Skip Bertman, the LSU baseball coach who led the Tigers to five College World Series titles before becoming the school’s athletic director, died at the age of 88, the university announced Friday morning.
Bertman was hired at LSU in 1982 and transformed the Tigers into the preeminent baseball program in the nation. He went 870-330-3 in 18 seasons and won national titles in 1991, 1993, 1996, 1999 and 2000.
As an AD, he presided over two BCS National Championship football titles, first in 2003, led by coach Nick Saban, and then in 2007, coached by Les Miles, whom Bertman hired.
His record in SEC games was 328-159-2, and he had only one season without a winning league mark — his first, when he went 12-12. Before his arrival, LSU had a winning SEC record only once in its previous eight baseball seasons.
Bertman played collegiately at Miami and later served as an assistant coach at his alma mater for eight seasons before taking over at LSU.
