Conference USA Recap for 4/3

Tulane 16, LSU 9

All nine Green Wave hitters tallied at least two hits, including a 4-for-6 showing by sophomore right fielder Warren McFadden, as the Tulane University baseball team defeated arch-rival LSU, 16-9, Tuesday evening at Zephyr Field.

Tulane (23-8) jumped out to a 10-0 lead after three innings, and held a comfortable 13-3 advantage going into the top of the seventh. In that stanza, however, the Tigers (17-13-1) clawed their way back into the ballgame as left fielder Ryan Schimpf capped a six-run stanza with a three-run homer to right. Rookie right-hander Preston Claiborne came out of the pen to put the fire out and the Green Wave held on to complete the regular-season sweep of LSU for the third time since 2001.

Tulane Recap

Southern Miss 13, Nicholls State 5

Southern Miss' Trey Cuevas and Michael Ewing each finished with three hits and four RBIs to lead the Golden Eagles to a 13-5 victory over Nicholls State, tonight, at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field in front of 2,467 in attendance.

Cuevas finished with a single in the first inning, a grand slam in the second inning and a single in the fourth inning. Michael Ewing had a triple to center field in the second inning, a walk in the third inning, a sacrifice fly to center in the fourth inning, a three-run homer to right field in the sixth inning and a single through the right side in the seventh inning.

Jared Cavenaugh (2-0) earned his second win of the season, pitching six innings, giving up five runs, four earned, on six hits, walking two and striking out seven batters. JR Ballinger pitched two innings, giving up one hit and striking out one, and Ben Wade pitched the ninth inning and had a strikeout.

Southern Miss Recap

Baylor 12, Houston 6

Baylor scored nine runs over the final four innings on the way to a 12-6 win against the University of Houston baseball team Tuesday during a non-conference game at Baylor Ballpark.

The Bears took advantage of a hit and error to score two runs in the sixth inning and grab the lead for good and then broke the game open with four runs off three hits and another Cougar miscue one inning later to split the regular-season series against the Cougars. UH enjoyed a 4-2 win over the Bears on Feb. 9 during the first day of the Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park.

Baylor added three more run in the eighth inning during its final at bat for the final margin of victory.

Houston Recap

Rice 5, Prairie View A&M 4

Junior left fielder Jordan Dodson delivered the game-winning hit with one out in the bottom of the ninth-inning to cap a late two-run rally and propel the eighth-ranked Rice baseball team to a 5-4 victory over upset-minded Prairie View Tuesday evening at Reckling Park in Houston.

Dodson's ninth inning game-winner was on the heals of an emotional boost in the top of the eighth inning when junior reliever Cole St.Clair made his long-awaited debut for the 2007 season. The left-hander fired a solid shutout inning that halted the first Prairie View rally after the Panthers cut the Rice lead to a single run, 3-2. St.Clair entered the game with one run already in, a man in scoring position and nobody out. The consensus preseason all-America selection got a fly out, which was enough to advance the runner to third, and he hit the next batter. With men on the corners, St.Clair quickly made up for the hit batsman by picking the runner off first base. He then batted down a line-shot back to the mound, which he managed to corral and flip to first to end the inning.

Rice Recap

Louisville 17, Marshall 1

The Marshall University baseball team suffered a 17-1 setback to Louisville at Jim Patterson Stadium on Tuesday on the strength of eight Cardinal home runs, three of which came in a 10-run third inning. The game was called in the top of the sixth inning due to thunderstorms.

Louisville fell behind 1-0 on a Brendan Murphy (Chattanooga, Tenn.) RBI groundout in the first inning that scored Thundering Herd leadoff man Mason Chapman (Barboursville, W.Va.). The Cardinals then wasted no time getting their offense going, hitting two home runs in the bottom of the first to take a 3-1 lead. Justin McClanahan hit a two-run shot off starter Ryan Kiel (Los Gatos, Calif.), then two batters later Chris Dominguez hit a solo homer.

Marshall Recap

Thanks to Raymond Reeves for forwarding me all this information. He is much help with Conference USA coverage.