Baseball To Take On Lions, Cajuns In Midweek Action
Feb 25, 2008 | Baseball
Feb. 25, 2008
NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Tulane University baseball team opens and action-packed week on Tuesday, Feb. 26, when they play host to Southeastern Louisiana in game one of the Senator's Cup series at 6 p.m. at the new Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.
Tuesday's Senator's Cup contest against the Lions is the first of five games for the Green Wave during the upcoming week as Tulane will play host to No. 25 Louisiana-Lafayette at 6 p.m. on Wednesday and travel to Minneapolis, Minn., for the 2008 Dairy Queen Classic against Pepperdine, Minnesota and TCU on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
"Southeastern is so well coached," Tulane head coach Rick Jones said. "Jay Artigues does a great job. They beat us two out of three last year. UL-Lafayette is once again nationally-ranked and will be as good as any team we play this year. Both of those teams will be major challenges and then we've got to get on a flight to Minneapolis on Thursday. These next two weeks will be as challenging as any two I've ever coached."
Tulane enters the week 3-0 after sweeping Illinois Chicago over the weekend in the first games ever held at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium. As a team, the Wave are hitting .293 with a .455 slugging percentage on the strength of seven doubles and three home runs.
Juniors Aja Barto and Jared Dyer lead the Green Wave with identical .455 batting averages (5-for-11), Dyer paces the club with two home runs, while junior outfielder Anthony Scelfo and rookie third baseman Rob Segedin are tied for team-high RBI honors with four apiece.
Sophomore southpaw Matt Petiton is slated to make his first appearance of the year on Tuesday, which will also be his Tulane debut after playing last season at North Carolina. Petiton was a high school All-American at Garden City (N.Y.) High School where he posted a career 29-6 record and a 1.00 ERA.
Southeastern Louisiana comes to town fresh off a 3-0 weekend as well, sweeping Eastern Illinois 4-1, 10-3 and 8-5 at Alumni Field in Hammond, La. As a team, the Lions are hitting .264 with a .363 slugging percentage on the strength of six doubles and one home run.
Cass Hargins paces the squad with a .333 average and is one of two players with a pair of doubles. Xavier Qualls has the Lions' lone homer and leads the team with seven RBI. On the mound, lefty René LeBlanc will be making his first appearance of the season.
Louisiana-Lafayette, meanwhile, will enter Wednesday night's contest 2-2 on the year and ranked No. 25 in the latest Baseball America poll. The Ragin' Cajuns defeated Army 2-1 and Texas Tech 4-0 while dropping a 6-5 ballgame to Oral Roberts and a 5-2 decision to host Texas-San Antonio last weekend.
As a team, UL-Lafayette is hitting .212 with a .297 slugging percentage after posting four doubles and two home runs. Josh Logan and Matt Hicks each are hitting .333 (5-for-15), and Hicks paces the club with two home runs and four RBI. Southpaw John Zorich is tentatively scheduled to take the mound for the Cajuns on Wednesday, where he will be matched up with junior right-hander Jonathan Garrett.
Both midweek contests will be broadcast live on the flagship station of Tulane baseball, WRBH 88.3 FM. For fans not able to make it to New Orleans, the games can also been seen live on the internet to paid members of the All-Access Pass.
For ticket information for this week's contests and future Green Wave Athletics events, contact the Tulane University Athletics Ticket Office at 504-861-WAVE or go on-line at www.TulaneGreenWave.com.
