For the fourth time since the series inception in 2004 and for the third time in a row, LSU will play UL-Lafayette in the Pontiff Classic.
The game is played in memory of it’s namesake, an All-SEC third baseman who died in his sleep due to a heart condition in 2002. He was 21 years old and had not yet decided on returning to LSU for his senior season or accepting the Oakland Athletics’ contract offered he was taken in the 21st round.
As a kid growing up playing both backyard and organized baseball with a affliction for third base, there was really only two players I and every other third baseman I knew wanted to be: Chipper Jones and Wally Pontiff.