May 19, 2007

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METAIRIE, La. - In a game that was precluded by a special sendoff for its six-member senior class and the awarding of seven diplomas, the Tulane University baseball team closed out the regular-season on a high note as the Green Wave posted a 7-0 shutout victory over Chicago State Saturday afternoon at Zephyr Field.

The Green Wave plated five runs over the first two innings and never looked back. Three of the five Tulane pitchers to see action on the day were seniors - starter Brandon Gomes, middle reliever Matt Goebel and closer Daniel Latham - as the Green Wave conclude the regular season at 32-24.

Tulane locked down the No. 7 seed in the upcoming Conference USA Tournament last weekend, and will take on No. 2 seed and host East Carolina in the first round on Wednesday at Clark-LeClair Field in Greenville, N.C.

"Having three seniors pitch - Brandon Gomes was outstanding again, Matt Goebel had a good inning, and Daniel looked like Daniel in the end -that was a real positive," Tulane head coach Rick Jones said. "We're eight to 10 wins short of what we thought we'd be - especially after the start we had - but you have a tournament for a reason. We're not in any bigger a deficit than anybody else now, so we have another chance."

Prior to the start of the ballgame, the Tulane Athletics Department recognized seniors J.R. Crowel, Goebel, Gomes, Tim Guidry, Latham and Ty Wallace, awarded bachelor degrees to Crowell, Goebel Gomes Latham and fourth-year junior Devin Barnett and bestowed a master's degree to Guidry.

Six of the seven student-athletes either pitched at least one inning, got a hit or scored a run, and Crowel - who missed the last two seasons due to injury - started in right field before being lifted in favor of sophomore Warren McFadden after the first out of the ballgame.

Gomes struck out three while scattering two hits and a pair of walks in a 6.0-inning start, Goebel pitched his way around a walk and a single in the seventh and Latham fanned a pair in the ninth to complete the Green Wave's seventh shutout victory of the year.

Guidry and Wallace had one hit apiece, and Barnett - who had not seen time in any game during his previous three years at Tulane after transferring from UMass prior to the 2005 season - was put in as a pinch runner in the eighth and scored the game's final run on an RBI-single off the bat of junior shortstop Cat Everett.

"At the end of the day, I'm in the kid business," Jones said. "It was special having J.R. go out because he deserved that. It was the right thing because he earned that with all the things he's done as a player for us. Devin comes out here and works in practice like he's been a starter and a big asset. He earned that, and now he'll always be in the record books. He scored a run and that meant a lot to him."

Gomes (6-6) fanned two of the four batters he faced in the first, and the offense gave him all the runs he would need as McFadden ripped two-run, two-out single to centerfield off Chicago State starter Robert Vargas. Vargas started the second inning, but after walking the bases loaded to start the inning and giving up back-to-back RBI singles to sophomore second baseman Seth Henry and McFadden, was lifted in favor of Mike Weida.

Weida, who tossed four scoreless innings on Thursday, turned in another solid performance as he fanned three and scattered a trio of singles while keeping Tulane off the board for the next six frames.

Still leading 5-0 going into the eighth, the Green Wave put the final tallies on the board in their final at-bats of the day. With CSU reliever Sean Freeman making his first appearance of the weekend on the mound, McFadden, Wallace and reserve left fielder Nate Simon drew consecutive walks to load the bases and force a pitching change.

Mike Storrs allowed just one hit the rest of the way, but sophomore centerfielder Aja Barto pushed the lead to six with a sacrifice fly to center before Everett delivered a two-out single through the right side of the infield to plate Barnett.

"Brandon gave us one of his vintage performances," Latham said in a jubilant Tulane dugout after the game. "It was typical Brandon today. He goes out there, pounds the strikezone and lets the defense get some work. Goebel goes out there and gets through his inning, we piece an inning together and I get to go out there in the ninth to finish it out. It was really, really awesome."

The 2007 C-USA Tournament is in double-elimination championship format and the Green Wave will share their side of the bracket along with East Carolina, third-seeded Southern Miss and sixth-seeded UAB. The winner of each bracket will meet in the championship game on Sunday, May 27, and the winner of that game will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals.

All of the Green Wave's tournament games will be broadcast on the flagship radio station of Tulane baseball, WRHB 88.3 FM, and the contests can also be heard live on the website at www.TulaneGreenWave.com to paid members of the All-Access Pass. In addition, live stats are available on-line for free via GameTracker. Sunday's championship game will be televised live on College Sports Television (DirecTV Channel 610, DISH Network Channel 152) and first pitch of the game is slated for 1 pm (CDT).