Baseball Aims To Snap Road Woes At Saint Louis
Apr 24, 2003 | Baseball
April 24, 2003
NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Tulane University baseball team will look to snap the road woes that have plagued them all season long when the Green Wave travels to the Show Me State to take on Conference USA foe Saint Louis in a three-game series beginning on Friday, April 25 at 7 p.m.
Tulane, 30-12 overall and 12-6 in C-USA action, has been outstanding at home with a 25-1 record. Things have not been the same away from The Big Easy, however, as the Green Wave are just 5-11 on the road, including a 3-6 mark in league play.
But despite the Green Wave's recent troubles on the road, Tulane has played well enough to enter the week ranked as high as 22nd in the nation by Baseball America. Tulane is currently tied for third in the league standings, two games behind Southern miss (31-11, 14-4) and just one behind TCU (26-16, 13-5).
For the season, the Green Wave are hitting .316 as a team and are led by All-America candidate Michael Aubrey with a .447 batting average to go along with nine home runs and 53 RBI. Senior centerfielder Jonny Kaplan is next with a .380 average and a league-leading 35 stolen bases, and junior shortstop Tony Giarratano is close behind with a .352 mark and 18 stolen bases.
As a team, the Tulane pitching staff has tallied a 3.59 ERA in 363.2 innings so far in 2003. Opponents are hitting .275 off the Green Wave hurlers with 383 hits in 1,395 at-bats. Tulane has also done a good job of keeping the ball over the plate with 315 strikeouts and just 109 walks.
Junior Cory Hahn leads the team with a 7-1 record and a 2.40 ERA. Freshman southpaw J.R. Crowel is next with a 6-0 record and a 2.57 ERA, and paces the team with 49 strikeouts. Junior reliever Joey Charron paces the team in saves with eight. Saint Louis, meanwhile, enters the weekend 14-21 overall and 3-15 in Conference USA play. The Billikens are coming off an exciting 7-6 victory over McKendree Wednesday night.
As a team, the Billikens are hitting .256 with a .373 slugging percentage courtesy of 48 doubles, six triples and 25 home runs. Corey Lawson leads the team with a .336 batting average, followed by Don Rogers with a .297 mark and Aaron Thompson with a .273 clip. Lawson leads the team in doubles (11), home runs (8) and RBI (29).
On the mound, Saint Louis has a 5.90 team ERA after giving up 199 earned runs in 303.1 innings. The Billikens are allowing opponents to hit at a .321 mark and have 213 strikeouts to 112 walks. Lawson paces the staff with a 5.22 ERA, and Jake Baumgartner leads the squad with five wins. Dave Guntoius is one of two players with a save, and leads SLU with four.
This weekend's games mark the 36th, 37th and 38th times Tulane and Saint Louis meet on the diamond, and the Green Wave hold a commanding 30-5 advantage in the all-time series. Under head coach Rick Jones, Tulane is 19-5 against the Billikens, including a 3-1 mark last season when Tulane eliminated SLU from the C-USA Tournament with a 6-5 victory.
Following the weekend series in St. Louis, Tulane returns to action on Tuesday, April 29 when they take on arch-rival LSU at 7 p.m. in the Louisiana Superdome. The season series between the Green Wave and the Tigers is tied at one game each. For ticket information, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE. Tickets can also be purchased through Ticketmaster outlets and on the internet at www.ticketmaster.com.
