BATON ROUGE — Clay Harris’ grand slam highlighted an 11-run sixth inning as LSU broke open a close game and ran away from Baylor for a 20-5 rout on Sunday at Alex Box Stadium in the decisive game of a super regional series, sealing the Fighting Tigers’ 12th trip to the College World Series since 1986.
LSU (45-20-1) returns to Omaha for the first time since its 2000 national championship run and will open play on Friday against Cal St. Fullerton (48-14) at either 1 p.m. or 6 p.m. The times for games on Friday and Saturday will be set by the NCAA Division I baseball committee at 7 p.m. Monday evening via conference call.
The other bracket one match was set on Saturday evening when South Carolina (44-20) and Stanford (46-15) completed two-game sweeps of their respective super regionals.
The Bears (45-23) were still within striking distance at 5-3 entering the sixth inning, and Baylor starting pitcher Mark McCormick got the inning off to a good start by striking out Matt Liuzza on three pitches.
But when McCormick walked the next LSU hitter, Bruce Sprowl, Baylor coach Steve Smith though that with 102 pitches, the true freshman’s arm had gone as far as it could, and Smith summoned Andy Pape from the bullpen.
Pape threw his first pitch for a strike to J.C. Holt, but his next eight pitches were balls–four to walk Holt and four more to walk Aaron Hill to load the bases.
Abe Woody, who gave up the game-tying home run to Harris in the eighth inning on Saturday, relieved Pape and on his second pitch, uncorked a wild pitch to the backstop to score Holt and make it 6-3. Woody finished the walk to Gill to re-load the bases, and Smith brought in Brian Schnizer to try and stop the bleeding.
Schnizer had Harris down 1-2, but Harris then drove Schnizer’s next pitch into the left field bleachers to expand LSU’s lead to 10-3, and there was little doubt remaining among the Alex Box Stadium record crowd of 7,492 that the Tigers were headed back to Omaha.
McCormick walked five batters and gave up six runs (four earned) on six hits in 5 1/3 innings and finishes the year at 6-3.
Schnizer struck out Ivan Naccarata after Harris’ slam, but the Tigers went right back to work after the second out, as Ryan Patterson launched a solo home run, and then Jon Zeringue drew a walk that was followed by a Liuzza base hit.
Tyler Bullock became Baylor’s fifth pitcher of the inning and walked Sprowl to load the bases, and then Holt lined a two-run single into center field before Hill’s base hit just inside the third base bag scored Liuzza.
Gill capped scoring in the frame with a two-run single just out of the reach of Baylor right fielder David Murphy. The 11 runs ties LSU’s largest inning of the year, done twice previously, and was the largest in a post-season game since scoring 14 runs in the third inning of a 2000 regional game vs. Louisiana-Monroe.
Baylor started the game well, as McCormick retired the Tigers in order in the top of the first, and then Chris Durbin led off the bottom of the first with a home run into the left field bleachers.
LSU starter Justin Meier then walked Murphy, who went to second on a wild pitch. Meier struck out the next two batters, but Mark Saccomanno gave the Bears a 3-0 lead when his line drive hit the left field foul pole for a two-run home run.
The Tigers got their first hit in the second from Ivan Naccarata, and then had two runners on when Bears second baseman Kyle Reynolds dropped a relay throw from Trey Webb on Patterson’s ground ball, which could have resulted in an inning ending double play.
Instead of possibly being out of the inning, LSU had two runners on, and Zeringue, who hit the game-winning home run in the 11th inning of last Sunday’s regional championship game against UNC Wilmington, came through again to tie the game with a three-run home run to right-center field.
A two-out single and a stolen base by Sprowl later in the inning allowed the Tigers to grab a 4-3 lead on Hill’s bouncing base hit past the mound.
Meier, making his first appearance on the mound since losing the Southeastern Conference tournament championship game against Alabama on May 25, threw his second complete game of the year to improve to 8-3.
LSU 040 10(11) 103– 20 19 0
Baylor 300 000 011– 5 12 1
Justin Meier and Matt Liuzza; Mark McCormick, Andy Pape (6), Abe Woody (6), Andy Schnizer (6), Tyler Bullock (6), Trey Taylor (8) and Josh Ford, Matt Forestiere (8).
WP–Meier, 8-3.
LP–McCormick, 6-3.
2B–Baylor: Chris Griffin (26), Matt Forestiere (1), Chad Durbin (23); LSU: Quinn Stewart (9).
HR–LSU: Jon Zeringue (13), Clay Harris (15), Ryan Patterson (15); Baylor: Chris Durbin (18), Mark Saccomanno (9).
T–3:20.
A–7,739 (paid); 7,492 (actual–new attendance record)
NCAA SUPER REGIONAL TOURNAMENT
LSU VS. BAYLOR
ALEX BOX STADIUM
BATON ROUGE, La.
JUNE 8, 2003
LSU head coach Smoke Laval
“Well it was just a whale of a ballgame and Baylor is very, very tough and you saw that in the first inning, but I think that finally loosened them up. You could see it all weekend and even last weekend that we were playing not to lose instead of going out to win and it started up again. (Jon) Zeringue runs one out of the ballpark and next thing you know it is 4-3. The game plan was as such and the guys got frustrated with it. We wanted to get their guy (Mark McCormick) out of the game. We were going to take first pitches and everything 2-0, 3-1. We let Jonathan (Zeringue) loose hoping that he could run into one and he did. That was the turning point and then they picked it up a notch. Baylor is a very, very good ballclub.”
On the 11-run sixth inning
“Well it is kinda like a domino effect. It was right around that inning when they (Baylor) tried to hit and run and (Matt) Liuzza threw their guy out. There were fortunate things that happened that got the team together. I got the team together and said if we can put together just a little bit and scare then they have a chance to fold. They pressed a little and tried to make it happen and it kinda backfired. I said ‘One more inning’, and you guys kinda laugh but I just wondered when they were going to go back to southpaw for the killer punch and that was when I was going to let the guys loose on some 2-0 and 3-1 pitches. I decided one more inning and we would try to get (Mark) McCormick out of the game. We would try to get a fresh reliever in there and break it open. Gosh darn out guys did some hard hitting and had some good fortune, you know hit some balls with eyes on them. We also got some walks so our patience paid off.”
Shortstop Aaron Hill
On Finally making it to the College World Series
“Well, three years, it is exciting. I really am at a loss for words because I do not think that it has really hit me yet. I am just kinda in shock just being with these guys. I am remembering the fall and all the hard work that we have been through and everything that the team has been through. This is awesome and I cannot wait for next week.”
On ended his Alex Box Stadium career with an RBI single in the ninth
“It just shows how grateful we are for the fans and how much they mean to this ball club. They do a lot for us and they’re there every game. They’ve come out for every single game that we’ve had all year and they followed us through the good and bad. They’ve been on us too, but they cheer us when we’re doing good and bad, so we really appreciate what they’ve done for us.”
Right Fielder Jon Zeringue
On his second-inning homerun that tied the game at three
“Well, it was just a fastball up and away and I it was good stuff. I was taking everything that he threw me inside, because it was hard to get around on it. I don’t know exactly what he was throwing. I think maybe 94 or 95 (miles per hour) and I’ve never seen that in my life. He just gave me a fastball up and away and I just got my hands up and hit it the other way like we practice and the wind blew it out”
First Baseman Clay Harris
On his approach during the at-bat when he hit the grand slam
“I got fortunate because the swing before that I popped one up and the wind blew it around and the first baseman missed it. He tried to come back with the same pitch and left it up and in a little bit and I was able to get around on it.”
On his thought process knowing that he had a second chance after the missed foul ball
“When I saw it drop and I knew that I was getting a second chance, I wanted to make sure that I did something with it. I was fortunate enough for that ball to fall. I didn’t want to pop up with the bases loaded again.”
Starting Pitcher Justin Meier
On not letting the shaky start alter the way that he pitched
“That three-run first inning was pretty frustrating. I think that it was frustrating for the whole team seeing it, but as a lot of you probably know, we’ve had a lot of defensive innings where we’ve given up runs. Most of them, we’ve been able to come back and win. It makes us maybe more competitive when we play from behind. Of course, I don’t want to be behind, but we came back and competed well for the end of the game.”
GAME NOTES
- Largest actual attendance in Alex Box Stadium history (7,492).
- Clay Harris hit LSU’s first grand slam of the season.
- Largest margin of victory in super regional play (previous was versus UCLA in 2000).
- LSU improved to 17-5 in winner-take-all games
- Largest run total in an inning in postseason play this season (previous was nine versus Miss. St. in SEC Tournament).
- Most runs scored in postseason play since 2000 against Jackson State (19).
- Catcher Matt Liuzza was the Tigers’ leading hitter in Super Regional play going 8-12.
BAYLOR QUOTES
Head Coach Steve Smith
“First of all, I want to congratulate Smoke (Laval) and his staff and their program on wining not only the SEC but this Super Regional. I want to wish them the very best as they progress to Omaha. As much as I want to say that, I also want to commend what I truly believe may be the premiere crowd in all of college baseball. You’re hearing that from a guy that grew up in the state of Mississippi and spent five years at Mississippi State. I don’t want to make LSU’s media guide but that is a special, special, special crowd out there. I know there is a lot of pressure on coaching baseball here at LSU. I could not imagine a bigger monster to try to handle then this program. It is one reason why I feel so good for Smoke that he is able to get this thing done like he did. I also want to say that the way the fans have responded all weekend to just excellence and outstanding play leaves me to believe that they truly do appreciate the difficulty of his job and the difficulty of playing this game. That is so rare, it is rare among fans, and if you don’t mind me saying it’s also rare among the media. It’s just flat out rare that anybody truly appreciates how absolutely amazing that billboard is out there and how difficult it is to play this game at the level that so many people play it. I am just glad to have played in front of a crowd and I’m glad to have our players play in front of a crowd that I truly believe appreciated their performance.”
“On a practical side, the game came down to one inning. I felt like I had taken (Mark) McCormick out at a good spot in the game. I thought that he had done us a good job. I felt like the guys we had to follow him were capable. I thought Andy Pape was a good match up because he is a change up guy and after seeing 95 mph fastballs two or three times in the order, I thought it was a good place in a row to bring him out there. Obviously, he wasn’t on and neither were several that followed him. That’s disappointing to me but it’s more disappointed to them. They’re the ones who work hard, they’re the ones who practice and the one’s who have invested the time. They are the one’s who are hurting.
Centerfielder Chris Durbin
“I think he mixed his (Justin Meier) pitches up a little bit better and kind of stayed away from our hitters. Anytime he came in, we hit it hard to the left side. You have to give him credit. He kept the ball down and came after a lot of our good hitters and shut us down. A lot of our guys hit the ball hard all day but it seemed like we were hitting them right to their players. On the flip side of it, I think LSU hit the ball really well and when they were hitting the ball good, they were finding the gaps and finding the holes.”