The Tulane-Sam Houston State elimination game in the Baton Rouge regional, which was stopped for lightning at 4:07 p.m. on Saturday, finally was postponed to noon Sunday after a little more than six hours of waiting.
The Green Wave trailed the Bearkats 7-2 in the top of the seventh inning but had the bases loaded with two out. It was a case of missed opportunities for Tulane, which had only one run on 12 hits until Brennan Lambert was plunked by a two-strike pitch to bring in the second run just before the delay.
Sam Houston State hit three home runs, the biggest of which was a three-run blast that capped a four-run fourth inning as it went ahead 5-1.
Although there was a little rain shortly after the tarp was put on the field, the issue for most of the delay was lightning in the area. The tarp was pulled up and the game was supposed to resume at 5:55, but the continued presence of lightning and the threat of rain kept pushing the time back and brought the tarp back until a heavy downpour and more lightning caused the overnight postponement.
When the game resumes, Tulane’s Simon Baumgardt will be looking for his fourth hit in as many plate appearances to cut into the five-run deficit. The Wave is trying to avoid going winless for the first time in 17 regional appearances dating to an 0-2 showing at UNO in 1987.
The winner will face the loser of the LSU-Oregon State game, which was supposed to played Saturday night but will start at 2 p.m., later on Sunday.