Louisiana State
Team Capsule
Posted: Thursday May 28, 1998 06:29 PM
Coach: Skip Bertman (15th year)
Nickname: Tigers
Record and conference finish: 46-17, SEC East -- 2nd
NCAA Tournament Region and Seed: South II, 1st
Total NCAA appearances: 14 (10th consecutive)
NCAA Tournament Record: 70-23
College World Series Appearances: 10th
CWS Record: 23-11
Last CWS Appearance: 1997, beat Rice, 5-4; beat Stanford, 10-5;
beat Stanford, 13-9; beat Alabama, 13-6, for championship
Top Finish: 1st (1991, 1993, 1996, 1997)
Probable Starting Lineup
------------------------
C -- Brad Cresse (.329, 26 HR, 84 RBI)
1B -- Eddy Furniss (.413, 27, 75)
2B -- Trey McClure (.327, 26, 81)
3B -- Blair Barbier (.251, 8, 40)
SS -- Josh Dalton (.302, 2, 42)
LF -- Danny Higgins (.306, 13, 34)
CF -- Cedrick Harris (.294, 7, 32)
RF -- Wes Davis (.230, 8, 25)
DH -- Clint Earnhart (.280, 10, 45)
SP -- Doug Thompson (11-4, 4.14 ERA)
SP -- Jake Esteves (9-2, 5.01)
SP -- Randy Keisler (8-5, 4.31)
RP -- Chris Demouy (3 saves, 3.79)
Outlook: LSU comes to Omaha looking to become only the second
team in history to capture three straight national titles. The
only team to accomplish the feat was USC, which won five straight
from 1970 through '74. The Tigers will play the Trojans in both
team's first game on Saturday. Senior 1B Eddie Furniss is the
offensive star and an All-American. He leads the Tigers with a
.412 batting average and hit an SEC-high 27 homers while driving
in 75 runs. Furniss is the SEC's career leader in four categories:
home runs (79), RBIs (299), doubles (81) and total bases (661).
Furniss is supported by C Brad Cresse, who hit two homers in the
South II regional final victory over Cal State Fullerton. Cresse
batted .329 with 26 homers and 84 RBI. Backup C/INF Trey McClure
also hit 26 homers. LSU became the first team in history with
three players hitting over 25 homers. Although the offense
dominates for the Tigers, the pitching staff can hold its own.
The leader is RH Doug Thompson, who racked up 108 2/3 innings.
He was 11-4 with a 4.14 ERA, striking out 114 and walking 41.
RH Jake Esteves (9-2, 5.01) and LH Randy Keisler (8-5, 4.31) were
the other key starters with Bertman going with a bullpen by
committee approach. The Tigers have won their last eight games
in Omaha, sweeping through to the national title in both 1996
and 1997. Their winning percentage (23-11, .676) is the second
highest in World Series history, trailing only USC's .761
(67-21). LSU comes into the CWS with a 46-17 record, the fewest
wins they have had when making the trip to Omaha. The Tigers
have played 997 games in school history and will reach the
1,000 figure as long as they win one game.
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