Sunday, May 11, 2008
LSU SPORTS
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Saturday was Senior Day at Alex Box Stadium, but one-third of LSU’s batting order acted as if it were Sophomore Day.
Three second-year Tigers did a lot of damage in a 16-4 victory against Mississippi State that extended a number of streaks for LSU and increased its lead in the SEC Western Division.
Bradford gets to rest another day Jared Bradford isn’t about to take anything for granted. As sizzling as the LSU baseball team is right now, Bradford doesn’t want to make any assumptions about where the Tigers season might continue after today’s final regular-season home game at Alex Box Stadium. To say that LSU junior thrower Rabun Fox is looking forward to the next two meets, and possibly a third, would be the understatement of the year. After three mostly unfulfilled years as a hammer thrower, including a redshirt season in 2007, Fox is armed with a personal record and some newfound confidence going into the Southeastern Conference meet this week and NCAA Mideast Regionals later this month. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The 18th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team won a convincing doubles point but was unable to finish strong in singles as No. 15 Illinois ended the Tigers season with a 4-2 victory in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the Atkins Tennis Center. AUSTIN, Texas — The LSU women’s golf team found itself in a position of having to win a two-team playoff with Florida State to advance back to the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships on Saturday at the NCAA Central Regional golf tournament at the University of Texas Golf Course. Here’s another LSU baseball streak for you: The Tigers have played their last five games in sunflower-gold jerseys and plan to extend that to six today against Mississippi State. That color was a favorite of the 1996 team, which won the national championship wearing sunflower-gold jerseys. That was the year Warren Morris hit the most famous home run in college baseball history to win the title game. Fours days after winning the Southeastern Conference tournament last year, the LSU softball team found itself on a plane bound for NCAA competition in California. “I said, ‘Please ball, go,’” recalled an exhausted Mary Ratliff, standing in the Florida dugout wearing her brand new, yet already sweat-stained, SEC Softball Tournament Champions T-shirt. Moments earlier, with the No. 1-ranked and top-seeded Lady Gators trailing No. 2 seed Alabama 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning at Tiger Park, Ratliff stepped up to bat with two outs and the bases loaded, and the memory of what followed was only beginning to sink in. LSU tennis players Kevin Dessauer and Staten Spencer both received sportsmanship honors Saturday. In a kind of shorthand for baseball stadium names, Jacobs Field in Cleveland became known as “The Jake.” Candlestick Park in San Francisco was often called “The Stick.” “The Joe” is a common term for Sewell-Thomas Stadium at the University of Alabama. Alex Box Stadium, named for the former LSU baseball and football player killed in World War II, is typically called “The Box” or “Alex Box.” To a few people, those names resonate in ways others can never fully grasp. For years, LSU announcers Bill Franques and Jim Hawthorne pronounced Alex Box Stadium as spelled, enunciating the “x” in each of the first two words. In the 1990s, that changed. Readers share their memories of Alex Box Stadium as they join us in the countdown toward the final games of the 70-year-old ballpark and the transition to the new Box: They can take away Alex Box Stadium, but they can’t have the memories of so many good times experienced by so many fans in the home of LSU baseball. Like vacating that “aromatic,” home to rodeos, horse shows and a circus called LSU basketball, leaving old Alex Box Stadium will be as nostalgic as Tiger basketball ending its life in the “cow barn.” It just won’t smell as much. More Sports Headlines: So long, farewell (Sun, May 11) Rosetta: Bradford gets to rest another day (Sun, May 11) Fox confident with SEC meet nearing (Sun, May 11) Season ends for LSU tennis teams (Sun, May 11) LSU women win playoff (Sun, May 11) ‘There’s power in that gold’ (Sun, May 11) Girouard, LSU expecting better draw this time (Sun, May 11) Grand conclusion (Sun, May 11) Tennis players earn sportsmanship awards (Sun, May 11) Behind ‘The Box’ (Sun, May 11) Alex? Alec? or Elec? (Sun, May 11) Alex Box Memories (Sun, May 11) Sam's Kingdom of Sports for May 11, 2008 (Sun, May 11) Alex Box Memories (Sat, May 10) LSU women’s golf team remains 9th in NCAA regional (Sat, May 10) Fireworks early, late (Sat, May 10) Alabama advances past LSU (Sat, May 10) Dubois: You wonder: Where does the time go? (Sat, May 10) Johnson touches on state of LSU basketball program (Sat, May 10) LSU men, women advance; SU men open play today (Sat, May 10) Inside The Box (Fri, May 9) Alex Box to host its final SEC series (Fri, May 9) Stein’s inside job sparks Tigers, 4-0 (Fri, May 9) Lady Tigers ninth in NCAA regional (Fri, May 9) Tigers trying to use same script in SEC tournament (Thu, May 8) Franques not letting emotions rule in finale (Thu, May 8) Three Tigers earn All-SEC honors (Thu, May 8) Weathers: SEC tourney bringing quality to Tiger Park (Thu, May 8) Alex Box Memories (Thu, May 8) Women’s golf opens regional today in Austin (Thu, May 8) LSU track teams drop in rankings (Thu, May 8) LSU 12th in Director's Cup standings (Wed, May 7) Jacksonville State considers Perrilloux (Wed, May 7) Top signee Morgan seeks LSU release (Wed, May 7) 'Part of the whole picture' (Wed, May 7) Southern, LSU react to APR (Wed, May 7) Mitchell producing for LSU (Wed, May 7) Low APR scores for SU football, LSU baseball (Tue, May 6) LSU Baseball Attendance Figures (Tue, May 6) Catholic slams past Sidell (Tue, May 6) LSU golfers headed to regional (Tue, May 6) LSU equestrian club to compete in national championship (Tue, May 6) Tigers return to national rankings (Tue, May 6) 
Tigers gets sweep, move into Top 25
(Mon, May 5)Voice of the fan (Tue, May 6) Carl Dubois for May 6 (Tue, May 6) Georgia blows away Ole Miss (Mon, May 5) LSU softball earns No. 3 seed (Mon, May 5) LSU sweeps Ky., grabs West lead (Mon, May 5) Alex Box game crew looks back (Mon, May 5) |
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