June 3 NCAA Baseball Roundup

Mark Hamilton

Mark Hamilton hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and drove in seven runs to lead Tulane to a 17-7 win over Southern University at the New Orleans regional. Southern Miss fell to Oklahoma, 5-4, at the Oxford Regional. TCU will have to wait another day to play its NCAA opener, as rain washed out the first day of action at the Waco Regional.

Tulane 17 Southern 7
Sophomore left fielder Mark Hamilton went 4-for-5 with a double, two home runs and seven RBI, and junior centerfielder Nathan Southard added a career-high five hits as the top-ranked Tulane University baseball team defeated Southern, 17-7, Friday afternoon in the opening game of the 2005 NCAA New Orleans Regional at Turchin Stadium.

Southern scored runs in five of the first seven innings, but the Green Wave used a pair of five-run frames to take a commanding lead. The Jaguars made things interesting in the eighth as Southern loaded the bases and had the tying run at the plate, but sophomore reliever Daniel Latham got a popup to end the threat. From there, Tulane blew the game open with a six-run eighth and the Green Wave celebration was on.

"It was what I thought it was going to be...a really tough ballgame," Tulane head coach Rick Jones said. "Everyone who saw it knows that the final score is not indicative of how tough that game was.

"(Hamilton) was a great hitter coming out of Texas and had some wrist injuries and vision problems last year, and this year he's missed a lot of BP and had to be held out of some games because of some more wrist injuries. But now he is starting to really get into a groove because he's getting the reps he needs. Today, you saw the Mark Hamilton we recruited - a guy who is zoned in, and in RBI situations, is very aggressive and getting a good bat on the ball."





With Hamilton and Southard leading the way, all nine starters had at least one base hit, including a 3-for-6 showing by freshman third baseman Brad Emaus, who ripped a pair of doubles and drove in four. Tulane's 21 hits are the second most in school postseason play, falling just two shy of the mark set by the 1986 team in a 16-6 win over Western Kentucky in the NCA South I Regional.

With the win, Tulane improves to 51-9 on the year and advances in the winner's bracket at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow, where it will play the winner of tonight's Alabama/Louisiana-Lafayette game-two matchup. The loser of that contest will play Southern in an elimination game on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

Following a scoreless first, Southern drew first blood in the second as the first four batters to come to the plate all singled, including a two-RBI hit by designated hitter Darren Clark to give the Jaguars a 2-0 advantage. The lead did not last long, though as the Green Wave loaded the bases before Southard delivered a two-out RBI single and Emaus cleared the bases with a three-run double off the wall in left to make it a 5-2 affair.

The Jaguars cut the lead to two in the third, and two innings later, made it a one-run ballgame when centerfielder Demarcus Coats hammered a fifth-inning, leadoff homer to left. In the bottom of the inning, though, the Green Wave sandwiched a pair of walks around a base hit by senior catcher Greg Dini, and Hamilton made the free passes hurt with a grand slam over the wall in straight-away center.

Southard and Emaus hit back-to-back doubles later in the frame to make it a 10-4, but the Jaguars continued to battle. Southern got a run in the sixth on an RBI-double by third baseman Kevin Cox, and added a pair of runs in the seventh on an RBI-triple by right fielder Gerald Gause and a run-scoring single off the bat of left fielder Demetrius Myles to cut the lead to 10-7.

Senior shortstop Tommy Manzella pushed the lead back to four with an RBI-single in the seventh, but the Jaguars got a two-out rally going in the top of the eighth when Coats was hit by a pitch and catcher Brandon Mason and first baseman Kevin Nelson drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Latham thwarted the rally to claim his 10th save of the season, and the Green Wave halted any talks of a ninth-inning comeback with six runs in the bottom of the eighth, including a three-run bomb by Hamilton.

NOTES: Tulane's win over Southern is the third consecutive over the Jaguars, and all three came in NCAA Regional play...all nine starters had at least one hit for the 11th time in 2005, and the Green Wave are 11-0 in those games...Mark Hamilton's seven RBI is one off the school single-game record of eight (Tom Morton vs. Virginia Tech on 3/26/82 and Mickey McKey vs. Southern Miss on 5/9/98), but is a school record in NCAA postseason play...Daniel Latham's save gives the Green Wave a school-record 19 in 2005...Latham now ranks tied for fourth in single-season saves, and fourth in career saves with 16.

Oklahoma 5, Southern Miss 4
No. 3 seed Oklahoma's Kody Kaiser hit a two-run homer over center field in the fifth inning to turn a one-run deficit into to a one-run lead en route to a 5-4 victory over No. 2 seed Southern Miss, today, at Swayze Field, in front of 4,121, in the first round of the NCAA Oxford Regional Baseball Tournament.

Daniel McCutchin (4-5) pitched 7.1 innings, giving up three runs, two earned, on eight hits, walking one and striking out one. Will Savage (6) pitched the final 1.2 innings, giving up one run on two hits to earn his sixth save of the season.

Oklahoma (34-24) scored five runs on 13 hits and committed two errors, while Southern Miss (41-20) scored four runs on 10 hits and committed one error.

Kevin Coker finished with three hits, Marc Maddox had two hits and Chris Matesich finished with two hits and two RBIs to lead the Golden Eagles.

Eric Thornton finished with three hits and two RBIs, Ryan Rohlinger finished with two hits and Kevin Smith also had two hits for the Sooners.

Oklahoma scratched out a run in the first inning to take the 1-0 lead. Kaiser singled to right field, moved to second on Freddy Rodriguez's sacrifice bunt, advanced to third on Rohlinger's ground out to second and scored on Thornton singled to right center.

Southern Miss tied the game with a single run in the second inning and took a two-run lead with two runs in the third inning. David Steele singled to center, moved to second when Rohlinger dropped Kevin Smith's throw, allowing Trey Cuevas to reach first safely. Beau Griffin flew out to right field, allowing Steele to tag and take third base. Chris Matesich reached safely on a grounder to second, which allowed Steele to score.

Coker doubled down the left field line, moved to third on a balk from McCutchen and scored when Maddox singled up the middle. A sacrifice fly to right field by Jason Lowery allowed Maddox to score for the second run of the inning.

Thornton homered to left field to lead off the fourth inning and cut the Southern Miss lead to 3-2. Kaiser hit his two-run homer in the fifth to give the Sooners a one-run lead. Rodriguez singled to right, moved to second when Rohlinger singled through the left side and scored on Smith's single to left, giving Oklahoma a 5-3 lead.

Chris Matesich hit a one-out solo homer to left field in the ninth inning to cut the Sooner lead to one run but the Golden Eagles couldn't score the one run they needed to tie the game.

Southern Miss will face Maine on Saturday, at 1 p.m., in the first elimination game of the tournament.

Arizona State 9, East Carolina 6
Despite a late rally in which the Pirates scored two runs in both the seventh and ninth innings, ECU dropped its regional opener to Arizona State Friday night, 9-6, in front of 2,280 in attendance at Packard Stadium. The loss marks ECU's first defeat in a game in which T.J. Hose has started.
Hose (7-4) lasted just 1 1/3 innings before giving way to Scott Andrews in the second inning. The freshman right-hander, who faced just 11 batters, allowing five runs on six hits while striking out two. The Pirates are now 9-1 in Hose's 10 starts this season. Andrews finished the game on the hill for ECU, allowing four runs on four hits in 6 2/3 innings of work.

With the loss, ECU drops to 35-25 overall this season while Arizona State improves their mark to 35-22.

Jason Urquidez earned his ninth win of the season for Arizona State. The senior right-hander allowed just one earned run on six hits while striking out eight and walking just one in six innings of work. Brett Bordes and Ty Marotz combined to toss the final three innings in relief for the Sun Devils.

Jeff Larish led ASU offensively, going 2-for-3 with two home runs, three RBI and four runs scored. Travis Buck and J.J. Sferra also collected two hits on the night while Willy Fox and Tuffy Gosewisch each finished with two RBI.

Brian Cavanaugh went 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored to lead ECU. Adam Witter, Drew Costanzo and Harrison Eldridge each finished with two base hits while Mark Minicozzi drove in two runners on the night. Witter reached base in four of five plate appearances adding a pair of walks two his two base knocks.

After Cavanaugh popped up to center to lead off the game, Dale Mollenhauer hit the first pitch he saw over the wall in right for his fourth homer of the season. Two batters later, Witter singled to left before a Costanzo double and a fielding error on leftfielder Colin Curtis brought him home for the second run of the first for ECU.

The Sun Devils didn't waste any time getting on the board when leadoff hitter Larish hit the first pitch he saw from Hose over the wall in left for a home run. The next two ASU batters, Buck and Curtis, singled to right and left respectively, placing runners on the corners with no outs. Arizona State's fourth straight hit to lead off the first inning came off the bat of Fox, bringing home Buck to tie the ballgame with a single to left. Hose then retired three straight to get out of the inning allowing just the two runs.

Sferra put the Sun Devils ahead when he scored from second after a Buck single and a throwing error on Billy Richardson in the bottom of the second. With the bases loaded and one out, a Fox groundout to second allowed Larish to plate the fourth run of the game for ASU. Gosewisch followed Fox with a double down the line in left, scoring two more ASU runners, pushing the Sun Devil lead to 6-2 after two.

ASU scored again in the fourth when Larish, who was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game, scored from third on an Andrews' wild pitch.

Larish hit his second homer of the game with a two-run shot to right, scoring Andrew Romine to give ASU a 9-2 lead after six.

Cavanaugh collected his second hit of the game with an RBI infield single scoring Eldridge before a Minicozzi single to center two batters later scored Cavanaugh for the fourth Pirate run on the night.

Cavanaugh tripled to left-center in the top of the ninth and came home on a Minicozzi groundout before Witter hit a solo shot to left to close the scoring at 9-6.

ECU will face UNLV in the loser's bracket Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m. EST while Arizona State advances to play Coastal Carolina in the winner's bracket at 10 p.m. EST. Coastal Carolina defeated the Rebels 12-8 in the first game of the Tempe Regional Friday afternoon.