Crowel's Arm, Big Eighth Innings,

Lead Baseball Past UMBC, 10-2

Sophomore southpaw fans career-high 10 batters and the Green Wave swipe nine bases in the victory

Feb. 22, 2004

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Sophomore southpaw J.R. Crowel struck out a career-high 10 batters and the Green Wave swiped a season-best nine bases as the Tulane University baseball team defeated the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, 10-2, Saturday afternoon at Turchin Stadium.

      The game was a relatively close one throughout most of the contest as Tulane clung to a 5-2 after seven innings, but the Green Wave rallied for five runs in the bottom of the eighth - including a two-run homer to right by freshman designated hitter Mark Hamilton - to put the game away. With the win, Tulane improves to 4-1 on the year while UMBC falls to 0-2.

      The Retrievers drew first blood as first baseman Zach Clark doubled to lead off the second and came plateward two at-bats later when Chris Cerullo hit an RBI-fielder's choice to put UMBC ahead 1-0.
      The lead would not last long, however, as the Green Wave shook off a pair of three-up, three-down innings to score a pair of runs in the third on a sacrifice fly by junior left fielder Matt Barket and an RBI-single by sophomore third baseman Tim Guidry for a 2-1 lead Tulane would never relinquish.

      The Green Wave appeared to take control of the game over the next two innings with a single run in the fourth, courtesy of a sacrifice fly off the bat of junior shortstop Tommy Manzella , and a plated a pair of runs in the fifth on a hit and two Retriever errors to stake claim to a 5-1 advantage.

      The game would remain that way until the seventh when UMBC strung together three consecutive hits off freshman reliever Daniel Latham - including a two-out RBI-single by pinch hitter Bernie Zaworksi - but the talented rookie got out of the inning on a fine play by rookie second baseman Philip Stringer , and the Retrievers never threatened again.

      Tulane, meanwhile, quieted any talks of a UMBC comeback in the bottom of the eighth with five runs on three hits, and took advantage of one Retriever error to put account for the final score. Manzella got things going for Tulane with a single to lead off the frame, Stringer followed with a walk, and the duo pulled off a double steal before Barket poked a double down the right-field line to give the home team a 7-1 lead.

      Barket scored one at-bat later when Guidry's roller to second was thrown into the dugout by Kevin Brooks, and Hamilton put the finishing touches on the victory with his two-run blast to right.

      UMBC got the lead runner on board in the ninth, but sophomore Ryan Martin got designated hitter Chris Becraft to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play and Cerullo grounded out to short to seal the 10-2 win.

      Crowel (2-0) earned the victory for the Wave with six strong innings of work where he gave up one run on three hits while walking just one UMBC hitter. Latham pitched two solid innings of relief for Tulane before giving way to Martin, who tossed a scoreless ninth. The Retrievers' Eric Butkiewski (0-1) did not fare as well, giving up three runs on three hits in a 3.1-inning start, and the Green Wave ripped reliever Steve Evans for five runs in the eighth. UMBC pitchers did not get much help for its defense as the Retrievers committed three errors in the loss.

      Tulane and UMBC will close out the Mardi Gras weekend on Sunday with first pitch slated for 1 p.m. For ticket information, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE.

Photo Courtesy of the Tulane University Athletic Department. All Rights Reserved.