Baseball's Shooter Hunt Named To Preseason Wallace Watch
Dec 7, 2007 | Baseball
Dec. 7, 2007
NEW ORLEANS, La. - Tulane University baseball standout Shooter Hunt was named to the 2008 Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award Watch List, the College Baseball Foundation announced on Friday.
A junior right-handed pitcher from Wycoff, N.J., Hunt was named to the preseason player of the year watch list after going 6-6 with a team-leading 2.62 ERA and a .232 opponent batting average while ranking second on the Green Wave staff with 104 strikeouts and 99.2 innings pitched.
"This is certainly a deserving preseason honor for Shooter," Tulane head baseball head coach Rick Jones said. "With the type of spring he had last year, his performance in the Cape Cod League over the summer and dominant fall he had for us earlier this year, he's certainly going into the season as one of the premier pitchers in the county. If he stays healthy and we do our job of supporting him, he's capable of having one of the best years in Tulane baseball history."
A first-team All-Conference USA honoree and second-team All-Louisiana recipient in 2007, Hunt finished third in C-USA in ERA, total strikeouts, strikeouts looking (35) and opponent batting average, and fourth in innings pitched. He also ranked 44th nationally in strikeouts, 57th in ERA and 58th in strikeouts per nine innings with a 9.39 clip.
Hunt posted a 3.47 strikeout-to-walk ratio with just 30 bases on balls as a sophomore and tallied seven or more strikeouts eight times. Included in the multiple-strikeout list are a pair of nine strikeout performances against East Carolina - in the regular season on March 31 and the C-USA Tournament on May 23, 10 Ks in 5.2 innings against North Florida on Feb. 18 and a career-best 13 with no walks in 7.1 innings at UCF on April 28.
His longest outing of the year came at Marshall on March 24 when he fanned seven and allowed just one unearned run in 8.0 frames. Hunt also tossed 7.00 shutout innings against Houston on April 21. A standout in the classroom as well as on the diamond, Hunt was a member of the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll and Tulane's 3.0 Club in 2007.
During the summer, Hunt suited up for the second consecutive year as a member of the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod Collegiate Baseball League, the nation's premier summer wooden bat league. After leading the CCCBL in strikeouts with 54 in 2006, Hunt followed that up with a 48-strikeout performance in 2007 which helped him claim the No. 11 spot on Baseball America's list of top pro prospects in the Cape Cod League.
A transfer from the University of Virginia, where he saw action in 17 games as a true freshman, Hunt's career numbers include a 3.16 ERA, 137 strikeouts and a .241 opponent batting average.
Hunt is one of six C-USA student-athletes named to the Preseason Wallace Watch, joining Houston's Jimmy Cesario (Jr., OF), Memphis' K.K. Chalmers (Sr., OF), Rice's Matt Longwell (Sr., P) and Ryan Berry (So., P), and Southern Miss' Trey Sutton (Sr., 2B). He is also one of five players from Louisiana-based schools to claim a spot on the Wallace Award list, joining Grambling State's Joshua Kelly (Jr., INF), Louisiana-Lafayette's Danny Farquhar (Jr., P), LSU's Jared Bradford (Sr., P) and UNO's Johnny Giavotella (Jr., INF).
The Wallace Award is a dedication to the memory of the former Texas Tech player and assistant coach Brooks Wallace. Wallace was a slick-fielding shortstop at Texas Tech from 1977 to 1980. A four-year starter, he was named All-Southwest Conference and All-District his senior year. After playing two years in the Texas Rangers organization, he returned to Texas Tech and served as a graduate assistant and later as an assistant coach. In the summer of 1984, he was diagnosed with cancer and fought the disease courageously until his death on March 24, 1985, at age 27.
The Wallace Award is presented to the nation's top collegiate baseball player in conjunction with the College Baseball Hall of Fame's annual induction festivities. The 2008 award banquet will be held Thursday, July 3, in the United Spirit Arena on the campus of Texas Tech University.
Hunt and the Green Wave open the 2008 season on Friday, Feb. 22, when they take on Illinois-Chicago at 7 p.m. at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium. Season ticket renewal forms for the 2008 Green Wave baseball season will be sent out prior to the December holiday break and new season ticket packages will go on sale shortly thereafter. For more information, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE.
