J. EDMUND BARNES

PHOTO: Jon Kaplan of Tulane dives into home as LSU’s Matt Heath tries to field the cutoff throw. (Photo for L’Observateur by Michael Gentry) GAME ONE -No one thought the series would go three games, and no one thought the first game would go 13 innings. Especially not after the first inning, after LSU nearly batted through their lineup and put two runs on the board. Yet this first inning would be emblematic of the entire series- a series that saw LSU strand runner after runner on base in innings where there was some offense, or quietly go three and out to superior pitching and fielding. But for a moment, the flash and bang of the old LSU offense was there. Tulane pitcher Mike Aubrey got the game started by walking LSU short stop Ryan Theriot. Theriot was then thrown out trying to steal second. Wally Pontiff singled into right field before being driven home by a deep ball hit by Mike Fontenot. Fontenot’s home run, a 350 foot ball that dropped into the swimming pool behind the right field wall was the only significant offense for both teams until the sixth inning. Although LSU was able to draw blood in the first inning, an ugly premonition into the future of the series was also seen. LSU loaded the bases but was unable to capitalize. In the next 13 innings, LSU stranded 12 runners. Tulane stranded 10 runners, the most they did during the series. Neither side saw much offense until the sixth inning; a combination of good pitching by Aubrey and LSU’s Lane Mestepey along with heads up fielding kept the bases relatively free. In the sixth inning, Tulane managed to string together a series of hits off of Mestepey that turned into three runs and a brief hold upon the lead. Jon Kaplan got things started with a single – and was followed by two more hits, including a double by Jake Gautreau that sent Kaplan home. Mestepey tried to dig his teammates out of the hole by catching James Jurries swinging for a strikeout, his third of the night. Michael Aubrey had other ideas, though. Having been relieved of his pitching duties, Aubrey concentrated upon his other skill, that of a designated hitter. Aubrey hit a two RBI double that saw the end of Tulane scoring in game one. LSU was able to field the next two balls and end the inning, but Tulane had established a lead that would leave the game in doubt until the 13th inning. The Tiger’s struggled to find offense until the 13th inning. While they were able to tie the game in the seventh, they stranded three runners on base. Again and again LSU left the winning run on base, in the seventh, ninth, 11th, and 12th innings. Tulane, for their part, also struggled, having runners on base in the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and 12th innings. Barth Melius took over Tulane’s pitching in the sixth inning, and for a while looked to have the game wrapped up. Melius’ most effective pitch was a slow, hanging throw that looked suspiciously like a batting practice ball. But in the last few feet it broke, broke so suddenly that it fooled eight LSU batters into swinging for a third strike. The ball could not have crossed the threshold of 80 miles per hour. Perhaps because of this effective pitch, the game slowed down. After nine innings, the score was still tied. In the 10th inning, Mestepey was replaced by Brian Wilson. In the 11th inning, both sides got a single but was back in the dugout after four batters. In the 12th inning Tulane stranded two runners on base. In the 13th, David Raymer hit a sacrifice fly into centerfield to drive home Matt Heath, whose run broke the tie and put LSU in a position to win the game. In the bottom of the 13th, Wilson struck out pinch hitter Jay Heitz and then let Turner Brumby hit a single. Aaron Feldman batted next, and hit the ball to Theriot, who threw it to Fontenot, who then turned the double play with a toss to Moore. The game was over – but who would have known that this was to be Skip Bertman’s last victory? GAME TWO – Saturday dawned clear and bright- and hot. The heat stifled the crowd and kept them relatively quiet, yet throughout the game LSU and Tulane fans would get up and hoarsely shout “Geaux Tigers!” or “Green-Wave.” Jon Kaplan gave Tulane something to cheer for early. On his third pitch from Jason Scobie, Kaplan crushed the ball and sent it over the left field fence. That hit set off a five hit- four run first inning for Tulane, and the Wave never looked back. Andy Cannizaro, Jake Gautreau, and James Jurries all crossed home plate behind solid hitting, with Gautreau, Jurries and Michael Aubrey receiving credit for RBI’s. The Tigers were able to slam the door on the inning with a 1-3-5 double play turned by Scobie, Wally Pontiff, and Bryan Moore. The Tigers’ real problem wasn’t with their defense, or with their pitching. It was with their almost criminal ability to strand runners on base. LSU loaded the bases in the first, only to have Tulane pitcher Nick Bourgeois strike out the side. Like Barth Melius the night before, Bourgeois had a dangerous pitch that the Tiger batters couldn’t, and in this case wouldn’t even attempt to, hit. The pitch in question was another breaking ball; it had a lot more heat on it, though, and when it broke it cut right at the batter’s knees. It just nicked the inside corner of the strike zone, and harried the Tiger’s all the way into the seventh inning. Bourgeois ended the night with nine strikeouts, six of them called third strikes. The Tigers stranded runners in the first four innings, then endured a dry spell during the fifth and sixth innings when the side was retired three up – three down. The Greenwave left a total of five runners on base throughout the game, and they weren’t done offensively. In the sixth and ninth innings the Wave put four more runs on the board, giving them the distance they needed to keep the Tigers down. The Tigers managed one brief rally in the seventh inning, when a solo home run by David Raymer ignited a steak of hitting that saw LSU put four runs on the board. But it was too little, too late. Even though Scobie had been pulled in the fifth inning and replaced by Hahnville Alum Weylin Guidry, the Tiger’s could not dig themselves out of the hole and Tulane evened the series 1-1. Skip Bertman later commented on his team’s offensive problems: “We wrapped three bad at bats around two good at bats. You’ve got to hit in chains. They did, and that was the difference.” Ryan Theriot said it even more simply: “You can’t win if you leave runners on base.” Both the coach and the player were right, and their words were to be validated on Sunday – the last day in both Skip Bertman’s coaching and Ryan Theriot’s collegiate careers. GAME THREE – “I didn’t sense any gloom and doom in the ball club last night,” said Tulane Coach Rick Jones on Saturday about Tulane’s loss on Friday night. He was guardedly confident about his team’s prospects on Sunday. And in front of the largest outdoor baseball crowd in Louisiana’s history, his Green Wave gave a persuasive argument as to who was the better team to represent the state in Omaha. Tulane held LSU to four batters in the first inning, while LSU was able to get out of trouble after Tulane sent six batters to the plate and were only able to score one run. LSU pitcher Tim Nugent struck out the side as the breaking ball once again proved to be the most dangerous pitch in the series. LSU was able to contain Tulane until the fourth inning when disaster struck. The Greenwave was able to string together a six hit six run inning on the strength of four singles, two doubles, and a walk. Nugent was pulled after one run was scored and runners were left on the corners, but his replacement Roy Corcoran presided over the worst inning for LSU in the Super Regionals. Only after Tulane had batted through their lineup and Aubrey was at bat for the second time in the inning was LSU able stop the bleeding. But it was too late by then. The Tigers scored their only run in the fifth inning, when Sean Barker was driven home by an RBI double by designated hitter Johnnie Thibodeaux. After the fifth inning the Tigers got only one more hit as the Skip Bertman era came to a close. Tulane pitcher Beau Richardson was dominating through nine innings, pitching the only complete game of the series while recording eight strikeouts and allowing only one run. The game wasn’t without its unusual events, as two Tulane players put themselves out – the first out occurred when Scott Madden interfered with first baseman Moore as he tried to turn a double play. The second came when Kaplan bunted and was hit by his own ball in fair territory- an automatic out. Kaplan had almost no luck on Sunday, going 0-5 with three strikeouts, yet scoring in the fourth inning along with five other runners on the strength of a fielder’s choice. Coach Bertman summed up the series by graciously acknowledging that Tulane was the better team and congratulating them. He also stated the two reasons why he felt that Tulane was going to do well in Omaha. Bertman pointed out the fact that there was going to be a lot of new teams who had never been to Omaha this year, and that would work to Tulane’s advantage. Bertman also commended the blend of hitting throughout the lineup and the depth in pitching. “I’m proud of my guys. They never gave up,” said Bertman. “I will root for Tulane. They performed well. I salute them.” Bertman had one final comment on the Super Regionals: “This weekend is the future of college baseball.”