Pitchers Dominate In Day One Of Fall Baseball Practice
Oct 10, 2006 | Baseball
Oct. 10, 2006
METAIRIE, La. - Eleven pitchers combined for 25 strikeouts as the Tulane University baseball team opened fall practice with a seven and a half inning intrasquad scrimmage Tuesday afternoon at Zephyr Field.
Sophomore right-hander Shooter Hunt, a transfer from the University of Virginia, and true freshman righty Drew Zizinia tied for the team lead with five strikeouts each. The Green Wave did get a bit of bad news on Tuesday as junior Sean Morgan underwent an emergency appendectomy overnight, but the surgery was a success and Morgan should return to the team in a few weeks.
"The first day of practice is always exciting," Tulane head coach Rick Jones said. "You get to see what the new players can do and you find out how much your veterans have matured from a year ago. As usual for a first practice, the pitchers are ahead of the hitters, and with a few exceptions, our pitchers where dominant throughout the day. We also played good defense for the most part, making the plays we needed to make."
Hunt set the tone for the scrimmage early, striking out the side in order in the first inning and then pitching his way around a walk and a hit batter with two more punchouts and a lazy fly ball to close out his two-inning effort.
Following Hunt and Zizinia's lead, rookie Hunter Johnson was next on the team with three strikeouts, while seniors Matt Goebel and Daniel Latham, sophomores Peter Connick and Jonathan Garrett, and rookie Aaron Loup tallied two strikeouts apiece.
True freshmen Preston Claiborne and Taylor Rogers posted one strikeout during their time on the hill as the duo each threw one shutout inning.
The Green Wave offense was not without its heroes as junior shortstop Cat Everett and sophomores Seth Henry and Nate Simon each tallied a pair of hits. Everett ripped a two-RBI double to the gap in left center during a five-run second inning while both he and Simon reached base safely three times with a walk to go along with their three official at-bats.
Junior second baseman Brad Emaus added an RBI-double and rookie outfielder Jay Ackel drove in a run with a single down the third-base line. Simon drove in a pair with a two-run single in the fifth, and sophomore outfielder Aja Barto accounted for the final run of the day with a hard-hit single into left field.
"We look like a veteran club that will get better offensively as the fall goes on," Jones said. "The young pitchers were impressive. Shooter was as good as advertised and Aaron Loup had a good day. Matt Goebel looked like the Matt Goebel we had a few years ago. He was sharp and his breaking ball looked good. And of course Daniel (Latham) was Daniel."
The Tulane team will continue its Fall Ball practices throughout the week, and will play a pair of intrasquad scrimmages over the weekend. Junior Trey Martin and senior Brandon Gomes are slated to start Saturday's intrasquad game. Sunday's starters are yet to be determined.
All Tulane practices are open to the public and admission is free. Weekday practices are slated to begin at 2 p.m. with Saturday and Sunday sessions scheduled at 1 p.m. All intrasquad games will start approximately one hour after the start of practice.
Fall Ball 2006 will culminate with a five-game Fall World Series from Nov. 1-5. The first three games are slated to begin at 2 p.m. while the final two games will start at 1 p.m. Game four of the Fall World Series will also be St. Michael's Day as members of St. Michael's Special School will take the field with the Tulane team prior to the Green Wave's slated intrasquad contest.
