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Baseball Takes Rubber Match For State Bragging Rights; Defeats LSU 9-5
April 29, 2003 NEW ORLEANS, La. - Senior centerfielder Jonny Kaplan went 3-for-5 with a double, a stolen base and three RBI, and junior closer Joey Charron struck out four in 2.0 innings of scoreless innings of relief, as the Tulane University baseball team defeated arch-rival LSU 9-5 before a crowd of 18,319 Tuesday evening at the Louisiana Superdome. Kaplan broke the game open with a bases-loaded double in the second inning to give the Green Wave a 3-0 lead they would never relinquish. Following three runs by the boys in Olive and Blue over the next two innings and a single run by LSU in the fourth, the Tigers made things interesting in the fifth when they plated three runs on a two-run homer by Ryan Patterson and a solo shot by Jon Zeringue one at-bat later, but the Green Wave answered with three runs of their own in the home half of the frame to all but seal the win. Tulane got a solid relief performance from rookie southpaw Brian Bogusevic (3-1), who gave up a pair of runs in 3.0 innings of work, and Charron closed the door on the Tigers by retiring all six men he faced to clinch the victory. With the win, Tulane improves to 33-13 on the year, while LSU - which came into the ballgame ranked as high as sixth in the country by Collegiate Baseball - falls to 30-14. LSU starter Jake Tompkins (1-5), who allowed just one hit and one walk in an 8-0 Tiger win in the previous meeting in Baton Rouge back on April 25, did not fare as well on Tuesday as the senior right-hander gave up six runs (five earned) on eight hits in a 3.2-inning start. Greg Smith pitched the final 4.1 innings, but the Green Wave hung three runs (one earned) on the Tiger reliever en route to the regular-season series victory.
Sophomore second baseman Tommy Manzella matched Kaplan with three hits of his own, and junior first baseman Michael Aubrey went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI, as Tulane out-hit LSU 11-8 in the contests. The difference in the ballgame was a pair of costly errors by the Tigers that resulted in three unearned runs for the Green Wave.
Tulane scored all nine of its runs with two outs, and got things going in the second when Manzella hit a leadoff single, advance to second on a two-out walk by freshman third baseman Tim Guidry, and junior catcher Brian Bormaster followed with an infield single to load the bases. Tompkins jumped ahead of the next Green Wave hitter - Kaplan - with a 1-2 count, but the veteran outfielder worked the count full and roped the ninth pitch of the at-bat off the wall in left field to clear the bases with a three-run double. Aubrey got things going again in the third with a leadoff single, but it appeared that he would be stranded at first as Tompkins struck out sophomore left fielder Wes Swackhamer, got Manzella to fly out to left and induced a groundball to third off the bat of senior right fielder Aaron Feldmann. LSU third baseman Ivan Nacarrata's throw to first, however, bounced six feet in front of first baseman Clay Harris to put runners on the corners, and Tulane used the extended inning to plate another run when Bogusevic, who started and ended the game as the team's designated hitter, hit an RBI-single to center to stake Tulane to a 4-0 advantage. LSU got on the board in the fourth when left fielder Bruce Sprowl drew a leadoff, advanced the bases on a single and a double-play ball off the bat of shortstop Aaron Hill, and scored on an RBI-single by second baseman Blake Gil to cut the lead to three. The Green Wave got the run back plus one in the home half of the frame when Kaplan singled, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Aubrey, and Aubrey came home two batters later when Manzella hit an RBI-double to left to give Tulane a 6-1 lead. The Tigers' two homers in the fifth cut the lead to two at 6-4, but a wild pitch and a defensive miscue cost the Tigers again in the bottom of the frame when Guidry hit a leadoff single, advance the bases on a groundout and a single by Kaplan, and scored on an errant toss plateward by Smith. Following a walk by junior shortstop Tony Giarratano, Aubrey hit a fly ball to right that appeared to end the Tulane threat, but Zeringue lost the ball in the Superdome lights that allowed Kaplan and Giarraano to touch the paystation to close out the scoring. From there, the game belonged to Charron and the preseason All-Conference USA selection came through once again against the Tigers, retiring all three batters he faced in the eighth and striking out the side in the ninth. With his performance, Charron lowered his career ERA against LSU to 0.86 in six games and 12.0 innings of work against Tulane's arch-rival. The Green Wave return to action on Friday, May 2 when they open a three-game weekend series with C-USA foe Cincinnati at 6:30 p.m. at Turchin Stadium. For ticket information to those ballgames, as well as the third game of the Popeyes Cup contest against UNO at Zephyr Field on May 13 and the regular-season's final series against league opponent East Carolina, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at 504-861-WAVE. |
 
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