, the second-highest in school history.
LSU was led by two first-team all-SEC players – right fielder Jon Zeringue, the 2004 SEC Co-Player of the Year and a first-team all-America selection, and center fielder J.C. Holt, a third-team all-America choice.
Zeringue was selected in the second round of the 2004 draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Holt was the third-round pick of the Atlanta Braves.
LSU placed 11 players on the 2004 SEC Academic Honor Roll, the highest total in the program’s history. Players named to the honor roll included: Jason Determann, LHP; Bobby DiLiberto, INF; Jordan Faircloth, RHP; Bryan Harris, INF; J.C. Holt, OF; Matt Horwath, INF; Chris McDougall, LHP; Lane Mestepey, LHP; Brandon Nall, RHP; Bruce Sprowl, OF; Nick Stavinoha, DH.
LSU’s 2004 total home attendance with 36 playing dates was 284,328, the third-largest figure in LSU history. The average paid attendance in 2004 was 7,898, which is the highest average in LSU annals.