The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Tulane (C-USA Tournament)
UAB Upsets No. 16 Tulane
5/26/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 26, 2004
HOUSTON, Texas - Second baseman Seth Rollin went 2-for-4 with two RBI, a home run, a double and two runs scored in helping lead seventh-seeded UAB to a 10-4 upset of 16th-ranked Tulane in first round play of the Conference USA Baseball Tournament.
UAB will now move on to face sixth-seeded Memphis (29-26, 15-14 C-USA) Thursday at 4 p.m. in a second round game at Cougar Field on the University of Houston campus. The Tigers defeated Southern Miss 10-5 in the first contest of the tournament earlier in the day.
Tulane will face third-seeded Southern Miss (40-16, 21-9 C-USA) Thursday at 9 a.m. in the losers' bracket.
Blazer starter Jeff Brown (6-5) picked up the win for UAB (29-27, 13-16 Conference USA) after working eight innings and allowing four runs on 11 hits. He walked four and struck out four.
Eric Roberts came on in relief of Brown in the bottom of the ninth inning. After giving up a single, Roberts retired the next three Tulane batters, recording one strikeout.
Matt Goebel (3-1) took the loss for second-seeded Tulane (38-18, 21-9 C-USA) after coming on in relief of Green Wave starter Brian Bogusevic in the top of the sixth inning. Gobel pitched two and two-thirds innings and surrendered six runs, none of which were earned, on three hits. Goebel walked two batters.
Bogusevic worked five and a third innings and allowed four runs on nine hits. He walked one and struck out one.
Tulane struck first in the bottom of the first inning. Bogusevic singled through the left side, allowing shortstop Tommy Manzella to score the Green Wave's first run of the inning. First baseman Mark Hamilton followed with a single to center field that scored left fielder Wes Swackhamer. Tulane led 2-0.
UAB answered with three runs in the top of the second inning. Rollin doubled to right center field, allowing designated hitter Nathan McCorkle to score the Blazers' first run of the inning. Third baseman Zac Ward followed with a single to right field, bringing in left fielder Jeremy Moran. Center fielder Levi Patmon then singled to right field, scoring Rollin. UAB led 3-2.
The Blazers took a 4-2 lead in the top of the fourth inning on a solo home run to left field by Rollin.
Tulane tied the score in the bottom of the fifth inning. With the bases loaded, catcher Greg Dini reached first on a fielder's choice, allowing right fielder Matt Barket to score the Green Wave's first run of the inning from third base. Bogusevic then collected his second RBI of the contest when he singled to center field, scoring Manzella.
UAB regained the lead in the top of the seventh inning. First baseman Daniel Hill's sacrifice fly to right field allowed Patmon to score the Blazers' first run of the inning. Right fielder Cole Helms later doubled to left field, scoring shortstop Josh Miljavac and McCorkle.
The Blazers got out to a 10-4 advantage in the top of the eighth inning on a three-run home run to right field by catcher Eugene Rodriguez.
Helms finished the day going 3-for-4 with a two-RBI double. Bogusevic was 4-for-5 at the plate with two RBI to lead Tulane.
UAB has now won three in a row over Tulane as the Blazers won the final two games of a three-game series against the Green Wave April 16-18 at Young Memorial Field. In addition, the Blazers have now won 10 of their last 13 road contests, including eight of 10 against C-USA opponents on the road.
"This is a huge win for our program," said UAB head coach Larry Giangrosso. "We think of Tulane as not only being one of the premier teams in our conference, but also in the nation. To play them was a tall task that we had to do today, but our guys responded well. It helped that we took two out of three from them earlier in the year. That gave us some confidence. We got great starting pitching out of Jeff (Brown). They (Tulane) did a good job of getting to the top of our order, but Cole (Helms) and Seth (Rollin) really had a good afternoon. That really helped us."
UAB's game against Memphis will be broadcast live via the world wide web on the Blazers' official athletics website, www.uabsports.com. Air time is approximately 3:45 p.m.
For those who are not Yahoo! subscribers, a monthly subscription can be purchased for $4.95 per month. To listen to the broadcast, click on either "UAB Audio Broadcasts" or "Multimedia" from the UAB athletics website's main page and follow the links.
