July 16, 2015 by Olivia Kiespert, Conference USA Director of Communications

In the third installment of our five-part "Celebrating C-USA" series, we want to reflect on the strength and success of our rich baseball history. With more than 300 Division I baseball teams sponsored across 31 conferences, Conference USA teams are consistently represented in the national polls, and we rank among the top baseball conferences on a yearly basis.

Rice baseball has been a perennial national power for decades thanks to the work of skipper Wayne Graham. A former professional player, Graham took over a struggling Rice program in 1992. Prior to his arrival, the Owls had never won a conference championship or advanced to NCAA tournament play. Fast forward to 2015 when Rice pushed its streak of league titles (regular-season and/or tournament) to 20 consecutive seasons after winning the 2015 C-USA regular-season crown.

"I think what Rice has done under Wayne Graham is absolutely amazing in this day and age," said Russell Anderson, Conference USA Assistant Commissioner for Football and Baseball Operations. "To have that kind of sustained success for 20 consecutive years – winning your conference when you've been a member of three different conferences during that span – only furthers Coach Graham's status as a baseball legend."

It took Graham just four seasons (1995) to reach the NCAAs and five seasons (1996) to win the old Southwest Conference against the likes of Texas, Texas A&M and Baylor. In 1997, Rice made its first of seven College World Series appearances under Graham, led by the duo of Matt Anderson and Lance Berkman. The Owls won the 2003 NCAA Baseball National Championship with a stacked pitching staff that included Josh Baker, Philip Humber, Jeff Niemann and Wade Townsend, with Humber, Niemann and Townsend being selected third, fourth and eighth overall in the 2004 MLB Draft.

In 2010, Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon, now of the Washington Nationals, claimed the second of our two Dick Howser Trophy National Player of the Year honors. Houston pitcher Brad Lincoln also earned the distinction as the top player in collegiate baseball in 2006.

Tulane gave us our first taste of the College World Series in 2001. The Green Wave won the C-USA regular-season and championship titles, with a 21-6 league mark and a 56-13 overall record. The squad played both its Regional and Super Regional at Zephyr Field in nearby Metairie, Louisiana, making quick work of the regional with a win over Southern and two victories over Oklahoma State. Tulane matched up with archrival LSU in the Super Regional, dropping the first game in 13 innings before rallying to win the final two to earn a CWS berth. The series-clinching game against the Tigers, a 7-1 victory in front of nearly 12,000 fans, was the last game of legendary LSU coach Skip Bertman's career.

Southern Miss made an amazing run to take us back to the College World Series in 2009. Longtime head coach Corky Palmer announced his retirement on April 30 after 33 years of coaching, including 12 seasons at USM. At that time, the Golden Eagles were 27-17 and 10-8 in conference play. Determined to let Palmer go out on top, Southern Miss and 2015 MLB All-Star infielder Brian Dozier found its stride with a magical postseason run. The Golden Eagles won the Atlanta Regional with a win over No. 22 Elon and a pair of victories against No. 13 Georgia Tech, before taking the Gainesville Super Regional with a sweep of No. 8 Florida. Southern Miss lost to Texas and North Carolina in the College World Series, but Palmer led the Golden Eagles to their first College World Series appearance. He finished his career with 958 total wins, 458 of which came at USM where he averaged just over 38 wins per season.

Aside from postseason triumphs, C-USA teams have also recorded several wins over top-ranked teams through the years. Just this past season, Old Dominion twice downed eventual national champion Virginia; once when the Cavaliers were No. 1 on March 1 and then again on April 28 when UVA was ranked 23rd in the nation. Through our history, four different league members have defeated the country's top team in non-conference action, while 11 different teams have knocked off top-10 opponents during the course of C-USA's 20 years.

"We've beaten the number one team in the country a number of times," said Anderson. "The fact that we've had multiple teams accomplish this feat in baseball alone really speaks to the ability of our teams and the strength of our league. We play good opponents and we've been able to beat them, earning a great deal of respect on the national level for our conference."

The depth of our league also comes through in our C-USA Championship as lower seeds, down to the No. 6, 7 and 8 spots, have won our postseason tournament. This past year, No. 8 FIU, the last seed in the tournament, went 4-0 to win it all.

Our players and teams wouldn't have the success they've enjoyed without some of the game's best coaches sitting in C-USA dugouts. The Conference USA Coach of the Year award is named after former East Carolina coach Keith LeClair, who only coached one season in Conference USA. A few months prior to East Carolina joining the league, LeClair was diagnosed with ALS and was unable to coach his squad for most of the 2002 season. The Pirates hosted the 2002 Conference USA Championship in nearby Kinston, North Carolina, and LeClair went out to each game, sitting down the line in a specially-designed van equipped with a ventilator.

ECU entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed, but the team rallied behind its coach to top TCU and twice defeat USF to advance to the championship game. The Pirates squared off against top-seeded Houston, the No. 10-ranked team in the country at the time. Behind pitchers Davey Penny and Neal Sears, and the bat of Ryan Jones, who knocked in three runs, including a two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth inning, East Carolina claimed its first C-USA Championship with a 4-0 victory.

The team ran out to LeClair's van following each game of the tournament so the coach could take in the win with his players. When the Pirates won the C-USA Championship, they again ran out to LeClair and doused his van with a bucket of Gatorade so their coach could join in the celebration.

"I think for anyone who was at the 2002 Conference USA Championship, this was really an amazing and moving story," said Anderson. "This a moment that really stands out for me and is one of the more emotional moments that's happened during this league's history."

LeClair officially resigned from his coaching duties on June 19, 2002. In his five seasons in Greenville, LeClair amassed a 212-96-1 record, good for the second-most wins in school history, and led the team to four NCAA Regional appearances. On June 26, we announced that the league's baseball coaches voted to rename the Conference USA Coach of the Year award in Coach LeClair's honor. LeClair passed away from ALS on July 17, 2006, at the age of 40.

LeClair's legacy inspires the success of our coaches and programs still today. As C-USA baseball moves into its third decade, we look to continue building on the rich history and tradition of our first 20 years.

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