April 14, 2006
METAIRIE, La. - Tulane sophomore right-handed pitcher Sean Morgan tossed eight innings and struck out 11 to give the host Green Wave a 5-1 Conference USA victory over UCF at Zephyr Field on Friday evening. Morgan (5-4) allowed just five hits on the night.
UCF falls to 20-17 overall and 3-4 in league play. The teams will play the second contest of a three-game series on Saturday afternoon.
The Green Wave (22-14, 4-6) put the game out of reach in the eighth when senior left fielder Matt Riser belted a grand slam home run over the fence in right off of junior reliever Brian Brooks to give the hosts a 5-0 edge. Brooks entered the game after junior right-handed reliever Derek Abriola loaded the bases with one out with a pair of hit batsmen and a walk.
Junior right-hander Tim Bascom started for the Golden Knights, going six innings and striking out six while allowing six hits and three walks. Bascom, who fell to 5-3 with the loss, allowed only one run on an RBI single to Tulane freshman third baseman Seth Henry in the fourth.
The Golden Knights had their best chance to tie the game at one in the seventh inning. With freshman left fielder Ryan Williams on second after a fielder's choice and freshman right fielder Chadd Hartman at first following an infield single, freshman shortstop Eric Kallstrom stepped to the plate. Kallstrom hit a falling popup to shallow centerfield, but Tulane sophomore shortstop Cat Everett made a running catch to end the UCF threat.
UCF scored its lone run in the ninth when senior catcher Ryan Bono scored on a throwing error by Tulane junior first baseman Mark Hamilton.
First pitch on Saturday is slated for 3 p.m. Eastern. The game will be broadcast live on the UCF ISP Sports Network and its flagship station, 740-THE TEAM AM. Marc Daniels will have the call live from the Big Easy. Audio of the game is also available as part of the Golden Knights All-Access package on www.UCFathletics.com.
Game Notes: UCF and Tulane were meeting for the first time since 1990... Tulane leads the all-time series, 3-2... Zephyr Field is the third minor league ballpark that the Golden Knights have played at this season. UCF faced Bethune-Cookman two times at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach and also played Marshall for a league series at Appalachian Power Park in Charleston, W.Va. The squad is 4-2 this season in minor league parks.