May 22, 2004

Final Stats

HOUSTON, Texas - Junior shortstop Tommy Manzella hit a three-run homer in the fifth, and junior catcher Greg Dini belted a solo bomb in the seventh, as the Tulane University baseball team took the regular-season finale 5-4 over Conference USA foe Houston Saturday afternoon at Cougar Field.

Sophomore Matt Goebel gave the Green Wave 3.2 innings of solid relief, coming on for starter J.R. Crowel with one out in the fifth, and freshman reliever Daniel Latham pitched Tulane out of a two-on, nobody out jam in the bottom of the ninth to earn his fifth save of the season.

The win, coupled with an 11-0, seven-inning loss by Southern Miss to East Carolina earlier in the day at Hattiesburg, Miss., clinches the No. 2 seed in the 2004 Conference USA Tournament for Tulane, and the Green Wave will face seventh-seeded UAB at 12:30 p.m.. at Cougar Field. Tulane concludes the regular season 38-17 overall and 21-9 in C-USA play. Houston, meanwhile, finished 28-27 on the year and 19-11 in league action.

Tulane opened the scoring in the second when sophomore right fielder Brian Bogusevic hit a one-out single, and freshman designated hitter Mark Hamilton drove him home with an RBI-double to right center.

The game, however, took an interesting turn after two and half innings as junior first baseman Wes Swackhamer came up empty on a swing-and-a-miss strike three, ran down the baseline to reach, and both he and the ball arrived at the bag at the same time. Swackhamer ran into the glove of Houston first baseman Thanos Papavasiliou, but the Green Wave lefty was called for interference for the third out of the stanza.

Tulane head coach Rick Jones came out to argue the call, but was immediately ejected by home-plate umpire Lee Prejean, and the Green Wave also lost associate head coach Mark Kingston, senior pitcher Cory Hahn and starting left fielder Matt Barket in the melee. As a result, Swackhamer moved to left, senior Brian Bormaster went from third to first, and sophomore Tim Guidry was inserted at third. In addition, pitching coach Sean Teague took over in the dugout, assistant coach Matthew Boggs took over the third base coaching responsibilities, and redshirt-junior pitcher Ricky Fairchild coached first.

Houston tied the game in the home half of the frame when designated hitter Kevin Roberts drew a one-out walk, second baseman Cole Bruce followed with a single, and right fielder Rob Johnson laced an RBI-single through the left side of the infield to make it a 1-1 ballgame.

Following a scoreless fourth, Bormaster reached on a two-base error to open the frame, Guidry drew a one-out walk, and Manzella hammered a first-pitch offering from Houston starter Matt Varner over the wall in left to give the Green Wave a 4-1 lead they would never relinquish.

Tulane padded its lead in the seventh when Dini hit a towering, two-out solo home run to left central, and Goebel retired the side in order in the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings. In the ninth, however, left fielder Travis Tully reached on an error and centerfielder Jake Stewart singled to open the frame. From there, assistant coach Sean Teague went to the bullpen for Latham. After giving up a sacrifice bunt to Roberts and a sacrifice fly to Bruce, the rookie from Covington, La., put the final stamp on the win with a check-swing strikeout of Johnson.

Goebel earned the win for Tulane, striking out two, walking one and scattering three hits, to improve to 3-1. Crowel, who made his first appearance since suffering an injury vs. USF on May 8, gave the Green Wave a solid 4.1 frames of work, striking out two, walking one and giving up a pair of earned runs on eight hits.

Varner, meanwhile, was saddled with the loss after giving up four runs (three earned) on four hits while striking out three and walking four in 4.2 innings of work to fall to 7-4 in 2004. Justin Vaclavik, Matt Farrington, Austin Summerlin and Brandon Roznovsky combined to give the Cougars 4.1 solid innings of relief, but Farrington gave up the home run to Dini, which proved to be the difference in the ballgame.

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