March 22, 2005

Final Stats

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Junior left fielder Micah Owings and freshman third baseman Brad Emaus both hit home runs, and the pitching tandem of junior J.R. Crowel and sophomore Daniel Latham combined for 10 strikeouts as the No. 2 Tulane University baseball team defeated Northwestern State, 4-1, in a "Businessman's Special" Tuesday afternoon at Turchin Stadium.

Crowel (5-0) was effective in the start, striking out five while giving up just one run on six hits in six-plus innings, and Latham allowed just one single over the final three frames to earn his third save of the season. With the win, Tulane runs its winning streak to six games and improves to 20-3 on the year. Northwestern State, meanwhile, falls to 18-8.

"J.R. Crowel had a really good outing," head coach Rick Jones said. "He looked like the J.R. Crowel of old, the J.R. that we've grown accustomed to the last couple of years. I also thought Latham did a nice job."

The Demons jumped out the early lead as left fielder Miles Durham was hit by pitch, stole second and scored on a triple by shortstop Scott Pittenger in the top of the second, but Tulane would answer in the home half of the frame when Owings belted a line-drive shot over the wall in left center to make it a 1-all contest.

In the ensuing inning, senior second baseman Joe Holland hit a leadoff single, and two batters later, Emaus would hammer a two-run shot to left central to give Tulane a 3-1 lead it would not relinquish.

Following four scoreless innings, Tulane would tack on an insurance run in the eighth when Emaus hit a one-out single, advanced to second on a groundout and scored on an RBI-double off the bat of senior first baseman Scott Madden to account for the final score.

The Demons would threaten throughout Tuesday's ballgame, loading the bases in the first and putting a pair on in fifth, sixth and seventh innings. With the exception the second, the Tulane would turn away the Demons each time as Northwestern State stranded 13 baserunners, including five in scoring position.

NSU starter Rusty Jones (2-1) was tagged with the loss after giving up three runs on five hits while striking out one and walking a pair in 5.2 innings. Tulane also hung a run on Demons' reliever Shawn Johnston, who walked one and gave up three hits in 2.1 frames.

The Green Wave return to action on Friday, March 25, when they travel to the Bluegrass State to take on Conference USA foe Louisville at 5 p.m. (CST) at Cardinal Stadium. The two teams will go at it again on Saturday at 12 p.m. before closing out the weekend on Sunday with first pitch slated for noon. All three games will be broadcast live on WRBH 88.3 FM, and Saturday's contest will be simulcast on WTIX AM 690. Live stats will be available via the internet on Game Tracker at www.tulanegreenwave.com.