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The shot heard 'round the World Series

LSU's two-out home run in the bottom of the ninth gives College World Series its most spectacular finish in 50 years

In the most dramatic finish in 50 years of College World Series history, LSU second baseman Warren Morris hit a two-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Tigers a 9-8 victory over Miami (Florida) June 8 at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska.

It was the first home run of the year for Morris, who played in only 28 games because he suffered a broken right wrist midway through the season.

A left-handed hitter, Morris pulled Hurricane relief pitcher Robbie Morrison's first pitch and just cleared the fence with a low line drive near the right-field foul pole.

"I wasn't trying to hit it out," said Morris, whose presence in the Tigers starting lineup this season resulted in 22 wins without a loss. "I hit it on the good part of the bat, and it took everybody on the team blowing to get it over the wall."

The title was LSU's third, all in the past six years. The Tigers defeated Wichita State in 1991 and 1993.

"We were very fortunate to pull this game out," LSU head coach Skip Bertman said. "This is the greatest team I've ever been associated with. I had some doubts about our chances here (at the College World Series) because of our recent play, including the SEC tournament. The seniors really took over a leadership role, and I thought we had some players that weren't hitting coming into this game (that) hit well today."

As it did during the entire series, Miami took an early lead in the final. Michael DeCelle singled home two runs in the top of the first inning to give the Hurricanes a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third, RBI singles by Mike Koerner and Eddy Furniss and a sacrifice fly by Nathan Dunn gave LSU a 3-2 lead. It marked the first time in the College World Series that Miami had trailed.

In the fifth inning, after a sacrifice fly by DeCelle tied the score 3-3, shortstop Alex Cora hit a two-run triple to left field.

The Hurricanes followed in the sixth with sacrifice flies by Pat Burrell and Eddie Rivero to increase their lead to 7-3.

But LSU staged another comeback in the seventh. Morris doubled to right-center field off Miami starter J. D. Arteaga, and then scored on a throwing error by Burrell. Eddy Furniss' single down the right-field line scored Dunn, who had reached safely on the error.

In LSU's half of the eighth, Justin Bowles led off with a single to left-center field. Tim Lanier followed with a walk, and Morris reached safely on a fielder's choice following a sacrifice bunt. Bowles then was thrown out at the plate after Jason Williams reached safely on a fielder's choice. Koerner hit a sacrifice fly to left that scored Lanier, and Dunn tied the game with a single that scored Morris.

With two outs in its half of the ninth, Miami's T. R. Marcinczyk laced the first pitch for a double down the right-field line. Then, with an 0-1 count, Cora hit a sharp single to left that scored Marcinczyk for the go-ahead run.

Designated hitter Brad Wilson kept LSU's hopes alive with a double down the left-field line to start the ninth. After Bowles grounded out to first and Lanier struck out, Morris capped the Tigers' improbable comeback with the storybook homer.

Burrell, the Miami freshman third baseman who led the nation in hitting, was named the tournament's most outstanding player. He hit .500 (seven for 14) with two home runs and eight runs batted in.

LSU was represented on the all-tournament team by Lanier, Bowles and starting pitcher Eddie Yarnall.

Joining Burrell on the all-tournament team from Miami were Cora, DeCelle, Arteaga and second baseman Rudy Gomez. Other members of the team included Florida outfielder Brad Wilkerson and designated hitter Chuck Hazzard, and Alabama first baseman Chris Moller.

A championship-game crowd of 23,905 set the all-time College World Series single-session record. Overall, the College World Series set a record for average attendance per session at 20,270.

Game 1

Oklahoma St. 011 001 200 -- 5 12 1

Alabama 110 001 004 -- 7 12 0

Jon Adkins, Heath Askew (9) and Josh Holliday; Andy Bernard, Tim Young (7) and Dax Norris. W -- Young. L -- Askew. HR -- Rusty McNamara (Oklahoma St.) 2, Brian Aylor (Oklahoma St.), David Tidwell (Alabama), Chris Moller (Alabama) 2.

Game 2

Miami (Fla.) 310 000 012 -- 7 10 1

Clemson 201 000 000 -- 3 9 3

Clint Weibl, Robbie Morrison (7) and Jim Gargiulo; Kris Benson, Ken Vining (8), David Shepard (9) and Matthew LeCroy. W -- Weibl. L -- Benson. S -- Morrison.

Game 3

Florida St. 020 000 000 -- 2 5 0

Florida 000 001 40x -- 5 6 0

Randy Choate, Chuck Howell (7), Zach Diaz (7), Chris Chavez (8) and Jeremy Salazar, Jeremiah Klosterman; John Kaufman, Brad Wilkerson (8) and Eric Castaldo. W -- Kaufman. L -- Choate. S -- Wilkerson. HR -- Wilkerson (Florida).

Game 4

LSU 115 020 000 -- 9 11 4

Wichita St. 001 021 121 -- 8 12 1

Eddie Yarnall, Jake Esteves (6), Chris Demouy (7), Patrick Coogan (8), Kevin Shipp (9) and Tim Lanier; Brandon Baird, Chris Bauer (3), Travis Wyckoff (6), Braden Looper (9) and Nathan Reese. W -- Yarnall. L -- Baird. S -- Shipp. HR -- Jason Williams (LSU), Lanier (LSU), Casey Blake (Wichita St.), Zach Sorensen (Wichita St.).

Game 5

Alabama 001 000 000 -- 1 5 1

Miami (Fla.) 03(10) 010 01x -- 15 16 0

Joel Colgrove, John Collins (3), Manny Torres (3), Buster Duman (8) and Dax Norris, Rusty Loflin; J. D. Arteaga, Allan Westfall (8), Lazaro Gutierrez (9) and Jim Gargiulo, Kevin Nykoluk. W -- Arteaga. L -- Colgrove. HR -- Pat Burrell [Miami (Fla.)], T. R. Marcinczyk [Miami (Fla.)], Rick Saggese [Miami (Fla.)].

Game 6

Clemson 120 110 000 3 -- 8 11 2

Oklahoma St. 021 000 020 0 -- 5 9 1

Billy Koch, Brian Matz (7), David Shepard (8) and Will Duffie; Sean McClellan, Dave Maurer (5), Brian Thomas (10), Ryan Graves (10) and Josh Holliday, Ryan Folmar. W -- Shepard. L -- Maurer. HR -- Kurt Bultmann (Clemson), Paul Galloway (Clemson).

Game 7

Florida 120 000 010 -- 4 9 1

LSU 020 200 32x -- 9 11 5

Sergio Rodriguez, Brad Wilkerson (4), Paul Rigdon (7), Jacob Roll (8) and Eric Castaldo; Brett Laxton, Kevin Shipp (6) and Tim Lanier. W -- Laxton. L -- Rodriguez. S -- Shipp. HR -- David Eckstein (Florida), Mike Koerner (LSU), Chad Cooley (LSU), Justin Bowles (LSU).

Game 8

Wichita St. 000 102 001 -- 4 7 3

Florida St. 100 000 25x -- 8 14 3

Steve Foral, Braden Looper (6), Travis Wyckoff (8), Marc Bluma (8) and Nathan Reese, Brian Preston; Scooby Morgan, Chris Chavez (6), Randy Niles (8), Stephen Neill (9), Mike Davis (9), Randy Choate (9) and Jeremy Salazar. W -- Niles. L -- Looper. S -- Choate.

Game 9

Clemson 140 300 204 -- 14 17 1

Alabama 003 002 521 -- 13 15 1

Ken Vining, Scott Hauser (7), David Shepard (7), Brian Matz (8), Billy Koch (9) and Matthew LeCroy; Tim Young, Skip Ames (5) and Dax Norris. W -- Matz. L -- Ames. S -- Koch. HR -- Jason Embler (Clemson), Gary Burnham (Clemson), David Tidwell (Alabama), Dustan Mohr (Alabama), Brett Taft (Alabama) 2.

Game 10

Florida St. 000 100 020 -- 3 5 3

Florida 202 010 01x -- 6 11 0

Chuck Howell, Chris Chavez (3) and Jeremy Salazar; Tommy Bond, Paul Rigdon (8) and Eric Castaldo. W -- Bond. L -- Howell. S -- Rigdon. HR -- J. D. Drew (Florida St.), Chuck Hazzard (Florida) 2.

Game 11

Miami (Fla.) 310 103 042 -- 14 17 2

Clemson 200 300 000 -- 5 10 4

Denis Pujals, Lazaro Gutierrez (5), Allan Westfall (5), Robbie Morrison (8) and Jim Gargiulo; Kris Benson, Scott Hauser (8), Rodney Williams (9), Brian Werner (9) and Matthew LeCroy. W -- Westfall. L -- Benson. HR -- Pat Burrell [Miami (Fla.)], T. R. Marcinczyk [Miami (Fla.)], Rick Saggese [Miami (Fla.)], LeCroy (Clemson), Jason Embler (Clemson).

Game 12

Florida 000 010 000 -- 1 7 3

LSU 010 001 00x -- 2 5 1

John Kaufman, Paul Rigdon (6) and Eric Castaldo; Eddie Yarnall, Patrick Coogan (8), Chris Demouy (9), Jake Esteves (9) and Tim Lanier. W -- Yarnall. L -- Kaufman. S--Esteves.

Championship game

Miami (Fla.) AB R H RBI

Ryan Grimmett, cf 3 2 0 0

Rudy Gomez, 2b 5 1 3 0

Pat Burrell, 3b 4 1 1 1

Eddie Rivero, rf-lf 3 1 1 1

Michael DeCelle, lf 4 0 2 3

Tris Moore, rf 0 0 0 0

T. R. Marcinczyk, 1b 5 2 2 0

Alex Cora, ss 5 0 3 3

Rick Saggese, dh 5 0 2 0

Jim Gargiulo, c 3 1 0 0

J. D. Arteaga, p 0 0 0 0

Robbie Morrison, p 0 0 0 0

Totals 37 8 14 8

LSU AB R H RBI

Jason Williams, ss 4 0 1 0

Mike Koerner, cf 4 1 2 2

Nathan Dunn, 3b 4 1 2 2

Eddy Furniss, 1b 4 0 2 1

Chad Cooley, lf 5 0 1 0

Brad Wilson, dh 5 1 1 0

Justin Bowles, rf 5 0 2 0

Tim Lanier, c 3 2 1 0

Warren Morris, 2b 4 4 3 2

Kevin Shipp, p 0 0 0 0

Patrick Coogan, p 0 0 0 0

Totals 38 9 15 7

Miami (Fla.) 200 032 001 -- 8 14 2

LSU 003 000 222 -- 9 15 2

E -- Burrell, Rivero, Dunn, Furniss. LOB -- Miami (Fla.) 9, LSU 10. 2B -- Marcinczyk, Cora, Saggese, Wilson, Bowles, Morris. 3B -- Cora. HR -- Morris. SB -- Gomez, Koerner, Lanier. CS -- Koerner. SH -- Grimmett, Morris. SF -- Burrell, Rivero, DeCelle, Koerner, Dunn.

IP H R ER BB SO

Arteaga 6.2 10 5 3 2 7

Morrison (Loser) 2.0 5 4 4 2 2

Shipp 5.2 11 7 5 3 3

Coogan (Winner) 3.1 3 1 1 0 1

WP -- Morrison. Umpires -- Scott Graham, Randy Cristal, Tom McKinney, Tony Thompson, Kevin Gilmore, Bob Jones. T -- 3:19. A -- 23,905.