Baseball To Host TCU This Weekend At Turchin Stadium
Apr 18, 2002 | Baseball
April 18, 2002
NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Tulane University baseball team will look to build on the momentum of it's Popeyes Cup victory Wednesday night over UNO and continue to climb the Conference USA standings this weekend when the Green Wave plays host to league newcomer TCU beginning Friday at 6:30 at Turchin Stadium.
The Green Wave has now won three of its last four games and five of its last eight contests, but will be taking on a tough Horned Frog squad that is tied for the C-USA lead with an 11-4 league record. Tulane will also be looking to win its first ever contest against TCU after dropping the only two previous meetings 3-2 and 4-3 in a doubleheader on Feb. 9, 1989 under former head coach Joe Brockhoff.
The Green Wave comes this weekend's Conference USA series against league newcomer 21-18 on the year and 7-8 in C-USA play. Tulane has now won its last three league series' and will look to make it four in a row with the Horned Frogs in town.
As a team, Tulane is hitting .303 and has tallied a .448 slugging percentage with 75 doubles, 12 triples and 35 home runs. Senior infielder James Jurries leads the team in several categories with a .386 batting average, a .667 slugging percentage, eight home runs , four triples, 11 doubles and 38 RBI. Junior outfielder Aaron Feldman is second on the club in hitting with a .370 batting average, and junior centerfielder Jon Kaplan is next with a .317 clip.
As a staff, Tulane pitchers have tallied a 4.79 ERA and are led by junior southpaw Nick Bourgeois who paces the Green Wave staff with a 3.00 ERA and 80 strikeouts. Sophomore reliever Joey Charron leads the club with six saves and is second on the team with a 3.05 ERA and 53 strikeouts in a team-best 19 appearances.
TCU comes into this weekend's games with a 20-18 overall record and tied for first in Conference USA with an 11-4 league mark.
As a team, TCU is hitting .314 and has a .470 slugging percentage courtesy of 78 doubles, 14 triples and 34 home runs. Terry Trofholz leads the Horned Frogs with a .457 batting average, and Chris Meeks is next with a .398 clip. Jake Duncan, who is third on the squad with a .323 batting average, paces TCU with a .625 slugging percentage with eight doubles, three triples and five homers.
The Horned Frogs have been solid on the mound, sporting a 5.24 team ERA. Clayton Jerome leads the team with an impressive 2.67 ERA in 70.2 innings of work where he's struck out 49 and walked just 21. Four TCU relievers have appeared in 12-plus contests, including Ryan Grafe whose thrown 32.0 innings.
After this weekend's series against TCU, the Green Wave will try and lock up the Popeyes Cup on Tuesday night when Tulane takes on cross-town rival UNO at 6:30 p.m. at Zephyr Field. After that, the Green Wave will head to the Buckeye State to take on C-USA foe Cincinnati next weekend in a three-game series at Johnny Bench Field.
