2020 Tulane Baseball Positional Preview: Infield

The second in a series looking at the 2020 Tulane baseball team.

Part of the core that makes up the veteran leadership of the 2020 Tulane baseball roster can be found in the Green Wave infield, as the group of players leading the charge to make up the squad's defensive core are paced by upperclassmen. While making up the heart of the defense, the team will also feature a solid infusion of youth that will help keep the charge going for years to come.

One of the rocks of the infield is redshirt senior Jonathon Artigues. Artigues has the most games played and started of any current member of the roster, as the Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, product has featured in all but one of 116 total games over the course of the last two seasons.

A preseason All-American Athletic Conference selection, Artigues averaged .310 at the plate with 63 hits, including nine doubles, five triples and two home runs last season, as the five triples is tied for the third most in program history in a single season. He paced the team in walks with 44 and in stolen bases with eight, finishing fourth on the team with 20 multi-hit games, and six multi-RBI contests.

Another preseason all-conference selection and an LSWA All-Louisiana honorable mention pick from last season returning is Grant Mathews. Mathews, who was drafted in the 38^th round of the 2019 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Atlanta Braves, started 57 of Tulane's 58 games last season between playing in the outfield and designated hitter spot, but expects to feature in the Green Wave's infield primarily this season.

Mathews hit .319 at the plate with 72 hits, including 13 doubles, two triples and sitting tied for second in home runs with 10. During the season he went on a 13-game hitting streak which was the third longest among players for the year, while reaching base in 13 consecutive games during the year. Finishing a triple short of the cycle twice, the New Orleans native had one of his best days at the plate to help earn a split on the road at Memphis as he plated six runs after hitting a pair of home runs among his three hits and four runs scored.

A junior this season, Texas product David Bedgood had a sophomore campaign that provided a host of fireworks and memorable moments. None were quite as big as the situation he found himself in with one out and the Green Wave trailing No. 10 Ole Miss 12-11 in the bottom of the ninth inning. With a runner on and coming in to pinch hit, Bedgood took the third pitch he saw well over the fence in right for the walk-off two-run home run to hand Tulane a 13-12 win over the Rebels.

Bedgood hit home runs in each of the next two games after that and in the 43 games he played on the year came away with eight among his 37 total hits on the season. He had 30 RBI on the season with 23 runs scored, slugging .543 with a .383 on-base percentage.

Playing in 27 games last season as a freshman from nearby De La Salle High School, Collin Burns got the chance to get some early run a shortstop last year along with plate appearances as a designated hitter. Burns averaged .217 at the plate with 10 hits, including three doubles and a triple, four RBI and nine runs scored, making his collegiate debut in the 2019 opening series against George Washington. Against UC Riverside, Burns went 2-for-4 with a double, triple, three RBI and two runs scored against the Gauchos.

One of the new faces to the roster is junior transfer Trevor Minder, who spent the previous two seasons at Parkland College in Illinois. As a sophomore last season he served as the team's starting shortstop, playing in all 54 games where he averaged .326 at the plate with a .421 slugging percentage and .484 on-base percentage. Minder was named the NJCAA DII Player of the Week once last season after batting .407 while accounting for 28 of Parkland's runs over six games.

A freshman from Edgewood, Colorado, Simon Baumgardt rounds out the infielders as he joins the team after a four-year prep career at Lakewood High School. Primarily playing at the shortstop position, Baumgardt served as team captain for the Tigers as a junior in 2018 and senior in 2019, setting school records in hits, doubles, runs, slugging, OPS and home runs by the time he graduated in earning all-state and all-league honors.

2020 Tulane Baseball Positional Preview: Infield

Players Mentioned

Jonathon Artigues

Simon Baumgardt

David Bedgood

Collin Burns

Grant Mathews

Trevor Minder

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