Tulane University
LSU (NCAA Regional)
Baseball Falls To LSU At NCAA Regional
Jun 1, 2002 | Baseball
June 1, 2002
BATON ROUGE, La. - Designated hitter Michael Aubrey and second baseman Turner Brumby each went 2-for-4, and reliever Joey Charron fanned seven in 6.0 solid innings of work, but it was not enough as the Tulane University baseball team dropped a tough 4-2 decision to top-seeded LSU in an elimination game of the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional Saturday evening at Alex Box Stadium.
With the loss, Tulane finishes the 2002 season 36-27. Along the way, senior infielder James Jurries became the first Green Wave player to hit .400 since 1985 (Dan Wagner), finishing out the year at .400 exactly. LSU, meanwhile, improves to 42-20 overall and advances to the Regional Championship game where the Tigers will take on Louisiana-Lafayette on Sunday at 1 p.m.
"I don't know if I've been any prouder of a club because of the way we battled through adversity this year," head coach Rick Jones said. "I'm proud of the way our club battled back."
Trailing 4-1 after four innings, Tulane cut the lead to two on a solo home run by freshman shortstop Tommy Manzella, but could get no closer as LSU hurler Bo Petit went the distance to clinch the Tigers' berth in the championship game. Petit struck out 11 while allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks.
Tulane had the tying runs in scoring position in the ninth inning as Aubrey doubled, rightfielder Gerald Clark walked before being replaced by pinch-runner Roydell Williams, and the pair advanced a base on a groundout to third for the second out of the frame. But that was as close as the Green Wave would get as Petit settled down to strike out pinch-hitter Bryan Stelmack to seal the victory for the Tigers.
"I thought it was a great college ballgame," Jones said. "There were line drives hit right at people by both teams. There were good defensive plays and there was great pitching."
Charron had a solid performance of his own, giving up just one run on four hits after coming on in relief of starter Kris Kline (4-5) in the fourth. After giving up a single, a double and a homer in the fourth, Charron settled down to retire the next 12 Tigers in order and faced just one more than the minimum the rest of the way.
LSU opened the scoring in the second when centerfielder David Raymer and catcher Chris Phillips hit back-to-back doubles to put the Tigers ahead 1-0. Tulane answered in the bottom of the inning on a Brumby RBI-single to score sophomore third baseman Anthony Giarratano from second.
The tie would not last long, however, as rightfielder Sean Barker doubled to leadoff the third before first baseman Rocky Scelfo brought him home with an RBI single. One frame later, the Tigers scored what proved to be the winning runs on solo home runs by Raymer and shortstop Aaron Hill.
Tulane sliced into the lead on Manzella's third homer of the year in the fifth, but Petit kept the Green Wave at bay for the remainder of the contest.
