June 4 NCAA Baseball Roundup

Lance Broadway

TCU junior RHP Lance Broadway, the Conference USA Pitcher of the Year, notched his nation-leading 15th win of the season as TCU opened its NCAA play with a 5-1 win over Stanford. C-USA Player of the Year Micah Owings hit a pair of towering home runs as Tulane defeated Alabama, 10-4. Southern Miss and East Carolina saw their seasons ended on Saturday.

TCU 5, Stanford 1
The No. 24 TCU Horned Frogs rode the right arm of Lance Broadway to a 5-1 victory over Stanford in the NCAA Regional opener. For Stanford, it is the first time it has lost a tournament opener since 1998. TCU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back en route to its 41st victory of the season. Stuart Musslewhite, Bo Cogbill and Matt Carpenter each had two hit games for the Frogs and Kyle Dahlberg hit his sixth home run of the season in the win. The Frogs played errorless defense behind Broadway as he earned his nation-leading 15th win of the season.

Stanford's Jeff Gilmore (10-3) struggled in the opening frame as the Frogs jumped on the righty for three runs on two hits. Gilmore hit three batters in the inning and walked another as TCU batted around. Musslewhite set the tone with a lead-off single to left field. Shelby Ford set a new career-record at TCU with his 35th career hit-by-pitch to put two on with nobody out. Gilmore then hit Chad Huffman to load the bases. Matt McGuirk followed with an RBI-groundout to give TCU the 1-0 lead. With two outs and the bases loaded, Carpenter came through with a two-run single through the right side.

In the fourth inning, Dahlberg gave the Frogs a 4-0 lead with a solo home run over the left center field fence.

Stanford took advantage of a leadoff double in the fifth inning to scratch across its lone run of the game. Michael Taylor stroked his second double of the game down the right field line. A groundout moved Taylor to third and he scored on a wild pitch to snap Broadway's 25.2 consecutive scoreless innings streak.

TCU got the run back in the bottom of the seventh. Musslewhite collected his 20th double of the season to lead-off the inning and end Gilmore's day. Ford greeted the new Stanford pitcher, Erik Davis with a single that plated Musslewhite with the fifth run of the day for the Frogs.

Broadway pitched his fifth complete game of the season, allowing just one run on six hits. He struck out seven and walked only one batter. He faced 32 batters in the contest and induced two double play balls on just 109 pitches.

The Frogs (41-18) will await the winner of the Baylor/UTSA contest to be played Saturday night. The Frogs have yet to name a starter for Sunday's winner's bracket contest.

Tulane 10, Alabama 4
Junior first baseman Micah Owings went 4-for-5 with a double, two home runs and five RBI, and junior southpaw Brian Bogusevic gave the Green Wave 7.1 solid innings on the mound, as the top-ranked Tulane University baseball team defeated second-seeded Alabama, 10-4, Saturday evening in day two of the 2005 NCAA New Orleans Regional at Turchin Stadium.

Tulane jumped out to a 5-0 lead after four and a half innings, including a three-run bomb by Owings in the third, but the Crimson Tide took advantage of an unusually wild Bogusevic to plate three runs and cut the lead to two. Bama added another run in the seventh on a solo home run by shortstop Cale Iorg, but the Green Wave exploded for five runs over the final two frames - including a solo homer by Owings - to make it a runaway.

"(Micah) is an outstanding player and he had a great game when it meant the most," Tulane head coach Rick Jones said. "His play defensively was also outstanding. He had four hits and two home runs - the one that stretched the lead the first time and the one that stretched it to a four-run lead (late)."

With the win, Tulane improves to 52-9 on the year, and advances to the championship game on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. The Green Wave will take on the winner of Sunday's elimination game between Louisiana-Lafayette and Alabama, which is slated to begin at 2:30 p.m.

Bogusevic (13-1) faced just two more than the minimum over the first four innings, and held a 5-0 lead courtesy of a sacrifice fly by senior catcher Greg Dini in the first, Owings' three-run blast in the third and a run-scoring double by Owings two innings later. In the fifth, however, Bogusevic allowed three singles to load the bases with only one out, and designated hitter Allen Rice put the Crimson Tide on the board.

From there, Iorg singled to drive in another run, and Bogusevic gave up back-to-back walks to make it a 5-3 ballgame. The Collegiate Baseball first-team All-American settled down to retire the side, and tossed a perfect sixth.

"He had a long inning and in this heat and humidity, it can take its toll," Jones said. "He kept us in the game. It was all a credit to him because Alabama is a good hitting team."

Iorg's homer in the seventh made it a one-run game, but the Green Wave answered in the top of the eighth when senior designated hitter Scott Madden singled and sophomore left fielder Mark Hamilton walked to open the frame, and the pair advanced a base on a wild pitch by Tide reliever David Robertson. From there, junior centerfielder Nathan Southard ripped a two-run double down the third base line to give Tulane some breathing room at 7-4.

Bogusevic retired the first man he faced in the eighth, but after giving up a walk to Morrow Thomley, Jones called on sophomore right-hander Daniel Latham. Latham was up to the task, retiring all five men he faced - including a pair of strikeouts - to earn his 11th save of the season.

The Tulane offense made Latham's ninth inning a little easier as Owings hammered a one-out solo home run over the scoreboard in left center, Dini walked, and Hamilton followed with a two-run homer of his own to account for the final score.

Alabama starter Brent Carter was tagged with the loss after giving up five runs on nine hits in 5.2 innings of work to fall to 7-4 on the year. Jordan Davis allowed one run on a hit through 1.1 frames of relief, but David Robertson was tagged for four runs on three hits in 1.2 stanzas in the loss.

NOTES: Owings' two-homer day was his third of the season and he tied a season high with five RBI...his 18 home runs is the most by a Tulane student-athlete since James Jurries belted 20 in 2002...Latham now has 11 saves in 2005, which ranks tied for third in Tulane single season history (Brandon Belanger, 2000), and his 17 career saves is fourth in Green Wave history...Tulane advances to a Regional championship game for the fourth time in school history...the Green Wave won Regional crowns in 2001 (New Orleans) and 2004 (Oxford), but lost to LSU in 1986.

Maine 12, Southern Miss 2
Maine scored six runs in the first inning and never looked back en route to a 12-2 victory over Southern Miss, today, in the elimination round of the NCAA Oxford Regional Tournament at Swayze Field in front of 4,516.

With the loss, Southern Miss ends its season at 41-21, its third-straight 40-win season and third-straight year it has participated in the NCAA Tournament, both school records. This also marked the end of the careers of seniors Beau Griffin, Jason Lowery, John Nicholas and Brad Willcutt.

Brad Owen (4-2) dropped his second decision of the season for Southern Miss, giving up six runs, three earned, on six hits in two-thirds of an inning and struck out two batters. Maine’s Steve Richard (9-1) pitched 6.2 innings, giving up five hits and four walks. Scott Robinson finished the final 2.1 innings, giving up two runs on four hits and walked two.

Maine (35-18) scored 12 runs on 18 hits, while Southern Miss scored two runs on nine hits and committed three errors. The Golden Eagles stranded 10 runners, while the Black Bears left six on base.

Southern Miss was led offensively by Kevin Coker, Marc Maddox and Jody Blount, who each finished with two hits. Lowery had one hit and an RBI and Blount had an RBI as well.

Maine was led by Joe Hough, who finished with four hits and an RBI, Ryan Quintal had three hits and three RBIs, Curt Smith had three hits and one RBI and Matt McGraw finished with three hits and three RBIs. Smith finished with a triple and a home run, and Hough finished with a double and a homer.

The Black Bears scored six runs in the first inning. Hough had a solo homer to lead off the game, Aaron Izaryk had an RBI single, McGraw had a two-run double down the left field line and Ray Vallee had a two-run single to right field.

Maine scored two more runs in the third inning to take 8-0 lead. Smith and McGraw hit back-to-back home runs.

The Black Bears added single runs in the sixth and seventh innings and two in the eighth inning to account for the 12 runs. Quintal hit a single through the left side to score Hough in the sixth inning. Smith tripled to right center and then scored on an errant throw by Sutton. Greg Creek doubled in the eighth inning and then scored on Quintal’s two-run homer to right field.

Southern Miss erased the shutout in the eighth inning, scoring two runs. Lowery grounded to second to score Coker and Blount singled through the left side to score Maddox.

Kevin Coker, Marc Maddox and Jody Blount each had two hits for the Golden Eagles. Blount and Jason Lowery each had a RBI.

UNLV 5, East Carolina 3
UNLV scored five runs in the top of the ninth to eliminate East Carolina from the Tempe Regional with a 5-3 win over the Pirates in the loser's bracket Saturday afternoon at Packard Stadium. ECU carried a 3-0 lead into the ninth before a Mike Cruz single and a Chris Bonnell double brought home four runs to put UNLV ahead in the final frame.

The Rebels loaded the bases with a double and two walks in the ninth before Cruz singled through the left side, scoring Matt Fry and C.J. Lang to cut the ECU lead to 3-2. With runners on first and second with one out, Pirate reliever Brett Braxton struck out Zeke Parraz for the second out of the inning before Bonnell's double put the Rebels ahead 4-3. UNLV then took a 5-3 lead when Ryan Bird singled to left, scoring Bonnell from second.

Drew Costanzo singled with one out in the bottom of the ninth but UNLV reliever Kyle Tabeek was able to retire the next two batters to end any chance of a late ECU rally.

ECU finishes the 2005 season with an overall record of 35-26 while UNLV improves to 35-28 on the year. The Rebels will face the loser of the Coastal Carolina-Arizona State contest Sunday at 2 p.m. EST. The Chanticleers and the Sun Devils play Saturday night at 10 p.m. EST.

Ricky Brooks nearly pitched his fourth complete game of the season, tossing 8 1/3 innings, allowing one run on five hits while striking out eight and walking four. Mike Flye allowed two runs after walking the only two batters he faced in relief of Brooks before giving way to Braxton. Braxton suffered the loss, allowing two runs on three hits in just 1/3 of inning on the mound. Mark Minicozzi appeared on the hill for just the third time this season, striking out the only batter he faced.

Rebel starter Derek Rodriguez allowed just one Pirate hit through the first six innings but gave up two runs on three hits in the seventh before giving way to Tabeek. Tabeek earned his fifth win of the season, allowing one run on three hits while striking out three in three innings of work. Rodriguez struck out four and walked one while allowing just four hits in six innings of work.

Bonnell and Fry each finished with two hits for UNLV while Minicozzi and Costanzo each finished with a pair of base knocks.

Minicozzi broke up the scoreless ballgame with a solo homer to left-center in the bottom of the seventh to put the Pirates on the board. Adam Witter followed Minicozzi with his first triple of the season with a shot to the gap in left-center and scored a batter later when Costanzo singled up the middle, giving ECU the 2-0 lead after seven.

Billy Richardson scored from third on a Dale Mollenhauer fielder's choice ground ball in the eighth to push the Pirate lead to 3-0.