New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - WAVE KNOCKED OUT:UNBEARABLE COLLAPSE

iI WAS SO PISSED! HOW COULD THEY DO THAT, AND I'M AN LSU FAN.

BUT CONGRATS WAVE FANS, A LOT OF TIGER FANS RESPECT YOU!!:)

I WAS CHEERING FOR THE WAVE.

UNBEARABLE COLLAPSE
Baylor's big rally provides bitter ending for Tulane
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
By Fred Robinson
Staff writer
OMAHA, NEB. -- A day after Tulane couldn't find a way to score runs to get the lead, its season came to a crashing down Tuesday night because it couldn't hold one.

The Green Wave blew a 7-0 lead and was eliminated from the College World Series when Baylor rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat Tulane 8-7 at Rosenblatt Stadium.

"In 30 years of coaching, this is the toughest loss I've ever had and it hurts right now," Green Wave coach Rick Jones said.

Tulane (56-12), which was helped by Baylor mistakes in taking the 7-0 lead early in the game, failed to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth.

But with one out and Tulane leading 7-6, Baylor's Paul Witt hit a chopper that Wave second baseman Joe Holland fielded near second base. Holland looked at shortstop Tommy Manzella, who was approaching second base and looking for the throw from Holland. But instead of tossing the ball to Manzella, Holland, who was just a few feet from second base, ran to the bag for the force and threw to first in an attempt to turn a game-ending double play.

Holland's throw, however, was low and wide and Wave first baseman Micah Owings couldn't field the ball, which rolled to the wall near Tulane's dugout.

Baylor's Reid Brees, who was at third base, easily scored to tie the score.. . But Holland's error allowed Zack Dillon to score the winning run from second base.

"To have the game to end like that, you can't really say anything about it," Manzella said. "It's pretty tough."

Baylor's comeback from a 7-0 deficit was the fourth-best in CWS history.

In 2001, Tulane was a part of one of the second largest comebacks in CWS history when Stanford came back from an 8-0 deficit to defeat the Green Wave 13-11.

Against Baylor, the game began slipping out of Tulane's grasp in the seventh inning when the Bears scored three runs. In that inning, the Bears stranded two runners but forced Tulane to go to its bullpen, removing starter J.R. Crowel.

The Bears scored two more runs in the eighth inning, cutting Tulane's lead to 7-5, against reliever Daniel Latham, who gave up a two-run single to left field with two outs.

Three outs from advancing to a rematch with Texas, Tulane was trying find a way out in the final inning.

"I was just thinking, 'Can we stop the bleeding?' " Jones said. "They had the momentum going."

The answer to that question was quickly answered by the Bears.

Catcher Josh Ford led off the ninth with a single to right off of Latham on a 3-2 count. Jones called on Sean Morgan to get the Green Wave out of trouble, but he gave up a single to left to Brees, also on a 3-2 count.

With no outs, Dillon faked a bunt and swung at Morgan's first pitch, hitting a grounder that bounced over the head of a charging Owings, and down the right-field line for a double. It scored one run and left runners at second and third.

Jones went back to the bullpen, this time calling on Brandon Gomes, who was scheduled to start against Texas if Tulane had won.

Gomes intentionally walked Kevin Russo to load the bases and induced a pop fly on the infield for the first out. With the bases still loaded, Tulane was a double play away from a victory. But the Green Wave, which committed three errors against Baylor and five in its final two CWS games, failed to turn it.

"It's hit, and it was a double-play ball," Jones said. "It appeared to be a game-ending, double-play ball. (The ball) hopped up to Joe and he had to hurry to the bag."

Morgan (6-1) suffered the loss; Abe Woody picked up the victory for Baylor. He pitched 4 1/3 innings and allowed two hits.

Until the seventh inning, Crowel's toughest inning was the second, right after the Wave had jumped out to a 6-0 lead. Through six innings, Crowel had allowed two hits.

The Bears loaded the bases in the second off of a double and a pair of walks with one out, but Crowel got Paul Witt to hit a liner to Holland for the second out, and then got out of the inning when Kevin Sevigny flied out to center.

The Green Wave chased Baylor starter Cory VanAllen in the fifth after he'd struck out Tulane's first two hitters, Manzella and Owings. VanAllen's first mistake in the fifth was issuing a two-out walk to designated hitter Scott Madden. The walk was followed by a opposite-field double by Brian Bogusevic. Madden was able to score from first when Baylor left fielder Reid Brees bobbled the ball in the left-field corner.

The Green Wave put early pressure on the Bears, but after leaving a runner in scoring position in the first inning, Jones quickly went to playing small ball.

When designated hitter Scott Madden opened the second with a single through the right side of Baylor's infield, Jones had Brian Bogusevic move him to second with a sacrifice bunt. Madden scored when catcher Greg Dini hit a single to left field.

Tulane's Mark Hamilton followed with a two-run shot into the right-field bleachers.

With a 3-0 lead, the Green Wave then got some help from the Bears. With two outs, Nathan Southard reached on a two-base throwing error by Baylor third baseman Kevin Russo and Brad Emaus walked. That was followed by an RBI single by Tommy Manzella.

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