DW will have some NBA stuff for you tomorrow (Golden State leads the series, 2-0) but first…

Sometimes you wonder if, just when you need them most, the Baseball Gods are standing over there in the concession stand line, waiting to order a chili dog, extra onions, and an Icee. And can we get some extra napkins?

Meanwhile your season is going down the tubes, tubes which no one has ever seen but which must surely be there because things that mean a lot to you are always ending there. And disappearing there.

…down the Proverbial Tubes.

Northwestern State (and what a season it was for the Southland Conference Tournament champs) was valiant against LSU in the NCAA Tournament in Oregon. Then The Tubes showed up.

The Demons led by a run going into the bottom of the ninth, 5-4, but walked the leadoff batter — Duooh! — and LSU got an infield hit off the heel of the Northwestern pitcher and Jake Slaughter (pictured) of Choudrant got the go-ahead RBI with the infield in and LSU scored 5 in the inning and won, 9-5.

If you’re an NSU fan, the Baseball Gods had bad tickets. If you’re an LSU fan, the Baseball Gods were in the dugout with you. And you figure, if you’re a Tiger, that it’s about time. You’ve battled all year and…

BUT…oh, the twists and turns. The twists and the turns …

LSU got in trouble early in Game 1 against Oregon State; they needed to beat OSU twice to advance to the Super Regional and then, hopefully, into the College World Series. Again, needed to beat them twice: couldn’t beat them once. Lost 12-Egg. A first-inning Beavers rally was kept alive, not by a hard-hit ball off the heel of the pitcher, but because of a ball of the first base bag.

Things even out.

The Baseball Gods are a fickle bunch. All you can do is keep playing the game for the right reasons. Be true to the game. It always gives more than it takes, but at the same time, it’s a game designed to break your heart.

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