Wave takes on Rice

By Ryan Jones | Section: Apr 9th, 2010 April 9th 2010 Edition, Issues, Sports

Tulane prepares for their home series against Rice before readying for LSU at Alex Box Stadium. PHOTO | LEE SAXON | PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Coming off of an 8-3 win Tuesday against Nicholls State and a strong series against nationally ranked East Carolina, the Tulane baseball team now prepares to square off against Rice, with whom they share a lead in the Conference USA standings.

After a 10-5 win in the series opener, the Green Wave (20-10, 4-2) got off to a sluggish start in their second contest with the Pirates, giving up five runs in the first inning and falling 15-6. Powered by a fine pitching performance from Robby Broach in their final con, however, the Wave took the series in a 7-3 victory. In the team’s contest against Nicholls State, freshman Brandon Boudreaux led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run, and it was smooth sailing for Tulane, who defeated the Colonels 8-3.

“Nicholls came out and scored early, took care of the baseball and they threw a lot of different looks at us on the mound. That was a workman-like performance from our team,” head coach Rick Jones said. “We took care of the ball, pitched well enough and had some good at-bats against some pitchers that were giving us some issues.”

The Green Wave now turns its attention to a three-game home series with Owls, a team that it has dropped 12 consecutive contests to, with its last win coming in 2005. Rice (17-3, 4-2) begins a lengthy road trip, during which the team plays eight road games in 12 days, at Turchin Field after dropping a 7-6 contest against Dallas Baptist Tuesday.

Owls ace Taylor Wall (1-4) will start in the series opener. He leads a Rice pitching staff that has held opponents to a .255 batting average. Wall will likely match up with junior Conrad Flynn (3-2), a crucial piece of the Tulane pitching committee that owns a home 3.18 ERA.

Redshirt sophomore Rob Segedin leads the Green Wave bats with a .391 batting average, 26 RBIs and four home runs. Freshman Blake Crohan and Boudreaux trail Segedin with averages of  .384 and .375 respectively. The Wave plays games against the Owls at 6:30 p.m. tonight, at 2 p.m. Saturday and at 1 p.m. Sunday respectively.

After the Rice series, Tulane braces for its away contest against No. 3 LSU (23-4). The Tigers, who will face off against the Green Wave at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the friendly confines of Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, will play the Wave immediately after a three-game series against Auburn. LSU is currently tied with South Carolina for the SEC lead and holds a one-game advantage over Arkansas.

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