J.R. Crowel hurled a four-hit shutout Saturday to lead No. 3 seed Tulane to a 7-0 victory over fourth-seeded WKU at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field, lifting the 23rd-ranked Green Wave (40-19) into the regional championship game. The Toppers (35-27), who fell for just the second time in the last 13 contests, return to play No. 2 seed Washington at 7 p.m. (CDT).
The Huskies, who entered the tournament ranked as high as 11th nationally, stayed alive with a 7-2 win over host Mississippi in Saturday’s first elimination game.
Crowel (8-2) fanned seven and issued only one free pass in collecting his third complete game of the season as well as the first shutout of his career. He allowed just two runners as far as second base, with Dominic Rio the only Topper to advance to third after a one-out double down the right field line and an infield out in the top of the seventh inning.
Tommy Manzella led TU’s 10-hit attack with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate, while Nathan Southard added two hits and Brian Bogusevic drove in three runs.
The Green Wave jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first on the strength of four hits. Manzella and Matt Barket had back-to-back one-out singles before Bogusevic drew a walk to load the bases. Greg Dini plated the game’s first run with a sacrifice fly to center field, while Mark Hamilton and Wes Swackhamer followed with consecutive run-scoring singles.
Hilltopper starter Daniel Faulkner faced just two batters over the minimum over the next six frames before Tulane struck again in the seventh. Joe Holland doubled with one out and came around to score when Southard singled to center field. After a Manzella single and a strikeout, Bogusevic homered on the first pitch he saw from reliever Michael Shope to close out the scoring.
Faulkner fell to 8-6 after giving up six runs on nine hits in 6.1 innings. The right-hander walked a pair and struck out two. Adam Prida finished the game for Western with a scoreless eighth inning.
Rio went 2-for-3 to collect half of the Toppers’ hits, with Matt Johnston and Matt Ransdell also reaching base on singles.
It was the first meeting between the two schools.
