Tulane survives East Carolina rally, 5-4

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• Published: May 10, 2008 - Page: 3C - UPDATED: 12:40 a.m.

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GREENVILLE, N.C. – Junior right-hander Shooter Hunt struck out nine in a seven-inning start and Tulane survived a furious comeback as the Green Wave baseball team defeated Conference USA foe East Carolina, 5-4, Friday at Clark LeClair Stadium.

Tulane’s three, four and five hole hitters combined to go 7-for-14, including a three-hit performance by junior second baseman Seth Henry and a home run by junior centerfielder Anthony Scelfo, as the Green Wave out-hit the Pirates, 12-9. Hunt (9-1) allowed five hits and three walks, but did not allow more than one base runner in any of his seven-plus frames.

Tulane led 4-0 after seven and a half innings, but a two-run homer by Pirate second baseman Ryan Wood cut the lead in half. Tulane got a run back in the top of the ninth on a sacrifice fly off the bat of junior first baseman Sam Honeck, but East Carolina made things interesting in the home half of the inning.

Freshman Rob Segedin made the move from third base to the mound and struck out the first two batters of the inning, but Dustin Harrington singled through the left side of the infield, and Drew Schieber and Harrison Eldridge had back-to-back RBI doubles to cut the lead down to one. Segedin, however, bounced back to get Wood to ground out to short to earn his fourth save of the season.

With the win, Tulane improves to 34-15-1 on the year and 11-6-1 in C-USA play. East Carolina, meanwhile, falls to 36-14 overall and 11-8 in league action.

NEW ORLEANS 16, UALR 6: In Little Rock, Ark., the University of New Orleans tallied 18 hits and used an eight-run fourth inning to take a Sun Belt Conference win over Arkansas-Little Rock.

Nick Schwaner went 3-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored, and Joey Butler had three hits and three RBIs, as UNO (36-13, 16-8 SBC) won its 11th straight game.

Jeff Lanning also had two hits and three RBIs, as UNO had six different players recorded at least two hits. The Privateers also took advantage of four UALR errors, including two in the first inning that helped the Privateers grab a 3-0 lead.

Stephen Whalen (5-3) got the win after tossing six innings, allowing four runs (one earned) and eight hits.

LAMAR 9, NORTHWESTERN STATE 2: In Natchitoches, Lamar got a solid pitching performance from starter Brian Sisk and the Cardinals opened up a 2‰  game lead over Northwestern State in the Southland Conference East Division title race.

Sisk (9-2) threw eight innings and allowed two runs — one earned — while giving up five hits as Lamar improved to 29-19 and 17-8 in conference.

Demon starter Jimmy Heard (6-4) threw brilliantly through the first three innings, holding Lamar to no hits and no runs, but gave up four runs in the fourth inning, including a 2-run home run by Cardinal catcher Jeff Vickers as Lamar built a 4-0 lead.

TEXAS STATE 8, MCNEESE STATE 2: In San Marcos, Texas, Texas State put a big dent in McNeese State’s hopes of making the Southland Conference postseason.