Feb. 23, 2010

NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane University baseball team returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 24, when the Green Wave play host to the cross-town Privateers of the University of New Orleans in the opening game of the First NBC Cup at 6 p.m. in Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.

Wednesday's game is the first off three slated between Tulane and UNO as the two teams will square off again on March 9 at Maestri Field on the Lakefront before returning home for the series finale on March 23. The winner of the three-game series will receive the second annual First NBC Cup Trophy.

Tulane enters the midweek matchup 1-2 on the year after dropping the season-opening series to Boston College over the weekend at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.

As a team, the Green Wave are hitting .314 with a .448 slugging percentage on the strength of six doubles, one triple and two home runs. Freshman second baseman Brennan Middleton leads the team with a .500 batting average while rookie infielder/catcher Blake Crohan and sophomore catcher/first baseman Jeremy Schaffer follow with respective marks of .462 and .444. Schaffer and freshman outfielder Cody Robinson are tied for the team lead with one nine home run each, Crohan and Schaffer have a club-best seven RBI apiece, and freshman outfielder Brandon Boudreaux has the team's lone steal of 2010.

From the mound, Tulane sports a 6.33 ERA after allowing Boston College to record a .315 batting average. Green Wave hurlers have combined for 21 strikeouts and 10 walks in 27.0 innings. The Green Wave will send freshman right-hander Kyle McKenzie to the mound on Wednesday. It will be his second appearance of the year after giving up one earned run on three hits in 1.0 inning of relief on Saturday against the Eagles.

UNO, meanwhile, comes to campus 0-3 on the year after being swept by St. John's over the weekend at Maestri Field.

As a team, the Privateers are hitting .206 with a .234 slugging percentage after tallying three doubles against the Red Storm. Kevin Berry leads UNO with a .500 batting average while Jay Morris and Nick Schwaner are next with marks of .364 and .250, respectively. Schwaner has two of UNO's three extra-base hits, Alan Harris leads the squad with three RBI, and the Privateers have yet to steal a base in two tries.

From the mound, UNO has an 11.40 ERA and has allowed opponents to connect at a .359 clip. Privateer hurlers have combined for 28 strikeouts and 18 walks in 30.0 innings of work. UNO will send sophomore righty Andrew Richardson to the mound. Richardson did not pitch over the weekend against St. John's but appeared in three games with a pair of starts a year ago when he struck out five in 8.1 innings.

Wednesday night's game marks the 127th meeting between Tulane and UNO on the diamond, and the Green Wave hold a 70-53 advantage in the all-time series. Under 17th-year head coach Rick Jones, Tulane is 35-21 against the Privateers. Last season, Tulane won the inaugural First NBC Cup after defeating UNO in the first two meetings of the year, 8-3 on April 21 in Greer Field at Turchin Stadium and 14-0 the next night across town. The Privateers, however, won the final game of the series 11-2 on May 6 at Maestri Field.

Following the midweek matchup with the Privateers, the Green Wave will open a weekend series against Lipscomb on Friday, Feb. 24, with first pitch slated for 6:30 p.m. For ticket information, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE.

PITCHING MATCHUP
Wednesday, Feb. 24           B/T   ERA   W-L   G/GS   IP   H   R   ER   BB   K
TU-Kyle McKenzie             R/R   9.00  0-0    1/0   1.0  3   4    1    1   1
UNO-Andrew Richardson*       R/R   7.56  0-0    3/2   8.1  8   8    7    4   5
*stats from 2009

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Greer Field at Turchin Stadium

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