East Carolina University
Tulane
Tulane Eliminates ECU From Tourney, 3-0
May 22, 2009 | Baseball
May 22, 2009
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Scott Powell’s two-RBI single down the left line in the fifth inning put Tulane (34-24) ahead and they never looked back as the Green Wave eliminated top seed and No. 15 East Carolina (42-17) from the 2009 Conference USA Championships Friday afternoon 3-0 at Pete Taylor Park.
Jeff Zeid improved to 6-0 on the year keeping the Pirates scoreless through seven innings, allowing seven hits, walking two with a pair of strikeouts. Preston Claiborne pitched the final two frames to record his third save of the year.
Sophomore Brad Mincey suffered the loss and fell to 9-5 on the season after working 6 2/3 innings where he tied his career-high with seven strikeouts. He allowed two runs on seven hits with three walks before turning the ball over to Kevin Brandt, who worked 1 1/3 inning of relief.
Powell’s two-RBI single down the left field line gave Tulane a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning. Drew Allain walked to start the frame, moved to second on a Matt Ryan sac bunt and was thrown out at the plate on Nick Boullosa’s single to center. After Boullosa ended up on second on the throw to the plate, he took third on Josh Prince’s infield single putting runners on the corners. Powell laced a 1-1 offering from Mincey down the line scoring both Boullosa and Prince.
Tulane added a run in the eighth to push the lead to three, 3-0 on a two-out fielding error of the glove of Brandon Henderson at first.
Offensively the Pirates had eight hits on the afternoon with Dustin Harrington (3-for-3) leading the way with his 23rd multi-hit game of the season. Jared Avchen and Trent Whitehead extended their hit streaks to 12 games, while Drew Schieber (6 games) and Ryan Wood (5 games) also continued their hit streaks.
The last time ECU was blanked happened on April 21, 2007 against North Carolina, a span of 143 games.
The Pirates will have to wait and see who their next opponent will be as the NCAA Selection Committee will announce its field of 64 teams on Monday, May 25.
