Tulane University
Southern Miss (DH)
Baseball Splits Sunday Double Header At Southern Miss
Apr 15, 2007 | Baseball
April 15, 2007
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
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HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The day started off a little rocky, but by the time it was over, there were a lot of smiles in the Green Wave dugout as the Tulane University baseball team clinched a Conference USA series victory over Southern Miss with a 7-1 game-three victory Sunday afternoon at Pete Taylor Park.
Forced to play a pair of seven-inning contests on Sunday due to inclement weather in the Hattiesburg, Miss., area on the previous day, the Green Wave (27-11, 8-4 C-USA) dropped game one to the Golden Eagles (22-15, 4-8), 5-2, but senior third baseman Tim Guidry highlighted a seven-run first in game two with a grand slam to right central.
Pitching with a 7-0 lead, senior right-hander Brandon Gomes gave Tulane a complete-game effort, scattering six hits and two walks while allowing just one unearned run to clinch the Green Wave's fourth consecutive series victory over the Golden Eagles.
"As I told the team - and I go back to my time at junior college and smaller college where you play double headers most of the time - so many times when you see a team win that first game...they sometimes ease into that second game a little bit," Tulane head coach Rick Jones said. "You're real excited about winning the first game when that second game gets started and the glow is still going. We're over here with a mad on and I think that that's what happened.
"This happens so many times and it can happen just the other way had we won the first one. You have to really try hard to forget about that first one, but you can't forget about it in 40 minutes. As I said to our guys, `The great news is we don't have to wait a day or two or three to try and get a `W'. We can do it in 30 or 40 minutes.'"
The Green Wave loaded the bases to start game two and sophomore left fielder Anthony Scelfo drove in what proved to be the game-winning run with a walk. From there, Guidry lifted a 1-1 pitch into a stiff breeze blowing out to left for a grand slam and the Tulane route was on.
The Green Wave sent 13 batters to the plate and posted six hits in the opening stanza, including back-to-back doubles by sophomore second baseman Seth Henry and sophomore right fielder Aja Barto before junior shortstop Cat Everett capped the seven-run frame with an RBI-single.
Gomes gave up a leadoff single to first baseman Trey Sutton to start the bottom of the first, but retired the next three batters he faced to get out of the inning. In the second, however, left fielder Drew Carson drew a one-out walk and advanced the bases on an error and a fielder's choice before shortstop Brian Dozier drove him home with a base hit through the left side of the infield to put Southern Miss on the board.
That would be the only run allowed the rest of the day as Gomes got the benefit of three double-play ground balls. He finished the day with just one strikeout, but got 12 ground-ball outs and five fly balls to improve to 5-2 on the year.
"(The seven-run) lead just allows me to go out there and throw strikes and let my defense work," Gomes said. "I was working both sides of the plate with fastball/cutter pretty much. That was it. It was fastball/cutter, today. My splitter wasn't good, but I was just moving (my fastball) in and out, and Coach Sutter was right there with me. I didn't have to shake off once."
In game one, the Golden Eagles took advantage of an error in the first inning to plate three runs (two unearned) off Tulane starter Shooter Hunt. Making just his 11th start of the year, Southern Miss left fielder Drew Carson capped the first with an infield RBI-single to short, and finished the day 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI.
Barto put Tulane on the board with a leadoff homer in the third, and the Green Wave cut the lead to one in the fourth when sophomore centerfielder Nate Simon roped an RBI-single to right to plate Scelfo from third.
Following a scoreless fourth, Southern Miss put the game away when outfielder Jody Blount and second baseman Baily Hartel hit back-to-back one-out singles before Carson came through with a clutch, two-run double to the gap in left central to account for the final score.
"I thought Southern Miss came out and played very, very well in the first ballgame," Jones said. "They played well offensively, they pitched and it was just one of those things were we cut the lead and they stretched it. When you do stuff like that, it gives you a good chance to win."
Sunday's game-two win was Tulane's fourth in its last five games, and gives the Green Wave in a tie for second place in the C-USA standings with the Houston Cougars, who the Green Wave will play next weekend at Zephyr Field.
"We knew going into the (weekend) that (Southern Miss was) going to give us a great game and we just had to make sure we do the extra things that it takes to win the series," Guidry said. "When you play in Conference USA, you only have (24) conference games, and you try to win as many games against the teams that will be at the top at the end to put them in the rearview mirror."
Tulane's returns to action on Tuesday, April 17, when the Green Wave play host to Northwestern State at noon at Zephyr Field. For ticket information for that ballgame, as well as future Tulane athletic events, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at 504-861-WAVE.
