Regional Championship Game Between Tulane, Alabama Postponed
Jun 5, 2005 | Baseball
June 5, 2005
NEW ORLEANS, La. - Sunday's championship game of the 2005 NCAA New Orleans Regional between the top-ranked Tulane University baseball team and second-seeded Alabama has been postponed due to inclement weather.
The two teams will square off on Monday at 1 p.m. at Turchin Stadium, and the second game - if needed - will begin approximately 50 minutes after the conclusion of the initial ballgame. Alabama had just wrapped up its 4-3 win over third-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette and the Green Wave had yet to make it to the dugout before the tarp was pulled and heavy rains made the field unplayable.
Tulane (52-9) advanced to the championship game after winning its opening-round game, 17-7 over fourth-seeded Southern, and defeated Alabama, 10-4, in the winner's bracket game last night. The Crimson Tide, meanwhile, opened the regional with 7-5 win over UL-Lafayette, before falling to host Tulane on Saturday.
The Green Wave need just one win on Monday to claim its second consecutive regional title and third in the last five years. The winner of the NCAA New Orleans Regional will advance to the Super Regional round where it will take on the winner of the Baton Rouge Regional (LSU, Rice or Northwestern State).
The Green Wave will send junior right-hander Micah Owings to the mound in game one of Championship Monday. For the season, Owings is 9-4 with a 3.63 ERA, leads the team with a .235 opponent batting average and ranks second in strikeouts and innings pitched with marks of 117 and 106.2, respectively. In his last six starts, Owings is 5-0 with a 3.41 ERA, 48 strikeouts and just six walks while limiting opponents to a .248 batting average in 37.0 innings of work.
Junior righty Trey Shields will counter for the Crimson Tide. Shields enters the contest 1-0 with a 3.45 ERA, 12 strikeouts and three walks in 15.2 innings of work. He has appeared in six games in 2005, including starts against Mississippi Valley State (4/20) and South Alabama (4/27).
