The final week of the regular season is upon us. Top-ranked Tulane has already captured at least a share of the regular season title and the Green Wave need to defeat second place TCU just once to take the title outright. Just one berth has yet to be filled for the 2005 Conference USA Baseball Tournament presented by POWERade. Cincinnati visits USF this weekend needing a sweep to earn a trip to Hattiesburg. One Bulls victory will send USF to the conference tourney.

HITTERS OF THE WEEK
LOGAN PARKER, CINCINNATI
Junior, 1B, Crane, Texas
Parker recorded at least one run scored, one RBI and one extra-base hit in all five games last week. He batted .619 (13-for-21) with a 1.143 slugging percentage, finishing with five doubles and two home runs. Parker had nine RBI on the week and had two or more hits in four games.

MARC MADDOX, SOUTHERN MISS
Junior, 1B, Hattiesburg, Miss.
Maddox went 6-for-14 (.429) in a three-game sweep of USF, posting a .929 slugging percentage. He hit his first career grand slam in Friday night’s win and had the game-winning homer in the bottom of the eighth inning on Sunday. Maddox closed out the series with a double, two homers, eight RBI and four runs scored.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
LANCE BROADWAY, TCU
Junior, RHP, Waxahachie, Texas
Broadway picked up his nation-leading 12th win of the season in a complete-game victory on Friday night vs. Louisville, setting a new school record for victories in a season. He struck out 12 batters and walked just one, breaking the school’s single-season strikeout record with 125. Broadway allowed just one run on six hits as he recorded his sixth double-figure strikeout game of the season.

CHARLOTTE
In each of the 49ers last six games, the outcome has been decided in the final turn at bat for Charlotte. The 49ers and Houston played two extra-inning games, bringing Charlotte's season total to a school record six - including three of the last four. Sophomore OF Cory Lane led the team with a .533 average last week, with four of his eight hits going for extra bases. That includes his school-record tying 10th triple on Sunday, which was his seventh in C-USA play to establish a new league record. He also doubled twice and homered. Senior OF Adam Willard ended his home career in style, hitting .467 in the set and logging his 22nd and 23rd multi-hit games, including four in Saturday's win. Closer Erik Walker had a career-best six innings of relief to earn the win on Saturday, and now meets the innings per game qualification. He has won (3) or saved (4) seven of the Niners' 10 C-USA wins this season. The 49ers close out the season with four on the road, with Furman on Tuesday night before heading to Memphis.

CINCINNATI
The Bearcats won two-of-three from Memphis over the weekend to keep their hope of a C-USA Tournament berth alive. However, Cincinnati will need to win all three games at USF to take the final tournament berth away from the Bulls in a showdown series. Senior RHP Josh Kay recorded his eighth save of the year in Friday's win over Memphis, tying him for the third highest single season total in school history. Kay is also tied for fifth on the career list with eight. UC's Friday win over Memphis snapped a six-game losing streak for the Bearcats against the Tigers. Kay extended his scoreless innings streak to 20.1, spanning his last 11 appearances. Opponents are hitting just .136 against Kay during the span and he has struck out 32. Junior 1B Logan Parker has at least one RBI in six straight games and 16 total during the run. UC extended its winning streak over Xavier to four and capped a season sweep of the Musketeers with a 9-2 win on May 10.

EAST CAROLINA
The Pirates swept a three-game series at UAB this past weekend, their sixth consecutive series win. Since starting league play at 0-5, East Carolina has posted a 16-6 record in conference games. Junior IF Marc Minnicozi helped close out the sweep at UAB with a two-out, two-run double in the seventh inning of Sunday's 6-5 win. The double allowed him to match his career high with four RBI. Senior LHP P.J. Connelly, who had not won a game since Feb. 25, picked up a win in a start at UNC Asheville on Wednesday and a victory in relief at UAB on Sunday. He threw nine combined innings of shutout ball. The Pirates set season highs in runs (18) and hits (22) in an 18-5 win in the series opener at UAB. Injuries have forced head coach Randy Mazey to use 38 different starting lineups this season.

HOUSTON
The Cougars won two-of-three at Charlotte over the weekend to punch their ticket to the C-USA Tournament. The final two games of the series went to extra innings, giving Houston a total of six extra inning affairs this season. Junior IF Kevin Roberts batted .538 in four games last week with six walks, reaching base safely in his first 12 plate appearances of the week. Roberts hit two home runs last week and has hit each of the Cougars last four round-trippers. With hits in all four games last week, sophomore SS Dustin Kingsbury has hit safely in nine straight games. If he gets a hit against No. 15 Rice on Tuesday he will have his second 10-game hitting streak of the season. Kingsbury has hit safely in 43 of 51 games this season. Freshman RHP Aaron Brown struck out a career-high nine batters in 6 1/3 innings of work at Texas A&M on May 10. In conference play, Houston has the lowest team ERA in the league at 3.62.

LOUISVILLE
The Cardinals won the middle game of a three-game set at No. 24 TCU on Saturday, marking Louisville's fifth win over a nationally-ranked team this season. In that win, Isaiah Howes became the first Cardinal player this season to hit two home runs in a game. His second was an inside-the-park homer in the eighth inning. Sophomore SS Chris Cates batted .500 (8-for-16) in four games last week with two doubles, a stolen base and four runs scored. Senior IF J.T. LaFountain played in his 200th career game on Sunday (fifth all-time at U of L) and with 224 career hits, he needs just one more to move into a tie for eighth place in school history. Sophomore OF Boomer Whiting stole one base last week to give him 24 on the season, the seventh-highest single-season total in school history. He needs six more to tie the single-season record.

MEMPHIS
The Tigers dropped two-of-three games at Cincinnati this past weekend. Junior LHP Chris Davis picked up the win in Sunday's series finale in his first career start. He held the Bearcats to four hits over 5 2/3 innings. Freshman CF K.K. Chalmers, who has hit safely in eight of his last nine conference games, has eight multi-hit, five multi-RBI and four multi-stolen base performances in league play. Junior RHP Drew Jaudon hurled four shutout innings to earn the win over Tennessee-Martin on May 11. Jaudon has a team-low ERA of 3.15 and is 3-2 with two saves in 17 appearances on the year.



SAINT LOUIS
The Billikens won a mid-week game at Eastern Illinois before dropping three straight to top-ranked Tulane. Junior OF Johnny Sweeney batted .529 (9-for-17) last week with a pair of doubles, two RBI and four runs scored. Senior IF Drew Eder was 7-for-14(.500) with a double and three RBI. In Saturday's loss, sophomore RHP Ryan Bird held Tulane to just four hits, but took the loss. He has a team-best 3.83 ERA and is seventh in the league with 73 strikeouts. He has struck out 30 batters looking to rank third in the league. Senior IF Scott Peden's 12 home runs this season are the most by a Billiken since Brett Bredensteiner hit 12 in 1998 and it is tied for eighth on the school's single-season list.

SOUTHERN MISS
The Golden Eagles swept a three-game series from USF over the weekend to improve to 18-9 in Conference USA play. At 37-15 overall, Southern Miss needs just three more wins to post its third consecutive 40-win season. The Golden Eagles hit .333 against the Bulls with eight doubles, seven home runs and 26 walks in three games. Senior C Brad Willcutt had three walks in the series to become USM's all-time leader in that category with 134. He has also scored 194 career runs and needs just seven more to become the all-time leader. He already owns the school records for doubles (67) and RBI (244). Junior RHP Daniel Best earned his third win of the season on Sunday and picked up his 11th save of the year on Saturday, the second-most in school history and two shy of Tony Phillips' record set in 1991.

TCU
The Horned Frogs took two-of-three from Louisville over the weekend and are the only C-USA team that has won every conference series this season. In four years as a member of Conference USA, TCU has won 31 of its 39 league series. TCU has won 13 of its 14 series' on the year, losing only at then-No. 5 Rice. At 36-16, the Frogs need just three more wins to match last year's school record for victories at 39. Junior RHP Lance Broadway has set new school single-season records for victories (12) and strikeouts (125). Senior IF Stuart Musslewhite had five hits in the series and has extended his hitting streak to 16 games. Junior OF Keith Conlon saw his 14-game hitting streak snapped on Sunday. In C-USA games, Conlon leads the league in batting average (.442) and on-base percentage (.538). Sophomore IF Chad Huffman hit safely in his last nine outings and hit his ninth home run of the season against Louisville on Saturday. In Conference USA games, he is batting .393 with five homers and 22 RBI.

TULANE
The Green Wave earned at least a share of their fourth Conference USA regular season championship after sweeping a series at Saint Louis. Tulane also won regular season crowns in 2001, 1998 and 1997. The Green Wave have now swept 11 series this season, outscoring its opponents 308-119 in those games, hitting .351 and posting a team ERA of 3.23. All nine starters posted at least one hit in Friday night's 16-7 series opener, marking the ninth time in 20005 that Tulane has accomplished that feat. In addition, Nathan Southard, Tommy Manzella, Brian Bogusevic, Micah Owings, Joe Holland and Matt Barket each had at least one hit in all three games. Saturday's 6-0 win was the seventh shutout of the season for the Wave. Bogusevic (10-1) earned the victory after throwing seven shutout innings. On Sunday, J.R. Crowel (10-1) moved back into a tie for the team lead in wins. Tulane pitchers have combined to record 463 strikeouts and just 145 walks. The Wave's K total currently ranks seventh in school history. The record is 599, held by the 1996 squad.

UAB
The Blazers dropped all three games to East Carolina this past weekend. Despite the losses, UAB was able to clinch a berth in the Conference USA Tournament for the second straight year and the seventh time in 10 seasons. The Blazers have posted 30 wins for the second straight season, the first time UAB has accomplished that feat in back-to-back years since 1996-97. With one more victory, UAB will have its highest win total in C-USA play since 1998. Sophomore OF J.R. Bond was the team's top hitter last week, going 7-for-16 (.438) with a triple, a homer and four RBI. Senior RHP Eric Roberts has moved into a tie for third place all-time in saves (13), while ranking sixth in appearances (66) and 10th in strikeouts (132). .

USF
The Bulls opened last week by winning back-to-back games against No. 10 Florida, but ended it by dropping all three games at Southern Miss. USF will enter the final weekend of Conference USA play needing just one win in three games against Cincinnati in Tampa to earn the final spot in the C-USA Tournament. Senior 3B Jeff Baisley hit three doubles last week to set a new USF single-season record with 26 two-baggers. He also became just the fourth player in school history to record more than 200 career RBI (201). 10-0. Freshman 2B Joey Angelberger is batting a team-high .368 in 18 C-USA games. USF needs just one more win to record their fifth straight season with 30 or more wins. The Bulls have won 30 or more games 16 times in head coach Eddie Cardieri's 20 seasons at USF.


THE POLLS

Baseball America (May 16)
1. Cal State Fullerton (37-12)
2. TULANE (45-8)
3. Oregon State (39-8)
4. Miami (Fla.) (38-12-1)
5. Texas (41-11)
6. Georgia Tech (37-14)
7. Nebraska (41-12)
8. Arizona (33-16)
9. Baylor (34-18)
10. Long Beach State (35-17)
11. Tennessee (36-16)
12. Rice (36-15)
13. Louisiana State (35-17)
14. Florida State (46-14)
15. Florida (34-18)
16. Alabama (35-18)
17. Arizona State (30-19)
18. La.-Lafayette (44-12)
19. Mississippi (37-16)
20. Missouri (34-17)
21. Southern California (32-15)
22. North Carolina State (36-14)
23. Coastal Carolina (42-11)
24. North Carolina (37-14-1)
25. St. John's (35-14)

Collegiate Baseball (May 16)
1. TULANE (45-8)
2. Cal State Fullerton (37-12)
3. Oregon State (39-8)
4. Texas (41-11)
5. Nebraska (41-12)
6. Georgia Tech (37-14)
7. Miami (Fla.) (38-12-1)
8. Baylor (34-18)
9. Arizona (33-16)
10. Florida State (46-14)
11. Tennessee (36-16)
12. Florida (34-18)
13. Long Beach State (35-17)
14. Louisiana State (35-17)
15. Rice (36-15)
16. Alabama (35-18)
17. Southern California (32-15)
18. Arizona State (30-19)
19. La.-Lafayette (44-12)
20. College of Charleston (41-10)
21. Mississippi (37-16)
22. Arkansas (37-15)
23. Coastal Carolina (42-11)
24. Clemson (33-19)
25. North Carolina (37-14-1)
26. TCU (36-16)
27. Troy (35-16)
28. St. John's (35-14)
29. Cal Poly SLO (32-18)
30. Creighton (39-13)

NOTING C-USA IN 2005
* Tulane (45-8) owns the best record in college baseball. This could be the second year in a row that Conference USA produces the team with the best regular season record in Division I (East Carolina last year).
* Eight Conference USA teams have won at least one game against a nationally-ranked, non-conference opponent.
* C-USA teams have posted a total of 26 wins over nationally-ranked, non-conference opponents during the regular season.
* In games played against the five conferences (SEC, ACC, Big 12, Pac-10, Big West) ranked ahead of Conference USA in the pseudo-conference RPI rankings, C-USA teams have a combined record of 32-39.
* Among the teams that C-USA has defeated this season are: Cal State Fullerton (Tulane), Florida (USF), LSU (Tulane, Houston, UAB), Baylor (TCU, Houston), Long Beach State (Houston), Alabama (Southern Miss, UAB), Arizona State (Tulane), Georgia (East Carolina and Louisville) and College of Charleston (East Carolina).
* Of the 24 teams other than Tulane ranked in this week's Baseball Weekly Coaches Poll, C-USA teams have faced 13 of them, winning at least once against eight of them.
* Six C-USA teams have won at least 29 games.
* Conference USA has seven players that have earned National Player of the Week honors this season.

ACADEMIC HONORS
Six Conference USA players have earned recognition as 2005 ESPN the Magazine All-District Academic All-Americans, it was announced recently. Three of the players hail from Saint Louis, while Cincinnati, Southern Miss and Tulane each had one academic All-District honoree:

District IV
Mark Muscenti, IF, Cincinnati
District VII
Ryan Bird, RHP, Saint Louis
Scott Peden, IF, Saint Louis
Johnny Sweeney, OF, Saint Louis
District VI
Tommy Manzella, SS, Tulane
Marc Maddox, IF, Southern Miss

2005 C-USA TOURNAMENT
The 2005 Conference USA Baseball Tournament presented by POWERade will be held May 25-29 in Hattiesburg, Miss. The University of Southern Mississippi will serve as the host for the event, which will be played at Pete Taylor Park on USM's campus. The championship game on Sunday, May 29 will be televised by affiliates of the Conference USA Television Network, including CSTV: College Sports Television. Tom Hart will provide the play-by-play, while Jerry Kindall provides expert analysis for the fifth straight year. This will be the second time that Southern Miss has hosted the C-USA Tournament, as USM held the league's inaugural tournament in 1996. Pete Taylor Park also hosted an NCAA Regional in 2003. TCU is the defending tournament champion.

Schedule of Events
Wednesday, May 25
Game One 9:00a
Game Two 12:30p
Game Three 4:00p
Game Four 7:30p
Thursday, May 26
Game Five 9:00a
Game Six 12:30p
Game Seven 4:00p
Game Eight 7:30p
Friday, May 26
Game Nine 3:00p
Game Ten 6:30p
Saturday, May 28
Game Eleven 9:00a
Game Twelve 12:30p
Game Thirteen (if necessary) 4:00p
Game Fourteen (if necessary) 7:30p
Saturday, May 28
Championship Game 1:00p
(All times Central)

LAST WEEK'S STARS
Other than the players of the week, here's a look at some of the top performances in Conference USA during the games of May 9-15:

HITTING
CHA - CORY LANE - Lane led the team with a .533 average in three games last week (8-for-15), including four extra-base hits. He logged his school-record tying 10th triple of the season, and broke the C-USA record for triples in league play in the process (it was his seventh). Also doubled twice and homered.
ECU - DALE MOLLENHAUER - batted .450 (9-for-20) with two home runs, five RBI and six runs scored last week. Slugged .850 and finished with a .455 on-base percentage.
HOU - KEVIN ROBERTS - batted .538 (7-for-13) with a .714 on-base percentage and a 1.385 slugging percentage. Had at least one run, one hit and one RBI in all four outings, finishing with two doubles, three homers and seven RBI.
LOU - ISAIAH HOWES - was 7-for-16 (.438) in four games last week, with a 1.063 slugging percentage. Had a pair of home runs on Saturday at TCU, including an inside-the-park homer. Finished the week with two doubles, a triple and six RBI, while scoring a team-high five runs.
SLU - JOHNNY SWEENEY - batted .529 (9-for-17) in four games last week, with multiple hits in three games. Had a pair of RBI and scored four times.
TCU - SHELBY FORD - hit .455 (5-for-11) in three games against Louisville, hitting a double and a home run. Drove in two runs and scored a team-high four times.
TUL - NATHAN SOUTHARD - was 7-for-13 (.538) with a .923 slugging percentage in a sweep at Saint Louis, scoring a team-high eight times. Had a pair of doubles, one home run and five RBI.
UAB - J.R. BOND -hit a team-high .438 (7-for-16) last week with triple, a home run and four RBI. Scored three runs and stole two bases.
USF - BRIAN BAISLEY - opened the week by going 7-for-9 in a pair of wins over No. 10 Florida. Closed out the week batting .600 (12-for-20) with at least one hit in each outing. He had a double and scored six times.

PITCHING
CHA - ERIK WALKER - pitched a career-high six innings of relief on Saturday, earning his third win in C-USA play. He reached his previous career high with 4.2 innings of relief earlier this season, but entered in the seventh inning of Saturday's game and finished it.
CIN - SEAN MUNNINGHOFF - struck out a career-high 12 Memphis batters, while walking three, in a win on Saturday. He pitched seven innings, allowing just one run on three hits.
ECU - P.J. CONNELLY- picked up two wins in relief last week, earning victories at UNC Asheville and UAB. He combined to throw nine shutout innings, allowing a total of nine hits with a pair of strikeouts.
HOU - MATT FARRINGTON - earned the win in Friday night's series opener at Charlotte, striking out a career-best eight over seven innings. He walked just one batters and allowed one run on eight hits.
LOU - B.J. ROSENBERG - struck out a career-high nine batters in a win at No. 24 TCU on Saturday. He allowed three runs on five hits, walking just two batters to pick up his ffith win of the season.
USM - DANIEL BEST - earned a win and a save in the USF series. Picked up the save on Saturday, retiring the final two batters with the tying runs on base to end the game. Earned the win on Sunday with two innings of relief.
TUL - BRIAN BOGUSEVIC- he struck out nine and did not walk a batter over eight shutout innings at Saint Louis on Saturday. After giving up three hits in the first four innings, he faced the minimum over his final four frames.


WINNING WAYS
At 45-8, Tulane is putting up one of the highest victory totals in Conference USA history. Here's a look at the winningest teams in the league's first nine seasons.

56-13 Tulane 2001
51-13 East Carolina 2004
48-15 Tulane 1998
48-17 Houston 2002
48-17 Tulane 1999
48-18 Houston 2000
47-16 Southern Miss 2003
47-19 USF 1996
45-8 Tulane 2005
45-19 Southern Miss 2004

TITLE HOLDERS
On May 15, Tulane captured at least a share of its fourth C-USA regular season championship. The Green Wave will try and secure an outright title when it hosts TCU on Thursday night. Here's a look at C-USA's regular season and tournament champions:

Year Regular Season Tournament
2005 Tulane
2004 East Carolina TCU
2003 Southern Miss Southern Miss
2002 Houston East Carolina
2001 Tulane Tulane
2000 Houston Houston
1999 Houston Tulane
1998 Tulane Tulane
1997 Tulane Houston
1996 USF Tulane

LEADING THE WAY
Last season, East Carolina set a new league record for conference victories in a season with 25. If Tulane were to sweep TCU this weekend, the Green Wave would match that record. Currently, the Green Wave have the third-highest Conference game win total in league history.

25 East Carolina 2004
23 Southern Miss 2003
22 Tulane 2005
22 TCU 2003
22 Houston 2002
22 Tulane 1998


HAIL TO THE VICTORS
TCU junior RHP Lance Broadway has set a new TCU single-season record for victories with 12 and needs just one more to tie the C-USA record held by four pitchers. Here's a look at the top win totals in the league's first nine seasons:

13 Brad Sullivan, HOU 2002
13 Kyle Crowell, HOU 2000
13 Jared Berkowitz, TUL 1999
13 Josh Bobbitt, TUL 1998
12 Lance Broadway, TCU 2005
12 John Maine, CHA 2001
12 Jared Berkowitz, TUL 2000
12 Scott Glaser, USF 1999
12 Scott Glaser, USF 1996
12 Jason Navarro, TUL 1997

10TH ANNIVERSARY AWARDS
Conference USA celebrates its 10th anniversary during the 2004-05 season. C-USA will commemorate this milestone throughout the year with a multimedia campaign celebrating the past, present and future of the league. Several activities have been planned for the upcoming season that capture the history of C-USA and promote the student-athlete' achievements in all 19-conference-sponsored sports.

One of the highlights of the anniversary campaign is the naming of All-Decade teams, as well as a Player and Coach of the Decade for each of the league's sports. Each school will submit nominations through its Sports Information department for the official ballot. The baseball awards will be selected by the league's current head coaches and the winners will be announced on Monday, May 23, just prior to the 2005 Tournament in Hattiesburg, Miss., May 25-29.