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Baseball Lets Late Lead Slip Away In 4-3 C-USA Loss At UCF
April 28, 2007
Box Score in PDF Format
ORLANDO, Fla. - For the Tulane University baseball team, it was like déjà vu all over again. For the second consecutive night, the Green Wave held a lead after seven and a half innings only to give it up in the bottom of the eighth. And for the second time in as many games, Tulane had the tying run on base in the ninth only to end up one run shy as UCF clinched its first Conference USA series victory of the year with a 4-3 victory Saturday evening at Jay Bergman Field. Tulane starter Shooter Hunt posted a career-high 13 strikeouts and senior first baseman Tim Guidry went 2-for-4 with a double, but it wasn't enough as the Green Wave fall to 29-16 on the year and 8-9 in C-USA play. UCF, meanwhile, improves to 21-23 overall and 3-11 in league action. Leading 3-1 going into the bottom of the eighth, the Green Wave saw the advantage evaporate as UCF pinch hitter Tim Russell got the rally going with a leadoff single to left. Russell was lifted in favor of pinch runner Bryan Bennett, and left fielder Chadd Hartman moved him into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Leadoff hitter Matt Horwath made it a one-run game with an RBI double to center, advance to third on a 6-3 groundout and scored on a wild pitch to knot the contest at 3-all. A walk to centerfielder Tyson Auer put the go-ahead run on base, and clean-up hitter Kiko Vazquez poked an RBI-double down the left field line to account for the winning run.
Tulane put the tying run on base when sophomore catcher Jared Dyer drew a two-out walk, but with pinch runner Scott Powell representing the tying run at first, Golden Knights' closer Justin Weiss got sophomore centerfielder Aja Barto to fly out to the wall in left to pick up his sixth save of the season. The Green Wave jumped out to a 3-0 advantage as sophomore right fielder Warren McFadden hit a solo homer and Barto roped an RBI single to left in the second, and Dyer came through with a clutch two-our RBI single in the fourth. That would be the final scoreboard tally UCF starter Kyle Sweat (4-3) would allow, however, as the crafty right-hander allowed just two hits the rest of his time on the mound. Sweat earned the victory after allowing three runs on eight hits with no walks and five strikeouts in 8.0 solid innings of work. Weiss, who got the win in the Golden Knights' 7-6 win on Friday, allowed just the walk to Dyer in a scoreless ninth. Lost in the late-inning heroics by UCF was the pitching performance of Hunt, who for the second straight Saturday did not figure in the decision despite a stellar outing. Hunt allowed a pair of runs - one after he left the game - on six hits and did not issue a walk for the first time in his career. He struck out eight of the nine UCF hitters at least once, including two Ks to three hitters and three strikeouts to third baseman Chris Duffy. Senior closer Daniel Latham (2-3), who relieved Hunt after Hartman's sacrifice bunt in the eighth, was tagged with the loss after allowing a pair of runs on two hits, a walk and a wild pitch in two-third of an inning of work. The Green Wave and Golden Knights close out the weekend on Sunday with first pitch slated for 1 p.m. Following Sunday's series finale, the Green Wave return to action on Tuesday, May 1, with game three of the WOW Café & Wingery Cup vs. cross-town foe UNO at 7 p.m. at Zephyr Field. For ticket information to Tuesday'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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