C-USA baseball preview: Tulane tries to rebound against UAB

C-USA Sports Fans

Tulane baseball 2007

After a blistering start to their season, the Green Wave has lost seven of its last eight games, including a 7-4 decision on Tuesday to the University of New Orleans. Over this most recent stretch Tulane has been outscored 46-33 by opponents and is averaging just over eight hits per game. These are mediocre numbers for a team that is batting .291 even in the midst of this slump, and has been averaging closer to 10 hits per game on the season.

The Tulane offense has been extremely balanced all season long. Five position starters are hitting better than .300, seven players have hit at least three home runs, and seven players have driven in at least twenty-one runs. Junior Brad Emaus and senior Tim Guidry have led the way at the plate for the Green Wave. Emaus and Guidry are 1-2 in batting average, RBIs and are tied for the team lead in home runs with four each.

The pitching staff which has been stellar all season (the team ERA is 3.82), has been a big reason for the current losing ways of the team. Ace Sean Morgan who has been nothing short of stellar all year has struggled in his last two starts, allowing ten runs on twenty hits in 13.2 innings of work. The bullpen has also had its mishaps, allowing twelve runs in the last eight games.

At 29-1 overall and 8-10 in conference play, Tulane is in fifth place in C-USA but can move ahead of fourth place East Carolina with a strong showing this weekend.

UAB baseball 2007

The Blazers are also struggling coming into this weekend series with Tulane. After being swept this weekend by first place Rice, UAB has now dropped six straight games and twelve of fourteen. The last time the Blazers won a conference game was on April 6 at Houston. If there was ever a time to break out of a slump though, this is it. UAB at 5-10 in conference is in seventh place, barely ahead of Marshall and UCF who are making late season pushes to qualify for post season play.

Offensively the Blazers have had a very solid showing at the plate, bringing a balanced attack much like Tulane. The team is batting .288 on the season and averaging better than six runs per game. Six players are hitting better than .300, led by senior J.R. Bond who is hitting .349 and is second on the team with three home runs and thirty-six RBIs.

The pitching staff has been the source of trouble all season for the Blazers, with only one pitcher who has made five or more starts having a winning record. The team ERA is 5.27 and UAB pitchers have walked 254 batters on the season.

Tulane vs. UAB Prediction

Both teams are struggling as of late, and pitching has been the biggest problem for both teams lately. The difference is that Tulane’s staff has been in a slump, whereas UAB has had problems on the mound all season long. Sean Morgan and Shooter Hunt will get the job done for the Green Wave on the mound, and the offense will do what it needs to as Tulane takes two out of three games in this series.