#28 Tulane Takes Seven-Game Win Streak into Series with Nichols State

CUSA Fans Tulane sports correspondent Seth Weitz provides his latest Tulane baseball update.

Heading to West Virginia, Tulane looked to rebound from an embarrassing 14-2 drubbing at the hands of cross-town rival UNO as they opened Conference USA play with a 3-game series against the Marshall Thundering Herd. Marshall came into the series at 13-5 after splitting a midweek series at James Madison.

Tulane sent Sean Morgan to the hill on Friday night and the usually-reliable right hander got off to a rough start as he walked the first three batters he faced. Morgan, usually blessed with excellent control, had an inning to forget against the Herd. When all was said and done the junior walked five Marshall batters and had thrown a wild pitch despite having just 10 walks in 40 innings entering the game. Before Tulane could catch its breath, the Green Wave found themselves down 3-0 and Morgan still had not surrendered a base hit. Luckily for Tulane, Sean Morgan is one of the nation’s best pitchers and he was able to shake off his rough start and settle down to keep the Herd in check over the next 5 innings while Tulane’s bats came to life. Tulane tied the game at 3 on an Anthony Scelfo home run in the 3rd and took the lead in the 5th on back-to-back doubles by Seth Henry and Nate Simon. Tulane increased the lead to 7-3 in the 6th and looked to cruise from there until the bats went quiet and the bullpen, for really the first time all year, faltered. Marshall chipped away and finally tied the game at 7 in the bottom of the 8th. But Tulane was not fazed and went ahead for good in the 11th on an RBI bunt by Seth Henry. Daniel Latham pitched the last 4 innings of the game for the Greenies who won 8-7.

Tulane’s bats were quiet throughout most of the second game with Marshall, but the Greenies were able to capitalize on 3 Marshall errors, scoring 4 runs in the top of the 2nd on their way to a 4-1 win. The Green Wave rode the arm of Shooter Hunt who did not surrender an earned run in 8 innings. On Sunday, Tulane received another pitching gem, this time from senior Brandon Gomes who threw a complete game shutout while registering a career high 12 strikeouts in Tulane’s 9-0 rout of Marshall. Tulane plated single runs in the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th innings before breaking the game open in the 6th with 2 runs for a 6-0 lead. Anthony Scelfo went 3-6 with 2 RBI, Nate Simon hit a home run and drove in 3 and Brad Emaus had 2 hits including an RBI triple for the Greenies.

With the sweep Tulane improved to 19-7, 3-0 on the season. The Greenies have won 15 of their last 18 games entering an important stretch in conference play. After taking on in-state foe Nicholls State on Tuesday night at Zephyr Field, the Green Wave, ranked #29 by Collegiate Baseball, take on #19 East Carolina in Metairie to open the C-USA home slate.