April 2, 2005

Final Stats

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Sophomore right-hander Brandon Gomes struck out seven, and rookie closer Sean Morgan quelled a ninth-inning rally by the Blazers as the No. 3 Tulane University baseball team defeated Conference USA foe UAB, 4-3, Saturday afternoon at Turchin Stadium.

Tulane held a 4-1 lead going into the ninth inning, but the Blazers refused to go away quietly as third baseman Zac Ward drew a leadoff walk, first baseman Nathan McCorkle singled in the ensuing at-bat, and second baseman Seth Rollin ripped a one-out, two-run double to the gap in right center to make it a one-run affair. From there, Tulane head coach Rick Jones called upon Morgan to put out the fire, and the freshman from Sugar Land, Texas, responded with a pair of strikeouts to seal the victory.

Tulane out-hit the Blazers 8-6, including a pair of hits by senior catcher Scott Madden and freshman third baseman Brad Emaus, and improved to 24-5 on the year and 6-2 in C-USA play. UAB, meanwhile, fell to 18-9 overall and 4-4 in league action.

The game, however, belonged to Gomes as the redshirt-sophomore from Fall River, Mass., had a no-hitter going into the fifth before giving up a single to right fielder Cole Helms. The Blazers would break up the shutout bid later in the frame when catcher Ben McCullars ripped a two-out, two-strike single to right, but that would be the only run Gomes would allow in seven solid innings of work. Gomes did not allow a walk during his outing, and scattered four hits to improve to 4-1 on the season.

The Green Wave got off to a solid start as junior centerfielder Nathan Southard drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first, Emaus followed with a double down the third-base line, and senior shortstop Tommy Manzella would put Tulane on top with an RBI groundout to plate Southard from third. In the following at-bat, Madden ripped a triple to the base of the wall in right to score Emaus, and Tulane had a comfortable 2-0 lead.

UAB starter Jeff Brown (2-2) would settle in from there, and pitch his way around two singles and a pair of walks over the next four innings, but Tulane would get to him again in the sixth courtesy of an RBI-single to left by sophomore left fielder Mark Hamilton and a sacrifice fly off the bat of junior pinch hitter Brian Bogusevic for what proved to be the game-deciding runs.

Sophomore Daniel Latham came in for Gomes to start the eighth, and after tossing a three-up, three-down inning, gave up the two runs in the ninth before Morgan closed things out.

Tulane and UAB close out the weekend series on Sunday with first pitch slated for 1:07 p.m. In addition to being broadcast live on the radio on WRBH 88.3 FM, the game will also be televised live locally on Cox Sports 10 and rebroadcast at 8 p.m. on Cox Sports Television (local channel 37).