March 24, 2009

Box Score

NEW ORLEANS, La. - A pair of grand slams for the Green Wave lifted Tulane to a 15-2 victory over Nicholls Tuesday night at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.

With the loss, the Colonels fall to 11-10, while Tulane improves to 15-9 on the season.

"I was very disappointed in the way our guys competed tonight," said Colonel skipper Chip Durham. "We gave up too many free passes with walks, hit batters and errors. Without those, we may be headed to the fourth inning up 2-1 rather than down 12-2. After that it just seemed like we didn't have any fight. It just comes down to the way we competed tonight. We seemed scared against a team that we shouldn't have been scared of."

After the Wave scored a run in the bottom of the first, the Colonels answered with two of their own in the top of the second.

Leftfilder Josh Swenson (Applevalley, Minn./North Iowa Area CC) drew a one-out walk and first baseban Blake Bergeron (Houma, La./Terrebonne) singled through the left side to put runners on first and second for Nicholls. Two batters later, second baseman Keith Kulbeth (Opelousas, La./Westminister Christian Academy) drove a double off the wall in right to plate both runners and put the Colonels on top 2-1.

But the lead was fleeting as Tulane leftfielder Sam Honeck blasted a grand slam to right in the bottom of the second to give the Green Wave back the lead, 5-2, through two.

The Green Wave piled it on from there, adding seven runs in the third on a pair of RBI doubles and another grand slam, this one from the bat of catcher Jeremy Schaffer en route to the Tulane victory.

Freshman Jacob Knight (Thibodaux, La./E.D. White Catholic), who drove a pinch-hit double down the right-field line in the sixth, went 2-for-2 on the night. Knight was the only Colonel with a multi-hit game.

Colonel starter Jake Parrish (Albuquerque, N.M./Northeast Oklahoma State) went 2.2 innings, allowing 10 runs (five earned) on six hits as he falls to 0-2 on the season. Lefty Ryan Cooper (Sulphur, La./Sulphur) threw 2.1 innings of two-run relief, giving up one hit on the night.

Righthander Drew Erwin (Alvin, Texas/Alvin) shut out the Wave with one hit through 2.0 innings of relief.

Nicholls will host Texas Arlington in Southland Conference action this weekend. Friday night's first pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Ray E. Didier Field.

######