Freshmen To Take Mound As Baseball Battles Pepperdine
Feb 20, 2003 | Baseball
Feb. 20, 2003
NEW ORLEANS, La. - When the Tulane University baseball team returns to action this weekend against the Pepperdine Waves, head coach Rick Jones will do something he has not done in his previous nine years at the helm of the Green Wave program - start three freshman pitchers.
In the series opener tomorrow at 6:30 p.m., the Waves will face rookie Matt Goebel before taking on Billy Mohl on Saturday and J.R. Crowel on Sunday. While the all-freshman rotation is a rarity for a team ranked in the Top 25 - Tulane is 24th in both the Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball rankings while claiming the 25th spot in the latest poll of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers - the trio is part of a talented rookie class that Collegiate Baseball ranked 13th in the nation.
"Our pitching staff is dominated by freshman, and we're going to see what they can do," Jones said. "Mohl and Crowel have already started games for us during the first two weekends and have done very well. Goebel has been coming on, and we thought it would provide us with a good matchup. If things go well, this probably won't be the last time we'll do this during the year."
While Jones is doing a first in starting the three freshman, he hopes to accomplish another first as the Green Wave has not won a series against Pepperdine after taking just one of three games in each of the past two seasons. Last season, Tulane opened the year at Pepperdine, dropping the first two games before taking the finale 12-8.
Tulane comes into the weekend series against Pepperdine 5-1 on the young season after sweeping St. Joseph's to open the year and taking two of three last weekend against George Mason.
For the season, the Green Wave are hitting an impressive .361 as a team and are led by preseason All-America Michael Aubrey with a .600 batting average. Senior centerfielder Jonny Kaplan is next with a .500 average with two home runs and six stolen bases, followed by freshman outfielder Brian Bogusevic with a .474 mark, three doubles, a triple and a home run.
As a team, the Tulane pitching staff has tallied a 2.88 ERA after giving up just 11 runs in 50.0 innings so far in 2003. Opponents are hitting .256 off the Green Wave hurlers with 50 hits in 195 at-bats. Tulane has also done a good job of keeping the ball over the plate with 64 strikeouts and just 11 walks.
Crowel leads the team with a 0.90 ERA, followed by junior Cory Hahn with a 1.80 mark. Mohl, who is third on the squad with a 2.79 ERA, paces the Green Wave with 17 strikeouts.
Pepperdine, meanwhile, comes to New Orleans 3-1 on the year and fresh off an impressive 3-1 win over No. 5 Southern Cal Tuesday night in Palo Alto, Calif. The Waves did not play last weekend, and were 2-1 in the Battle at the Beach, a tournament they hosted on Feb. 14-16.
The Waves have struggled somewhat at the plate, sporting a team .171 batting average, and are led by junior outfielder Cory Brightwell with a .286. As a team, Pepperdine has eight extra-base hits, including two home runs.
On the mound, though, Pepperdine has been fantastic with a 1.25 ERA with 28 strikeouts and just 12 walks in 36.0 innings. Four Wave hurlers have flawless 0.00 ERA's including starters Brandon Boesch and Jacob Barrack. Barrack paces the team with seven strikeouts and a .105 opponent batting average.
Following Friday's game, the Green Wave and the Waves play again on Saturday at 2 p.m. before closing out the series Sunday with first pitch slated for 3:30 p.m. Sunday's game was moved back from its original starting time to help Green Wave fans catch the women's basketball game against TCU in Fogelman Arena at 1 p.m.
