The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Face Top-Ranked Tulane In C-USA Tournament
5/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 23, 2005
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB baseball team travels to Hattiesburg, Miss. on Wednesday for the 2005 Conference USA Tournament where the Blazers will take on top-seeded Tulane in first round action at 12:30 p.m. at Pete Taylor Park. UAB enters the tournament as the number eight seed and takes on the Green Wave for the fourth time this season. Collegiate Baseball has ranked Tulane as the number one team in the nation entering this week. Follow the action live with the Live Stats link at www.uabsports.com.
The Blazers finished the 2005 regular season with a 31-25 overall record and 14-16 mark in C-USA play. The 31 victories is the most by a UAB squad since 1997 and marks the second consecutive year the Blazers have racked up at least 30 wins.
UAB completed regular season play last weekend at Louisville where the Cardinals took two of three games from the Blazers at Patterson Stadium. Louisville won the opening contest, 5-4, before UAB rebounded with a 5-4 victory of their own in game two. The Cardinals finished off the season strong on Saturday, mounting a late-innings comeback which included two home runs to capture the series finale from UAB, 5-2.
Freshman centerfielder Clint Toomey leads UAB with a .337 batting average this season while sophomore third baseman Zac Ward is the team leader with 47 RBI. Seniors Nathan McCorkle, Seth Rollin and Cole Helms all share the team lead with eight home runs. On the mound, UAB is anchored by Jeff Brown who leads the squad with seven victories. Relievers Ryan Huffman and Eric Roberts have been outstanding in 2005, compiling a 9-4 record with 13 saves between them.
Tulane (47-9, 24-6 C-USA) enters the Conference USA Tournament with more overall victories than any team in the country. The Green Wave wrapped up its regular season schedule last weekend by taking two of three games from the Horned Frogs of TCU and clinching the tournament's number one seed.
The high-powered Tulane offense is led by five players batting over .320, including freshman of the year candidate Brad Emaus (.344, 12 HR, 47 RBI) and player of the year candidate Micah Owings (.324, 15 HR, 50 RBI). The Green Wave pitching staff has also been stellar this season behind the arms of Owings (8-4, 3.79 ERA, 108 K's) and Brian Bogusevic (11-1, 2.55 ERA, 108 K's).
The Green Wave swept a three-game series from UAB at the beginning of April in New Orleans and holds a 26-6 all-time series advantage against the Blazers. However, UAB had Tulane's number in 2004, going 3-1 against the Green Wave, including a 10-4 victory in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament in Houston.
Second-round Conference USA Tournament action continues on Thursday with the winner of the UAB-Tulane game facing the winner of the Houston-East Carolina game at 4 p.m. The loser will take on either Houston or East Carolina at 9 a.m. on Thursday. Complete coverage of the 2005 C-USA Tournament can be found at www.conferenceusa.com and www.southernmiss.com.
