The first few months have been tough for Ivan Naccarata, LSU’s starting third baseman from 2003. With the emergence of Will Harris’ bat and Naccarata mired in an offensive slump — hitting .236 going into Sunday’s game — playing time has been scarce for the junior from Quebec, Canada.
Naccarata got his chance in Sunday’s rubber game against Mississippi State and took advantage of his opportunity.
Naccarata hit two three-run home runs and had seven RBIs, propelling LSU to a 14-3 over the Bulldogs before 5,487 in attendance at Alex Box Stadium. The Tigers took the series from State 2-1.
“It was a good day,” Naccarata said. “I was swinging the bat pretty good. I was trying to see the ball big and not try and do too much with it.”
Naccarata’s first home run off Alan Johnson (0-1) busted open a 4-1 game in the third inning to give the Tigers (21-4, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) seven runs scored in the inning. His other round tripper came in the seventh, and he also had a sacrifice fly in the fifth.
LSU coach Smoke Laval said Naccarata has put in countless extra hours in the batting cages to find his swing. Laval also said Naccarata is using a smaller bat and is finally getting the fat end of the bat through the strike zone.
“You know he’s going to hit,” Laval said. “It’s just a matter of when. Maybe he won’t go into a slump now because he started off so slow.”
Naccarata, who hit .320 with six home runs and 53 RBIs, now has three home runs and 17 RBIs on the season.
“We knew he would come around,” said second baseman Blake Gill, who hit 4-for-5. “It was just a matter of time. Hopefully, he will get on a hitting streak.”
Getting hits was not a problem for the Tigers on Sunday or in Saturday’s 11-6 win. The Tigers had 16 hits Sunday afternoon and 13 on Saturday, led by Jon Zeringue who went 3-for-3 with a home run and five RBIs. Mississippi State (14-8, 2-4) beat LSU 7-3 on Friday night.
“LSU is a good ball-club,” said Mississippi State coach Ron Polk. “Offensively, there are no easy outs. They’ve got some depth they can come off the bench with. In order to win here, you’ve got to pitch good and we pitched good in game one. We pitched just well enough [Saturday and Sunday] to keep them scoring 20 runs.”
All 10 LSU batters that had a plate appearance had at least one base hit.
Nate Bumstead scattered 10 hits in 7 1/3 innings for LSU in Sunday’s win and improved to 4-0. Bumstead gave up three runs, two earned, struck out two and walked none.
“I didn’t have my best stuff,” Bumstead said. “I battled through it and when you score that many runs, it makes for an easier day of pitching.”
Laval said Bumstead was his usual self.
“He was Bumstead,” Laval said. “I don’t think he was super, but I don’t think he was bad. But that’s him. He flutters that thing up there…. when he had to make the crucial pitch he did.”
Lane Mestepey finished the game with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Clay Dirks pitched eight strong innings Saturday to improve to 5-0. Justin Meier (4-1) picked up his first loss of the season on Friday night. State’s Jamie Gant handcuffed the Tigers offensively on Friday night, but LSU busted through against Johnson on Sunday and Jeff Lacher on Saturday.
“When you lose that first game, you’re always going to come back more intense,” Naccarata said. “[Saturday] we had a great game. [Sunday] the bats were singing too. We were hitting the ball pretty good and it went in our favor.”
Naccarata homers baseball to 14-3 win
March 29, 2004