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News Nuggets, 06.19.05
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Top seed Tulane starts off according to form

The lone holdover from Tulane's last College World Series trip four years ago, Scott Madden knew what to expect Saturday when he was summoned to pinch-hit.

The noise and the atmosphere at Rosenblatt Stadium were part of his previous experience as a starting catcher for the Green Wave in 2001.

``Coming up in the situation that I did today, it kind took the edge off the emotion having played here already,'' Madden said after his two-out, two-run double helped the top-seeded Green Wave beat Oregon State 3-1 in the first round.

Tulane is attempting to become the first No. 1 national seed to win the CWS since Miami in 1999, when the NCAA expanded the tournament field to 64 teams.

The Wave advances to a Monday night game against Texas, which defeated Baylor 5-1 in Saturday's second game. Oregon State and Baylor will play in an elimination game Monday afternoon.

Shut out for six innings by Jonah Nickerson (9-2) and trailing 1-0, Tulane broke through in the seventh for its 56th victory and spoiled Oregon State's first trip to the CWS since 1952.

The Green Wave (56-10) got another strong pitching performance from Micah Owings, who was also involved in a controversial play at second base that kept the seventh-inning rally from being doused.

Tulane also got a great catch from right fielder Brian Bogusevic that kept Oregon State from expanding an early 1-0 lead.

Owings started the rally with a leadoff single in the seventh.

The Beavers then nearly turned a double play on Mark Hamilton's bunt to third baseman Shea McFeely, getting a hard-sliding Owings at second.

But the relay to first from shortstop Darwin Barney wasn't in time. Oregon State questioned the play, asking if there was interference on Owings' slide, but it was denied after the umpires conferred.

Owings said he didn't grab Barney but that his hand touched him as he was going into second.

After a fly out, Bogusevic singled to put runners at first and second.

Madden, who was a freshman on the Green Wave's 2001 CWS team, then drove a 2-2 pitch to right center to put the Green Wave ahead. Madden received a medical redshirt in 2003 because of a bad ankle injury and earned his a degree last year before deciding to return this season.

Owings (12-4) allowed just four hits and a run in seven innings, throwing 123 pitches before being replaced by Daniel Latham in the eighth. Latham pitched the eighth and ninth for his 13th save.

The Beavers loaded the bases in the sixth and were ready to build on the 1-0 lead when Cole Gillespie sent a line drive to the gap in right center.

But Bogusevic, a first-round pick of the Astros, saved at least two runs with a fully extended catch just as he was ready to hit the ground.

Tulane's Nathan Southard hit a solo homer off reliever Eddie Kunz leading off the bottom of the eighth for a two-run cushion. The drive to left extended Southard's hitting streak to 21 games.

Longhorns shake Baylor jinx when it counts

OMAHA — Texas forgot all about its four losses to Big 12 rival Baylor once the College World Series started.

``Once we get to Omaha, it's a brand new season,'' said Seth Johnston, whose two-run homer in the first inning provided all the offense Texas needed in a 5-1 victory over the Bears on Saturday night.

Instead of becoming the first Texas team to lose five times to an opponent in the same season, the Longhorns won for the 74th time in a record 32 appearances at the CWS, tying Southern California for most victories in Omaha.

Texas (52-16) advances to a Monday night game against Tulane, which defeated Oregon State 3-1 early Saturday. Baylor (44-23) plays the Beavers in an elimination game Monday afternoon.

Adrian Alaniz pitched seven strong innings and the Longhorns mixed Johnston's power with timely hits to beat a Baylor team that is at the CWS for the third time overall, but first since 1978.

``The balls they hit went to people and the balls we hit didn't,'' Texas coach Augie Garrido said. ``It was good timing for the old Longhorns for that to happen.''

Baylor swept a three-game series from the Longhorns in March, then beat them again last month at the Big 12 tournament.

Omaha notebook: Yankees legend roots for NU

OMAHA — Former New York Yankees great Bobby Richardson considers Tennessee coach Rod Delmonico a good friend and has wished the Volunteers well in the CWS.

That aside, Richardson is rooting for Nebraska.

``I think Nebraska being in it is good for Omaha. It's good for baseball,'' he said after addressing about 1,000 at a Saturday prayer breakfast.

Richardson dismisses concerns that Nebraska might have an unfair home-field advantage over the seven other teams in the series.

``To get here, you've got to earn your way here,'' Richardson said, adding that no one complains about teams that host regionals and super regionals having a home-field advantage.

Best known as the 1960 World Series MVP and the Yankees' second baseman for 12 seasons, Richardson also coached South Carolina to the CWS in 1975. His team lost to Texas in the championship game.

Some things have changed in the 30 years since he had a stake in the CWS, he said. Among them are almost annual attendance records and greater television exposure.

But the biggest change, he said, is the level of competition.

``In the early days, you didn't have that many teams who had the capacity to make it to the College World Series,'' Richardson said. ``Now, you do. I think it's great.''

THANKS FOR THE NEW MEMORIES: Fifty-three years after he pitched for Oregon State in the College World Series, Norb Wellman was back at Rosenblatt Stadium on Saturday taking in the view from a hospitality suite in the press box.

``I've got more anxiety and adrenaline flowing than when I was playing,'' Wellman said before the Beavers' game against Tulane. The Green Wave won 3-1.

This is Oregon State's first appearance in the CWS since Wellman and his teammates went 0-2 against Duke and Texas in 1952.

Back then, Rosenblatt seated 10,000, and not even half were occupied for either of the Beavers' games. The stadium has expanded to 25,000, and most of the seats were full on Saturday.

``This stadium and this event are quite a bit different,'' said Wellman, wearing an orange OSU baseball T-shirt. ``I remember home runs going over the fence and there was nobody out there to catch them.''

The 72-year-old Wellman said he is the only member of the 1952 team on hand for the Beavers' return to the CWS. A number of his old teammates accompanied him to regionals and super regionals.

``Making it this far was such a surprise, nobody else could make travel arrangements, I guess,'' he said.

Wellman said the '52 Beavers take pride in the fact that most of this year's players are from Oregon, just like the last OSU team that made it here. He said he hasn't had a chance to speak with the 2005 team as a group, but he knows what he would tell them.

``I'd say that they are creating very significant memories that will last the rest of their lives, and that no matter what happens here, they've had a great season,'' Wellman said. ``They've had the entree. Now they're having the dessert.''

SUDDEN DEATH: Arizona State and Tennessee will meet Sunday in the tournament's first elimination game.

Sun Devils coach Pat Murphy anticipates a calmer atmosphere than the one his team encountered Friday in a 5-3 loss to Nebraska. ASU had to go against not only Nebraska's team but its legion of red-clad crazies in the stands.

``It will be us and Tennessee. There will only be 46 fans who give a damn,'' Murphy said.

BASEBALL BOWL: Florida-Nebraska sounds more like a classic football matchup, but Sunday's Bracket 1 winner's game will determine which team has the inside track to the championship series.

Florida left fielder Gavin Dickey, who doubles as the Gators' backup quarterback, said he welcomes the challenge of playing in front of a pro-Husker crowd.

``That's why you come here, to play in front of big crowds,'' Dickey said. ``That's what you see on TV. That's why you want to make it to Omaha. It's going to be fun.''

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from Associated Press and other sources. Copyright 2005 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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