Tulane Reaches College World Series

Tulane Celebration

Tulane scored seven runs over the final two innings to defeat Rice, 9-6, in game three of the New Orleans Super Regional on Monday afternoon. The victory gives the top-ranked Green Wave their second College World Series appearance in school history.

The No. 1 national seed, Tulane will face the winner of Monday afternoon's USC-Oregon State game on Saturday. The game time has not yet been determined.

This marks the second time that a Conference USA school has appeared in the College World Series. The 2001 Tulane team lost its opening round game to Stanford and rebounded with a victory over Nebraska before being eliminated by Cal State Fullerton.

Tulane 9, Rice 6
One day after pitching the best game of his college career, Micah Owings drove home the decisive run in the top of the ninth inning Monday, and Tulane took a 9-6 victory over Rice to advance to the College World Series for the second time in school history.

Shut down for much of the game by Rice starter Eddie Degerman, Tulane (55-10) gathered together in an impromptu meeting while trailing 3-2 heading into the eighth inning.

The Green Wave then scored seven runs over the last two innings, with Owings' blistering liner over the glove of Rice shortstop Josh Rodriguez breaking a 6-6 tie as defensive replacement Cat Everett, who had singled to lead off the inning, hustled home from second for the first of three runs in the inning.

The rally gave Tulane victories in the final two games of the best-of-three New Orleans super regional. Tulane won Game 2 on Sunday behind a complete-game, three-hit shutout by Owings, who was selected last week by Arizona in the amateur draft.

Tulane reliever Daniel Latham (2-0), who had given up three runs in the eighth as Rice (45-19) tied the game at 6-6, retired the side in order in the bottom of the ninth for the victory. Tulane players piled on Everett after he caught the final out on Tyler Henley's pop-up in foul ground near third base.

Reliever Adam Hale (1-3) was charged with the loss after giving up three hits and all three runs in the ninth.

Playing as the visitor before a record crowd of 4,708 -- hundreds of them on metal bleachers newly installed for the series at its on-campus ballpark -- Tulane periodically mystified its fans with blunders in the field and on the bases.

Green Wave runners were thrown out at the plate in both the first and second innings on soft infield grounders -- the second a botched safety squeeze in which the hitter executed the bunt but Scott Madden hesitated too long before deciding to come home from third.

Tulane also committed three errors, leading to three unearned runs.

But what appears to be the best Tulane team ever -- one that didn't have double-digit losses until being shocked by Rice in the series opener -- proved powerful enough to overcome the jitters, even if one of the most decisive swings of the day was downright timid.

Degerman, a breaking ball specialist, had shut out Tulane for more than six straight innings -- retiring 18 of 20 batters in one stretch -- when a struggling Brian Bogusevic came to the plate with two outs and two runners on in the eighth. Bogusevic took a defensive swing at an 0-2 curve ball that was breaking down toward his ankles, getting just enough to roll it into center field past diving second baseman Greg Buchanan.

The hit brought home two runs and prompted a pitching change that only seemed to help Tulane as Madden and Joe Holland -- who both finished 2-for-4 -- drilled back-to-back doubles to bring home two more runs in the inning.

A single by Henley and doubles by Buchanan and Lance Pendleton helped Rice pull even in the eighth.

Earlier, Adam Rodgers and Danny Lehmann (2-for-3) each hit solo home runs as Rice took a 3-2 lead.

Nathan Southard had a single to stretch his hitting streak to 20 games.