College Sports
Gents smoke LSU
Centenary blows out nationally ranked LSU Tigers
March 3, 2005
Centenary starting pitcher J.C. Biagi (7) delivers the ball Wednesday night against LSU at Fair Grounds Field. (Jim Hudelson/The Times)
By Brian Vernellis
bvernellis@gannett.com
Cynics can take note of Wednesday's LSU-Centenary game at Fair Grounds Field. Sometimes the little guy does emerge victorious.
The Gents have been the little guys to the Tigers' big men in the state for 49 years. LSU was Goliath for the last 22 meetings, including a 15-0 win in 2003 and a two-out ninth-inning rally in 2002 -- but not any more.
The Gents stunned No. 3 LSU, 6-1, dominating from the first inning and riding on the right arm of 5-foot-9 senior J.C. Biagi.
Centenary head coach Ed McCann bounded about the Gents' dugout when right fielder Jonathan Colgin squeezed the final out off Quinn Stewart's bat. McCann's recent days have been emotional ones as his father battles pancreatic cancer in Las Vegas.
The win drew tears from his eyes as he marveled at his team's perseverance and remembered his father. This was a team who lost to NAIA member Loyola in mid-February and beat Michigan State on Saturday.
"This is probably one of the closest teams I've ever coached," McCann said. "To beat LSU in Shreveport is special.
"We are not the most talented or gifted, but we work together. I can't say enough about them."
None may have shown more determination than Biagi. Last year, he tore the labrum in his throwing shoulder requiring surgery.
None of his pitches topped 83 mph against the Tigers, so he simply pitched and set up LSU hitters with precision. He no-hit the Tigers through six innings, holding them to two hits in the complete game victory.
"I'm kind of stunned," Biagi said. "After 49 years we finally got LSU.
"I've got to rely on off-speed stuff and location, instead of the fastball. The faster they swing, the slower I throw. I've got to mix speeds, that's what I have."
The Gents won through the simple facets of the game -- great pitching, solid defense and timely hitting. Even when they did commit an error -- they had three in the game -- they recovered and kept LSU from stringing together runs.
LSU head coach Smoke Laval knew his team was in for a tough game by the second inning.
"I wrote it down in the second inning here," Laval said. "See? Centenary, 7-4. I saw the way (Biagi) was pitching and I could tell. I could tell we would have some problems.
"We were ready. They were just better than us."
David Kiefer's two-out double in the second got the Gents rolling. The double scored a pair of runs and built a 4-0 cushion.
The Gents all but sealed it with Tim Ryan and Justin Darr driving in some insurance runs to make it 6-0 in the fifth.
Most of the 3,805 fans at Fair Grounds Field were there for LSU, but by the bottom of the eighth inning, they began heading for the parking lot.
"You take it in stride," Laval said. "When you've got the right guy out there, this can happen. You try and compete pitch to pitch, game to game. They were the better team."