Tulane's appearance at Alex Box Stadium tonight against UNC Wilmington brings back pleasant memories for me.
This is the seventh time the Green Wave has played a regional in Baton Rouge, but the only one I attended was the first one in 1986, right after I graduated from high school in New Orleans. I had been attending Tulane games since 1980, getting into all of them free because my father was on the faculty (well, sort of), and in those days I just needed to show his card to gain admittance. From 1981 to 1986 I went to almost every home game for at least a few innings, going straight from school to the stadium during the week (single games started at 2, doubleheaders started at 1). I was at all three of Tulane's 1982 regional games at UNO--the first one when the Wave gave up back-to-back homers to Augie Schmidt and Brian Devalk leading off the ninth to lose by 2, the easy win over Jackson State the next day and the rematch with UNO when Tulane tied it in the top of the ninth but had the go-ahead run thrown out by a perfect relay at the plate, then watched as a UNO scored the winning run on a balk in the bottom of the 9th.
Four years later, in 1986, Joe Brockhoff had his best team. The pitching was not great, but the hitting was terrific, and I knew Tulane had a chance to make a deep run as LSU played host to a regional for the first time in school history. It was a six-team regional, and Tulane was seeded third behind LSU and Oklahoma, with La Tech, Eastern Kentucky and a team I don't remember rounding out the field.
My mother and I got lost in Baton Rouge on the way to the opener against La Tech (we had never been to Alex Box), and by the time we arrived, Tulane was already trailing in a game it never led, falling 7-5.
The good news was the format for second-day matchups in six-team regionals had not been set back then, and the NCAA allowed experimentation. If the format had been what it would officially become for all of the 1990s, Tulane would have had to face LSU on the second day because the loser of the 3-4 seed game played the winner of the 1-6 game. In Baton Rouge that year, though, the 3-4 loser played to 2-5 loser, the 1-6 winner played the 2-5 winner and the 3-4 winner played the 1-6 loser. Tulane faced a weak Eastern Kentucky team on day 2 while LSU had to play No. 2 Oklahoma, and Tulane crushed EKU to stay alive while LSU and La Tech both won to remain undefeated.
The third day was the best day in Tulane baseball history to that point. I can't remember whether it was the morning or the afternoon, but Tulane broke open a close game with Oklahoma with a blitzkrieg in the late innings, winning 14-5 and validating my belief it was the best Wave team ever after some scratch play to that point. LSU had beaten La Tech that day, too, and at night Tulane got a rematch with the Bulldogs and won easily (though the boxscore lists Tulane with a whopping five errors), advancing to the championship round of a regional for the first time in school history (It would not happen again until 1999). The total score on that day ws Tulane 23, opponents 9.
The LSU game turned out to be a heartbreaker. The Tigers made the CWS for the first time ever, starting their streak of dominance under Skip Bertman, but not without a huge fight from Tulane, which led 6-4 as the home team going into the final two innings but needed to beat the Tigers two straight to win the regional. LSU tied it in the eighth and went ahead in the top of the ninth before a torrential downpour delayed the finish overnight.
My sister and I drove back the next day, going through some hellacious thunderstorms on the way to Baton Rouge. Either that day or the previous day, we watched as they brought in a helicopter to drive the water off the field with its whirling blades during a delay. Tulane had runners on first and second when the game ended with LSU closer Barry Manuel on the mound. I recall the game-ending play as a weak bouncer back to the mound from pinch hitter Glen Leaveau, a lefty freshman pitcher who rarely hit, but the Tulane media guide lists it as a Tookie Spann fly out.
Tulane had a heck of a team that year, hitting .314 with an ERA of 4.15, easily the lowest in Brockhoff's final 13 years as coach. One of the afterthoughts on the pitching staff, Gene Harris, had a Major League career, but Mike Borgatti, Sam Amarena and reliever Tommy Little were the mainstays. Dan Wagner, Spann, Ron Marigny, David Smith, John Reich and Billy Rapp were some of the hitters for a team that finished 49-15 as an independent.
At the time, I thought that was the last Tulane team I would get to see play more than once or twice because I was headed to the University of Florida and did not know whether I would ever move back to New Orleans. I actually saw Tulane get eliminated from a regional at UNO by Cal Fullerton the next year (shut out by Mike Harkey in a dominant performance) on my first day back in New Orleans after my freshman year, but I've only been back to Alex Box Stadium once since then --for a regular season game with LSU three years ago.
Tonight will be the first regional game I have seen Tulane play since 1987. I can't wait.
This is the seventh time the Green Wave has played a regional in Baton Rouge, but the only one I attended was the first one in 1986, right after I graduated from high school in New Orleans. I had been attending Tulane games since 1980, getting into all of them free because my father was on the faculty (well, sort of), and in those days I just needed to show his card to gain admittance. From 1981 to 1986 I went to almost every home game for at least a few innings, going straight from school to the stadium during the week (single games started at 2, doubleheaders started at 1). I was at all three of Tulane's 1982 regional games at UNO--the first one when the Wave gave up back-to-back homers to Augie Schmidt and Brian Devalk leading off the ninth to lose by 2, the easy win over Jackson State the next day and the rematch with UNO when Tulane tied it in the top of the ninth but had the go-ahead run thrown out by a perfect relay at the plate, then watched as a UNO scored the winning run on a balk in the bottom of the 9th.
Four years later, in 1986, Joe Brockhoff had his best team. The pitching was not great, but the hitting was terrific, and I knew Tulane had a chance to make a deep run as LSU played host to a regional for the first time in school history. It was a six-team regional, and Tulane was seeded third behind LSU and Oklahoma, with La Tech, Eastern Kentucky and a team I don't remember rounding out the field.
My mother and I got lost in Baton Rouge on the way to the opener against La Tech (we had never been to Alex Box), and by the time we arrived, Tulane was already trailing in a game it never led, falling 7-5.
The good news was the format for second-day matchups in six-team regionals had not been set back then, and the NCAA allowed experimentation. If the format had been what it would officially become for all of the 1990s, Tulane would have had to face LSU on the second day because the loser of the 3-4 seed game played the winner of the 1-6 game. In Baton Rouge that year, though, the 3-4 loser played to 2-5 loser, the 1-6 winner played the 2-5 winner and the 3-4 winner played the 1-6 loser. Tulane faced a weak Eastern Kentucky team on day 2 while LSU had to play No. 2 Oklahoma, and Tulane crushed EKU to stay alive while LSU and La Tech both won to remain undefeated.
The third day was the best day in Tulane baseball history to that point. I can't remember whether it was the morning or the afternoon, but Tulane broke open a close game with Oklahoma with a blitzkrieg in the late innings, winning 14-5 and validating my belief it was the best Wave team ever after some scratch play to that point. LSU had beaten La Tech that day, too, and at night Tulane got a rematch with the Bulldogs and won easily (though the boxscore lists Tulane with a whopping five errors), advancing to the championship round of a regional for the first time in school history (It would not happen again until 1999). The total score on that day ws Tulane 23, opponents 9.
The LSU game turned out to be a heartbreaker. The Tigers made the CWS for the first time ever, starting their streak of dominance under Skip Bertman, but not without a huge fight from Tulane, which led 6-4 as the home team going into the final two innings but needed to beat the Tigers two straight to win the regional. LSU tied it in the eighth and went ahead in the top of the ninth before a torrential downpour delayed the finish overnight.
My sister and I drove back the next day, going through some hellacious thunderstorms on the way to Baton Rouge. Either that day or the previous day, we watched as they brought in a helicopter to drive the water off the field with its whirling blades during a delay. Tulane had runners on first and second when the game ended with LSU closer Barry Manuel on the mound. I recall the game-ending play as a weak bouncer back to the mound from pinch hitter Glen Leaveau, a lefty freshman pitcher who rarely hit, but the Tulane media guide lists it as a Tookie Spann fly out.
Tulane had a heck of a team that year, hitting .314 with an ERA of 4.15, easily the lowest in Brockhoff's final 13 years as coach. One of the afterthoughts on the pitching staff, Gene Harris, had a Major League career, but Mike Borgatti, Sam Amarena and reliever Tommy Little were the mainstays. Dan Wagner, Spann, Ron Marigny, David Smith, John Reich and Billy Rapp were some of the hitters for a team that finished 49-15 as an independent.
At the time, I thought that was the last Tulane team I would get to see play more than once or twice because I was headed to the University of Florida and did not know whether I would ever move back to New Orleans. I actually saw Tulane get eliminated from a regional at UNO by Cal Fullerton the next year (shut out by Mike Harkey in a dominant performance) on my first day back in New Orleans after my freshman year, but I've only been back to Alex Box Stadium once since then --for a regular season game with LSU three years ago.
Tonight will be the first regional game I have seen Tulane play since 1987. I can't wait.