Tulane tops Houston, 7-1, on final day of pod play

Green Wave concludes season with win

After dropping their first two games, No. 7 Tulane knew its disappointing season would be over after Friday's match-up with No. 6 Houston, but the Green Wave used a five-run sixth and a strong start by Alex Byo to propel them to a happy ending with a 7-1 win over the championship game-bound Cougars.

The Green Wave (31-26) got on the board in the third.  Middleton started the inning with a double and moved to third on a failed pickoff move.  He came home on Nick Boullosa's groundout to first.

Houston (27-31) tied it in the bottom of the frame.  Landon Appling reached on a two-out infield single and advanced into scoring position on a throwing error by the second baseman.  Ryan Still singled to score Appling.

Tulane busted the game open with a five-spot in the sixth.  The Green Wave had just three hits in the inning, but were issued four walks.  Bowen Woodson delivered a bases-clearing double to make it 3-1.  Houston's Travis Jenkins walked in two more before Nick Boullosa sac fly gave the Green Wave a 6-1 lead.

Tulane tacked on its final run in the seventh when Woodson singled with two outs to score Schaffer, who walked to start the inning.

Alex Byo (3-2) allowed just one unearned run on six hits in seven innings.

Houston received a solid start from Luke Moran, who gave up just one unearned run on three hits.  However, reliever

Travis Jenkins was tagged for six run on four hits and five walks in just two innings.

Woodson, Robinson and Middleton had two-hit games for Tulane.

The Cougars were led by the 3-for-4 performance of Caleb Ramsey.

Sixth-seeded Houston will play for the CUSA title against top-seeded Rice at 8 p.m. (EST) on Saturday.  The Cougars will need to claim the league's automatic berth to extend their season.