Tulane/Southern Miss Baseball Halted Due To Rain, Lightning
Apr 22, 2005 | Baseball
April 22, 2005
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Heavy rain and lightning caused the Conference USA series-opening baseball game between No. 1 Tulane and No. 33 Southern Miss to get postpone in the fifth inning, but not before the Green Wave stormed out to a 15-0 lead Friday evening at Pete Taylor Park.
With five innings left to be played in the contest, Tulane has already tallied a season-high five homer runs, including three-run bombs by senior catcher Greg Dini and senior first baseman Scott Madden, and a grand slam off the bat of freshman third baseman Brad Emaus. While the Green Wave bats hung runs up at a steady pace during the contest, the right arm of Micah Owings was equally up to the task as the preseason All-American struck out five in four scoreless innings.
The game will continue on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m., and game two of the series will begin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first contest. Tulane and Southern Miss will close out the weekend on Sunday with first pitch slated for 1 p.m.
Following a scoreless first, the Green Wave would get on the board when Southern Miss starting pitcher Matt Caire walked the first two men before Dini crushed a towering, three-run bomb to left to give Tulane a 3-0 advantage. Southard followed with a solo home run in the next at-bat to put the finishing touches on a four-run frame, and the Green Wave would play traditional baseball in the third to add a pair of runs on RBI singles by Holland and senior left fielder Matt Barket to push the lead to 6-0.
Southern Miss threatened in the bottom of the third as second baseman Trey Sutton and catcher Brad Willcutt hit back-to-back, one-out singles, and centerfielder Jason Lowery drew a 3-2 walk to load the bases, but Owings would get designated hitter David Steele to bounce into a 6-3 double play to get out of the inning unscathed.
Tulane would make the missed opportunity hurt in the top of the fourth when the Green Wave sent 14 men to the plate, recording a single, three doubles and three home runs to stake claim to a commanding 15-0 lead. Emaus got things going for the Wave with a one-out double, and senior shortstop Tommy Manzella ripped an RBI-double down the left-field line to make it 7-0. A diving play by first baseman Marc Maddux robbed Tulane junior right fielder Brian Bogusevic of an extra-base hit, but Owings would walk in the ensuing plate appearance and Madden launched a three-run shot to right central to make it a 10-run affair.
Holland followed with a solo shot to left, Barket, Dini and junior centerfielder Nathan Southard drew consecutive walks to load the bases, and Emaus would turn on a 2-2 offering from the second Southern Miss reliever of the inning, right-hander Will Matlock, and sent it over the trees in left for his second grand slam of the year.
Owings would set the Golden Eagles down in order in the bottom of the frame, but lightning and soon-to-follow steady rain forced the game to get called.
