1996 College World Series

College World Series
<< 1995	1996	1997 >>

The 1996 College World Series was played at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, NE from May 31 to June 8. The participating schools qualified by winning one of eight 6-team regional tournaments. The fiftieth tournament's champion was Louisiana State University coached by Skip Bertman. The Most Outstanding Player was Pat Burrell of the University of Miami.

The Series featured one of the most memorable homers in college baseball history. With LSU down by a run with two outs and one on in the bottom of the 9th of the finale, Warren Morris hit a sayonara home run off Miami closer Robbie Morrison to end the Series.

Participating Teams

Seeding	School		Conference	Record (Conference)	Head Coach	CWS Appearances	CWS Best Finish	CWS W-L Record
1		University of Alabama	Southeastern Conference	49 - 17 (20 - 10, 0 GB)	Jim Wells	2 (last: 1983)	2nd (1983)	4 - 4
2		University of Florida	Southeastern Conference	48 - 16 (20 - 10, 0 GB)	Andy Lopez	2 (last: 1991)	3rd (1991)	3 - 4
3		Wichita State University	Missouri Valley Conference	54 - 9 (24 - 4, 0 GB)	Gene Stephenson	6 (last: 1993)	1st (1989)	16 - 9
4		Clemson University	Atlantic Coast Conference	49 - 15 (17 - 7, 2 GB)	Jack Leggett	7 (last: 1995)	5th (1958, 1959, 1976)	4 - 14
5		University of Miami	Division-I Independent	47 - 13 (n/a)	Jim Morris	14 (last: 1995)	1st (1982, 1984)	29 - 25
6		Louisiana State University	Southeastern Conference	48 - 15 (20 - 10, 0 GB)	Skip Bertman	7 (last: 1994)	1st (1991, 1993)	15 - 11
7		Florida State University	Atlantic Coast Conference	51 - 15 (19 - 5, 0 GB)	Mike Martin	14 (last: 1995)	2nd (1970, 1986)	18 - 28
8		Oklahoma State University	Big Eight Conference	45 - 19 (17 - 9, 2 GB)	Gary Ward	17 (last: 1993)	1st (1959)	38 - 32

Results

Bracket

	First round					Second round					Semifinals						Finals
	1	Alabama	7
	8	Oklahoma State	5
						1	Alabama	1
						5	Miami	15
	5	Miami	7
	4	Clemson	3
											5	Miami	14	x
										4	Clemson	5	x
	8	Oklahoma State	5
	4	Clemson	8
						1	Alabama	3
						4	Clemson	14
																5	Miami	8	x	x
																6	Louisiana State	9	x	x
	2	Florida	5
	7	Florida State	2
						2	Florida	4
						6	Louisiana State	9
	6	Louisiana State	9
	3	Wichita State	8
											6	Louisiana State	2	x
										2	Florida	1	x
	7	Florida State	8
	3	Wichita State	4
						2	Florida	6
						7	Florida State	3

Game Results

Date	Game	Winner	Score	Loser	Notes
May 31	Game 1	Alabama	7 - 5	Oklahoma State
	Game 2	Miami	7 - 3	Clemson
June 1	Game 3	Florida	5 - 2	Florida State
	Game 4	Louisiana State	9 - 8	Wichita State
June 2	Game 5	Miami	15 - 1	Alabama
	Game 6	Clemson	8 - 5 (10 innings)	Oklahoma State	Oklahoma State eliminated
June 3	Game 7	Louisiana State	9 - 4	Florida
	Game 8	Florida State	8 - 4	Wichita State	Wichita State eliminated
June 4	Game 9	Clemson	14 - 3	Alabama	Alabama eliminated
	Game 10	Florida	6 - 3	Florida State	Florida State eliminated
June 5	Game 11	Miami	14 - 5	Clemson	Clemson eliminated
June 6	Game 12	Louisiana State	2 - 1	Florida	Florida eliminated
June 8	Final	Louisiana State	9 - 8	Miami	Louisiana State wins CWS

All-Tournament Team

The following players were members of the All-Tournament Team.

Position	Player	Class	School
Pitcher	J.D. Arteaga	Junior	Miami
	Ed Yarnall	Junior	Louisiana State
Catcher	Tim Lanier	Senior	Louisiana State
First baseman	Chris Moller	Senior	Alabama
Second baseman	Rudy Gomez	Junior	Miami
Third baseman	Pat Burrell	Freshman	Miami
Shortstop	Alex Cora	Junior	Miami
Outfielder	Justin Bowles	Senior	Louisiana State
	Michael DeCelle	Junior	Miami
	Brad Wilkerson	Freshman	Florida
Designated hitter	Chuck Hazzard	Sophomore	Florida

Notable Players

• University of Alabama: Dustan Mohr, Tim Young
• Clemson University: Kris Benson, Billy Koch, Matt LeCroy, Ken Vining
• University of Florida: David Eckstein, Mark Ellis, Josh Fogg, Paul Rigdon, Brad Wilkerson
• Florida State University: Randy Choate, J.D. Drew
• Louisiana State University: Brett Laxton, Warren Morris, Ed Yarnall
• University of Miami: Pat Burrell, Alex Cora
• Oklahoma State University: Ryan Folmar, Dave Maurer
• Wichita State University: Casey Blake, Braden Looper