
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, May 22, 1994                   TAG: 9405220098
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Staff report
DATELINE: LOUISVILLE, KY.                                LENGTH: Short

TECH STILL HAS SHOT AT METRO TITLE

Tulane handed Virginia Tech its first loss of the Metro Conference baseball tournament, but the Hokies still will play for the championship of the double-elimination tournament today.

The Green Wave broke a 2-2 tie with a three-run fourth inning and went on to beat the Hokies 6-3 on Saturday. Tech meets Tulane again at 2 p.m. today for the championship and the Metro's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Mike Escudier's two-out RBI single off Tech starter Chris Freeman (2-3) in the fourth inning gave Tulane the lead for good. Blake Martensen followed with a two-run homer to make it 5-2.

Green Wave catcher Larry Schneider, who hit a solo home run in the second inning, made the score 6-2 with a run-scoring single in the eighth.

Tech (31-24) took a 1-0 lead on David Fitt's bases-loaded walk in the first inning and went ahead 2-1 on Josh Herman's RBI single in the third. The Hokies, who stranded 12 runners, didn't score again until Herman doubled home a run in the ninth.

"We missed a lot of opportunities today," said Chuck Hartman, Tech's coach. "If we could have applied the pressure to Tulane, some things would have happened."

Derin Pitre (4-0) gave up four hits and a run in 5 innings in relief of Ivan Zweig, who gave up four hits and two runs in three innings.

Herman was 3-for-5 with two RBI and Bo Durkac collected two singles and scored all three Tech runs.

by CNB