|
Search
|
|
|
Search
|
Written by Colleen LeMasters (TU Ath.) | Thursday, 07 May 2009 12:38 | Tulane News
Green Wave set for multitude of special weekend festivities
NEW ORLEANS- Tulane's baseball team will look to get back on track over the weekend as they host the UAB Blazers in the final home series of the regular season over the Mother's Day weekend. After a rough road loss to cross-town rival UNO Wednesday night, the Green Wave is looking to put the pieces back together while gaining ground in Conference USA as the regular season winds down.
The Green Wave (28-21, 9-9 C-USA) will send righty Jonathan Garrett to the mound Friday night. Garrett is coming off a superb pitching performance against Southern Miss last week, as the senior captain threw a career-high 13 strikeouts to pick up his fifth victory of the season. Garrett (5-1, 3.63 ERA) will face off against the Blazers' Beau Pender (3-4, 5.69 ERA). Saturday's afternoon contest will find Tulane's Josh Zeid (5-0, 3.63 ERA) on the hill, working against southpaw Shay Crawford (4-2, 5.49 ERA) for UAB. Conrad Flynn (5-3, 4.88 ERA) will toss the finale on Sunday for the Wave, while righty Kyle Roberson 6-5, 5.81 ERA) will get the nod for the Blazers.
Tulane, whose bats were quiet Wednesday night, will look to get back into the form they previously enjoyed. The club has posted a team average of .300, lead by the efforts of junior shortstop Josh Prince. Prince's .354 average (12 2B, 4 3B, 5 HR, 27 RBI) paces the club, with senior first baseman Sam Honeck on his heels, batting .345, having knocked in a C-USA leading 65 RBI. Honeck also leads the team with a .718 slugging percentage. Senior outfield Drew Allain has stayed hot at the plate, batting .314 (4 2B, 7 HR, 25 RBI).
The Blazers are coming off a split midweek after playing Jacksonville State. UAB dropped game one of the double feature, 8-2, but came back to pick up the 8-5 victory Wednesday night. UAB's Cody McMurry and Brint Hardy share a team-high .350 batting average while Hardy's 41 stolen bases paces Conference USA, with Tulane's Prince closing in with 40 on the season. McMurry has knocked in a team-high 49 runs with 11 home runs with Digger Towe has also been a contributor to the club's offense, tallying 54 RBI in addition to his .339 average.
The weekend's festivities will also include special presentations, as the 2009 Tulane senior class will be honored, in addition to the all the Green Wave baseball mothers on the Mother's Day holiday. The graduating seniors on the club will be recognized prior to first pitch on Saturday, as Tulane's Faculty Athletic Representative, Professor Michael Hogg will be presenting diplomas to those seniors. The club will be on the road against Marshall the following weekend when Commencement is set to take place. In addition to the traditional kid's day festivities on Sunday, Tulane's ten seniors (Drew Allain, Jared Dyer, Jonathan Garrett, Mason Griffin, Seth Henry, Sam Honeck, Steve Moritz, Andrew Rodgers, Scott Powell, and Josh Zeid) will also be honored with their parents prior to first pitch. The first pitch of the game will also be a special one, as the Tulane baseball moms take the field to throw the first pitch to their respective sons. In honor of the special day, all mothers will be admitted to the game free of charge. All mother's interested in attending the game on Sunday are asked to pick up their free ticket at the Tulane ticket office.
The series begins on Friday at 6PM at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.
