59-0: Is LSU Shreveport’s Perfect Season the GOAT of College Baseball?

There's an old saying about the game of baseball - 'baseball is a game of failure'. The greatest players in the game have a success rate around 30%. The best defensive teams commit errors. Elite pitchers are considered elite if they give up 3 runs or less a start. The greatest teams in the history of the game have a winning percentage of about 75%. Perfection is virtually impossible - whether you're talking about the majors, college, or little league.

Which is what makes LSU-Shreveport's perfect season of 59-0 so impressive. In a game based in imperfection and failure, the Pilots managed to stay perfect.

Diving into LSUS' Perfect, Championship Winning Season

In a game of failure, the LSUS Pilots were a perfect 59-0 on their way to the school's first NAIA World Series title. Beyond the record setting win streak and being the first undefeated team in the history of college baseball, this was just a darn good ball club.

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In writing about the Pilots previously, I said this is one of the best teams I've ever seen for one specific reason - they could win any kind of ball game. They could slug, pitch, play small ball, play defense...it's the first team I can remember that could do it all and always find a way to win.

Even in the championship game, with all the pressure in the world on their shoulders and falling behind 4-0 early, they played their game - hit the ball well, mashed homeruns, stole bases, made pitches when they needed to. Ultimately, they took Southeastern's best shot, multiple times, and still won 13-7. It was one of the most impressive victories I've seen.

The Numbers Don't Lie - The Keys to LSUS' Success

As mentioned above, the Pilots could do it all. And all season long, they did. Here's just some of the statistical highlights they managed this season:

• .361 team batting average
• Josh Gibson hit a team leading .436 and was one of 3 players hitting over .400
• 666 runs score for the season
• 76 home runs
• .493 team on base per percentage
• 2.38 team ERA
• Isaac Rohde lead the NAIA with 146 strikeouts with 2.09 ERA
• .192 opponent batting average
• 14 shutouts on the season
• 8 wins of 15+ runs

And that's just a small smattering of the eye popping stats this team posted this season. When your TEAM is posting Ted Williams & Roger Clemens like numbers, you know you're doing something right.

READ MORE: Pilot Pride Takes Over Downtown Shreveport: Join the Celebration!

Are the LSUS Pilots the Greatest College Baseball Team of All-Time?

What they accomplished is nothing short of incredible. People throw around the phrase, "Doing the Impossible" a lot. But in this case, LSUS truly did do the impossible.

When I went to LSUS and covered the team for the Almagest, I was in awe of Andrew Brouillette. He is the greatest singular player I've ever seen dawn a Pilots uniform and was the first person inducted into the Pilots Hall of Fame. His best year was 2009 when he hit .455 with 21 home runs and 100 RBIs. I remember thinking back then, "I'll NEVER see anything like this ever again". Turns out I was wrong. Because this championship run was beyond impressive - it was impossible.

This is the greatest college baseball team I've ever seen. I said at the top and I'll say it again, baseball is the game of failure. And it's probably the one sport where it's impossible to stay perfect. Pitcher doesn't have his stuff, hitter goes into a slump, defensive makes a key error, the wear and tear of a long season causes you to blow a lead...there are thousands of factors that can cause a team to give it up.

This team didn't. And even when they were behind and it looked like they were on the ropes, they found a way to overcome and win. And through it all, they became the first undefeated team in College Baseball history. Which, to me, means they're the greatest. Because what they did shouldn't have been possible, but they did it anyway.