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Baseball Falls In C-USA Series Finale To Houston, 6-4
April 22, 2007
Box Score in PDF Format
METAIRIE, La. - Houston scored four runs in the sixth and another two in the seventh, and its bullpen withstood a late Green Wave come-back attempt, as the Tulane University baseball team dropped a 6-4 Conference USA decision to the Cougars Sunday afternoon at Zephyr Field. The loss was the third of the weekend by the Wave to the Cougars as Houston posted its second series sweep of Tulane since 2002 and the first away from Cougar Field. Tulane entered the weekend tied for second in the C-USA standings, but falls to fifth place following the sweep. With the loss, the Green Wave drop to 28-14 on the year and 8-7 in C-USA play. Houston, meanwhile, improves to 22-17 overall and 9-3 in league action. "It was a very disappointing weekend," Tulane head coach Rick Jones said. "I think everyone understands how serious this is. We really wanted to win today. After last night, our kids played very hard, but we just waited too late to get it going offensively. We had some chances in the first inning and didn't get it done. They stretched the lead and did the little things. Houston played great this weekend and we didn't match that. It was a tough weekend for us." Green Wave starter Brandon Gomes (5-3) kept Houston off the scoreboard over the first five innings, but the Cougar bats came alive in the sixth for four runs on five hits to erase a 1-0 Tulane lead. Trailing 6-1 going into the bottom of the seventh, Tulane got a leadoff homer by sophomore right fielder Aja Barto and plated two more runs on an RBI-single by sophomore designated hitter Warren McFadden and an RBI-double by senior third baseman Tim Guidry to cut the lead to two.
That was as close as the Cougars would allow the Green Wave to get, however, as reliever Barry Laird came on to thwart the seventh-inning rally, tossed a perfect eighth and pitched his way around a two-out single in the ninth to earn his first save of the season. Houston out-hit Tulane, 12-10, including a three-hit seventh which led to a pair of runs which turned out to be the difference in the ballgame. Three of the Green Wave's hits came in the first inning as junior shortstop Cat Everett, junior first baseman Brad Emaus and McFadden all singled to load the bases with only one away, but Houston starter John Touchton (4-3) got out of the inning without a run scoring. Following a scoreless second, Tulane took an early 1-0 lead when sophomore second baseman Seth Henry singled with one out, moved to second on a walk issued to McFadden and scored on a two-out, RBI-single by Guidry. From there, however, the Green Wave offense went silent for the next three innings as Touchton faced just two more than the minimum during that stretch with a pair of walks while not allowing a hit. Houston's offense, meanwhile, got going in the sixth as second baseman Ryan Lormand, designated hitter Felix Fanaselle and left fielder Jimmy Cesario hit consecutive singles to open the frame. With the score tied at 1-all and runners at second and third with one out, Tulane decided to intentionally walk first baseman Josh Stirneman to load the bases and set up a potential double play. The move backfired, however, as catcher Luis Flores ripped a two-run single to left and centerfielder Zak Presley followed with a run-scoring to right to give Houston a 4-1 advantage. Rookie right-hander Preston Claiborne came on to put out the fire in the sixth, but got touched up for a pair of runs in the seventh as third baseman Dustin Kingsbury hit an RBI-single to shallow center and Stirneman lifted a sacrifice fly to right to account for the Cougars' final runs. Tulane made things interesting with a three-spot following the seventh-inning stretch, and brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth as Emaus hit an infield single to shortstop with two away. Laird, however, responded by getting McFadden to bounce into a 6-4 fielder's choice to spark the Cougar celebration. "I think (the sweep) speaks for itself," Houston head coach Rayner Noble said. "This is no easy deal. We've been going at it since '97. To come out of here just winning the series is large, but sweeping is obviously even larger. I couldn't be more proud of our guys. I think they just battled until the Nth degree. We kind of did it on fumes there at the end with pitching, but so be it." The Green Wave return to action on Wednesday, April 25, with a 6:30 p.m. showdown with Nicholls State at Zephyr Field before returning to C-USA play over the weekend with a three-game tilt at UCF. For ticket information to Wednesday's ballgame, as well as future Tulane Athletics events, contact the Tulane Athletics ticket office at (504) 861-WAVE. Tickets can also be purchased on the day of the game at the Zephyr Field Ticket Office, which is located on the third-base side of the stadium and opens approximately two hours before first pitch. |
 
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