The NCAA News - News and Features

May 19, 1997

Division I

Dramatics aside, LSU would like to repeat finish of last year's title game

Event: 1997 Division I Baseball Championship.

Overview: Defending champion LSU (45-11) will be hard pressed to duplicate Warren Morris' ninth-inning heroics of last year, when the second baseman blasted an unforgettable two-out, two-run home run that gave the Tigers their third title in the past six years. The common thread from last year's championship game to this year is the long ball -- LSU has hit a school- and conference-record 149 home runs. Amazingly, the Tigers, who replaced six starting position players and a designated hitter, need only 13 more home runs to become the NCAA's most prolific home-run hitting team in history. Leading the way is shortstop Brandon Larson, who is hitting .389 with 30 home runs and 94 runs batted in. Larson set the single-season conference mark for home runs (eclipsing Rafael Palmeiro's record) and is not far from establishing a new high for RBIs .... 1996 runner-up Miami (Florida) (41-15) would like nothing more than to get another crack at LSU to erase last year's bitter memory. But 21 games into the season, the Hurricanes stood 11-10 and were thinking about anything but Omaha's Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium. Since then, Miami has gone 30-5. All-American sophomore third baseman Pat Burrell (.439, 18 HRs, 64 RBIs) leads the team in eight offensive categories and, with a hot streak down the stretch, might contend for his second straight batting title. On the mound, the No. 1 starter is senior lefthander J. D. Arteaga, who is 9-3 with a 3.11 earned-run average .... UCLA (40-17-1) is finally healthy and peaking at the right time. The Bruins also have hit home runs at a record pace (123, a new team single-season high) and have three players with 20 or more on the season. Junior shortstop Troy Glaus (.410, 30, 80), one of the top players in the country, has a shot at winning the Pacific-10 Conference triple crown. UCLA might have one of the best pitching staffs in its history. Sophomore lefthander Tom Jacquez is 9-3 with a 2.94 ERA and 92 strikeouts, while junior lefthander Jim Parque is 12-2 with a 3.20 ERA and 100 strikeouts. Jake Meyer has been strong in the closer's role .... Other teams that will challenge for the title include Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Stanford.

Field: Forty-eight teams. Nineteen conference champions qualify automatically and five others will qualify via play-in competitions. The remaining 24 teams will be selected at large. Eight regional champions will advance to the College World Series.

Dates and sites: Regional competition will be conducted May 22-25 at on-campus sites. For the 48th consecutive year, the College World Series will be at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium, Omaha, Nebraska, with Creighton serving as host. The CWS is set for May 30 through June 7.

Television coverage: CBS-TV will provide live coverage of a preliminary College World Series game June 1 and of the championship game June 7. ESPN and ESPN2 will provide live coverage of all other College World Series games.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3066 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 1214 for bracket/schedule and 5003 for results. Scores and pairings from regional competition will appear in the June 2 issue of The NCAA News, and championship results will be published June 16.