Round 2 of Heavyweight Match Goes to ECU, as Tulane Baseball Falls, 9-6
Tulane baseball fought back, but couldn't get over the final hump, as East Carolina took game two of the three game set, 9-6 in Turchin Stadium, evening the series at a game apiece, but the biggest loss of the night wasn't on the scoreboard.
Sampson's Throwing Arm Hurt
Left-handed reliever, Beau Sampson, who has been stellar since moving to the bullpen, came into the game in the top of the 8th with one out, an ECU runner at third, and the game tied at 6-all. On the fourth pitch to his first batter, the junior grabbed his throwing elbow, wincing in pain as he walked off the back of the mound. Coach Jay Uhlman along with the entire Tulane infield rushed to check on their lefty.
"I'm extremely concerned," Uhlman told us after the game. "He was very emotional, of course, and no amount of words are going to stop that emotion. (We just told him) we love you and we're here to support you on your road to recovery, which starts tomorrow."
Sampson was the Saturday starter to begin the season, but had difficulty there. After four weekends, coaches moved him to the bullpen, and he has pitched lights out ever since. In eleven games since going to the pen, the Oklahoma transfer has given up just six hits in 11-and-one-third innings on the mound.
Back and Forth It Goes
Like a pair of heavyweight fighters, Tulane and East Carolina battled back and forth all night. The Green Wave loaded the bases in the bottom of the first but came up empty. The Wave didn't let that bother them, scoring two runs in the bottom of the second with back-to-back doubles by catcher Johnny Elliott and third bagger Jack Johnson, followed by a run-scoring single by Jack's brother, 1st baseman Nate.
Two innings later, ECU knotted it up at 2-apiece. Then, in the sixth, a grand slam gave the Pirates their first lead of the series 6-2.
"I didn't like the way we handled the grand slam," Uhlman said. "I thought we were a little mopey (afterwards)....(I spoke with the team in the dugout). I wasn't being rude or condescending. I was being honest in my evaluation of what they looked like. From that point on, we got the runs back."
The very next inning, a Jack Johnson walk, a Tye Wood single, and a Nate Johnson walk loaded the bases. On the first pitch he saw, designated hitter Matthias Haas crushed a double down the left field line to clear the bases. 1st baseman Trent Liolios pushed Haas home with a single to right and the game was tied at 6-each.
The top of the next inning was when the pitching injury to Sampson occurred, and the Pirates scored three unanswered runs to take a lead they would never relinquish.
"That's a hard one. You're reeling from that," Uhlman told us. "I told them 'There's nothing we can do for him right now. We have to pick ourselves up and keep moving without him, even though we feel bad for him.' That's a tough one to overcome."
The rubber match of the series is set for a 1:00 p.m. start in Turchin Stadium on Sunday.
"We have a chance to win the series tomorrow," Uhlman wrapped up. "All hands are on deck. It's going to be a roll up your sleeves donnybrook. It's going to be like you (On SI) said, 'a heavyweight fight.' When we play them, it's usually good baseball, competitive, it's chess, and you know I love a good chess match."
Doug has covered a gamut of sporting events in his fifty-plus years in the field. He started doing sideline reporting for Louisiana Tech football games for the student radio station. Doug was Sports Director for KNOE-AM/FM in Monroe in the mid-80s, winning numerous awards from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for Best Sportscast and Best Play-by-Play. High school play-by-play for teams in Monroe, Natchitoches, New Orleans, and Thibodaux, LA dot his resume. He did college play-by-play for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches for nine years. Then, moving to the Crescent City, Doug did television PBP of Tulane games and even filled in for legendary Tulane broadcaster, Ken Berthelot in the only game Kenny ever missed while doing the Green Wave games. His father was an alumnus of Tulane in the 1940s, so Doug has attended Tulane football games in old Tulane Stadium, the Superdome, and Yulman. He was one of the 86,000 plus on December 1, 1973, sitting in the North End Zone to seeTulane shutout the LSU Tigers, 14-0. He was there when the Posse ruled Fogelman and in Turchin when the Wave made it to the World Series. He currently is the public address voice of the Tulane baseball team.