Tulane University
at Charlotte
Owings' Arm, Emaus' Bat Lead Baseball Past Charlotte, 13-0
Apr 8, 2005 | Baseball
April 8, 2005
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Junior right-hander Micah Owings posted a career-high 12 strikeouts, and rookie third baseman Brad Emaus went 4-for-6 with a pair of three-run homers as the No. 2 Tulane University baseball team defeated Conference USA foe Charlotte, 13-0, Friday evening at Tom & Lib Phillips Field.
The game started 53 minutes late as a precaution due to inclement weather forecast in the area, but delay did not affect Owings or the Green Wave bats as Tulane pounded out 21 hits. The Green Wave scored five runs in both the third and seventh innings, and added a single run in the fourth and a pair in the fifth, but the game belonged to Owings (4-3) as the preseason All-American gave up just four hits through eight innings, and faced just five more than the minimum during his outing to get the win.
All nine of the Green Wave starters had at least one hit, including four-hit performances by Emaus and junior centerfielder Nathan Southard. With the victory, Tulane runs its winning streak to seven games while improving to 27-5 overall and 8-2 in C-USA play. Charlotte, meanwhile, saw its five-game winning streak come to an end to fall to 20-10 on the year and 5-5 in league action.
Tulane got off to a bit of a slow start as Charlotte starter Adam Mills was able to pitch a pair of scoreless frames to start the game, but the Green Wave blew things open in the third on the strength of five hits and a pair of walks as the visitors sent 10 men to the plate in the inning.
Senior catcher Greg Dini got things going with a leadoff walk and Southard followed with a single before Emaus crushed a 2-1 offering from Mills over the wall in dead center to give Tulane a 3-0 lead it would not relinquish. Senior shortstop Tommy Manzella doubled in the ensuing at-bat, senior first baseman Scott Madden drew a walk in the next plate appearance, and after a pair of outs and a wild pitch, senior right fielder Matt Barket laced a two-out, two-run single up the middle to cap the five-run inning.
Southard doubled to open the fourth, and following Mills' second wild pitch of the ballgame, scored on an RBI single off the bat of Manzella to put Tulane on top 6-0. One inning later, sophomore left fielder Mark Hamilton and Barket hit back-to-back singles to start the frame, senior second baseman Joe Holland moved the pair over with a sacrifice bunt, and the duo scored on an RBI-groundout by senior catcher Greg Dini and a run-scoring single by Southard, respectively, to make it an 8-0 affair.
Tulane had a pair of hits in a scoreless sixth, but the 49ers would not be as lucky in the seventh as the Green Wave would plate another five runs on six hits, including Emaus' second three-run bomb of the day. Dini got things started with a one-out single and Southard ripped a double to left to set up Emaus' blast. One out later, Madden and junior designated hitter Brian Bogusevic sparked a two-out rally with back-to-back hits, before Hamilton stroked a two-run double to right center to account for the final score.
Redshirt freshman Chris Worster came on in relief of Owings in the ninth, and after giving up a two-out double to first baseman Spencer Steedley and a walk to pinch hitter Grant Hafer, got second baseman Cory Lane to fly out weakly to right to put the finishing touches on the Green Wave's fifth shutout of the season.
Steedley and shortstop Mike Ambrose both had two hits, with both of Steedley's knocks going for two-sackers, but the rest of the squad was a combined 1-for-24. Mills (5-1) was tagged with the loss, his first of the year, after giving up eight runs on 14 hits while walking three and posting a trio of strikeouts in six innings of work.
Tulane and Charlotte continue the series on Saturday at 1 p.m. (CDT) and the two teams close out the weekend on Sunday with first pitch slated for noon. Both games will be broadcast on WRBH 88.3 FM, and Saturday's ballgame will be simulcast on WTIX AM 690. Sunday's game, meanwhile, will be carried in North Carolina on C-SET, and carried live back in the New Orleans area on Cox 10.
