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

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

Riding a season high five-game winning streak, Tulane entered a busy week with the hopes of continuing their recent success against in-state opponent McNeese State on Tuesday night at Zephyr Field.

Tulane welcomes LMU to Zephyr Field this weekend for a three-game series.

The Cowboys, who usually field a strong team, are struggling in 2007 and entered the contest with a 2-13 mark. Matt Goebel took the hill for the second straight week and again was impressive, striking out 8 in 5 innings of work. The senior scattered three hits and gave up two runs before giving way to freshman Preston Claiborne who held the Cowboys at bay the rest of the evening to record his first collegiate save. Nate Simon, fresh off of his C-USA Hitter of the Week honors, went 2-4 with a triple and three RBI as Tulane pounded out 11 hits on its way to an 8-3 win.

The Greenies were back in action for a rare Wednesday night contest against the Bulldogs of UNC-Asheville. Tulane sent freshman Taylor Rogers to the mound to make his first career start and he was sharp for three innings before running into trouble in the fourth when UNC-Asheville plated four runs to take a 4-0 lead. Tulane quickly responded in the bottom half of the inning when Aja Barto knocked home two with a two out single. He was followed by a Sean Morgan home run which knotted the score at four. After falling behind again 5-4, the Green Wave tied the score in the bottom of the seventh on a Warren McFadden sac fly, setting the stage for some ninth inning magic. With two down and runners on first and second, Brad Emaus stepped to the plate and sent a 3-1 pitch up the middle for a game-winning RBI single.

Tulane, 11-4 and winners of seven straight, returns to action this weekend to take on the Lions of Loyola Maramount. The Lions enter the contest on a winning streak of their own, 4 games, after starting the season 4-11-1. Loyola Maramount is scheduled to send Brad Meyers (2-2, 3.09 ERA) to the mound on Friday night, followed by Daniel Macias (1-2, 3.18 ERA) on Saturday with Sunday’s hurler to be determined. LMU is hitting .297 as a team with five home runs and sports a team ERA of 4.96. The Lions are also 3-7 on the road this season, winning their last three at Cal-Poly last weekend. LMU was picked to finish fourth in the West Coast Conference, a league familiar to Tulane as the Green Wave played perennial WCC power Pepperdine every season from 2001-2006.

All games are to be played at Zephyr Field where Tulane is 9-1 this season and has won eight in a row. Starting times for the weekend are 6:30, 2:00 and 1:00 respectively.