Tulane hosts Rice

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The number one seed Tulane Green Wave hosts the Rice Owls in a Super Regional showdown in New Orleans.

Tulane
Tulane is led by a solid cast of characters with both good pitchers and hitters. Brian Bogusevic is a lefty pitcher who was the number 24 pick in this years draft. He has a record of 13-1 with a 2.72 ERA. He has struck out 119 people. He is the most dominant pitcher on this Tulane staff and this should help Tulane at least get the first game of the Series. Micah Owings will likely pitch the second game with his 10-4 record and a 3.64 ERA. The Tulane offense is led by six hitters who hit higher then .300 this season: Nathan Southard (.359 AVG), Tommy Manzella (.354 AVG. with 20 SBs), Scott Madden (.347), Brad Emaus (.346), and Greg Dini (.301). This offense is deep and will create a problem for the Owls.

Here is Baseball America’s take on Bogusevic

Though more teams prefer him as a three-pitch lefthander, he also has five-tool potential as a right fielder. On the mound, Bogusevic shows an 89-93 mph fastball along with a solid slider and changeup. He has good command, though his velocity and location slipped when he strained a hamstring early in the season. Bogusevic’s size, swing and bat speed give him tremendous power potential from the left side of the plate. That power is still more raw and not as evident in games—but it’s there. He’s also Tulane’s fastest player, running the 60-yard-dash in 6.6 seconds during the team’s scout day last fall. His arm obviously is an asset on defense as well.

Rice

Wayne Graham will led his Rice Owls into this matchup as heavy underdogs. The Rice team is loaded with three super pitchers in Joe Savery (5-2 2.42 ERA), Eddie Degerman (7-1 3.09), and Josh Greer (5-4 4.11). The offense for the Owls is led by Adam Rodgers with his .414 AVG. Joe Savery also has the second highest batting average on the team with a .390 AVG.

My prediction for this series is a romp by Tulane in two straight games to head back to the CWS.