Friday NCAA Baseball Regional Roundup

Jonny Kaplan

Jonny Kaplan went 3-for-4 with a home run and two runs scored as Tulane used a five-run eighth inning to defeat UNC Wilmington, 8-3 at the Baton Rouge Regional. Bob McCrory struck out 10 batters over six innings and Southern Miss matched a season-high with 15 K's, but it was not enough as the Golden Eagles fell to Southern University, 5-3 at the Hattiesburg Regional. Houston lost its opening-round game, falling to Alabama, 9-3 at the College Station Regional and East Carolina dropped a 4-0 decision to South Carolina at the Atlanta Regional.

TULANE 8, UNC WILMINGTON 3
Jonny Kaplan went 3-for-4 and scored a pair of runs as Tulane broke open a tie game with a five-run eighth inning en route to a xx-x victory over UNC Wilmington, in the second game of the Baton Rouge regional Friday night at Alex Box Stadium.

Tulane (44-17) advances to a winner’s bracket game with archrival LSU (41-19-1) at 3 p.m. CDT on Saturday. The Tigers, the No. 2 national seed in the tournament, got past Northeastern 11-8 in the first game on Friday.

UNCW (38-22), playing in its first post-season game since the 1975 NAIA World Series, when Tulane coach Rick Jones was a senior for the Seahawks, faces Northeastern (27-23) in an elimination game at 11 a.m. CDT Saturday.

The top of the eighth inning ended in controversy, as Aaron Smith’s sinking line drive in right field was ruled a catch by second base umpire Joe Cacciatore, although television replays revealed that Tulane right fielder Brian Bogusevic trapped the ball on one bounce.

The good fortune energized the Wave, which got a ground ball single from Brian Bormaster to start the inning before Kaplan bounced a ball inside the third base bag to move Bormaster to third, and the Wave catcher would score when the throw from left fielder Grawey skipped into the Tulane dugout.

Tony Giarratano singled home Kaplan on the next play to extend the Tulane lead to 5-3, and the Wave would remove all doubt as to the game’s outcome two batters later when Wes Swackhamer launched a three-run home run over the center-field fence.

Tommy Manzella went 3-for-4 for Tulane, while Swackhamer, Bogusevic and Bormaster had two hits each to lead a 15-hit attack for the Wave.

UNC Wilmington had a chance to break the tie in the seventh inning, as Brad Denson reached on an error by Tulane shortstop Giarratano, and then back-to-back- singles by Chip Grawey and Matt Wright loaded the bases for the Seahawks against Wave relief ace Joey Charron.

But Charron fought his way out of the jam, first striking out Jamie Hemingway and then inducing Matt Sutton to hit into an inning ending double play to leave the game tied.

Charron worked the final three innings of scoreless relief to improve his record to 4-7.

Tulane left three runners on base through the first two innings before grabbing a 1-0 lead when Kaplan led off the bottom of the third with his 10th home run of the year.

With one out, UNCW starter Brad Overton walked Michael Aubrey and Swackhamer before a Bogusevic base hit plated Aubrey for a 2-0 Green Wave lead. Overton then hit Tommy Manzella to load the bases, and he was immediately removed in favor of reliever Matt Carter.

Carter prevented the Green Wave from scoring more runs by striking out Nathan Southard and inducing Turner Brumby to hit into a fielder’s choice ground ball to end the inning.

The Seahawks scored their first NCAA Tournament run in the top of the fourth on Jason Schindler’s RBI single to score Wright, and then UNCW tied the game one inning later on a sacrifice fly by Wright that scored an unearned run.

Tulane briefly took the lead back at 3-2 when Nathan Southard’s long single off the wall scored Swackhamer, but the Seahawks tied the game right away on an RBI single by Smith that plated Schindler, who doubled two batters earlier.

ALABAMA 9, HOUSTON 3
Alabama starter Brent Carter scattered three runs with eight strikeouts in nine innings to lead the Crimson Tide to a 9-3 win over the University of Houston baseball team on Friday in the first-round of the NCAA Regional at College Station at Olsen Field.

Carter, who was the losing pitcher in UH's 7-2 win on Feb. 15 at the Minute Maid Park College Classic, improved to 10-5 and tossed his sixth complete game of the season. After allowing three runs off five hits in the Cougars' second inning, he held UH to only two hits in the final seven innings.

With the loss, the Cougars face the loser of the Texas A&M-Oral Roberts game in an elimination contest at 10 a.m., Saturday. The A&M-ORU was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., Friday.

Fans can catch the action on KAXF 88.3 FM or over the Internet at www.UHcougars.com with pregame slated to begin about 15 minutes before the first pitch.

Junior righthander Brad Sullivan dropped to 6-7 this season after allowing five runs (three earned) off eight hits with three strikeouts and three walks in 4.2 innings of work.

Cole Bruce went 2-for-4 with a run, home run and RBI to lead the Cougars, who rapped out eight hits in the game. Travis Tully also batted 2-for-3 with a run.

Every Alabama starter had at least one hit in the game with Travis Garner batting 2-for-5 with a run to lead the way. Adam Pavkovich and Ryan Beagle topped all players with two RBIs each.

The Crimson Tide jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Pavkovich blasted a two-run home in its first at-bat. Three batters later, Beagle grounded into a double play but not before Beau Hearod scored from third base for a 3-0 Alabama lead after an inning of play.

However, UH answered in the next half-inning with a three-spot of its own. Bruce started the Cougar rally by blasting the first pitch he saw from Carter well over the left center field wall. After three straight singles from Stuart Musslewhite, Tully and Sam Mitchell loaded the bases, Brett Logan slapped a two-RBI single down the right field line to knot the game at 3-3.

In the third inning, Alabama regained the lead. Beagle reached second base on a misplay in the Cougar outfield and came around to score on Al Hecklinski's RBI single up the middle for a 4-3 Crimson Tide lead.

One inning later, the Crimson Tide pushed its lead back to two runs when Charlie Lyons reached third base on Garner's one-out single and then scored on another UH error in the outfield.

The Crimson Tide took control of the game in the seventh inning without the benefit of a hit. After Alabama loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batter, Beagle scored on a balk and Hecklinski was plated on a wild pitch.

In the eighth, Alabama put the game away for good with a pair of runs on Beagle's two-RBI single to left field.


SOUTH CAROLINA 4, EAST CAROLINA 0
A surprise choice to start, Chris Hernandez made coach Ray Tanner look like a genius.

Hernandez pitched a five-hitter and Kevin Melillo went 3-for-4 with a homer as South Carolina beat East Carolina 4-0 Friday in the opening game of the NCAA regional at Georgia Tech.

The Gamecocks (40-20), who lost to Texas in the championship game of the College World Series last year, will play the winner of the Georgia Tech-Stetson game, which was later Friday. The Pirates (33-26-1), shutout for the first time this season, will face the loser at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Hernandez (5-4) made only his fourth start of the season and first since April 27. He lost the previous three, even though he went at least 7 1-3 innings in them all. In this one, he gave up five singles, struck out a career-high seven and walked two.

''We had a lot of confidence in Chris Hernandez to get out there and win this game,'' Tanner said. ''He's certainly a guy that figures in for us. We just felt that he was the right guy.''

Hernandez escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third when Darryl Lawhorn, East Carolina's leading hitter coming in at .336, hit a liner to shortstop Justin Harris. Harris stepped on second to double up Ryan Jones.

''I thought it was a hit,'' Hernandez said. ''I almost got whiplash from looking back there so fast. That was a big-time double play, to get out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam.

''Anytime you get out of that kind of jam, you just try to keep rolling.''

Tanner had a similar view.

''My reaction to that was, 'That'll give Hernandez at least two more innings,''' Tanner said.

Will Brinson (3-4) gave up three runs in the first despite striking out the side. It was his third straight loss, and he hasn't won in eight starts, since he beat Memphis on April 13. He gave up 11 hits in 7 1-3 innings, and three of the four runs off him were earned. He struck out a career-high nine and didn't allow a walk.

"I've got to give credit to Will Brinson,'' Tanner said. "He stayed in the game and gave his team a chance to come back."

Brinson's struggles in the first were helped by two errors. Justin Harris singled with one out in the first, and Brian Buscher followed with a hit-and-run double to left. The ball skipped by left fielder Jamie Page, and Harris never slowed as he came home for the first run.

''I threw some good pitches and they hit the ball,'' Brinson said. ''That's what a good team does.''

After Landon Powell struck out, Melillo hit a flare to left to score Buscher, and Trey McDaniel also singled. Bryan Triplett hit a grounder toward the hole at short, but Lawhorn failed to backhand the ball and it rolled into left field. Melillo scored on the play, but Brinson struck out Michael Campbell to end the threat.

''I should have come up with it,'' Lawhorn said. ''I just missed it. I was kind of nervous there in the first inning. It's my fault.''

Melillo hit his 11th homer in the third, a solo shot to right-center on a 1-1 pitch from Brinson.

''We are still very fresh. Our strength is our bullpen,'' East Carolina coach Randy Mazey said. ''All the credit goes to Will. He could have very easily given up in the first inning.

''He went on and pitched an outstanding game.''

Postgame Notes
The loss snapped the Pirates' four-game NCAA Tournament opening round winning streak. The last time East Carolina lost in the first round of the NCAAs was in 1993 at the Atlanta Regional against South Carolina.
East Carolina was shutout for the first time since May 18, 2002. The Pirates fell to Louisville during the final regular season game of the year, 7-0.
Will Brinson tied his career-high for strikeouts with nine, was previously set against Southern Miss on May 12, 2002. Brinson also tossed the first complete game of his career.
ECU fell to 0-4 against South Carolina all-time in NCAA Regional play.

SOUTHERN 5, SOUTHERN MISS 3

Ricky Weeks proved his all-star status as he led Southern University over NCAA Regional host Southern Miss, 5-3, today, in the first game of the NCAA Region 10 tournament. The junior hit 2-for-3 with a single, a two-run home run and three RBIs.

Southern starting pitcher Duwon Day (10-0) went 8 2/3 innings and tossed a three-hitter to remain undefeated on the year. Day gave up two earned runs, five walks and struck out one.

The Jaguars face the winner of the Murray State-Baylor game, which begins at 7 p.m., on Saturday, May 31, at 3 p.m. The Golden Eagles match up against the loser of the MSU-BU game, on Saturday, at 11 a.m.

Southern Miss (45-15) challenged the Jaguars' lead in the bottom of the ninth. With two runners on, the Golden Eagles brought Matt Shepherd to the plate, but facing a 3-2 count, the shortstop saw strike three to end the game.

Southern (46-5) was down 2-1, at the top of the fifth inning, when Brandon Mason doubled in Alfred Ard, and Weeks popped a Texas leaguer into right field to score Mason for the 3-2 lead.

In the seventh, Weeks produced his 17th home run of the season, scoring Antoin Gray on the two-run blast to left center field and giving the Jaguars the eventual 5-3 victory.

Jason Lowery started the scoring for the Eagles in the third. The sophomore reached home on Shepherd's ground out to second base. The Jags countered in the top of the fourth, when Gray came home as a result of a throwing error by USM catcher Brad Willcutt.

Jeff Cook scored in the fourth off Clint King's ground out to first, and Jarrett Hoffpauir reached the plate after two errors on the same play by shortstop Fernando Puebla and rightfielder Marcus Townsend.

Eagle starting pitcher Bob McCrory (10-3) went six innings and took the loss. The junior surrendered four hits, one earned run and two walks and fanned 10 Jaguars.

Southern Miss Quotes

Coach Corky Palmer's Opening Statement:
Duwon Day was the story of the day. He gave up three hits. When he walked a guy, we never got a big hit. Day gave up one home run all year, so stats do mean something. We played poor on defense; Bob McCrory was outstanding. We just couldn’t get the big hit, and the guy just beat us with all fastballs. You learn something everyday in college baseball.Southern Miss second basemen

Jarrett Hoffpauir on Southern's Duwon Day's pitching performance:
He (Day) threw a lot of fastballs and that’s normally our specialty, but we just didn’t get it done today. He had a little sink on it, but we couldn’t get the ball up in the gap.

Southern Miss centerfielder Jeff Cook:
Their pitcher was the story. He did spot up well and kept the hitters wondering where it was coming. We knew what pitch was coming, we just couldn’t get the meat of the barrel on it. Just didn’t get it done today, didn’t swing it well enough to win.

Palmer on bouncing back from today's performance:
The best part of our team has been, and always will be, our hitting. We’re going to come back in this tournament and we’re going to hit. That’s the bottom line. That’s what we’re going to have to do. I’m very surprised what happened. I just didn’t think a guy could throw fastballs by us for nine innings unless it was 94, 95 (mph). He was 89, 90. But we have a great hitting team and we’re going to have to come out swinging, starting tomorrow morning.

We avg 7.8 runs per game. If you’re not gonna play defense, which we didn’t do, then you’re not gonna win a close game. And that’s what happened. I’m not down on our team; we’ll come back ready to play. I’m just so thankful for the tremendous support today for Southern Miss baseball, as much excitement as I’ve ever seen and I’m sure that’s ever been here in one day.

Southern University Quotes

Coach Roger Cador's opening statement:
I thought it was an interesting game. We obviously did not play extremely well early. We looked bad. But one thing I told the players prior to the game was not to panic. If two or three innings happen where we don’t look good, something goes bad, remember that games have a way of changing, and we’ve played games like that before where we’ve not done so well early and then come back and get our confidence and composure. Today we did that. We put some pressure on the defense, we got some key hits, and I thought the two-run homer Rickie (Weeks) hit in the sixth made the difference. It gave us a miracle and a little room for mistakes.

Southern starting pitcher Duwon Day:
I was the one on the mound when we lost (in the regionals) last year. It stuck with me all summer. It had a lot to do with the reason why I came back here. I’m probably the happiest man in the room right now.

Southern second baseman Rickie Weeks:
We watched the tape of them (USM) verse Tulane. When they were successful, it was off of pitches right over the plate. I was just working the corners. I threw probably about 90% fastballs and they were just popping the ball up. And you can’t win off just fly balls.

Postgame Notes
This afternoon’s attendance of 4,236 was the third-largest crowd in Pete Taylor Park history.

Junior RHP Bob McCrory struck 10 batters in six innings. It was his second-highest strikeout total this season, topped only by a 12 K effort at Memphis on April 18.

The 15 strikeouts by Southern Miss today matches highest strikeout total this season. USM also struck out 15 batters in a win at Memphis on April 18.

The three hits by Southern Miss tied for its second-lowest total of the season. USM produced just two hits against South Alabama on March 18 and three vs. UAB on April 27.

When Southern Miss pushed across its first run in the bottom of the third, it extended its streak of scoring at least one run in the first three innings to 10 straight games. The last time that USM failed to score a run in any of the first three stanzas was May 9 vs. South Florida.

The four errors committed by Southern Miss today match the season-high for the Golden Eagles. USM had four errors vs. Louisiana Tech on Feb. 28 and vs. Louisiana-Monroe on Mar.5.

The double by Kevin Vital in the ninth inning was just the fifth extra-base hit given up by Austin Tubb in 30 2/3 innings pitched this season.