Baylor
LSU
LSU Sends Baseball Home For The Summer
6/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 8, 2003
BATON ROUGE, La. - Seventh-ranked LSU scored 17 unanswered runs in the middle innings en route to a 20-5 win over No. 10 Baylor Sunday, sending the Tigers on to the College World Series and the Bears home for the year.
Baylor starter Mark McCormick (6-3) kept the Tigers (45-20-1) within range through five innings, but tired in the sixth, and the Baylor (45-23) bullpen was unable to duplicate his performance. Five different pitchers allowed the 11 runs on just six hits, walking six in the inning.
The day had started well for the Bears, as Baylor jumped out for a three spot in the first inning. Chris Durbin started the game with his fifth leadoff home run of the year (18th of the season), giving the Bears a 1-0 lead. David Murphy walked, and after two strikeouts, Mark Saccomanno drove a ball into the leftfield stands for a two-run homer and a 3-0 Baylor lead.
LSU responded quickly, however, scoring four runs in the second. With one out, Ivan Naccarata singled, and a groundball to shortstop failed to result in an out when second baseman Kyle Reynolds dropped the throw. Jon Zeringue then hit a three-run homer on the first pitch he saw to tie the game. A walk and two singles after two outs pushed across the Tigers' fourth run, putting LSU back on top 4-3.
The Tigers added another run in the fourth, as a leadoff walk by McCormick came around to score on a sacrifice fly after a single and another walk. Trey Webb made an outstanding leaping, tumbling catch of a flare into left-center for the third out of the inning, leaving the score at 5-3, LSU.
Then came the sixth inning, when the wheels came off for Baylor.
McCormick was relieved by Andy Pape after walking his fifth batter of the day with one out in the inning. Pape walked the two batters he faced on a total of nine pitches, loading the bases and leading head coach Steve Smith to bring in Abe Woody. Woody threw a wild pitch, letting in run number six for LSU, and walked the only batter he faced on four pitches before being replaced on the hill by Andy Schnizer.
Schnizer got a foul popup off the bat of Clay Harris that just eluded Saccomanno's glove down the right field line; Harris hit the next pitch into the left field bleachers for a grand slam and a 10-3 LSU lead. After a strikeout, Ryan Patterson duplicated Harris' blow with a solo home run to almost the same spot in left.
Schnizer allowed a walk and a line single, then was relieved by Tyler Bullock, the Bears' fifth pitcher of the inning. Bullock gave up a walk and three singles, good for fivemore runs, before finally escaping the horrific inning with LSU on top 16-3.
LSU tacked on one more run in the seventh and three in the ninth; Saccomanno drove in a run in the eighth with a sacrifice fly, and Murphy plated the Bears' final run in the ninth with a groundout.
McCormick lasted five-plus innings, striking out seven but walking five and allowing six hits. He was tagged for six runs (four earned).
LSU starter Justin Meier (8-3) went the distance, scattering 12 hits but allowing just five runs. He struck out only three and walked two, hitting two batters (both in the ninth).
The season ends for Baylor with a 45-23 record, tying the 2000 team for most wins in a season. The Bears played more games (68) in 2003 than any previous Baylor squad, and played deeper into the year (June 8) than any team since the 1977 College World Series team.
The year saw Baylor set or match single-season records for hits (Murphy, 121), runs (Durbin, 94) and doubles (Griffin, 26). As a team, the Bears set new single-season marks in eight statistical categories, including batting average, hits, doubles and total bases.
NOTES: Griffin's double in the third was his 26th of the year, passing Durbin's previous mark of 25 (set in 2001 and 2002) to set a new Baylor record... Twelve of Durbin's 18 home runs this year were solo shots... Zeringue's homer in the second was just the second allowed by McCormick this season... Webb extended his career-best hitting streak to 12 games... Murphy went 0-for-4 on the day, dropping his season average to .413 and second-place in modern Baylor history...
An Alex Box Field-record of 7,492 fans (actual attendance) saw Sunday's LSU win... The 20 runs allowed by Baylor are the most the Bears have ever allowed in a postseason game...The Bears walked a season-high 11 batters in the game.
