BATON ROUGE — Back-to-back home runs by Clay Harris and Blake Gill sparked a five-run uprising for LSU in the top of the seventh inning as the Fighting Tigers pulled away from archrival Tulane to an 13-5 victory in Game 4 of the Baton Rouge regional Saturday in front of a near-capacity crowd at Alex Box Stadium.
LSU (42-19-1), the No. 2 national seed in the tournament, improved to 5-0 all-time in home postseason games against Tulane and is into the regional championship round, which starts Sunday at 1 p.m. CDT.
UNC-Wilmington, a 9-8 winner over Tulane late Saturday night, must beat LSU twice to reach the super regional.
The Green Wave (No. 22 ESPN/USA Today, No. 23 Collegiate Baseball) appeared ready to overcome a 3-2 LSU lead in the bottom of the sixth when Tony Giarratano led off with a ground ball single and then went to third on a double by Michael Aubrey.
Wes Swackhamer then tapped a soft ground ball down the first base line, and Bumstead alertly picked the ball up and fired home, where Matt Liuzza applied the tag to Giarratano. LSU starting pitcher Nate Bumstead then ended the Wave threat by striking out Brian Bogusevic and getting Tommy Manzella to fly out on a full count.
Ryan Patterson led off the LSU seventh with a ground ball single, and two batters later, Harris launched his 13th home run of the year and second of the tournament over the right field fence to make it 5-2.
Gill followed Harris with a long home run over the right-center field fence for LSU’s fourth back-to-back home runs of the season.
Following the home runs, Jon Zeringue reached base when Giarratano booted his ground ball, and after Ivan Naccarata’s bouncing double moved Zeringue to third, J.C. Holt brought both runners home with a ground ball single past a drawn-in Tulane infield to make it 8-3.
Tulane responded in the bottom of the seventh on a leadoff home run by Nathan Southard and an RBI single by Giarratano, but after Aubrey was hit by Bumstead, Swackhamer flied out to the left field fence.
Bumstead picked up the win and improved to 11-2 on the year by going 7 1/3 innings and scattering nine hits.
In the ninth, Naccarata launched a three-run home to cap a great day for the Canadian, who went 4-for-5 with four runs scored. Every LSU starter except leadoff man Bruce Sprowl had at least one hit, with Patterson going 4-for-6 and Holt going 3-for-4 with three RBI, leaving the Tigers’ sophomore center fielder at 7-for-9 with eight RBI in two regional games.
The Tigers (No. 7 Collegiate Baseball, No. 9 Baseball America, No. 11 ESPN/USA Today) had a chance to blow the game open early, as a pair of hit batters by Tulane starter J.R. Crowel and a fielder’s choice that didn’t result in an out left the bases loaded with no outs.
But Crowel, the Conference USA Freshman of the Year, somehow got out of the jam, getting Harris to fly out to short center field, and then retiring Gill and Zeringue to end the frame.
A leadoff double by Naccarata in the second led to the Tigers’ first run when J.C. Holt beat out a bunt, and then Turner Brumby’s throw sailed past Aubrey into right filed, scoring Naccarata from third. Holt scored two batters later when he beat a throw home by Tommy Manzella on a Bruce Sprowl ground ball.
The Wave got on the board in the second on a leadoff home run by Swackhamer, and the teams would trade runs in the third to leave LSU with a 3-2 lead.
LSU handed Crowel his first loss of the year, hitting him for eight runs on 11 hits in 6 1/3 innings.
LSU (42-19-1) 021 000 505– 13 18 1
Tulane (44-18) 011 000 201– 5 11 2
Nate Bumstead, Jason Determann (8) and Matt Liuzza, Shawn French (9); J.R. Crowel, Tyler Kimmons (7), Kelly Comarda (9) and Brian Bormaster.
WP–Bumstead, 11-2.
LP–Crowel, 8-1.
2B–LSU: Ivan Naccarata 2 (14); Tulane: Michael Aubrey (19), Tony Giarratano (17).
3B–LSU: J.C. Holt (2); Tulane: Jonny Kaplan (2).
HR–LSU: Clay Harris (13), Blake Gill (5), Naccarata (5); Tulane: Wes Swackhamer (10), Kaplan (11), Nathan Southard (4).
T–2:59.
A–7,642 (paid); 7,091 (actual)
2003 NCAA BATON ROUGE REGIONAL
GAME 4: LSU vs. TULANE
May 31, 2003
LSU QUOTES
Head Coach
“Nate (Bumstead) did what he is supposed to do again like Jake (Tompkins) did. He just kept us close. We had a chance in the first inning and let it get away. We were a little bit worried that panic may set in for the first time because were new to it, but they didn’t. Nate (Bumstead) kept delivering the right pitch at the right time and got out of one big jam himself, got the guy out at home plate, struck a guy out and we got out of the inning. We kept having pressure, pressure, pressure so eventually when these guys got their base hits their where guys on base. I was fortunate enough to run a few balls out of the park and break the game open.”
Designated Hitter Ryan Patterson
“Well, I just wanted to go up their and try to get on base for the big hitters down the lineup. I just really wanted to try and help us score some runs and help Nate (Bumstead) out as much as possible. I wasn’t too worried about anything, just trying to score some runs.”
Center Fielder J.C. Holt
“I promised that I was going to keep it short today so I am not going to say much. We won the ball game and I went up there and swung the bat well today and sol did the rest of the Team. Nate (Bumstead) pitched a heck of a game today so congratulations to him and the rest of the team.
Starting Pitcher Nate Bumstead
“I felt like my stuff was pretty good today and when I had runners on second and third I was just trying to make the best pitch possible and not try to give up too much. I was kinda expecting something big to happen but I got fortunate and got a ground ball hit back to me and got the guy at the plate.”
Third baseman Ivan Naccarata
“Today I was going up there and trying to look for my pitch. I am not trying to do too much, just see the ball and hit it. I was just trying to have quick hands up at the plate and keep my foot down because I have not been doing that lately. I am just trying to help the team and we won good today and hopefully we will do the same tomorrow, so I am excited.”
GAME NOTES
Since the NCAA adopted the current tournament format in 1999, LSU has advanced to championship Sunday all five seasons.
LSU went on to win the sub-regional in all five seasons and did so without losing a game in 2000.
The Tigers will face the winner of Saturday night’s game between Tulane and UNC-Wilmington on Sunday at 1 p.m.
LSU evened its record to 2-2 against Tulane this season.
Ivan Naccarata recorded his first four-hit ballgame of the season.
Head Coach Rick Jones
“It was a really good ballgame until the seventh inning. It was a heck of a ballgame. Then we couldn’t get out of the inning. They strung together some really good at-bats.
“J.R. tired a little bit (in the 7th). In this ballpark, versus LSU, you’ve got to make every pitch. I thought he gave a tremendous effort, but he tired. They did a great job putting together some outstanding at bats.
“J.R. has been our best all year long. We wanted him to get into a rhythm, and get settled down. There was no reason to panic (early). He got out of the first and got out of the second in pretty good shape.
“He’s (Bumstead) their ace for a reason. He mixed his pitches well. He did a good job making pitches in crunch situations.”
Pitcher J.R. Crowel
“I didn’t feel good at all. I didn’t have it from the get-go. It was by far my worst game of the year. I was missing my spots and they were hitting me hard.
“I tried to keep my team in the game and just keep battling. I did that until the seventh and then he (Harris) popped a ball outta here.
“They’re a great team. You have to come in with your best stuff against them and I didn’t have it today. You can’t come out and miss spots with these hitters. They’re going to capitalize every time.”
GAME NOTES
Tulane became the first home team to lose during the 2003 Regional held in Baton Rouge.
The Green Wave’s freshman pitcher J.R. Crowel lost his first game of the season and fell to an 8-1 record.
With the loss, Tulane dropped its third-consecutive game against LSU at Alex Box Stadium and fell to 0-2 this season. The Green Wave is 2-2 against the Tigers in 2003.