Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Tulane Wins Shootout at Zephyr Field 16-9

METAIRIE, La. -- No. 21 Tulane jumped out to an early 10-0 lead and pounded out 22 hits against seven LSU pitchers on Tuesday night en route to dealing the Tigers a 16-9 loss before 9,318 fans at Zephyr Field.

LSU (17-13-1) dropped its third straight game to its in-state rival and fell to 3-9 all-time against Tulane at Zephyr Field. Seven Tiger pitchers combined to allow a season-high 16 runs on 22 hits.

The Green Wave (23-8) scored in every inning but two, and every batter in the order recorded multiple hits. Tulane put the leadoff hitter on in seven of its eight at-bats.

LSU opens a seven-game homestand with a three-game Southeastern Conference series against Auburn this weekend in Alex Box Stadium. Game times are 7 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.

Live audio and streaming video are available to members of the Geaux Zone on www.LSUsports.net.

Junior left-hander Kyle Beerbohm (0-1) was roughed up for four runs on five hits in 1.2 innings of work. Beerbohm, who was making just his second start of the season, issued two walks and struck out none.

"I knew it was going to be tough tonight," said LSU head coach Paul Mainieri. "I was really hoping that Kyle Beerbohm could go out there and fool them a lot with some off-speed pitches. They did a couple of things against him early. We just couldn’t get leadoff hitters out."

Tulane senior right-hander Matt Goebel (5-1) scattered nine hits and six runs -- five earned -- in 6.1 innings to register his fifth win of the season. Goebel walked three and struck out three.

Tulane second baseman Brad Emaus went 2-for-3 with four RBI, and left fielder Anthony Scelfo added two hits and drove in four. Right fielder Warren McFadden tallied four hits.

LSU was led offensively by freshman left fielder Ryan Schimpf, who went 2-for-5 and belted a three-run homer. Designated hitter Blake Dean extended his hitting streak to 11 games with three hits. The streak is the longest by a Tiger since Matt Liuzza maintained an 11-game stretch last season.

"Today, we saw Ryan Schimpf come into his own," said Mainieri. "He had some good at-bats and hit a big three-run homer. There were two guys on base, and he was battling and then he hits one out. That is something we can take from this game."

The Wave took an early 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI sacrifice fly by third baseman Tim Guidry. Beerbohm allowed an RBI double to designated hitter Aja Barto in the second inning and two consecutive walks proved to be costly.

Two batters later, left fielder Scelfo knocked Beerbohm out of the game with a towering two-run homer over the right field wall.

Tulane added another charge an inning later with a six-run onslaught against reliever Chris Sorce. Eleven batters came to the plate, and five Green Wave hitters accounted for RBI. Emaus delivered the big blow with a two-run single off of freshman Matt Jackson.

Trailing 10-0 entering the top of the fourth, the Tigers would not go without a fight. LSU got on the board and cut the deficit to 10-3 by taking advantage of two Goebel walks.

Catcher Sean Ochinko and right fielder Steven Waguespack earned the free passes. Third baseman J.T. Wise followed with an RBI double to centerfield. First baseman Buzzy Haydel drove in another run on a groundout.

However, Tulane quickly made it a 10-run advantage again with a run in the fifth and two runs in the sixth. McFadden provided an RBI single. Scelfo added an RBI groundout, and Emaus drove in his third run on a sacrifice fly.

With the contest clearly in favor of the Green Wave, LSU mounted another rally as the Tigers scored six in the seventh and batted around.

Goebel was chased after allowing three straight hits to begin the inning. Pinch hitter Nick Pontiff and centerfielder Steven Broschofsky drilled back-to-back singles, and Dean ended Goebel's night with an RBI double off of the right field wall.

Reliever Drew Zinzinia was then touched for three runs in 0.1 innings. Catcher Robert Lara greeted the righty with an RBI single, while Waguespack narrowed the gap with a sacrifice fly.

Two batters later with two on, Schimpf blasted a three-run homer into the right field swimming pool to close the deficit to 13-9. Schimpf's fourth homer of the year forced Tulane head coach Rick Jones to go to one of his top relievers in right-hander Preston Claiborne.

Claiborne pitched around a Haydel double to retire the side, and he silenced an LSU threat in the eighth. The Tigers put the first two runners on, but Claiborne got Dean to fly out on a 1-0 count. Lara then grounded into his second double play of the game to end the inning and leave the tying run on deck.

The Green Wave tacked on three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth against Paul Bertuccini, LSU's seventh pitcher of the evening. Tulane ace closer Daniel Latham worked a perfect ninth to end a game that lasted 3:40.



Tulane 16, LSU 9 (Apr 03, 2007 at Metairie, La.)
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LSU................. 000 300 600 - 9 12 0 (17-13-1)
Tulane.............. 136 012 03X - 16 22 1 (23-8)
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Pitchers: LSU - Kyle Beerbohm; Chris Sorce(2); Matt Jackson(3); Shane Ardoin(4); Clay Dirks(5); Louis Coleman(6); Paul Bertuccini(7).
Tulane - Matt Goebel; Drew Zizinia(7); Preston Claiborne(7); Daniel Latham(9).
Win-Matt Goebel(5-1) Loss-Kyle Beerbohm(0-1) T-3:40 A-9318
HR LSU - Ryan Schimpf (4).
HR TLN - Anthony Scelfo (3).

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