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Feb. 3, 2007

METAIRIE, La. - Four pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts and sophomore catcher Jared Dyer smoked a two-run triple in the bottom of the fourth as the Tulane University baseball team defeated the Green Wave Alumni, 3-2, Saturday afternoon in the seventh annual Alumni Game at Zephyr Field.

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Facing a team composed of former Tulane student-athletes who have gone on to play professional baseball and members of the 2001 and 2005 College World Series squads, the 2007 Green Wave got a boost from its freshmen pitchers as rookies Drew Zizinia and Preston Claiborne allowed just two base runners between them in 3.0 middle innings of relief.

"I was pleased with our overall performance, but I was especially pleased with the way we pitched today," Tulane head coach Rick Jones said. "Brandon Gomes was good and Daniel Latham was on top of his game, neither of which comes as any surprise, but it was really good to see our young pitchers pitch well. With the kind of club we were playing today, they had to pitch well and they did."

Gomes started for the Wave and finished the day with nine strikeouts in 5.0 solid innings. Zizinia did not give up a base hit in two innings of work, and Claiborne book-ended strikeouts in a scoreless eighth. In the ninth, the Green Wave handed the ball to Latham and the preseason All-American came through by retiring the only three batters he faced.

The two teams battled through a scoreless tie through four innings, but the Green Wave were able to draw first blood in the fifth. Junior second baseman Brad Emaus got the rally going with a one-out double to right, and redshirt-sophomore third baseman Jonny Weiss extended the inning with a two-out walk.

From there, Dyer turned on an offering from 2002 first-team All-Conference USA honoree Nick Bourgeois and sent it just beyond the outstretched arm of a diving Jonny Kaplan in center to stake Tulane to a 2-0 advantage.

The Alumni Team answered right back, however, as Andy Cannizaro - a member of the New York Yankees in 2006 - led off the top of the fifth with a clean single and two-time C-USA Player of the Year Jake Gautreau reached on an error. First baseman Mark Hamilton - the 2006 C-USA Player of the Year - cut the lead in half with an RBI-single to shallow center, and Kaplan tied the contest with a run-scoring base hit almost the exact same spot.

The trio of Zizinia, Claiborne and Latham kept the Alumni Team off the scoreboard the rest of the afternoon, and the Green Wave took advantage of a rare defensive miscue to account for the final score.

Sophomore outfielder Warren McFadden - the 2006 C-USA Freshman of the Year and a preseason All-America candidate - got things going with a leadoff double and advanced to third on a ground ball to first off the bat of sophomore centerfielder Aja Barto. Emaus followed with a dribbling ground ball to second, but a throw from the prone position by Cannizaro sailed over Hamilton's head at first and McFadden was able to score and provide the margin of victory.

"Offensively, we certainly need to improve if we are going to have the type of year we hope to," Jones said. "But the guys in the other dugout are pretty good. Billy Mohl threw well, Brian Bogusevic was dominant and Joey Charron looked like he was in mid-season form. Among those guys, there are a lot of accolades between them."

Mohl, a senior last season and a student assistant for the 2007 team, started for the Alumni Team and gave up just one hit and two walks in 3.0 frames. Bogusevic did not allow a hit in a scoreless seventh, and while Charron was saddled with the loss, the run he gave up was unearned via the error.

The 2007 team taking on the pro player/CWS squad came after the annual Old-Timers' game in which several former Tulane standouts took the diamond for an intrasquad contests earlier in the day. The light-hearted game saw Dezi Vega - a letterman in 1985 - toss a pair of perfect innings and hit a double and an RBI-single.

"With so many alumni on hand, that made it a very exciting day," Jones said. "It was exciting to see how much the program means to them and how much they mean to the program. I've been around long enough to see some of the guys who used to play in the pro-players game slide over to the Old-Timers' game. But it was a great day, and with the reception last night, a great weekend of fellowship through Tulane baseball."

The Green Wave open the regular season on Friday, Feb. 9, when they play host to Southeastern Louisiana at 6:30 p.m. at "The Shrine on Airline." Season tickets for Tulane baseball are now for sale through the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office and can be picked up in person on the first floor of the James W. Wilson, Jr. Center, via the internet at www.TulaneGreenWave.com or over the phone at 504-861-WAVE.