BATON ROUGE — LSU’s 1975 SEC baseball champions, the first team to represent the university in an NCAA Regional, will hold its 30-year reunion this weekend in conjunction with the Tigers’ series versus Ole Miss in Alex Box Stadium.
Members of the ’75 squad, which posted a 40-16 mark and established 37 team and individual school records, will be introduced prior to Saturday’s 2 p.m. game between the Tigers and the Rebels. The ’75 team also set SEC marks for most overall victories (40) and most conference wins (19).
“We feel like our team kicked off the modern era of LSU baseball,” said Wally McMakin, an all-SEC third baseman on the ’75 squad. “We broke virtually every record that had been set in the first 82 seasons of the program. We had a great team, and we’re very proud of what we accomplished.”
The ’75 team was directed by head coach Jim Smith and assistant coach Ernie Hill, both of whom are now deceased. Jim Smith’s grandson, William Smith, will throw out Saturday’s ceremonial first pitch.
The 1975 Tigers swept two games from Georgia in the SEC championship playoff to claim the conference title, LSU’s first since 1961.
LSU then played in the NCAA South Regional in Starkville, Miss., posting a 1-2 mark as the Tigers made their first NCAA Tournament appearance. LSU defeated Murray State, 7-2, in its opening regional contest before losing consecutive games to Florida State (2-4) and Miami, Fla. (1-8).
The ’75 Tigers featured several all-SEC players, including McMakin, first baseman Steve Frank, pitcher Pat Moock, outfielder Vaughn Meiners, catcher Tommy Saizan, pitcher Paul Stefan, shortstop Tony Toups, pitcher Tom Charpentier and outfielder Randall Aldridge, LSU’s team captain.
Frank, McMakin and Moock were also voted to the 1975 ABCA All-South Region team, and McMakin, Aldridge and pitcher Guy Hollingsworth were named to the 1975 SEC Academic Honor Roll.
Other former LSU greats scheduled to take part in the weekend festivities include all-SEC players Gerald Keigley (1973), Mike Sonderegger (1973), Lou Farmer (1971) and Randy Wiles (1972). Wiles, a 1973 fifth-round draft choice of the St. Louis Cardinals, pitched for the Chicago White Sox in 1977.