Reliever Joey Charron Named C-USA Pitcher Of The Week
Apr 22, 2002 | Baseball
April 22, 2002
NEW ORLEANS, La. - Sophomore reliever Joey Charron earned Tulane's second conference honor in the past three weeks as he was named Conference USA Pitcher of the Week, the league announced on Monday.
Charron tallied three saves in as many appearances last week, sealing a 6-5 victory over cross-town rival UNO on Wednesday, while closing out 8-5 and 11-5 wins over C-USA foe TCU on Friday and Saturday, respectively. For the week, Charron tallied a 1.23 ERA while striking out nine, walking four and giving up just two hits in 7.1 innings of relief.
His week got off to a good start as Charron struck out six and gave up just one hit in 3.1 innings against UNO. On Friday, Charron came on for starter Nick Bourgeois in the eighth and retired all four batters he faced, including two strikeouts.
The most impressive outing, though, came on Saturday when he came on in the seventh with two on and one out, and Tulane clinging to a 5-4 lead. After intentionally walking the bases loaded, Charron got the TCU batters to hit into a fielder's choice that saw the potential game-tying run get thrown out at the plate and a two-out groundout that ended the threat. From there, Charron retired the eighth in order and got a strikeout and a double-play ball in the ninth to seal the deal.
The weekly honor is the first of Charron's career and the second for Tulane in the past three weeks as junior southpaw Nick Bourgeois earned C-USA Pitcher of the Week honors on April 8 after fanning a career-high 15 in a 7-0 win at Memphis on April 5.
For the season, Charron leads the Green Wave with a 2.98 ERA while tallying a 4.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio with 56 fans and just 14 bases on balls. His eight saves in 2002 not only leads Conference USA, but ranks tied for third in the Tulane single-season record book with Thomas Little (1986). Brian Gibbs is second with 10 in 1994 while Brandon Belanger holds the mark with 16 in 1999.
Charron and the Green Wave return to action on Tuesday, April 23 when Tulane takes on UNO for the series-deciding contest of the 2002 Popeyes Cup at Zephyr Field. Tulane enters the contest 24-18 overall and winners of four straight contests. The Green Wave have won six of their last seven and 11 of their last 15 games.
As a team, Tulane is hitting .306 and is led by senior infielder James Jurries with a .399 average. Jurries also paces the squad in home runs with 12, triples with four, RBI with 47 and slugging percentage with a .736 mark. Junior utility player Aaron Feldman is second on the squad with a .362 batting average and sophomore first baseman/left-handed pitcher Michael Aubrey is next with a .323 clip.
From the mound, Tulane has a team 4.75 ERA, led by Charron and followed closely by Bourgeois' 3.30 mark. Aubrey leads the team in wins with eight while Bourgeois is one back with seven. Sophomore lefty Kris Kline is expected to start against the Privateers on Tuesday and enters the game 1-2 on the year with a 4.75 ERA, 23 strikeouts and 23 walks in 30.1 innings of work.
After Tuesday's game against the Privateers, Tulane returns to Conference USA action on Friday when the Green Wave travels to Ohio to take on Cincinnati at 5 p.m. at Johnny Bench Field. The Green Wave and the Bearcats will play game two of the three-game series on Saturday at 1 p.m. before closing out the weekend with a noon first pitch on Sunday.
