on june 4, 2006, bertman' successor as lsu's baseball coach, raymond "smoke" laval resigned after the tigers went 35–24 overall and 13–17 in the sec, failing to reach the ncaa tournament for the first time since 1988. laval led the tigers to the college world series in 2003 and 2004, but tailed off in his final two seasons, losing the 2005 regional championship game at home to rice.