Tulane University
Houston
Tulane's Balanced Attack Too Much for Cougars
Mar 27, 2009 | Baseball
March 27, 2009
NEW ORLEANS- The Tulane baseball team battled two foes Friday night, as they took on the visiting Cougars of Houston along with the elements, en route to a 6-2 Conference USA win at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium. Tulane, now 16-9 overall, got their first C-USA victory of the season with the support of sophomore starter Conrad Flynn, who threw eight solid innings, and senior second baseman Seth Henry, who went 3-4 with three RBI, including his seventh homerun of the year.
"He [Flynn] settled down; he had the ball up in the zone a little bit early but he really worked through that and got his command going," head coach Rick Jones said. "He was stronger late than he was early and we played well defensively behind him."
The Cougars pounced first, putting up a lone run in the top half of the first when Zak Presley singled and was promptly knocked in on a RBI single off the bat of Chase Dempsay. But Tulane responded with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the frame. Josh Prince led off the bottom half with a walk and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. He later stole third and scored easily when Seth Henry laced the Wes Musick offering down the left field line. Henry was driven in on an RBI single from Karl Mundt and Tulane headed into the second with the 2-1 advantage.
Conrad Flynn quickly worked through the Cougar lineup, retiring six in the two-inning span, getting Tulane back to the dugout to continue their scoring exploits in the third. And score they did, as Prince again led off the frame with a walk and notched his second stolen base of the night. Henry picked him up, taking the 0-1 pitch off the scoreboard in left field, extending Tulane's lead, 4-1.
"The bats came out tonight," Flynn said. "The help with run support made my job really easy."
The Wave won the next inning with a lone run in the fourth when Drew Allain drew the two-out walk and moved up on a wild pitch. He was later plated on an RBI single up the middle off the bat of Prince.
Flynn, who hasn't issued a walk in his last 22.1 innings of service, went to work for the Wave, continuing to dazzle through the remaining innings. He did not relinquish another run, working eight complete innings and striking out three Cougars on his way to his third victory of the year to improve his record to 3-2.
Tulane put up another run in the bottom of the eighth when Jeremy Schaffer reached on an error and was advanced to third after Karl Mundt punched a base hit up the middle. Schaffer scored easily when Steve Moritz turned on a pitch, lacing it down the left field line for an RBI single, putting his club up by five, 6-1.
The Cougars picked up one more run in the top of the ninth but Tulane closer Nick Pepitone went on to shut them down, striking out the side to secure the 6-2 win for Tulane.
The Wave will return to Greer Field at Turchin Stadium for game two of the series behind southpaw starter Matt Petiton on Saturday at 2PM.
