Big Bats Highlight Baseball's Scrimmage Sunday At Zephyr Field
Oct 29, 2006 | Baseball
Oct. 29, 2006
METAIRIE, La. - Sophomore infielder Jonny Weiss went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and four RBI, and sophomore outfielder Aja Barto posted three singles and a stolen base as the Tulane University baseball team played its final intrasquad scrimmage of Fall Ball 2006 Sunday afternoon at Zephyr Field.
With the teams divided by upperclassmen and lowerclassmen, Weiss and Barto helped the younger squad score eight runs on nine hits in the third inning of Sunday's contest as the underclassmen led 10-3 going into the seventh and final inning. From there, however, the veterans staged a valiant come-back attempt - scoring six runs on six hits and an error to cut the lead to one with only one out.
Senior infielder Tim Guidry singled and stole second base to put the tying run in scoring position, but rookie right-hander Preston Claiborne struck out two of the final three batters he faced to put an end to week three of fall practice. The Tulane team will have its usual day off on Monday, hold a regular practice on Tuesday and open a five-game Fall World Series on Wednesday.
"Offense was the story today," Tulane head coach Rick Jones said. "The underclassmen had the big inning early, and it was fun to see the veteran guys bear down and rally the way they did late. In both instances, you saw some good approaches, good swings and some really good at-bats."
Joining Barto and Weiss in the multiple-hit club were Guidry, senior catcher Ty Wallace, sophomore catcher Jared Dyer and sophomore outfielder Nate Simon. Guidry went two-for-four with an RBI while Wallace posted a single, a home run and an RBI in three official at-bats. Dyer was two-for-three with a walk and a run driven in, and Simon had a single, a homer and two RBI in four trips to the plate.
From the mound, the freshmen tandem of Taylor Rogers and Hunter Johnson combined to allow three runs in six innings. Rogers, who started for the underclassmen on Sunday, allowed the three runs on five hits while striking out five in 4.0 innings of work, while Johnson walked a pair and gave up just one hit in 2.0 innings of relief.
Claiborne, who came on to start the final stanza, gave up the six runs - two of which were unearned - but got out of the inning with the lead still in hand by getting Warren McFadden to strikeout out looking and Marc Robért to go down swinging.
"Rogers and Johnson had solid outings today," Jones said. "When you work with freshmen, you look for progress and focus and I thought they handled themselves with some poise. Even though he gave up some runs in the last inning, I thought Preston Claiborne showed good make-up and ability, and that is what it's going to take for him to be a good pitcher and hitter for us."
The Green Wave open the Fall World Series on Wednesday and will play each day through Sunday with the first three contests slated for 2 p.m. and the final two scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Saturday will be St. Michael's Day as members of St. Michael's Special School will take the field with the Tulane team prior to game four of the Fall World Series. All Tulane practices are open to the public and admission is free.
