Baseball Battles To 6-1 Decision In Sunday Scrimmage
Oct 28, 2007 | Baseball
Oct. 28, 2007
NEW ORLEANS, La. - Junior first baseman Sam Honeck and freshman infielders Blake Bennett and Matt Ryan posted two hit apiece as the Tulane University baseball team battled to a 6-1 intrasquad decision Sunday afternoon in Day 31 of fall practice at Turchin Stadium.
Honeck and Ryan's knocks came in the winning effort for Team A while Bennett had two of Team B's five hits on the day. Honeck went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a walk, Ryan was 2-for-4 with two RBI and Bennett was 2-for-2 with a double.
"We swung the bat better today," Tulane head coach Rick Jones said. "The wind out of the Northeast is not something you really get as much during the spring, but it was knocking the ball down. We hit some balls well and I was encouraged by that. I thought we were fairly solid defensively, too. Josh Prince did a nice job of swinging it today, and both Blake Bennett and Matt Ryan - a couple of freshman - had two hits each."
Prince finished the day 1-for-5 but hit the ball hard in four of his five trips to the plate, reached base twice, score a pair of runs and had a stolen base.
Team B scored first as junior shortstop Seth Henry - who finished the day 1-for-2 with a pair of walks - singled in the game's second at-bat and the split-squad unit loaded the bases on a single by junior third baseman Jonny Weiss and a walk by senior first baseman Rustin Rebowe. A bases-loaded walk to junior designated hitter Marc Robért brought in a run, but that would be the last runner to touch the paystation for the team all day.
Prince, meanwhile, tied the game in the home half of the first when he reached on an error and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of junior left fielder Warren McFadden.
The score remained 1-1 over the next two innings, but in the third, the Team A bats woke up. Following a leadoff walk by rookie third baseman Rob Segedin, junior catcher Jared Dyer, Ryan and Prince hit consecutive singles to make it a 3-1 ballgame. Prince advanced to second following his RBI single, and scored one at-bat later when junior right fielder Drew Allain hit an RBI fielder's choice grounder to third to cap a three-run fourth.
Following a pair of scoreless frames, Team A padded it's lead with a pair of runs as Honeck singled and scored on a 5-3 groundout by Ryan before junior centerfielder Aja Barto walked, advanced the bases on a pair of groundouts and scored on a passed ball.
McFadden hit a two-out double in the eighth and final inning of the day and closed out the scoring when he came around to score on Honeck's double in the ensuing at-bat.
Despite the offenses' performances, however, Jones was quick to point out that the team still has plenty to work on over the final week and a half of fall practice.
"The disappointing thing today was we had two passed balls that allowed runners to move up and one of them scored a run," Jones said. "That's a point of emphasis that we have to do a better job of. We also walked 10 guys. I've been doing this for a while and I still don't know how to defend a walk. Our pitches in this ballpark, with the way it played today and with this surface, you can't give hitters so much credit that you give them free passes.
"One of the constants in my career, especially in my 14 years here at Tulane, is that we pitch consistent strike throwers over outstanding stuff that is inconsistent. If you look at the percentages, we have a much better chance with a guy that's going to throw it over and give us a chance to play defense than somebody who is always behind in the count and puts too many guys on. We're going to let the cream rise to the top there and the guys who throw it over are going to be the guys who get the most opportunities."
The Green Wave continue fall practice on Tuesday, Oct. 30, when they open the Fall World Series at approximately 3 p.m. at Turchin Staidum. Game two is slated for Wednesday, Oct. 31, and the team will play the final three Fall World Series contests over the weekend. Tulane will use the final three days of fall practice to work on the coaching staff's points of emphasis.
TULANE FALL WORLD SERIES SCHEDULE
Game 1 Tuesday, Oct. 30 7 Innings 3:00 p.m.Game 2 Wednesday, Oct. 31 7 Innings 3:00 p.m.Game 3 Friday, Nov. 2 9 Innings 3:00 p.m.Game 4 Saturday, Nov. 3 9 Innings 12:00 p.m. St. Michael's Day slated for 9:00 a.m.Game 5 Sunday, Nov. 4 9 Innings 1:00 p.m.
