LSU Eliminated by South Carolina

Kevin Melillo had four hits and was ejected and reinstated after a collision at home plate, leading South Carolina to a 15-4 win over Louisiana State on Monday that eliminated the Tigers from the College World Series.

The Gamecocks trailed, 3-1, before they scored six runs, four unearned, with two out in the sixth.

South Carolina had the bases loaded with two out when Nick Gardiner singled to right off Lane Mestepey (7-4). Landon Powell scored easily, but Melillo collided with LSU catcher Matt Liuzza after the ball bounced under Liuzza’s glove.

Umpire Bob Homolka called Melillo safe, but immediately ejected him for not trying to avoid the collision.

South Carolina Coach Ray Tanner came out of the dugout to protest, and after the umpiring crew consulted with supervisor Dave Yeast, Homolka’s decision was reversed and Melillo was reinstated.

“He really didn’t plow through him,” Tanner said. “He kind of held up a little bit. Nobody went to the ground. You’d hate to see a player ejected in a game like this.”

Jim Paronto, secretary-editor to the NCAA Baseball Rules Committee, said in a statement that Homolka initially believed the collision was caused by a flagrant act by Melillo but it was later determined that it was not.

“I was coming down the line and I could see Landon telling me to get down,” Melillo said. “I was kind of looking to see where Liuzza was going to go, where the ball was going to take him, so I could try to take an angle and slide around him.

“The ball led him up the line and we collided a little bit. It was nothing intentional. He understood that.”

The intent of the rule is to encourage base runners and defensive players to avoid violent collisions whenever possible.

The Gamecocks went on to score four more runs in the inning, three on throwing errors by the Tigers. South Carolina added six more runs in the eighth inning to seal the victory.

LSU (46-19) was knocked out of the Series in two games by South Carolina for the second year in a row.

LSU, which had won two of three regular-season meetings between the teams, was dealt its worst loss since being beaten, 15-4, by Mississippi State in 2002. It was the Tigers’ worst loss in the Series since Cal State Fullerton beat them, 20-6, in 1994.

“We didn’t defend the field well for a few innings,” LSU Coach Smoke Laval said.

“We usually avoid the big inning, but this time we didn’t and it seemed to snowball on us. We just needed a few more timely hits.”