May 19, 2004

NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Tulane University baseball teams will close out the regular-season with a three-game series at Conference USA foe Houston beginning on Thursday, May 20 at 7 p.m. at Cougar Field.

The Green Wave enter the weekend 37-15 overall and tied for second in the C-USA standings with a 20-7 league mark. Tulane is still in the hunt for the regular-season conference crown, but if they are to claim their first league title since 2001, the Green Wave will have to sweep the Cougars and get three wins from conference rival Southern Miss, who plays host this weekend to current C-USA leader East Carolina.

If that happens, Tulane would earn the No. 1 seed in next week's 2004 C-USA Tournament as the Green Wave hold tie-breakers over USM and ECU with a sweep and a 2-1 series win in the respective head-to-head matchups.

As a team, Tulane is hitting .325 with a .501 slugging percentage courtesy of 114 doubles, six triples and 66 home runs. Junior outfielder Matt Barket paces the squad with a .400 batting average while fellow juniors Greg Dini and Wes Swackhamer are close behind with averages of .372 and .368, respectively.

Dini is one of five Tulane players with at least seven homer runs, and leads the squad with 10 round trippers. Sophomore Brian Bogusevic - the reigning C-USA Hitter of the Week - leads the Green Wave with 60 RBI, and the Green Wave has done a solid job on the basepaths in 2004 with 53 steals in 71 attempts.

From the mound, Tulane has a 4.17 team ERA, and the Green Wave hurlers have done a good job of keeping the ball over the plate with 375 strikeouts and 133 walks, and has allowed opponents to hit .279. Three pitchers have combined for 10 saves, and Charron leads the way with five.

Houston, meanwhile, comes into the weekend 25-25 overall - record skewed by one of the toughest non-conference slates in the country - and have already locked a spot in the conference tournament with a 17-10 league record. The Cougars are hitting .302 as a team with a .435 slugging percentage on the strength of 97 doubles, 11 triples and 42 home runs.

Kevin Roberts leads Houston with a .377 batting average, while Cole Bruce and Ron Johnson follow with averages of .348 and .3215, respectively. Nick Bott leads the Cougars with eight home runs, Johnson paces the club with 42 RBI, and Travis Tully heads the squad with 15 stolen bases.

As a staff, Houston hurlers have a 4.79 ERA and have 395 strikeouts and 210 walks in 454.2 innings of work. Opponents are hitting just .268 off Cougar pitching, and the bullpen has 10 saves to its credit, including seven by Brandon Roznovsky.

This weekend's games will mark the 29th, 30st and 31st times the two teams will meet on the diamond, and each team is tied with 14 wins apiece. In 10-plus years under head coach Rick Jones, Tulane is 13-11 against the Cougars, including a series sweep last season at Turchin Stadium.

Thursday's game will be the first of at least five games the Green Wave will play in "The Lone Star State" as Cougar Field is also the host of the 2004 Conference USA Tournament, which begins on Wednesday, May 26. For tournament ticket information, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE.

PITCHING MATCHUP
Thursday, May 20       B/T   ERA   W-L   G/GS   IP   H    R   ER   BB   K
Brian Bogusevic (TU)   L/L  3.81   8-4  13/12  85.0  87   38  36   20  74
Brad Lincoln (UH)      R/R  4.84   3-2    9/8  44.2  44   25  24   15  29
Friday, May 21         B/T   ERA   W-L   G/GS   IP   H    R   ER   BB   K
Daniel Latham (TU)     R/R  4.50   4-2   21/1  58.0  61   32  29   13  48
Garrett Mock (UH)      R/R  4.08   3-5  11/10  53.0  53   31  24   23  64
Sunday, May 22         B/T   ERA   W-L   G/GS   IP   H    R   ER   BB   K
Billy Mohl (TU)        R/R  3.60   6-3  14/12  75.0  94   41  30   13  53
Matt Varner (UH)       R/R  3.91   7-3  17/11  78.1  89   41  34   30  61