Tulane's baseball team has had little trouble with home game series this season, sweeping four out of five sets played on Greer Field. This weekend, the Green Wave will travel outside of its comfort zone to Birmingham, facing C-USA rival UAB for its first away series of the season.
With such a stable record at the newly revived Turchin Stadium, it will be interesting to see how the Wave will fare on the road against the Blazers, who defeated Tulane in two of three games played last year at Zephyr Field.
Coming off of a six-game losing streak, the Blazers looked sharp on Tuesday against Troy, defeating the 16-8 Trojans 10-5. UAB currently maintains a 7-13 record, a far cry from Tulane's impressive 16-7 posting. However, the Blazers should not be automatically discounted from the game. With powerful hitters Cody McMurry, Brint Hardy and Phil Bell and a home-field advantage, UAB will be hungry for the win.
UAB will also come into the game with confidence, having defeated Tulane in two of its last three matchups. Initially postponed due to poor weather, the series entailed an opening Saturday game followed by a two game seven-inning double-header on Sunday.
The first game of last season's series proved to be a disappointment for the Green Wave, as Tulane dropped the 11-8 decision in 11 innings of play. The Wave dug itself a hole early on, trailing 8-3 going into the bottom of the ninth, but was able to rally back for the tie off of then-sophomore Aja Barto's three-run homer. However, the ninth inning hitting streak was not enough to stop the Blazer's hot 11-for-25 clutch hitting streak.
The following day's double-header started off poorly for Tulane as well, as the Wave dropped the first of two seven-inning matches. Leading 2-0 going into the top of the seventh, the Tulane bullpen gave up four runs in the final inning and was unable to regain control, losing 4-2.
With a six-game losing streak at the time staring Tulane in the face, the team knew it had to win the final game of the series to avoid being swept. Then-senior Sean Morgan took control of the game, pitching 2.2 innings of scoreless relief, while first baseman Tim Guidry, now graduated, delivered offensively, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. Besides breaking a longstanding losing streak, the game proved monumental for Tulane's history books, as the win signified a 30-win season for 14th consecutive season under head coach Rick Jones.
This year, the Green Wave looks much stronger, with less ups-and-downs than last season. As a notably more confident team with returning experienced juniors Shooter Hunt, Barto, Seth Henry, and Jared Dyer as well as freshmen standouts Rob Segedin and Nick Pepitone, Tulane stands a very good chance of sweeping the Blazers.
Tulane enters the series having lost a wild match to Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday, yet the 12-11 nine-inning decision has not affected the team. The Wave has played very steadily throughout the season and remains confident that it can bounce back, especially considering its 4-1 record following losses.
2008 Woodie Awards
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