Baseball Closes Regular Season at UCF

Friday, May 18

Orlando, Fla.

9 a.m.

Tulane University

UCF

Photo by: Parker Waters

May 16, 2018 | Baseball

TULANE GREEN WAVE (24-29, 9-12) at UCF KNIGHTS (33-19, 11-10)
When:	Thursday, 5:30 p.m. CT \| Friday, 5:30 p.m. CT \| Saturday, Noon CT
Where:	John Euliano Park \| Orlando, Fla.
Watch:	Live Video
Radio:	88.3 FM WRBH (Todd Graffagnini) \| TuneIn Radio
Stats:	Live Stats
Tulane Coach:	Travis Jewett (Washington State, '93) • 51-60 (2nd year)
UCF Coach:	Greg Lovelady (Miami, '01) • 73-41 (2nd year)
Notes:	Tulane \| UCF
Social:	Twitter \| Instagram \| Facebook

ORLANDO, Fla. – Tulane baseball concludes the regular season with a three-game American Athletic Conference series at UCF Thursday through Saturday at John Euliano Park. Game times are set for 5:30 p.m. CT Thursday and Friday and noon CT Saturday.

The game will be broadcast on 88.3 FM WRBH and the TuneIn Radio app. Links to live video and live stats will be available through TulaneGreenWave.com.

SERIES HISTORY
Tulane and UCF have played 42 times. Tulane leads the series, 23-19. The Knights won three of four meetings last season, including three in New Orleans and one in the conference tournament. The Green Wave won five meetings in 2016 – three in Orlando and two in the conference tournament. The teams have played each year since 2006, except for 2014. Tulane and UCF first played in 1989 in Orlando and 1990 in New Orleans, when each team won two games at home.

QUICK HITS
• Tulane is on the road for the final four games of the regular season, playing its series at UCF after a midweek game at ULL.
• Beginning with last weekend's series against Memphis, Tulane is playing seven games in nine days to end the regular season
• Tulane's 113 doubles rank 12th in the nation. The 2.13 doubles/game ranks 19th.
• Grant Mathews was named American Athletic Conference Hitter of the Week and a Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week. He hit .667 (8-for-12), and compiled a 1.750 SLG%, .733 OBP with four home runs and five RBI in three games; he hit three home runs on Saturday.
• Grant Witherspoon ranks 24th in the nation and leads The American with 19 doubles. He also ranks 4th in The American in hits, 5th in RBI, 2nd in walks, 6th in home runs, 3rd in total bases, 5th in OBP and 8th in slugging.
• Jonathon Artigues has reached base in 20 straight games. His last 20 Games: .350 (28-80), 21 RBI, 21 runs, 10 doubles, two home runs, four walks, 11 HBP, five steals, .453 OBP.
• Grant Mathews Last 7 starts (since May 1): .577 (15-26), 6 RBI, 7 runs, 4 HR, 2 doubles, 5 BB, 1.115 SLG%, .645 OBP.
• Trevor Jensen Last 18 Games: .356 (26-73) with 15 RBI, 15 runs, 6 HR, 5 2B, 3B, .699 SLG%, .400 OBP
• Witherspoon Last 14 Games: .375 (21-56) with 21 RBI, 13 runs, 5 HR, 6 2B, 12 BB, .750 SLG%, .485 OBP
• Witherspoon hit a grand slam Saturday vs. Memphis; he has hit three grand slams this season.
• Sam Bjorngjeld, who ranks ninth in the country and leads The American with 29 appearances this season, has thrown 8.0 scoreless innings across his last six outings.
• Trent Johnson has posted a 2.78 ERA in 22.2 innings across three relief appearances and one start, and is 2-0 in that span. He posted a 2.55 ERA in 17.2 innings across his three relief stints against ETSU, Southern Miss and ECU, prior to his start against Memphis.
• Witherspoon has multiple hits in 21 games; Hoese and Artigues have 18, Jensen has 15, Ty Johnson has 13 and Mathews has 11 multiple hit games. Witherspoon has a team-high eight games with three or more hits; Artigues has two four-hit games and seven games with three or more hits.
• Tulane has produced 107 2-out RBI – 38 percent of its 278 RBI this season have come with two outs.
• Tulane is averaging 5.8 runs per game and 8.9 hits per game.
• Witherspoon leads the team with 13 stolen bases (13-18) while Artigues has 10 (10-12), Gozzo is 8-for-8 and Ty Johnson is 5-for-5 in stolen bases. The Green Wave are 49-for-58 in stolen bases.

AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
Tulane will stay in the Sunshine State for the American Athletic Conference Championship, which takes place May 22-27 at Spectrum Field in Clearwater, Fla. The tournament bracket, including Tulane's first round opponent, game time and date, will be announced following Saturday's games across the league.

PITCHING MATCHUPS
Thursday
Tulane: RHP Kaleb Roper | Jr. | 5-4, 4.73 ERA, 12 APP, 12 GS, 64.2 IP, 52 H, 34 ER, 46 K, 32 BB
UCF: RHP Cre Finfrock | Jr. | 5-0, 3.27 ERA, 15 APP, 6 GS, 44.0 IP, 27 H, 16 ER, 48 K, 29 BB
Friday
Tulane: RHP Trent Johnson | So. | 4-2, 4.50 ERA, 19 APP, 2 GS, 40.0 IP, 49 H, 20 ER, 31 K, 16 BB
UCF: RHP Chris Williams | Jr. | 4-2, 2.61 ERA, 13 APP, 13 GS, 79.1 IP, 68 H, 23 ER, 67 K, 14 BB
Saturday
Tulane: RHP Josh Bates | Fr. | 2-2, 4.50 ERA, 15 APP, 10 GS, 46.0 IP, 41 H, 23 ER, 34 K, 28 BB
UCF: TBA

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