2005 Notables
Apr 26, 2006 | Baseball
What A Run
The 2005 Tulane baseball season was one for the ages as the Green Wave claimed the preseason No. 1 ranking by Baseball America and live up to the expectations by going 56-12, winning the Conference USA regular-season title, sharing the C-USA Tournament crown and advancing to the College World Series for the second time in school history.
While the Tulane team was fitted squarely with a bullseye on their chest with the preseason No. 1 ranking, the Green Wave wore it well as the club never dipped below No. 3 in that poll and was never lower than No. 5 in any of the four national polls at any time during the 2005 season.
After going 47-9 during the regular season, Tulane was perfect at the C-USA Tournament and was named co-champions along with TCU after the game was rained out.
As a result, Tulane went into the NCAA postseason No. 1 in all four polls and claimed the No. 1 National Seed by the NCAA Selection Committee prior to the start of regional play.
Tulane rolled through the regional, defeating Southern 17-7 before downing Alabama in back-to-back games, 10-4 and 7-4.
In the Super Regionals, the Green Wave got off to a rocky start as Rice won game one, 9-6. But with its back against the wall, Tulane rebounded with 7-0 and 9-6 victories to punch its ticket to Omaha.
Pitching Records
The Tulane pitching staff set a pair of records and tied another during the 2005 season.
Green Wave hurlers combined for 579 strikeouts, eclipsing the former mark of 569 set in 1996. A big reason for that were the arms of Micah Owings and Brian Bogusevic, who posted 135 and 129 strikeouts, respectively. The pair marks the first duo to hit the century mark in Ks since 1996 when Jack Cressend and Jason Navarro had 123 and 110, respectively.
Tulane & C-USA Titles
Tulane solidified itself as Conference USA's most successful team during the league's first decade of play as the Green Wave won their fourth regular-season crown and fifth tournament title.
The Green Wave clinched the regular-season championship with a 5-2 win over TCU in the third-to-last game of the regular season, and marked Tulane's first league title since 2001. Tulane has now won half of the C-USA Tournaments, and shared last year's tourney title with TCU. The Green Wave, however, earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA postseason by virtue of the higher seed.
All-American Accolades
Three Green Wave student-athletes earned All-America honors in 2005 as junior utility athlete Brian Bogusevic, senior shortstop Tommy Manzella and junior utility athlete Micah Owings claimed the honors following a stellar year.
Bogusevic was was named to four teams - first-team Collegiate Baseball, second team National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and third team American Baseball Coaches Association and Baseball America. Owings was named second-team All-America by Collegiate Baseball and third-team by Baseball America, and Manzella was an ABCA second-team All-American.
Bogusevic is a repeat All-American after claiming the honor as a utility athlete in 2004. Manzella and Owings, meanwhile, are the 24th and 25th players in Tulane history to earn All-America honors, and the 16th and 17th to do so under Rick Jones.
Putting `Student' In Student-Athlete
For four years, senior shortstop Tommy Manzella was the quintessential student-athlete: carrying the Green Wave both at the plate and in the field, as well as maintaining a high grade point average.
In 2005, Manzella was formally recognized for his accomplishments as he was named to the 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America University Division Baseball Team.
Manzella, who graduated with a 3.427 career GPA, also earned second-team All-America honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association for his play, and joined James Jurries (2002) as the only Tulane players to earn athletic and academic All-America honors in the same season.
Welcome To The Show
Tulane had a bright outlook on the 2005 season shortly after the 2004 season ended in the Super Regionals, but expectations really took off in August when junior utility athlete Micah Owings announced that he would transfer to the Green Wave.
A two-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference honoree at Georgia Tech, Owings was even better in 2005 as he led the Tulane offense in batting average (.359), home runs (18), RBI (65), total bases (159) and slugging percentage (.733) while pacing the ptiching staff in strikeouts (135) and opponent batting average (.228).
For his efforts, Owings was named Conference USA Player of the Year, first-team all-conference and All-American by a pair of publications.
Feeling A Draft
A school-record four Tulane University student-athletes were selected in day one of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft as junior southpaw Brian Bogusevic was taken 24th overall by the Houston Astros, junior right-handed pitcher Micah Owings and senior shortstop Tommy Manzella were drafted in the third round by the Arizona Diamondbacks and Houston Astros, respectively, and senior catcher Greg Dini was selected by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the 12th round.
The quartet tied the Green Wave record for most players drafted, tying the mark of four picked in 1986, 1987, 1997 and 2003. In addition, Manzella became the highest drafted Tulane senior since 1988 when outfielder Tookie Spann was picked by the Detroit Tigers in the third round.
Tulane has had at least one player drafted every season since 1996 and has had at least one get picked in all but eight drafts since the modern draft began in 1965.
Slam...Let The Boys Be Boys
Tulane had its share of home runs in 2005, and while Tulane's 84 home runs ranks fourth in single-season history, the Green Wave hit a school-record seven grand slams.
From 2002-04, Tulane had just two grand slams. Last season, however, the bases-loaded longball was almost commonplace. Freshman third baseman Brad Emaus led the Green Wave with three slams, senior shortstop Tommy Manzella was next with two while senior outfielder Matt Barket and sophomore infielder/outfielder Mark Hamilton had one each.
Great vs. The State
With a 17-7 win over Southern in the first round of the 2005 NCAA New Orleans Regional, the Green Wave posted a perfect showing against teams from Louisiana with an 11-0 mark against teams from Sportsman's Paradise.
Tulane had gone undefeated against the state twice previously during the regular season, the last coming in 2001.
In 2005, Tulane swept a three-game tilts vs. Nicholls State and cross-town foe UNO, won both games against LSU, and took single games from McNeese State and Northwestern State.
Tulane & The No-No
In Tulane's 3-0 win over Nicholls State on April 26, the Green Wave accomplished something they had not done in over six years - post a no-hitter.
Starter J.R. Crowel tossed a pair of three-up, three-down frames, Billy Mohl threw six scoreless innings, and Daniel Latham came on to toss a perfect ninth to claim his seventh save of the year. Tulane nearly had a perfect game, but a hit batsmen in the seventh accounted for NSU's only baserunner.
The no-hitter was the first by the Green Wave since March 8, 1998, when Josh Bobbitt tossed a seven-inning no-hitter in a 7-0 win over New York Tech.
2005 All-Conference USA Team
For the 10th consecutive season, Tulane has at least two players named to the All-Conference USA Team as junior southpaw Brian Bogusevic freshman third baseman Brad Emaus, senior shortstop Tommy Manzella, junior utility athlete Micah Owings and junior outfielder Nathan Southard earned the honor. Also earning All C-USA honors for the Green Wave were senior catcher Greg Dini and junior lefty J.R. Crowel, who were both named to the second team, while Emaus and reliever Sean Morgan were named to the All-Freshman squad. Below is a look at the entire 2005 All C-USA honor roll.
First Team
C - Brad Willcutt (Southern Miss)
INF - Brad Emaus (Tulane)
INF - Shelby Ford (TCU)
INF - Mark Maddox (Southern Miss)
INF - Tommy Manzella (Tulane)
OF - Brian Cavanaugh (East Carolina)
OF - Nathan Southard (Tulane)
OF - Travis Tully (Houston)
DH/UT - Micah Owings (Tulane)
P - Brian Bogusevic (Tulane)
P - Lance Broadway (TCU)
P - Ricky Brooks (East Carolina)
P - Matt Farrinton (Houston)
RP - Daniel Best (Southern Miss)
Second Team
C - Greg Dini (Tulane)
INF - Jeff Baisley (USF)
INF - Chad Huffman (TCU)
INF - J.T. LaFountain (Louisville)
INF - Mark Minicozzi (East Carolina)
OF - Jason Lowery (Southern Miss)
OF - Boomer Whiting (Louisville)
OF - Adam Willard (Charlotte)
DH/UT - Kevin Roberts (Houston)
P - Ryan Bird (Saint Louis)
P - J.R. Crowel (Tulane)
P - T.J. Hose (East Carolina)
P - Casey Hudspeth (USF)
RP - Erik Walker (Charlotte)
All-Freshman Team
• Brad Emaus, 3B (Tulane)
• T.J. Hose, RHP (East Carolina)
• Matt McGuird, DH (TCU)
• Dale Mollenhauer, INF (East Carolina)
• Keith Moreland, RHP (Charlotte)
• Sean Morgan, RHP (Tulane)
• Ryan Peisel, OF (East Carolina)
• Trey Sutton, 2B (Southern Miss)
• Daniel Thomas, RHP (USF)
• Clint Toomey, OF (UAB)
• Andrew Walker, C (TCU)
C-USA Player of the Year
Micah Owings (Tulane)
C-USA Pitcher of the Year
Lance Broadway (TCU)
C-USA Freshman of the Year
Brad Emaus (Tulane)
Keith LeClair Coach of the Year
Rick Jones (Tulane)
C-USA All-Decade Team
As part of Conference USA's 10th Anniversary celebration last year, C-USA named an all-decade team. As one of the most successful teams in the history of the league, Tulane was well represented as Jake Gautreau and Rick Jones were named Player and Coach of the Year, respectively, and the pair were joined on the C-USA All-Decade Team by Michael Aubrey, James Jurries and Chad Sutter.
Sutter (1998), Jurries (2002) and Aubrey (2003) all earned C-USA Player of the Year honors during their respective careers, while Gautreau is the only two-time Player of the Year recipient after claiming the honor in 2000 and 2001. Jones, meanwhile, is the all-time winningest coach in the history of C-USA, and has now led the Green Wave to four regular-season league titles.
Conference USA All-Decade Team
• Michael Aubrey (Tulane)
• Jeff Cook (Southern Miss)
• Kyle Crowell (Houston)
• Jake Gautreau (Tulane)
• Ross Gload (USF)
• James Jurries (Tulane)
• Shane Nance (Houston)
• Brad Sullivan (Houston)
• Chad Sutter (Tulane)
• Kevin Youkilis (Cincinnati)
Player of the Decade
Jake Gautreau (Tulane)
Coach of the Decade
Rick Jones (Tulane)
2005 Tulane Honor Roll
Below is a list of individual honors earned by Tulane student-athletes during the 2005 baseball season (first-team unless otherwise noted:
Brian Bogusevic
-Louisville Slugger All-American
-NCBWA All-American (2nd)
-Baseball America All-American (3rd)
-ABCA All-American (3rd)
-ABCA All-South Region
-College Baseball Foundation National Honors Team
-All-Conference USA
-LSWA Louisiana Pitcher of the Year
-All-Louisiana
-Conference USA All-Tournament Team
-NCAA New Orleans Regional All-Tournament Team
-Semifinalist for Xanthus-Dick Howser Trophy
-Semifinalist for Roger Clemens Award
-Semifinalist for Brooks Wallace Award
J.R. Crowel
-All-Conference USA (2nd)
Greg Dini
-All-Conference USA (2nd)
-All-Louisiana (2nd)
-NCAA New Orleans Regional All-Tournament Team
-Semifinalist for Johnny Bench Award
Brad Emaus
-Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American (2nd)
-Baseball America Freshman All-American (2nd)
-Conference USA Freshman of the Year
-LSWA Louisiana Freshman of the Year
-All-Conference USA
-All-Louisiana (2nd)
-Conference USA All-Freshman Team
-Conference USA All-Tournament Team
-NCAA New Orleans Regional All-Tournament Team
Mark Hamilton
-NCAA New Orleans Regional Most Outstanding Player
-NCAA New Orleans Regional All-Tournament Team
Tommy Manzella
-ABCA All-American (2nd)
-ABCA All-South Region
-ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American (3rd)
-ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI
-All-Conference USA
-All-Louisiana
-Tulane Male Student-Athlete of the Year
-T-Club Student-Athlete of the Year
Sean Morgan
-Conference USA All-Freshman Team
Micah Owings
-Louisville Slugger All-American (2nd)
-Baseball America All-American (3rd)
-College Baseball Foundation National Honors Team
-ABCA All-South Region (2nd)
-Conference USA Player of the Year
-LSWA Louisiana Player of the Year
-All-Conference USA
-All-Louisiana
-NCAA New Orleans Regional All-Tournament Team
-Conference USA All-Tournament Team
Nathan Southard
-All-Conference USA
-All-Louisiana
-NCAA New Orleans Regional All-Tournament
-C-USA Tournament Most Valuable Player
-Conference USA All-Tournament Team
Rick Jones
-Baseball America National Coach of the Year
-Conference USA Coach of the Year
-Louisiana Coach of the Year
-Conference USA Coach of the Decade
