Tulane University
LSU (NCAA Regional)
Tulane Falls To LSU 13-5 In NCAA Regional Play
May 31, 2003 | Baseball
May 31, 2003
BATON ROUGE, La. - LSU's Clay Harris and Blake Gill hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning to break open a one-run ballgame as the Tulane University baseball team dropped a 13-5 decision to the host Tigers in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional Saturday afternoon at Alex Box Stadium.
The loss drops Tulane into the loser's bracket where they will play UNC-Wilmington later tonight with first pitch slated for 7:36 p.m. The winner of the Green Wave/Seahawk contest will advance to play LSU in the Regional championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Tulane had three home runs on the day - solo shots by sophomore designated hitter Wes Swackhamer, senior centerfielder Jonny Kaplan and freshman left fielder Nathan Southard - but it was LSU that launched bombs with runners on base, and that proved to be the difference in the ballgame.
With the score at 3-2 in favor of LSU in the bottom of the sixth, Tulane had the go ahead run in scoring position as junior shortstop Tony Giarratano hit a leadoff single and junior first baseman Michael Aubrey followed with a double down the right field line. Tiger starter Nate Bumstead battled back to get Swackhamer to hit into a fielder's choice which erased Giarratano at the plate, struck out freshman right fielder Brian Bogusevic and got sophomore second baseman Tommy Manzella to fly out to right to get out of the inning unscathed.
From there, the wheels fell off as the Tigers' Ryan Patterson singled to leadoff the frame before Harris and Gill provided the fireworks to stake LSU to a 6-2 lead. Things got worse for Tulane as an error, a double and a two-run single helped LSU push the lead to six at 8-2.
The Green Wave mounted a rally in the home half of the frame as Southard hit a leadoff homer, Kaplan scorched a two-out triple off the wall in centerfield, and Giarratano followed with a base hit up the middle to cut the lead to four. Aubrey was hit by a pitch in the next at-bat, and Swackhamer gave the ball a ride to deep left, but LSU leftfielder Bruce Sprowl gloved the ball at the wall to end the threat.
Following a scoreless eighth, LSU put the game away in the final frame courtesy of a three-run homer by third baseman Ivan Naccarata and RBI singles by Patterson and shortstop Aaron Hill. Tulane got a run back in the bottom of the frame courtesy of an RBI-groundout by Aubrey, but the game had long since been decided.
LSU got on the board first with a pair of runs in the second courtesy of a Tulane error and an RBI-fielder's choice off the bat of Sprowl to plate Naccarata and J.C. Holt, respectively. Tulane answered in the bottom of the inning with a solo home run to right by Swackhamer, but the Tigers roared right back with a two-out rally in the third when Naccarata singled and Holt followed with a triple to make it 3-1.
Kaplan's leadoff homer in the third cut the lead to one, and the score remained the same until the seventh when LSU took over the contest.
