June 17, 2000
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By MARK LONG
AP Sports Writer
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Even Jeremy Witten's trip to the 1996 College WorldSeries can't compare.
Witten, a fifth-year senior, swore he would never be able to top the emotionhe felt when Louisiana State beat Miami for the 1996 title on Warren Morris'two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth.
He's had a change of heart.
"I don't know if I'll ever be able to match this," Witten said.
Brad Cresse singled off Justin Wayne in the bottom of the ninth, scoringRyan Theriot from second as the Tigers beat Stanford 6-5 Saturday for theirfifth CWS championship since 1991.
Theriot slid across home plate, jumped up and tossed his batting helmet intothe air. His teammates surrounded him, then seconds later, they all made abeeline for Cresse, who was standing alone between first and second.
The celebration continued as family, friends and fans poured onto theRosenblatt Stadium field. The players donned championship T-shirts, hats and -in typical LSU style - Mardi Gras beads.
"We always knew this was a national championship team and we weren't goingto let it work out any other way," Ray Wright said.
Blair Barbier wouldn't let them.
Barbier, the team captain, huddled the players together in the dugout beforethe eighth inning. He had two questions for them: "Can you believe? Do youbelieve?"
His teammates answered him with three runs in the eighth and the game-winnerin the ninth, improving to 5-0 in championship games.
Theriot started the ninth-inning rally with a single to left, and MikeFontenot followed with a walk, setting up Cresse's heroics.
Cresse, LSU's leading hitter this season, stepped to the plate having gone1-for-12 in the series with eight strikeouts.
He lined Wayne's 0-1 pitch over the infield, and Theriot easily beat leftfielder Andy Topham's throw home.
"You always want to go out winning the national championship, and it cametrue," Cresse said. "Last night, I dreamt about being up at the plate withwinning run on base. I dreamt of a home run, but I'll take a single."
Trey Hodges (5-2) pitched four scoreless innings for his second win of thetournament. He also picked up a save and was selected the CWS' most outstandingplayer.
Hodges retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced.
"I could really care less who got the win or the MVP as long as we got thering," Hodges said.
Wayne (15-4) gave up four hits and four runs in relief of starter JasonYoung, Stanford's ace.
Coach Mark Marquess pulled Young after giving up four hits and two runs infour innings.
The move backfired - eventually.
Wayne started the fifth inning and seven of his first nine outs werestrikeouts, four of them looking.
But LSU (52-17) tied it at 5 in the eighth inning with two home runs.
"We figured we would have to use both of them," Marquess said. "I thoughtJason was getting a little tired after two times through the lineup.
"At this stage, I don't worry about the pitcher of record. I felt Justin'sslider was a good match for them. And it was. They didn't get a hit until theeighth. But it was a tough decision."
Barbier, after fouling off three pitches to stay alive, reached out andslapped Wayne's 2-2 changeup over the left-field fence to make it 5-3. It wasBarbier's ninth homer of season and third of the CWS.
Wayne walked Wally Pontiff, and with one out, Witten lined a two-run homerinto left.
"This team has a lot of guts," said Witten, the only current LSU player towin three championships. "We score with two out and we never give up. There'sa lot of fight in this team. That's why we love this team."
Stanford (50-16) had been undefeated in CWS championship games. The Cardinallooked to make it 3-0 in title games and claim their first championship since1988 with an early lead.
Chris O'Riordan and Topham hit back-to-back singles to start the fourth.With one out, LSU starter Brian Tallet hit Damien Alvarado to load the bases,setting up Craig Thompson's grand slam.
Thompson ripped Tallet's 2-1 pitch on a line over the left-field fence forhis 12 homer of the season. His second career grand slam gave Stanford a 4-2lead.
Tallet allowed 11 hits and five runs in five-plus innings.
"He battled them and left runners on base all day," LSU coach Skip Bertmansaid. "He gave us a chance to stay in the ballgame."
Especially since the Tigers had little going offensively.
LSU scored two runs off Young in the second, but didn't get another hituntil Barbier's homer in the eighth.
In the second, Pontiff doubled to lead off the inning and Cedrick Harrisfollowed with an RBI single. Harris scored three batters later on Theriot'sground ball to second base.
The Cardinal took a 5-2 lead in the sixth on John Gall's two-out single,scoring Alvarado. They left the bases loaded, though, when Barbier made adiving stab on O'Riordan's ground ball down the third-base line and threw himout at first.
An even bigger defensive play came in the third when Wright reached over theright-field fence and pulled back what would have been a two-run homer of thebat of Edmund Muth.
"The whole game was up and down but we just kept pecking away," Harrissaid. "They had a lot of momentum, but fortunately it swung back to us. Andbecause of that, we're national champions."