No. 11 Baseball Splits Doubleheader with Houston

Friday, May 20

Houston, Texas

7:00 PM

Tulane University

36-17, 14-7

Houston

33-21, 11-11

TULANE

Houston

No. 11 Baseball Splits Doubleheader with Houston

May 20, 2016 | Baseball

Box Score

Tulane falls 3-2 in 13 innings in game one before bounce-back 8-4 victory in nightcap

HOUSTON – No. 11 Tulane baseball's day got off to a rough start, as the squad fell in heartbreak fashion to Houston in 13 innings by a score of 3-2, but the Green Wave bounced back in the second game of the doubleheader at Darryl & Lori Schroeder Park, winning 8-4, to split the Friday twin bill.

Tulane (36-17, 14-7) reduced its magic number to one for The American regular-season championship, as a win over Houston (33-21, 11-11) on Saturday – or a loss by East Carolina to UCF on Saturday – will give the Green Wave its first league title since 2005.

Game One

How It Was Won
Tulane led 2-0 heading into the bottom of the eighth, thanks to an RBI-single by Hunter Williams in the top of the first and an RBI-single by Jeremy Montalbano in the top of the eighth, but an RBI-single by Houston cut the lead in half before the Cougars tied things up in the bottom of the ninth. After many opportunities by both teams in extra innings, Houston won the contest in the bottom of the 13^th on a bases-loaded walk.

Pitching Decisions
W – Nick Hernandez (3-0)
L – Corey Merrill (2-1)
S – None

Game Two

How It Was Won
Tulane jumped out to an early lead with two runs in the top of the third, but really poured things on, as Jake Rogers and Lex Kaplan both launched three-run home runs in the top of the fifth for six. The Green Wave held an 8-0 lead until Houston cut it in half with four in the bottom of the sixth. However, Tulane got solid pitching out of Sam Bjorngjeld in the final two innings, as well as some strong defensive plays from Jake Willsey at second to keep Houston from reaching home again.+

Pitching Decisions
W – Ross Massey (9-3)
L – Mitch Ullom (6-4)
S – None

Quote
"That first game was just draining. It took a lot out of our players to not come out with a win in that game. But when you talk about guts and character, we exemplified that in game two. We had some guys really step up on the mound, defensively and offensively. It was a great night."
~Tulane baseball head coach David Pierce

Up Next
The Green Wave and Cougars will meet up for the regular-season finale on Saturday, May 21, for a 3:00 p.m. CT first-pitch. The game will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network.