Ronald J. Louviere
May 16, 2013
Nicholls athletes reach NCAAs
May 21, 2013
Going into this weekend’s season-ending series against Ole Miss, the LSU baseball team had very little to play for in the standings.
The Tigers are ranked No. 3 in the country and had already clinched the SEC’s Western Division before meeting with the Rebels.
LSU’s success has made the team a virtual lock to host an NCAA Tournament Regional – regardless of the outcome of the rest of the season.
But the team used the final weekend of the season to honor legendary former manager Skip Bertman – the man who orchestrated five national championships in his illustrious run with the team.
That was enough to keep the Tigers focused, enabling them to muster another SEC series victory.
On the weekend that Alex Box Stadium’s diamond became known as Skip Bertman Field, LSU scored two victories in three tries against the Rebels, sending themselves to the SEC Tournament with momentum.
The Tigers won Thursday’s game 7-1 and Friday’s game 5-4. The Rebels prevented a sweep Saturday in a shooting, scoring an 11-9 win.
“We played a lot of guys who normally don’t get an opportunity in SEC games,” LSU pitching coach Alan Dunn said following the series. “And they gave us a tremendous effort. Our team has talent throughout the roster and great chemistry.”
In Thursday’s series opener, it didn’t take long for LSU to flex its muscles.
The Tigers scored two first-inning runs on RBI knocks from freshman shortstop Alex Bregman and senior leftfielder Raph Rhymes.
That lead ballooned to 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth when senior Mason Katz and junior Christian Ibarra each launched solo home runs.
That lead was plenty for sophomore Cody Glenn who was solid in his final regular season start, limiting Ole Miss to just one run in seven innings and 82 pitches. He scattered eight hits in the win, which impressed LSU coach Paul Mainieri.
“I thought Cody Glenn was the real key to the game,” Mainieri said. “He just seems to get better with every outing, and I really admire the way he works his way out of jams. He keeps his composure and makes big pitches at the right time to keep the opponent off the scoreboard.”
Late in Thursday’s game, Rhymes earned a rare baseball feat, scoring an inside the park home run to put the cherry on the Tigers’ win.
He also iced Saturday’s victory with a dinger – a more conventional blast.
Saturday’s game was a back and forth battle that saw Ole Miss take an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
But LSU rallied back and pushed ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning – a lead they quickly made 3-1 in the fifth inning.
But the Rebels had plenty of fight and used a two-run seventh inning and a one-run eighth inning to take a 4-3 lead.
With LSU’s hopes looking grim, Rhymes delivered again.
After Katz rallied from an 0-2 count to get a base hit, Rhymes blasted a no-doubt shot well over the leftfield fence to put the Tigers ahead 5-4.
With momentum, closer Chris Cotton sealed the deal in the ninth inning and earned his 12th save.
“This certainly wasn’t one of the best games we played this season,” Mainieri said. “It looked pretty grim when Ole Miss took the lead in the eighth inning, but our players continued to believe we’d bounce back. … I knew as soon as it left (Rhymes’) bat that it was gone.”
With the series on lock and no way to better themselves in the standings, LSU didn’t play most of its regulars in Saturday’s finale.
Bregman, catcher Ty Ross and second baseman JaCoby Jones all missed the game.
Rhymes and Katz started in commemoration of the team’s senior day, but each slugger played just one inning and recorded a lone at-bat.
But even with a lineup loaded with inexperience, the Tigers showed some bite, striking for seven runs in the third inning to take a 7-2 lead – a rally that chased Rebels’ ace Bobby Wahl from the game after recording just eight outs.
The Rebels added three of their own in the fourth inning, but LSU plated two in the sixth to take a 9-5 advantage.
But the Tigers couldn’t close the team, as the Rebels exploded for five runs in the seventh inning and a single run in the eighth to push ahead 11-9.
LSU’s bats didn’t have enough magic to muster another rally, as Ole Miss reliever Brett Huber recorded the final eight outs to secure the win.
With the regular season in the books, the Tigers will now turn their attention to the postseason.
LSU will be the No. 2 seed in this week’s SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala.
The Tigers’ 23-7 mark in the SEC earned the team a first-round bye for the event.
LSU will take the field Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. against the winner of No. 7 Alabama and No. 10 Auburn.
The two teams met Tuesday in a winner-take-all elimination game. No score was available at press time.
Nicholls’ season ends one hit short of postseason
After 26 hard-fought Southland Conference games, it all came down to one at-bat for the Nicholls State University baseball team in its quest to reach the Southland Conference Tournament.
With the Colonels trailing Lamar 6-5 in the top of the ninth inning, the Colonels had Leo Vargas on second base and were just a base hit away from extending their season for at least one more inning.
But it wasn’t meant to be, as Cardinals’ closer J.T. Autry struck out first baseman Seth Stevens to seal Lamar’s one-run win.
The loss was the Colonels’ second of the three-game series with the Cardinals.
Its sting will likely last a while, as McNeese State also lost two of three games this weekend.
That means that if the Colonels had won Saturday’s game, they would have punched a ticket to the Southland Conference Tournament in Katy, Texas.
Initially, it looked good for the Colonels.
Nicholls used a 129-pitch, complete game gem from starter Mike Suk to take Thursday’s game 3-1.
The Colonels trailed 1-0 throughout most of Thursday’s game after allowing an opening-inning run. But Nicholls tied it in the seventh inning and scored two more in the eighth to go ahead for good.
To make things better for Nicholls, McNeese lost Thursday’s game with Southeastern – a defeat that put the Colonels in control of their destiny with two games to play.
That privilege was lost 24 hours later, as Lamar defeated the Colonels 5-4 and McNeese evened their series with the Lions.
The Colonels struck for three runs in Friday’s game, but they couldn’t sustain the success.
Lamar scored three runs in the second, one in the third and one in the sixth.
The Colonels mustered a run in the fifth, but couldn’t get the key hits needed to win the game.
Like in Saturday’s game, the Colonels came up one hit short, as Cody Dufrene led off the ninth with a double.
After being sacrificed to third by nine-hole hitter David Zorn, the Colonels had two shots to bring Dufrene home from third base.
But the key hit never came, as both centerfielder Matt Richard and Vargas grounded out to end the game.
That set up Saturday’s game that saw Nicholls needing a win and McNeese loss to get to Katy.
The Cowboys did their part, dropping a 6-4 game to Southeastern.
But the Colonels couldn’t take advantage and finished one run and one hit short of their goal.
The weekend ends Nicholls’ season with a 26-29 record.
LSU baseball players Alex Bregman (left) and Raph Rhymes watch fireworks during Saturday night’s field dedication honoring longtime manager Skip Bertman. The Tigers won two of three games this weekend against Ole Miss and will now head into this weekend’s SEC Tournament as the No. 2 seed. LSU will play the winner of No. 7 Alabama and No. 10 Auburn on Wednesday.
