Baseball Takes on Houston Thursday Morning

2018 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
No. 8 TULANE GREEN WAVE (25-32) vs. No. 1 HOUSTON COUGARS (34-22)
When:	Thursday, 8:00 a.m. CT
Where:	Spectrum Field \| Clearwater, Fla.
Watch:	American Digital Network Plus \| Cox Sports TV (Ch. 37/1037 in N.O.)
Radio:	88.3 FM WRBH (Todd Graffagnini) \| TuneIn Radio
Stats:	Live Stats
Tulane Coach:	Travis Jewett (Washington State, '93) \| 52-63 (2nd year)
Houston Coach:	Todd Whitting (Houston, '95) • 284-193-1 (eighth year)
Notes:	Tulane
Social:	Twitter \| Instagram \| Facebook
Tournament Information:	Championship Central Page

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Tulane baseball will play play Houston in an elimination game of the 2018 American Athletic Conference Championship presented by Visit St. Pete/Clearwater at 8:00 a.m. CT Thursday at Spectrum Field. The winner will turn around to face ECU in the semifinal round at 11:30 a.m. CT Thursday.

The Green Wave and Cougars are both 1-1 in the tournament. The Wave topped the Cougars 11-6 on Tuesday, then Tulane fell to ECU, 6-5, and Houston eliminated UCF, 6-2 on Wednesday.

The game will be broadcast on the American Digital Network Plus, via Facebook Live, and will can be heard on 88.3 FM WRBH and TuneIn Radio. For Live stats and full championship information and coverage, visit the tournament central page.

SERIES HISTORY
Tulane and Houston have played 85 times. Houston leads the series, 47-38. The Green Wave won 11-6 on Tuesday, and two of three games in New Orleans this season. 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 nine conference tournament meetings, which Tulane leads, 5-4. Houston won twice in 2016 and once each in 2006 and 2002. The Wave won once each in 2013, 2011, 2005 and 1999, prior to this year.

QUICK HITS
• Jonathon Artigues is 6-for-9 in the tournament with three RBI, three runs and two walks
• Witherspoon is 4-for-10 with two homers, a triple, six RBI and four runs in the tournament
• Ty Johnson (.375) and Trevor Jensen (.333) each have three hits and two runs in the tournament. Jensen hit a two-run homer on Tuesday.
• Witherspoon has 198 career hits – two away from the 200-hit milestone.
• When Tulane's opponent has scored in an inning this season, Tulane has responded with at least one run in its next at bat 62 times. Tulane has responded with multiple runs in its next at bat 33 times.
• Witherspoon hit two home runs against ECU on Wednesday, becoming the fourth player to hit two home runs in a game in the five-year history of the American Athletic Conference Championship. He was the first to do it in three years, since Tulane alumnus Lex Kaplan did it in 2015.
• Trevor Jensen is on a nine-game hitting streak. Mathews' streak of eight straight multiple-hit games ended Wednesday.
• Trent Johnson has posted a 2.70 ERA in 30.0 innings across 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.
• Jensen Last 22 Games: .348 (31-89) with 19 RBI, 20 runs, 8 HR, 5 2B, 3B
• Tulane's 118 doubles rank 13th in the nation. The 2.07 doubles/game ranks 25th.
• Witherspoon has multiple hits in 23 games; Artigues has 20, Hoese has 19, Jensen has 16, and Grant Mathews and Ty Johnson each have 14 multiple hit games. Witherspoon and Artigues have a team-high eight games with three or more hits; Artigues has three four-hit games.
• Tulane has produced 112 2-out RBI – 37 percent of its 301 RBI this season have come with two outs.
• Tulane is averaging 5.8 runs per game and 9.0 hits per game.
• Grant Witherspoon earned first-team All-American Athletic Conference honors. It was his first all-conference selection. He is the sixth Tulane player selected to the first team in four years as a member of The American.

PITCHING MATCHUPS
Thursday
Tulane: RHP Trent Johnson | So. | 4-2, 4.18 ERA, 20 APP, 3 GS, 47.1 IP, 51 H, 22 ER, 38 K, 21 BB
Houston: RHP Ryan Randel | Jr. | 5-4, 4.05 ERA, 15 APP, 11 GS, 66.2 IP, 58 H, 30 ER, 50 K, 28 BB

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Players Mentioned

Jonathon Artigues

Trevor Jensen

Trent Johnson

Ty Johnson

Lex Kaplan

Grant Mathews

Grant Witherspoon

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