BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Alabama capitalized on three LSU errors in the second inning to grab an early lead it never relinquished, as the Crimson Tide successfully defended its Southeastern Conference tournament championship with a 10-3 title game victory on Sunday night at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
Alabama (37-22) won its sixth tournament championship in its nine seasons under coach Jim Wells, a former assistant at LSU under Skip Bertman from 1987 through 1989. The Crimson Tide is now 3-0 in championship games vs. LSU, defeating the Tigers in 1995 and 1997.
LSU (40-19-1) was named as a regional host on Sunday prior to the game, and the Tigers will return to Alex Box Stadium on Friday at 2 p.m. to open play in the Baton Rouge regional. The entire 64-team field for the NCAA tournament will be announced live at 11:30 a.m. Monday on ESPN2.
LSU starting pitcher Justin Meier retired the first two batters of the second, but a walk to Allen Rice opened the floodgates for the Tide, as the inning stayed alive when Tiger third baseman Ivan Naccarata made an errant throw on Evan Bush’s ground ball.
More misfortune awaited Naccarata, as he next let Travis Garner’s ground ball get under his glove for his second error of the inning, allowing Rice to score, and then Garner would move up to second when Ryan Patterson’s throw back to the infield skipped into foul territory.
Meier walked Adam Pavkovich and then fell behind 3-0 when Beau Hearod split the gap between Patterson and Bruce Sprowl in left-center for a two-run double.
LSU didn’t get on the board until the sixth, when Naccarata’s single off of the glove of Alabama pitcher Jeffrey Norris scored Blake Gill. But the Tigers’ threat was immediately snuffed out when Matt Liuzza grounded back to Norris, who began an inning ending double play.
Norris won his second consecutive SEC Tournament championship game, scattering nine hits but giving up just one run.
Meier was lifted for Billy Sadler in the seventh after Garner was thrown out at the plate on a double by Pavkovich, but Sadler gave up an RBI single to Hearod and a triple to Welch before a dropped throw at first base by Clay Harris allowed the Tide to collect their fourth unearned run of the game.
Welch and Hearod both went 2-for-5 with three RBI, while Pavkovich was 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored to lead Alabama’s 12-hit attack. The first five hitters in Alabama’s order were 10-for-23. Hearod was named the tournament’s MVP by going 7-for-15 with eight RBI.
LSU, which came into the game having committed two errors in its first three tournament games, committed a season high five errors, the most by the Tigers since posting seven errors last year at Houston.
Tiger shortstop Aaron Hill was named to the all-tournament team after batting 6-for-14 during the four games, although his 11-game hitting streak was halted with an 0-for-3 game on Sunday.
LSU (40-19-1) 000 001 001– 3 12 5
Alabama (37-22) 030 000 34x– 10 12 1
Justin Meier, Billy Sadler (7) and Matt Liuzza; Jeffrey Norris, Taylor Tankersley (6), Brian Reed (9) and Charlie Lyons.
WP–Norris, 6-3.
LP–Meier, 7-3.
2B–LSU: Quinn Stewart (8), Clay Harris (16); Alabama: Beau Hearod (16), Adam Pavkovich (26), Zac Welch (15), Ryan Beagle (4).
3B–Alabama: Welch (1).
T–3:03.
A–11,705.
All-Tournament team
C–Bobby Huddleston, Auburn
1B–Zac Welch, Alabama
2B–Thomas Berkery, Mississippi St.
3B–Steve Gendron, Mississippi St.
SS–Aaron Hill, LSU
OF–Javon Moran, Auburn
OF–Nick Pitts, Arkansas
OF–Beau Hearod, Alabama (MVP)
DH–Adam Pavkovich, Alabama
P–Arnold Hughey, Auburn
P–Jamie Gant, Mississippi St.
2003 SEC Baseball Tournament
May 22, 2003
Game 1 — #3 Auburn def. #6 Vanderbilt, 3-1
Game 2 — #7 Alabama def. #2 South Carolina, 9-7
Game 3 — #4 Mississippi State def. #5 Ole Miss, 5-4 (12)
Game 4 — #1 LSU def. #8 Arkansas, 5-4
Friday, May 23
Game 5 — #2 South Carolina def. #6 Vanderbilt, 3-2(Vanderbilt eliminated)
Game 6 — #5 Ole Miss def. #8 Arkansas, 8-7 (11) (Arkansas eliminated)
Game 7 — #7 Alabama def. #3 Auburn, 7-5
Game 8 — #1 LSU def. #4 Mississippi State, 7-2
Saturday, May 24
Game 9 — #3 Auburn def. #2 South Carolina, 5-1 (South Carolina eliminated)
Game 10 — #4 Mississippi State def. #5 Ole Miss, 4-1 (Ole Miss eliminated)
Game 11 — #7 Alabama def. #3 Auburn, 13-3 (7) (Auburn eliminated)
Game 12 — #1 LSU def. #4 Mississippi State, 17-5 (7) (Mississippi State eliminated)
Sunday, May 25
Game 13 * — not necessary
Game 14 ** — not necessary
Game 15 *** — #7 Alabama def. #1 LSU, 10-3
* – Game 13 will be necessary if the winner of Game 9 also wins Game 11.
** – Game 14 will be necessary if the winner of Game 10 also wins Game 12. If Game 13 is not necessary, Game 14 would start at 9 a.m. Sunday
*** – If both bracket winners are undefeated, there will be no 9 a.m. or noon games on Sunday and the championship game would be Game 13 at 4 p.m.
All Times are Central