Louisiana falls to #18 Tulane 10-1

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&nbsp; NEW ORLEANS – Tulane scored nine runs in the first five innings, while its pitching staff held No. 25 Louisiana to five hits as the 18th-ranked Green Wave shut down the Ragin’ Cajuns 10-1 Wednesday night at Turchin Stadium.

Tulane (5-0) held Louisiana (2-3) to one hit until the eighth inning. Three of Louisiana’s five hits came from freshmen.

John Zorich (Stafford, Va.) made his first start on the mound since a 3 1/3-inning performance against McNeese State on March 20, 2007. However, Zorich’s (0-1) season debut didn’t last long as the senior survived 2 2/3 innings, allowing six runs on six hits.

Matt Broussard (Breaux Bridge, La.) lasted 1 2/3 innings in middle relief, giving up three runs on four hits. Luke Wagley (Greenwell Springs, La.) allowed just three base runners – one hit, two walks – in 2 2/3 innings of relief with two strikeouts.

Jonathan Garrett (1-0) earned the victory for the Green Wave, surrendering just one hit, while striking out five batters. Tulane’s bullpen allowed one run on four hits in three innings.

Cy Primeaux (Lafayette, La.) drove in Louisiana’s only run on a RBI single in the ninth inning.

Anthony Scelfo led all players with three hits, going 3-for-4 with two RBI, while eight other Green Wave batters combined for nine hits.

With one out in the first inning, Scelfo laced a triple down the right field line and later scored on a fielding error by Tyler Benzel (Groveland, Fla.), giving Tulane a 1-0 lead. Zorich then forced Warren McFadden into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Tulane added another run in the second inning for a 2-0 Green Wave edge. For the second straight Green Wave half inning, the Greenies recorded a one-out triple as Rob Segedin sent a line drive into the gap in left-center. Sam Honeck plated Segedin with a RBI groundout for the two-run Tulane lead.

Tulane broke the game open in the third, touching Zorich for four runs for a 6-0 Green Wave advantage. Scelfo’s one-out RBI single scored Drew Allain for a three-run Tulane lead. Aja Barto then doubled to right field followed by a McFadden walk to load the bases.

Andrew Rodgers then drew a bases-loaded walk from Zorich to score Scelfo. Segedin followed it up with a two-RBI single through the left side for a 6-0 Tulane lead, prematurely ending Zorich’s season opener.

After retiring the first 10 Cajuns he faced, Garrett gave up his first hit of the night on an infield single by Matt Goulas (New Iberia, La.). But, Matt Hicks (Houston, Texas) and Scott Hawkins (Collierville, Tenn.) flied out to end Louisiana’s fourth inning.

The Green Wave hung a two-spot in the bottom half of the fourth to take a commanding 8-0 lead. Tulane added an insurance run in the fifth on a Moritz RBI sacrifice fly to increase the difference to nine runs.

A Greg Fontenot (Lafayette, La.) throwing error allowed the Green Wave’s 10th run to cross the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Louisiana finally cracked the scoreboard in the ninth on a Primeaux RBI single, but it would be all the Cajuns could muster before falling 10-1.

Louisiana returns to action Friday when the Ragin’ Cajuns host the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in their home opener at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch. Friday will also serve as “Gene Bacque Night” as the Ragin’ Cajuns will honor former Cajun Gene Bacque, who later became one of the best pitchers in Japanese Baseball history.

<center><p><a href="http://www.ragincajuns.com//ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=15400&ATCLID=1399196" target="_blank">RaginCajuns.com</a>

Chris Yandle

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&nbsp; NEW ORLEANS - The matchup of nationally ranked baseball teams on Wednesday night ended up overwhelmingly one-sided.

UL, ranked 25th nationally by Baseball America, struggled at the plate, on the mound and in the field during a 10-1 loss against No. 18 Tulane at Turchin Stadium.

Tulane's Jonathan Garrett rolled in his second career start - and first since 2006 - to hand UL its third straight loss. The junior right-hander, who logged a 7.71 ERA last year, struck out five in six innings of one-hit ball for his first career win.

<center><p><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/SPORTS/802280318/1006" target="_blank">The rest of the story</a>

Joshua Parrott
jparrott@theadvertiser.com
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The only Cajun to reach base on Garrett was freshman Matt Goulas, who had an infield single in the fourth inning.
"It's been a long road back since surgery," said Garrett, who had elbow replacement surgery in 2005. "I'm glad to get back out there and contribute. I came out expecting to do well.

"I'm glad things worked out like they did."

UL coach Tony Robichaux used other words to describe his team's performance before a crowd of 3,744. The Cajuns (2-3) committed three errors, finished with five hits and needed a run in the ninth inning to avoid being shut out for the first time since March 4, 2007.

Through eight innings, the Cajuns recorded only two hits - a Goulas single in the fourth and Travis Whipple's double in the eighth. In the ninth, Nolan Gisclair and Dillon Guillory both singled in the ninth before Cy Primeaux's RBI single ended Tulane's shutout bid in the first game between the teams at Turchin Stadium since March 5, 2003.

"If we're not going to hit," Robichaux said, "we're going to have to pitch a lot better than that."

Tulane (5-0) roughed up UL starter John Zorich in his first start since March 20, 2007. The lefty, who went 3-1 with a 4.15 ERA last year, allowed six runs on six hits in 2.2 innings.

After replacing Zorich in the third, Matt Broussard gave up three runs on four hits in 1.2 innings.

Anthony Scelfo was the star at the plate for the Green Wave, going 3-for-4 with two triples and two RBIs. Aja Barto and Rob Segedin also drove in two apiece as Tulane pounded out 12 hits in its highest-scoring game of the young season.

Tulane got to Zorich early with runs in the first, second and third innings, respectively. After ripping a one-out triple down the right-field line in the first, Scelfo later scored on an error by UL third baseman Tyler Benzel.

With one out in the second, Segedin tripled to deep left. Sam Honeck followed with an RBI groundout as Tulane took a 2-0 lead.

The Green Wave added four runs in the third. Scelfo drove in the first with an RBI single. Zorich later walked Andrew Rodgers to force in another run and gave up a two-run single to Segedin to make it 6-0.

In the fourth, Scelfo drove in Tulane's seventh run with his second triple. Barto added a sacrifice fly in the inning to give the Green Wave an eight-run cushion.

Tulane chipped in runs in the fifth and eighth, respectively, before the Cajuns scored one in the ninth.

The Green Wave bullpen gave up a run for the first time this season, but Nick Pepitone, Taylor Rogers and Rob Segedin scattered four hits in three innings in relief of Garrett.

"Jonathan Garrett absolutely set the tone tonight," Tulane coach Rick Jones said. "He featured three pitches in the zone. He pounded the strike zone.

"To do what he did tonight against a team like that is outstanding."

Now the Cajuns have one day to regroup before their home-opener at 6:30 Friday night against Southern Miss, ranked No. 29 by the NCBWA, at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field. They follow with games against Miami (Ohio) on Saturday and Southern Miss on Sunday.

Even with a strong showing at home, UL will likely drop out of the national rankings.

"Our guys need to toughen up," said Robichaux, whose Cajuns hit .212 in four games to open the season at the UTSA Baseball Classic. "We have a lot of kids looking to our older players, and we've got to get better there."




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So THAT'S what a REAL "ranked team" looks like!!