Baseball To Host Alumni Game On Saturday

Jan. 31, 2002

NEW ORLEANS, La. - The 2002 Tulane University baseball team will take the field for the first time on Saturday, Feb. 2 when the Green Wave hosts its annual alumni game at 11 a.m. at Turchin Stadium.

Tulane, preseason favorites to win the Conference USA title, will take on former Green Wave greats, including five seniors from the 2001 squad that won the Conference USA regular season and tournament championships, the New Orleans Regional and Super Regional titles and earned the school's first trip to the College World Series. Admission is free and baseball fans will have a chance to meet the players immediately after the contest.

Tulane returns a wealth of talent for the 2002 season with 20 lettermen, six positional starters and seven of the top eight pitchers from last year's squad. Headlining the list are 2001 National Freshman of the Year Michael Aubrey, three-time first-team All-Conference USA honoree and 1999 National Freshman of the Year James Jurries, and senior southpaw Beau Richardson, who became the team's ace in the latter portion of the 2001 season. Also highlighting the list of returning players are 2001 Freshman All-American second-baseman Anthony Giarratano and New Orleans Regional Most Outstanding Player Joey Charron.

In addition to being picked to win the league by a vote of conference coaches, Tulane is ranked third in the Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball Poll, sixth by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, seventh by Baseball Weekly/ESPN and 10th by Baseball America. Aubrey was voted C-USA Preseason Player of the Year, and is joined on the preseason all-conference team by infielders Giarratano and Jurries, as well as junior outfielder Jon Kaplan.

Among the more familiar names dotting the Alumni roster are two-time Conference USA Player of the Year Jake Gautreau, former New York Yankees pitcher Kevin Mmahat, nine-year big league veteran Frank Wills and current pitching coach Chad Sutter.

The Green Wave officially begins the 2002 season on Friday, Feb. 8 when they travel to Malibu, Calif., for a three-game series with Pepperdine. Tulane opens its home schedule on Friday, Feb. 15 against Villanova at 7 p.m. at Turchin Stadium. For ticket information, call the Tulane ticket office at (504) 861-WAVE.

Alumni RosterName                 Pos    Years         HonorsClint Allen          1B     1993-95       Team Outstanding Hitter, 1993-94Todd Ardoin          P      1995-98       First-Team C-USA, 1998Bill Babin           INF    1977-79       ------------------Gregg Barrios        OF     1981-83       All-Metro Tournament, 1983Brandon Belanger     P      1999-2000     Collegiate Baseball All-American, 1999Scott Bell           P      1995-98       Team Outstanding Pitcher, 1995Trinity Bivalacqua   C      1995-96       ------------------Nate Bosio           OF     1994-96       ------------------Paul Boudreaux       OF     1996-99       ------------------Joey Brockhoff       INF    1985-86       ------------------Andy Cannizaro       SS     1998-2001     Second-Team All-American, 2001Rick Chanove         2B     1990-93       Team Leadership Award, 1991Neal Comarda         INF    1975-78       GTE Academic All-American, 1978Darrin Dares         INF    1987-90       Team Home Run, RBI Leader, 1989Mark Dawson          C      1995          ------------------Mike Escudier        2B     1993-96       Team Most Improved, 1995Troy Falterman       1B     1991-94       ------------------Jason Fitzgerald     OF     1995-97       First-Team C-USA, 1997Glen Formaux         INF    1981-84       ------------------Billy Gaudet         UT     1976-78       Team Home Run, RBI Leader, 1976Jake Gautreau        INF    1999-2001     Consensus All-American, 2000-01Brian Gibbs          P      1991-94       All-Metro Tournamen, 1994Keith Graffagnini    1B     1995-98       All-Conference USA, 1996-98Kyle Graffagnini     OF     1992-95       ------------------Barry Grinnell       P      1984-85       ------------------Matt Groff           OF     1999-2001     First-Team C-USA, 2001Jay Heintz           OF     1998-2001     ------------------Nick Herz            C      1999-2000     ------------------Brian Hughes         OF/C   1995-98       All-Conference USA, 1996-98T.J. Iarocci         2B     1997-99       ------------------Michael Johns        SS     1996-97       Second-Team C-USA, 1996Eric Lane            C      1980, 1982-83 All-Metro Conference, 1982-83John LeBlanc         OF     1972-75       ------------------Lance Licciardi      OF     1991-93       All-Metro Tournament, 1992Marcelo Llorente     3B     1995-98       Team Scholastic Award, 1997Mark Maher           C      1977-78       Team Home Run Leader, 1978J.B. Mahoney         OF     1983-86       ------------------Tommy Matthews       1B     1982-84       All-Metro Conference, 1983-84Dan McCollum         C      1996-98       ------------------Mickey McKee         UT     1998-2000     C-USA Tournament, 1999Barth Melius         P      1998-2001     C-USA Tournament MVP, 2001Brian Migliore       INF    1981-83       ------------------Kevin Mmahat         P      1984-86       ------------------Joe Morse            C      1979-81       All-Metro Tournament, 1979Jason Navarro        P      1995-97       Consensus All-American, 1997Mike Pursell         P      1996-98       Second-Team C-USA, 1997-98Chris Rivette        OF     1983-86       Team Most Improved, 1984Don Schell           INF    1943-47       ------------------Joe Scheuermann      INF    1983-84       Team Leadership Award, 1984Larry Schneider      C      1991-94       First-Team All-Metro, 1993-94Jimmy Sexton         P      1984-86       Team Leadership Award, 1986Steve Shirley        1B     1998-2001     All-Conference USA, 2000-01Scott Sidwell        C      1993-94       Team Leadership Award, 1994Jason Sparks         OF     1998-99       Third-Team All-American, 1998David Stokes         INF    1977-80       All-Metro Conference, 1980Chad Sutter          C      1995-98       Consensus All-American, 1999David Welch          P      1991-92       ------------------Dan Wagner           3B     1983-86       Third-Team All-American, 1984, 1986Anthony Williams     OF     1993-96       Team Scholastic Award, 1996Frank Wills          P      1978-80       First-Team All-American, 1980Scott Wilson         3B     1996-97       All-Conference USA, 1996
Head Coach: Milton Retif (1967-74)Manager: David Blamphin

Tulane University Athletics

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