No. 18 Tulane Shuts Down Cajuns, 10-1

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.

Tulane 10, Louisiana-Lafayette 1 (Feb 27, 2008 at New Orleans, La.)

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Louisiana-Lafayette. 000 000 001 - 1 5 3 (2-3)

Tulane.............. 114 210 01X - 10 12 0 (5-0)

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Pitchers: Louisiana-Lafayette - Zorich, John; Broussard, Matt(3); Wagley, Luke(5); Cook, Michael(8). Tulane - Jonathan Garrett; Nick Pepitone(7); Taylor Rogers(8); Rob Segedin(9).

Win-Jonathan Garrett(1-0) Loss-Zorich, John(0-1) T-2:41 A-3744

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