University of Houston
<b>TULANE</b>
Musick Leads Baseball Past Tulane in Series Opener
4/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 11, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
HOUSTON - Sophomore southpaw Wes Musick struck out a season-high nine batters over 7.1 innings to help lead the 19th-ranked University of Houston baseball team to a 4-3 win over Conference USA rival Tulane in the opener of a three-game series Friday at Cougar Field.
The Lufkin native scattered four hits with only two walks to lead the Cougars to their sixth straight win over the Green Wave, the longest winning streak by either team in the all-time series. Musick struck out at least one batter in five of the last six innings that he worked and retired nine of the last 10 batters he faced.
Musick allowed only single runs in the first, third and fifth innings to collect the win and improved to 7-1 this season.
The Green Wave mounted a threat in the ninth inning after Rob Segedin was hit by a pitch to lead off and moved into scoring position following pinch hitter Nick Boullosa's sacrifice bunt. But, closer Chase Dempsay struck out Drew Allain and forced Sam Honeck to ground out to end the threat and the game on the way to his team-leading fifth save.
Trailing 3-2 entering the sixth inning, the Cougars grabbed the lead for good with a pair of runs off three hits. Freshman utility player Matt Murphy and senior outfielder Bryan Tully led off with back-to-back singles and moved up a base following a wild pitch. Sophomore centerfielder Presley grounded out to second base, but Murphy raced in to score the tying run. Freshman shortstop Blake Kelso then slapped an RBI-single into right field to plate Tully and give the Cougars a 4-3 lead.
That would be all the support that Musick would need, retiring the last four batters he faced before giving way to sophomore southpaw Donnie Joseph and Dempsay.
Presley went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases and two RBIs to lead the Cougar offense, which outhit Tulane 8-5. Junior DH Felix Fanaselle went 2-for4 in the winning effort, while senior infielder Bryan Pounds went 1-for-3 to extend his hitting streak to eight games. The Houston native, who leads the Cougars with a .423 batting average, has hit safely in all but two of the 30 games he has played to date.
Seth Henry went 3-for-5 and knocked in all three Tulane runs to lead the Green Wave. Aja Barto and Honeck were the only other Green Wave hitters to manage hits off the Cougar hurlers.
With the win, the Cougars improved to 21-11 overall and 6-1 in C-USA games. The Cougars maintained their lead in Conference USA over Rice, which was a 13-11 winner against UAB on Friday. Tulane fell to 23-10-1 overall and 3-3-1 in C0-USA
The series continues with game two at 7:06 p.m., Saturday. Fans should note that Saturday's starting time recently was pushed back to accommodate CBS College Sports live coverage of the games from Cougar Field.
Tom Hart will call the play-by-play action with former Major Leaguer Kevin Stocker providing color analysis. This marks the fourth straight season and the ninth time in the last 10 years that the Cougars will play at least one game on television.
The series wraps up at 1 p.m., Sunday.
Fans can hear Cougar Baseball games live at UHCougars.com by clicking the appropriate links. Jeremy Branham will call the play-by-play action while former letterwinner Pat Cauley provides color analysis.
Fans always can follow live stats by clicking on the Gametracker link.
Tulane grabbed the early lead when Barto led off with a double off the center-field wall and scored following a pair of groundouts.
The Cougars grabbed their first lead in the bottom of the second thanks to a walk, hit and Tulane infield miscue. After drawing a leadoff walk, Chris Wallace moved to second when Murphy's sacrifice bunt was misplayed and both runners advanced following Tully's sacrifice bunt. Presley then lined an RBI-single through the right side to knot the game at 1-1. Kelso grounded out to shortstop, but Murphy raced in from third base to hand UH a 2-1 lead.
The lead did not last long as the Green Wave tied the game at 2-2 on Henry's two-out, RBI-single.
In the fifth inning, Tulane grabbed a 3-2 lead when Henry's single fell into center field, scoring Barto from second base.
