UCLA
LSU
Baseball Eliminated From NCAA Super Regional
June 03, 2000 | Baseball
June 3, 2000
Baton Rouge, La. - The UCLA baseball team's season came to an end Saturday afternoon, as Louisiana State eliminated the Bruins from the NCAA Super Regional with a 14-8 victory in front of a standing room only crowd of 7,667 at Alex Box Stadium.
The Bruins end the season with a 38-26 overall record, while LSU (48-17) advances to play in the College World Series held in Omaha, Neb. June 9-17. UCLA battled the heat, humidity and vocal crowds this weekend, and after the emotional loss, thanked the Louisiana State fans by shaking hands along the left field line bleachers. The Bruins were acknowledged for their efforts by a standing ovation from the sold out crowd.
UCLA did not go down without a fight, despite finding itself down 10-0 after the top of the fourth inning. After LSU had scored two runs in the first, two in the third and six in the fourth, the Bruins answered with five runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth.
LSU pulled away with another run in the sixth and one in the eighth, before sealing the win with two in the ninth. The Bruins put two on the board in the seventh and added one run in the eighth before stranding the bases loaded at the end of the inning.
Sophomore third baseman Randall Shelley led the Bruins with the bat, going 2-for-3 with a three-run home run in the fourth. Junior right fielder Matt Pearl was the only other Bruin with more than one hit, going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Junior second baseman Chase Utley was 1-for-5 with a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh, while junior left fielder Bill Scott drove in junior first baseman Garrett Atkins with an RBI triple to get the Bruin rally started in the bottom of the fourth. Atkins led off the inning with a double.
Errors proved costly for the Bruins today, as the Tigers posted their six-run inning thanks in part to two errors in the UCLA infield. UCLA ended the day with four total errors.
Earning the victory for LSU was Billy Brian, who pitched four innings in relief, allowing three runs on three hits and striking out four. The Bruins chased Tiger starter Hunter Gomez after three and a third innings, scoring five runs on seven hits off the right-hander. Weylin Guidry picked up his seventh save of the season, coming in to get LSU out of the bases loaded jam in the bottom of the eighth.
Sophomore right-hander Josh Karp suffered his first defeat in 13 appearances dating back to Feb. 19 vs. North Carolina. Karp, who finishes the season with a team-best 10-2 record, allowed six runs, five earned, in 3.1 innings.
LSU sluggers Ryan Theriot, Mike Fontenot and Wally Pontiff all recorded three hits, while right fielder Ray Wright had two doubles.
Post-Game Quotes
UCLA Head Coach Gary Adams:
"Besides losing, I think that the most disappointing thing is the fact that we are capable of playing better than we did in the games that you saw. Our team is a good team, and at the end of the season we were playing outstanding baseball, but it didn't happen here."
"Defeat happens to the best of teams, and I'm just sorry that our team wasn't able to show you the way that they normally play and usually play."
UCLA starting pitcher Josh Karp:
On being hit by a line-drive up the middle: "No, the line to the foot didn't effect me that much. I wanted to stay in there. I'm a competitor and I don't think the foot had anything to do with it."
UCLA second baseman Chase Utley:
On popping up with the bases loaded to end the eighth inning: "Yeah, in the eighth inning, I just missed that pitche with the bases loaded and two outs. But that's the way that it's been going for the last few days. We played hard, but things just didn't work out today."
LSU Head Coach Skip Bertman:
"I can't impress upon you enough how good UCLA really is. I mean they're very, very good. I doubt if anybody in any regional could have put together a better opponent than UCLA. But we had the crowd. I can imagine that Coach Adams said something or some of the players, but the crowd was worth the victory. I think they really helped us."
