Skip Bertman, 5-time national champion at LSU, dies at 88

Legendary LSU baseball coach Skip Bertman, who guided the Tigers to five national championships before serving as the school's athletic director, died Friday at 88.

Bertman compiled an 870-330-3 record with seven Southeastern Conference titles and 11 trips to the Men's College World Series from 1984-2001, winning championships in 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 2000.

"Few people have had a greater impact on LSU than Skip Bertman," LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry said in a statement. "As the greatest college baseball coach of all-time, and later as our Athletics Director, Skip developed a championship standard and culture that still guide us today. Personally, he was a dear friend, mentor and advisor, and I'm forever grateful for the trust and faith he placed in me to serve this institution. I will continue to honor Skip by leaning into the lessons he taught me every day. Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones at this time."

Bertman was the AD at LSU from 2001-08.

The seven-time national coach of the Year was a member of the inaugural College Baseball Hall of Fame class in 2006.

Forty-one of Bertman's former LSU players reached the major leagues, including outfielder Albert Belle, infielder Todd Walker and pitchers Ben McDonald, Paul Byrd, Mark Guthrie and Russ Springer.

"My heart is broken this morning....we have lost Coach Bertman," McDonald posted Friday on X. "The best to ever fill out a lineup card....the man who changed college baseball forever and the man who built the best baseball program in the country.

"As great a coach he was, even a better man that touched countless lives! So thankful I got to see him last night and tell him how much I loved him 1 more time!"

Making an international impact as well, Bertman was an assistant on the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team in 1988 in Seoul, and was head coach of the squad that won bronze in Atlanta in 1996.

--Field Level Media