March 24, 2002

Final Stats

HOUSTON, Texas - Sophomore designated hitter Turner Brumby went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a run scored, and senior second baseman James Jurries belted his seventh home run of the year, but it was not enough as the Tulane baseball team dropped a 10-3 contest to Houston in Conference USA action Sunday afternoon at Cougar Field.

Trailing 4-1 after five, the Green Wave got back in the game when Brumby singled and Jurries sent a towering shot over the wall in left center to cut the lead to 4-3. But that would be as close at Tulane would get as Houston took advantage of an error to plate four unearned runs in the bottom of the frame to put the game away and complete the series sweep.

With the loss, Tulane's fourth straight, the Green Wave falls to 13-12 on the year and 1-5 in C-USA play. Houston, meanwhile, improves to 18-7 overall and 5-1 in league action. The sweep was the first against the Green Wave since 1997 when Tulane dropped a three-game slate to Indiana (9-7, 7-3, 3-0) on Feb. 28-March 2, and was the first conference sweep since the Green Wave were members of Metro Conference when Virginia Commonwealth took the series 2-1, 6-1, 3-0 on April 28-29, 1995.

The Green Wave got things going early on when Brumby laced a one-out double to left center and came around to score on an RBI single by Jurries one batter later.

The lead would be short lived, however, as the Houston centerfielder Michael Bourn tied the contest with an RBI single that plated Chris Snyder from third, and designated hitter Sam Mitchell got an easy run on a Tulane throwing error in an attempted pick play at second to make it 2-1.

Houston padded its lead in the fourth when first baseman Brett Cooley tripled to open the frame and scored on an RBI single by Mitchell, and Mitchell advanced the bases with a steal and a Green Wave error before scoring on an RBI groundout by left fielder Gabe Lucas.

After Tulane cut the lead to one at 4-3 in the top of the sixth, the Cougars scored seven unanswered runs to seal the victory.

Beau Richardson was saddled with the loss after giving up two runs - one earned - on four hits in just two innings of work. Comarda, Joey Charron and Will Walter all came on in relief for the Green Wave, but each gave up at least two hits and one run as the Cougars pounded out 16 hits on the day.

Houston's Gene Flores got the win for Houston, striking out eight and walking one in seven strong innings on the hill, and relievers Austin Faught and Matt Hooper kept the Green Wave off the board to close out the contest.

The Green Wave returns to action on Tuesday when Tulane travels to Cajun Country to take on Louisiana-Lafayette at 6:30 p.m. at Tigue Moore Field. Tulane and the Ragin' Cajuns will play a make-up game at Turchin Stadium on Wednesday, and return to C-USA play on Friday when the Green Wave plays host to Saint Louis at 6:30 p.m.