AWE
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 Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 12:47 am Post subject: Southern beats LSU 9-5 |
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| Quote: | Jaguars top Tigers for second win in 41 tries
By CARL DUBOIS
Advocate sportswriter
By the time LSU found a pitcher who could keep Southern from scoring Tuesday night, the Jaguars had the lead to stay, well on their way to a 9-5 victory in Alex Box Stadium.
Former All-American pitcher Ben McDonald, who skipped his senior season at LSU to play for the Baltimore Orioles, was in the house calling the game on Cox Sports Television, but his eligibility expired more than a decade ago.
No one else was the answer.
Southern won its second game in 41 tries against LSU -- and its second in five years, both at Alex Box -- by hitting Justin Meier, Edgar Ramirez, Jordan Faircloth and Eric English.
LSU left-handed closer Jason Determann, who recorded two outs with the Tigers trailing 8-5, was perfect against the two batters he faced, but the Jaguars hit everybody else. Each time LSU made a change, SU batters adjusted.
"We took what they gave us and kept on hitting," said catcher Brandon Mason, who led the Jaguars with three hits, scored a run and drove in a run.
SU (23-15) rapped 14 hits and committed one error. The Jaguars' only other victory over LSU was in 2001, Skip Bertman's last season coaching the Tigers, when SU won 11-6.
A crowd of 2,029 saw SU take a 3-0 lead by the top of the fourth inning and a 5-2 lead by the top of the seventh before LSU scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to pull to within 5-4 of the Jaguars.
SU then scored three runs on five hits in the eighth.
"I thought that was critical more than anything," SU coach Roger Cador said, "because you have one of the top teams in the nation making their run, and you're able to answer, so it says a lot about the character and the fight in our kids."
Darren Clark, a senior designated hitter, extended his career best in home runs to 10 with a solo shot in the ninth inning for an insurance run. Gerard Gause, a sophomore right fielder, gave SU a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning with his fourth home run, double his total of last season.
LSU (31-15) committed four errors, its highest total since committing a season-high six March 29 in an 18-10 victory over the University of New Orleans, but the Tigers didn't give the Jaguars as much help as it might seem.
Every SU player who scored reached base on a hit. Three walks did not directly contribute to the Jaguars' scoring.
Meanwhile, SU turned four double plays, defusing the effects of LSU's 13 hits. The Tigers hit into 40 double plays in their previous 45 games.
SU left fielder Mario Spann made the second double play happen. LSU had runners on second and third in the fifth inning with Blake Gill at the plate and nobody out.
Gill hit a fly ball to medium depth, and Spann caught it before firing the ball to Mason on the fly for the tag that beat Derek Hebert before he reached home plate.
"Double plays will kill you in any game," Gill said. "That's a pet peeve for a hitter."
Spann said he had a little bit of good fortune on the play.
"I got a good jump on the ball, but the ball went into the light and I kind of lost my vision on it," he said. "When I picked up the ball (visually), I just stuck my glove where I thought it would be.
"I saw him going home, and I just threw the ball as hard as I could, on the line. It had to be on the money. That was a big part of the game. That helped us out with momentum."
LSU hit three RBI doubles with two outs, but SU starter David Bayless (5-2) held the Tigers to four runs on 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings.
"He was ahead in the count most of the time," LSU coach Smoke Laval said. "I thought he pitched really well. He throws a good changeup. He lived on the outer half (of the plate). He made mistakes when there was nobody on.
"I know it sounds crazy, but you make an error when you're up by six and there's nobody on base, not when there's a guy at third and two outs. He made his mistakes at the right time, and they (the Jaguars) were in tune."
Meier (1-3) started for LSU, giving up three runs, two earned, on four hits in five innings.
"We're looking for a fourth starter," Laval said. "We've had enough hits, and we've had some baseball fortune lately. They just played better than we did tonight."
Laval and his players wore stunned expressions when they walked off the field.
"Maybe I'm glad it happened tonight (rather than on the weekend)," Laval said, alluding to a three-game SEC series beginning Friday against Kentucky.
"I don't take losses real well. You know that better than anybody," Laval told a reporter. "I mean, we're looking for that fourth starter. I wasn't going to use Determann (as a starter). He's too valuable late (and in SEC games) to use him up that way."
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TheDude321
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Joined: Apr 18, 2005
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| Posted: Sat May 07, 2005 3:34 pm Post subject: Re: Southern beats LSU 9-5 |
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Good win for the program.
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