METAIRIE, La. — Tulane center fielder Jon Kaplan entered the bottom of the 11th inning on a 1-for-21 slump dating back to March 7. With one out, a full count and runners on first and second, Kaplan hit a line drive into centerfield, allowing Wes Swackhamer to score the winning run, giving Tulane a 5-4 win against LSU in front of 10,780 fans at Zephyr Field in Metairie.
Kaplan finished the game 1-for-6 in a grueling four-hour game.
“I was just looking for something to get my bat on,” Kaplan said. “Both teams played their tails off. It was the best game I’ve ever been apart of. I’m glad we won.”
The Tigers out-hit the Green Wave 11-6, but the LSU pitchers could not find their mark as Tulane scored three runs in the sixth inning from bases loaded walks.
Joey Charron (1-2) picked up the win for Tulane. He entered the game with two outs in the seventh inning and forced LSU third baseman Ivan Naccarata into a ground out to third base.
The 16th-ranked Tigers (11-7) had the bases loaded with one out in the top of the tenth inning, but Charron forced two straight outs to pitch out of the jam and keep the Green Wave alive.
“[Charron] didn’t have very good command tonight, but he pitched with guts, and he found a way to win,” said Tulane coach Rick Jones.
No. 21 Tulane (14-4) did much of its damage in the sixth inning. The Green Wave’s leading hitter Michael Aubrey got things going with a base hit past LSU second baseman Blake Gill. The Tigers’ starting pitcher, Justin Meier, walked the next batter, putting two men on base before Tulane second baseman Tommy Manzella hit a dribbler to LSU shortstop Aaron Hill.
As Hill attempted to turn the double play, he bobbled the ball and committed an error which loaded the bases. Then a trio of LSU pitchers combined to walk three of the next four Tulane batters, allowing the Green Wave to score three runs and cut the Tigers four-run lead to one.
“Obviously the base on balls hurt us,” said LSU coach Smoke Laval. “It was a good college baseball game that could have gone either way. Nobody really won the game, nobody really lost. That’s why they call it baseball.”
In the sixth inning Ivan Naccarata extended his team-high hitting streak to 15 games with a single to open the inning. He finished 1-for-4 with one run.
LSU pitcher Billy Sadler (1-1) entered the game in the seventh inning with the game tied at four and proceeded to retire the first 11 batters he faced.
He walked back-to-back batters in the bottom of the 11th, setting the stage for Kaplan and a Tulane victory.
“It was a classic Tulane-LSU battle,” Jones said.