WOW Café & Wingery Cup Continues Tuesday When Tulane Battles UNO
Mar 20, 2006 | Baseball
March 20, 2006
NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Tulane University baseball team will look to build on the momentum of a series victory over South Alabama over the weekend when the Green Wave take on cross-town foe UNO in game two of the WOW Café & Wingery Cup on Tuesday, March 21, at 6:30 p.m. at Zephyr Field.
The Green Wave claimed game one of the series, 10-2, back on Feb. 21, and need just one win to clinch the three-game regular-season series. Tulane will serve as the home team on Tuesday, and the two teams will play again on Tuesday, April 4 when the Privateers will have the final at-bat.
Tuesday's game will be broadcast on the flagship station of Tulane baseball, WRBH 88.3 FM, and can also be heard live on the internet on www.TulaneGreenWave.com through the All-Access Pass. In addition, live stats will be provided free of charge via GameTracker on the official website of Green Wave Athletics.
Tulane enters the game 14-8 on the year, but will be looking to gain some consistency as the Green Wave are 7-7 over the last 14 games. UNO, meanwhile, enters the game with a head of steam after winning six of its last seven games, including series sweeps of Stony Brook and Buffalo over the past two weekends.
The Green Wave will send senior right-hander Billy Mohl to the mound where he will be matched up with Privateers' rookie righty Branon Johnson. Mohl is 2-0 on the year with a 4.45 ERA in six appearances and 30.1 innings of work. He ranks third on the team with 25 strikeouts and has walked just six batters.
Johnson, meanwhile, enters Tuesday's contest 0-1 in 2006 with a 7.47 ERA. Johnson will be making his 10th appearance and second start of the year, and in his previous nine times toeing the rubber, has 21 strikeouts and 10 walk in 15.2 frames.
As a team, the Green Wave are hitting .297 with a .409 slugging percentage courtesy of 37 doubles, six triples and 11 home runs. Redshirt-freshman right fielder Warren McFadden leads the Green Wave with a .350 batting average while junior first baseman Mark Hamilton and sophomore shortstop Cat Everett follow closely with respective marks of .346 and .333. Hamilton paces the team with five home runs and 19 RBI, and senior centerfielder Nathan Southard leads the squad with 13 steals in 15 attempts.
From the mound, the Green Wave have a 3.91 ERA and have held opponents to a .260 batting average. As a staff, Tulane hurlers have combined for 168 strikeouts and 47 walks in 198.0 innings. Redshirt-freshman Stephen Porlier leads the team with a 2.54 ERA, sophomore Sean Morgan paces the club with 39.1 innings pitched and 44 strikeouts. Junior Daniel Latham paces the bullpen with 13 appearances and has all five of the Green Wave's saves.
The Privateers, meanwhile, are hitting .326 with a .452 slugging percentage courtesy of 50 doubles, eight triples and 12 home runs. Johnny Giavotella paces UNO with a .475 batting average while Michael Epping and Brandon Bowser follow with .409 and .393 averages, respectively. Epping and Jason Schwab pace the Privateers with three homes each, Bowser leads the club with 21 RBI, and Schwab has 13 steals in 14 tries.
From the mound, the Privateers sport a 4.81 ERA and have held opponents to hit at a .277 batting average. As a staff, UNO hurlers combined for 171 strikeouts and 70 walks in 196.1 innings. Bryan Cryer and Ryan O'Shea lead the Privateers with four wins, and Cryer paces the club with a 2.13 ERA, 42.1 innings and 45 strikeouts. O'Shea leads the bullpen with 12 appearances, and Justin Garcia has the team's lone save in 2006.
The 2006 season marks the first year for the WOW Café & Wingery Cup, but the two teams are far from strangers as Tulane and UNO will be meeting for the 113th time - making it the fourth most games the Green Wave have played against any one school.
Tulane holds a 64-48 advantage in the all-time series, including a 29-16 mark under 13th-year head coach Rick Jones. The Green Wave swept the Privateers in 2005, and have now won four straight against UNO with a 10-2 victory back on Feb. 21
For ticket information to Tuesday's ballgame and future Green Wave Athletics events, contact the Tulane Ticket Office at 504-247-1240. The Ticket Office is currently located in the lobby of Fogelman Arena, and is open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets can also be purchased on-line at www.TulaneGreenWave.com.
POLL POSITION: After going 2-2 last week, the Green Wave's ranking in the national polls ran the gamut. Tulane improved two spots to No. 14 in the latest RosenblattReport.com Poll, and held steady at No. 14 in the most recent Baseball America Top 25. Tulane fell from No. 24 to unranked in the Collegiate Baseball Poll. The USA Today Top 25 and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll have not yet been updated.
