Baseball Continues Learning Curve In Three Weekend Scrimmages
Oct 15, 2007 | Baseball
Oct. 14, 2007
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NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Tulane University baseball team continued making strides over the weekend, holding three intrasquad scrimmages - including its annual "Scout Day" on Saturday - as the Green Wave closed out week three of Fall Ball at Turchin Stadium.
With several representatives from Major League Baseball clubs on hand, the Green Wave players went through timed 60s, batting practice and drills based on position. The Tulane team drew rave reviews from the MLB personnel on hand, but Green Wave head coach Rick Jones was quick to put that praise in perspective.
"I had a lot of scouts tell us that they really thought we had a talented and athletic club," Jones said following Sunday's seven-inning scrimmage. "But I heard the same thing last year too in the fall, and we didn't have as good of a year. And I've heard about some clubs that wound up having really good years that they weren't that good in the fall. I try to never fall in or out of love with anybody in the fall, but it is a time when you try and get your system in and evaluate. The weather and the facility allow us to do a really good job of that."
Each phase of the game took its turn standing out over the weekend as the pitchers dominated on Friday, the offense pounded out 12 hits on Saturday, and the Green Wave played flawless defense on Sunday.
Highlighting the Tulane hurlers throughout the fall so far has been the performance of junior closer Mason Griffin. In seven scrimmages, Mason has appeared in six of them and striking out 10 in seven innings of work. Sophomore southpaw Aaron Loup paces the club to date with 11 strikeouts, and six pitchers - Preston Claiborne, Shooter Hunt, Trey Martin, Matt Petiton, Rob Segedin and Drew Zizinia - have yet to give up an earned run in a combined 27.0 innings toeing the rubber.
Junior first baseman Sam Honeck paces the club with a .412 batting average (7-for-17) and a .647 slugging percentage on the strength of a Tulane-leading four doubles. Honeck and junior outfielder Warren McFadden are currently tied for the team lead with four RBI each.
Over the weekend, Honeck connected at a .500 clip (3-for-6) with two doubles and a pair of RBI. Junior centerfielder Aja Barto, meanwhile, hit .308 (4-for-13) over the last three scrimmages, including a towering home run to left central on Sunday that cleared both the netting and the scoreboard.
"If you get a little bit better every day, that gets you a lot better over a period of time," Jones said. "That's what we keep working toward. The thing I'm most encouraged about is this team's attitude. I've got a lot of guys are really hungry and appreciate. They're excited about the fact that they're here, and they're appreciative of everything they get - whether it's a piece of equipment or coaching or a film session. Those kinds of things serve you well over a long period of time.
"We have three and a half weeks left and when we're done with that, I need to feel that we have a really good feel for our personnel. There's so many new ones, but we're headed in the right direction. Everybody on our club has a really good feel for what our system is and how we go about it."
The Green Wave return to practice on Tuesday, Oct. 16, when they take the field at 2:15 p.m. and hold scrimmage No. 8 approximately an hour later. The Tulane team will hold week-day practices from 2:15-5:30 p.m., with Saturday practices set to begin at 10 a.m. and Sunday practices slated for 1 p.m. Practice will continue through Nov. 11, and the final five days will be the Green Wave's annual Fall World Series.
