Baseball Opens American Athletic Conference Championship vs. Houston Tuesday

2018 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
No. 8 TULANE GREEN WAVE (24-31) vs. No. 1 HOUSTON COUGARS (33-21)
When:	Tuesday, 11 a.m. CT
Where:	Spectrum Field \| Clearwater, Fla.
Watch:	American Digital Network Plus \| Cox Sports TV (ADN+ feed)
Radio:	88.3 FM WRBH (Todd Graffagnini) \| TuneIn Radio
Stats:	Live Stats
Tulane Coach:	Travis Jewett (Washington State, '93) \| 51-62 (2nd year)
Houston Coach:	Todd Whitting (Houston, '95) \| 283-192-1 (eighth year)
Notes:	Tulane
Social:	Twitter \| Instagram \| Facebook
Tournament Information:	Championship Central Page

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Tulane baseball will open the 2018 American Athletic Conference Championship presented by Visit St. Pete/Clearwater against Houston at 11 a.m. CT Tuesday at Spectrum Field.

The game will be broadcast on the American Digital Network Plus, via Facebook Live, and can be heard on 88.3 FM WRBH and TuneIn Radio. The ADN+ feed will also be televised regionally on Cox Sports TV, Channel 37/1037 in New Orleans. For Live stats and full championship information and coverage, visit the tournament central page.

SERIES HISTORY
Tulane and Houston have played 84 times. Houston leads the series, 47-37. The Green Wave won two of three games in New Orleans this season, April 13-15. The Cougars won two of three games in both series last year. In 2016, the teams split two games in New Orleans, and the Wave won two of three games at Houston, before the Cougars won twice in the conference tournament. Tulane won one of three games in each of the two series in 2015. The series includes eight conference tournament meetings, which are tied, 4-4. Houston won twice in 2016 and once each in 2006 and 2002. The Wave won once each in 2013, 2011, 2005 and 1999.

QUICK HITS
• Grant Witherspoon earned first-team All-American Athletic Conference honors. He is the sixth Tulane player selected to the first team in four years as a member of The American.
• Tulane's 115 doubles rank 17th in the nation. The 2.09 doubles/game ranks 25th.
• Grant Witherspoon ranks 34th in the nation and 2nd in The American with 19 doubles. He also ranks 6th in The American in hits, 7th in RBI, 2nd in walks, 8th in home runs, 5th in total bases, 6th 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.
• Trevor Jensen and Grant Mathews have seven-game hitting streaks. Mathews has multiple hits in seven straight games.
• Grant Mathews Last 7 starts (since May 1): .541 (20-37), 7 RBI, 10 runs, 4 HR, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 5 BB, .973 SLG%, .595 OBP. Mathews' Last 17 Games (12 starts): .473 (26-55), 11 RBI, 14 runs.
• Trevor Jensen Last 20 Games: .350 (28-80) with 17 RBI, 18 runs, 7 HR, 5 2B, 3B, .700 SLG%, .400 OBP
• Witherspoon has hit three grand slams this season: at UNO, at UConn and at home against Memphis
• Sam Bjorngjeld, who ranks 18th in the country and ranks second in The American with 29 appearances this season, has thrown 9.0 innings without allowing an earned run in his last seven outings.
• Trent Johnson has posted a 2.70 ERA in 30.0 innings in his last five appearances – three relief appearances and two starts – 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 starts against Memphis and at UCF.
• Witherspoon has multiple hits in 21 games; Hoese has 19, Artigues has 18, Jensen has 15, and Mathews and Ty Johnson have 13 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 108 2-out RBI – 38 percent of its 286 RBI this season have come with two outs.
• Tulane is averaging 5.7 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.

WITHERSPOON EARNS FIRST-TEAM ALL-AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE HONORS
Junior center fielder Grant Witherspoon was named to the All-American Athletic Conference First Team, in a vote by the league coaches. In the regular season, he led the team with a .324 batting average, 70 hits, 10 home runs, 19 doubles, 46 RBI, 121 total bases, 39 walks, 13 stolen bases, a .560 slugging percentage and a .434 on-base percentage. He ranks 25th in the nation and ranks second in The American with 19 doubles. He also ranks second in walks, fifth in total bases, sixth in hits, seventh in RBI, and eighth in home runs and slugging. It was his first all-conference selection, and he is the sixth Tulane player to earn first-team honors in four years as a member of The American.

A GRUELING SCHEDULE
Tulane has played the No. 9-ranked strength of schedule in the country, and has an opponent strength of schedule ranked No. 53. The Green Wave have played 37 of their 55 total games against 14 opponents ranked in the top 100 of the RPI, and 19 games against seven opponents in the RPI top 50. The Green Wave are 5-14 against the RPI top 50 and 15-22 against the top 100.

BIG RESPONSE INNINGS
When Tulane's opponent has scored in an inning this season, Tulane has responded with at least one run in its next at bat 59 times. Tulane has responded with multiple runs in its next at bat 31 times. At home, Tulane has responded to opponent runs by scoring in the bottom half of the inning 36 times. Tulane has responded with multiple runs 22 times.

PITCHING MATCHUPS
Tuesday
Tulane: RHP Keagan Gillies | So. | 5-6, 3.39 ERA, 13 APP, 13 GS, 74.1 IP, 59 H, 28 ER, 57 K, 29 BB
Houston: LHP Aaron Fletcher | Jr. | 6-2, 1.28 ERA, 14 APP, 13 GS, 84.0 IP, 74 H, 17 ER, 75 K, 16 BB

#RollWave

Baseball Opens American Athletic Conference Championship vs. Houston Tuesday

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Players Mentioned

Jonathon Artigues

Sam Bjorngjeld

Keagan Gillies

Trevor Jensen

Trent Johnson

Ty Johnson

Grant Mathews

Grant Witherspoon

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