Crucial Weekend Lies Ahead for Baseball at Cincinnati
Apr 23, 2015 | Baseball
NEW ORLEANS - Tulane baseball will look to gain traction in The American Athletic Conference over the weekend as they travel north to take on Cincinnati in a three-game series beginning on Friday, April 24, at 5pm CT at Marge Schott Stadium.
Game two of the series will begin at 5pm CT on Saturday, April 25, while the series finale will be on Sunday, April 26, at 11am CT. All three games will be broadcast on 88.3 FM WRBH, while live streaming audio and video will be made available to paid members of the Tulane All-Access Pass at TulaneGreenWave.com.
Tulane has played seven-straight games against ranked opponents, including No. 1 LSU this past Tuesday. The Green Wave fell to the Tigers in Baton Rouge, 6-0, after taking two games from then-No. 15 UCF last weekend in shutout fashion at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium for Tulane's first league series victory. Heading into the weekend series against the Bearcats, Tulane is 24-16 overall with a league record of 5-7.
Cincinnati played midweek contests on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, defeating Xavier 8-5 on Wednesday after falling to No. 3 Louisville, 6-2, on Tuesday. The Bearcats were swept by Houston last weekend after picking up league-series wins over Memphis and UCF the two weekends prior. On the year, Cincinnati stands at 13-27 overall with a 4-8 record in The American.
Tulane continues to be led at the plate by sophomore Stephen Alemais's .317 batting average, but senior John Gandolfo - who ranks second on the team in hitting with a .295 average - was the only Green Wave player to collect a hit at LSU on Tuesday. Sophomore Hunter Williams' 22 RBI are a team high, while his four homers are tied with sophomores Lex Kaplan and Hunter Hope for the team lead.
The Bearcats are led by one of the nation's top players in Ian Happ. The senior paces the club in hitting (.377), runs (31), hits (52), doubles (10), homers (11), RBI (30) and walks (36). Cincinnati's second-best hitter is R.J. Thompson, who hits at a clip of .273 with one homer and 15 RBI. Ryan Noda is second on the team in home runs with seven and is tied with Devin Wenzel for second on the squad in RBI with 24. As a team, the Bearcats are hitting .224.
Tulane will use a rotation that consists of sophomore Corey Merrill (2-3, 2.06 ERA, 51 Ks), junior Emerson Gibbs (3-2, 2.41 ERA, 37 Ks) and redshirt junior Alex Massey (4-2, 2.75 ERA, 45 Ks) on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
The Bearcats will combat Tulane's trio of starting pitchers with righty Ryan Atkinson (3-4, 3.86 ERA, 33 Ks) on Friday, righty David Orndorff (1-2, 6.21 ERA, 14 Ks) on Saturday and southpaw Dalton Lehnen (1-6, 5.37 ERA, 44 Ks) on Sunday.
Friday's meeting will mark the first contest between the two programs since the 2004 season, when both Tulane and Cincinnati were members of Conference USA. Tulane owns the all-time series record between the two teams, 35-7.
Following the three-game series in Ohio, the Green Wave will return home for an eight-game homestand, beginning with Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday, April 28, at 6:30pm CT. That game will be televised by Cox Sports Television. On Friday, May 1, Tulane will open up a three-game series at home against Houston with a 6pm CT nationally-televised game on CBS Sports Network. After the series with the Cougars, Tulane will host USF from May 8-10 before playing a makeup game against Southern Miss on Tuesday, May 12, after the regularly scheduled contest was postponed due to inclement weather.
Tickets to any home Tulane baseball game, or any other Green Wave sporting event, can be purchased by calling 504-861-WAVE (9283). Tickets can also be purchased by visiting the James W. Wilson, Jr. Center's first floor ticket office.
Fans can follow the Tulane baseball program on Twitter (@GreenWaveBSB) or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/GreenWaveBaseball.
