Hunt taken by Minnesota, other locals go early
June 6, 2008
Hunt taken by Minnesota, other locals go early - Tulane Beat - Times-Picayune - NOLA.com
Posted by The Times-Picayune June 05, 2008 5:58PM
Categories: BaseballTulane pitcher Shooter Hunt was the 31st overall pick, or the first pick in the compensation Round A, by the Minnesota Twins today in the major league baseball draft.
Hunt, a junior from Wyckoff, N.J., was 9-4 with a 2.68 ERA. In 16 starts, he threw 100 2/3 innings and gave up 62 hits and had 126 strikeouts.
His .175 opponent batting average in 2008 is a Tulane single-season record, surpassing the former mark of .203 set by Jason Navarro in 1997, and is fifth in strikeout-per-nine-inning average (11.26). Hunt’s .204 career opponent batting average also tops Navarro’s former school record of .224 (1995-97) and also ranks fifth in Tulane career history in K/9 and is seventh in career ERA.
Newman graduate Jeremy Bleich, a junior from Stanford, was the 44th overall pick by the New York Yankees. He was also taken in the compensation Round A.
Bleich has made six starts in his eight total appearances for Stanford and has a 2-2 record, 1.09 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 33.0 innings pitched. He has also limited opponents to a .197 batting average against him in 2008. He has an 8-14 career collegiate record with a 4.33 ERA and seven saves over 48 appearances. He also has added one complete game and has 123 strikeouts in 191.2 career innings pitched.
Stanford is playing Cal-State Fullerton in the Super Regional this weekend.
UNO’s Johnny Giovatella was taken early second round, 49th overall, by the Kansas City Royals.
Giavotella, a first-team preseason All-America selection, was chosen with the No. 49 selection overall, the third pick of the second round. He hit .354 this past season to help UNO claim an NCAA Tournament berth for the second straight year.
The Jesuit graduate hit 12 home runs and had 56 RBIs. He also led the Privateers with a .470 on-base percentage. He is ranked eighth in school history with a .363 career average and is tied for fourth with 32 home runs. As a junior in 2007, Giavotella was a third-team All-America pick after hitting .385 with 15 home runs and 65 RBIs.
Baseball’s Segedin Named Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American
June 5, 2008
Rookie earns honor after hitting .322 with 59 RBI at the plate while posting five saves from the moundJune 4, 2008
NEW ORLEANS, La. - Following a stellar rookie season where he saw time both at third base and on the mound as a reliever, Tulane University baseball standout Rob Segedin was named Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball Magazine on Wednesday.
The honor is the third of the postseason for Segedin as he was named second-team All-Conference USA and claimed a spot on the C-USA All-Freshman Team as well. He becomes the 14th Tulane student-athlete to claim Freshman All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball, and is the first to do so since Warren McFadden garnered the distinction in 2006.
Segedin played in all 62 games for the Green Wave in 2008, including 61 starts at the hot corner where he hit .322 with 18 doubels, a triple and six home runs while driving in 59. He also appeared in 14 games on the mound as a reliever where he posted five saves, a win and 21 strikeouts in 19.1 innings of work.
He shares the team’s batting average title with junior Anthony Scelfo - becoming the first Tulane rookie to lead the team in hitting since Barry Butera hit .360 in 1975 - and his RBI total is the most by a freshman since Michael Aubrey had 69 in 2001. Segedin’s five saves, meanwhile, are the most by a Green Wave freshman since Sean Morgan posted five in 2005.
At the plate, Segedin also led the team in hits (75) and RBI (59), while ranking second in on-base percentage (.414), third in slugging percentage (.485), fifth in runs scored (37) and tied for fifth in home runs.
Segedin led the team with 21 multiple-hit games and 19 multiple-RBI contests. He tied a Tulane single-game record by going 6-for-6 against Northwestern State on March 12, and had both a five- and six-RBI contest to his credit as well.
He had an 11-game hitting streak from April 13-May 3 when he hit .545 (24-for-44) with 3 doubles, 3 homers and 16 RBI. Segedin was also named C-USA Co-Hitter of the Week and earned a spot on the College Baseball Foundation National All-Star Lineup on April 21 after hitting .600 (9-for-15) with two home runs and seven RBI during his time at the plate while also posting a pair of saves, a .071 opponent batting average (1-for-14) and a flawless 0.00 ERA in two appearances and 4.0 innings of work on the mound.
From the mound, Segein did not allow a hit four times and held opponents without an earned run on nine occasions. He posted seven multiple-strikeout performances, including a career-best four Ks in 2.1 innings at UNO (April 9), and his longest outing of the year came against LSU (April 22) when he tossed 3.0 innings of relief.
Segedin helped the Green Wave post a 39-22-1 overall record in 2008, finish third in the regular-season C-USA standings with a 13-9-1 league mark, and advance to the finals of the 2008 NCAA Tallahassee Regional last weekend at Florida State.
He is one of seven C-USA players to claim Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America honors, joining East Carolina pitcher Seth Maness, Houston hurler Chase Dempsay, Southern Miss right-hander Todd McInnis, Houston shortstop Blake Kelso, Marshall designated hitter Victor Gomez and Rice shortstop Rick Hague.
Segedin is also one of three student-athletes from Louisiana schools to claim the distinction, joining Centenary reliever Boone Whiting and Southern catcher/first baseman Frazier Hall.
Hunt shooting for the stars in opening round
June 4, 2008
Hunt shooting for the stars in opening round- NOLA.com
2008
With Tulane eliminated from the NCAA Tournament, junior
pitcher Shooter Hunt won’t have a super regional game
to distract him from Thursday’s major league draft, in
which he’s projected as a high first-round pick.
But it’s a distraction he wouldn’t mind facing.
“The draft hasn’t really been on my mind all
season,” Hunt said Tuesday as Tulane returned from
Tallahassee, Fla., after its 16-7 loss to Florida State in
the Tallahassee Regional championship game the night before.
“I don’t think it would have been a big factor if
we’d won, because my goal all season has been to get to
Omaha and win the national championship, instead of worrying
about the draft.
“But it is kind of exciting to start thinking about
it right now.”
LSU junior first baseman Matt Clark will have to deal
with the draft and playing in a super regional. Clark is
projected to be the highest draft-eligible player for the
Tigers, who play UC Irvine in a super regional game at 5
p.m. Saturday at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge. He is
expected to be picked from the fifth to the 10th round.
“You can’t really ignore it,” said Clark,
who was a 24th-round pick last year when he played at
Fontana (Calif.) Community College. “But I’ve
still got a job to do here. Wherever you think you’re
going to go, you get picked there — and then you turn
around and focus on the task at hand.”
Seven LSU juniors could be picked Thursday, including
pitchers Ryan Verdugo, Jordan Brown and Blake Martin.
Teams are not allowed to contact players whose teams
still are in the tournament, other than to inform them that
they have been drafted. LSU Coach Paul Mainieri said
he’s glad that the Tigers’ opening game in the
super regional isn’t until Saturday, so that his
players can digest the information for a day or two.
“There’s no sticking our heads in the sand and
hope it goes away,” Mainieri said.
UNO is expected to lose two juniors — second baseman
Johnny Giavotella and pitcher Ryan O’Shea — in the
draft. Catcher/designated hitter Jeff Lanning is another
possibility.
Tulane junior outfielders Anthony Scelfo and Aja Barto
also could be selected, but possibly not high enough to
persuade them to leave school.
That won’t be the case with Hunt. He entered the
season as a projected high pick, and he hasn’t done
anything to diminish it this season, going 9-4 with a 2.68
ERA and 126 strikeouts in 100 2/3 innings.
Baseball America projects Hunt going to the Houston
Astros with the 10th pick in the first round. Tulane’s
previously highest drafted player was Michael Aubrey by the
Cleveland Indians at No. 11 in 2003.
Going that high would garner Hunt a seven-figure signing
bonus.
“I haven’t looked at the projections,”
Hunt said. “I really don’t want to know, because I
don’t want to get my expectations up. What’s
important to me is that I want to play ball and get to the
Major Leagues as fast as possible.”
Tulane Coach Rick Jones said Hunt has the tools to do
just that.
“This is guy that throws it 92-95 miles per hour and
has good velocity on his breaking ball as well,” Jones
said. “. . . We never let his pitch count get too high
this year, either, so his arm should be fresh.”
Along with its underclassmen, Tulane could lose two
highly regarded recruits — pitcher T.J. House from
Picayune, Miss., and pitcher/outfielder Ross Seaton from
Houston. Both signees are listed among Baseball
America’s top 200 prep prospects.
LSU has three highly rated signees — junior college
pitchers Ryan Chaffee from Chipola (Fla.) and John Michael
Redding of Florida College of Jacksonville, and shortstop
Austin Nola from Baton Rouge-Catholic — who likely will
go before the 10th round.
Pitcher Shane Reidie from Slidell, second baseman Drew
Cumberland, utility player Bo Didier and pitcher Chris
Matulis all could go in the later rounds.
NO DAY AT THE BEACH
June 3, 2008
Wave digs 10-run hole against Florida St. and can’t escape
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
By Nakia Hogan Staff writerTALLAHASSEE, FLA. — It’s over. Those were two words the Tulane Green Wave was not ready to hear or accept.
After Josh Prince grounded out to the second baseman, ending Florida State’s 16-7 victory in the championship game of the NCAA Tallahassee Regional on Monday and concluding what was just beginning to be a fruitful Green Wave season, several Tulane players stood and watched as the Seminoles high-fived their way off the field in front of 6,032 fans at Dick Howser Stadium.
This was exactly the scene they were hoping to avoid. FSU (52-11) will host Wichita State, the winner of the Stillwater Regional, in a best-of-three super regional.
Tulane (39-22-1) simply didn’t have enough pitching to keep pace with the vaunted FSU lineup, which featured eight players hitting better than .300. Though FSU catcher Buster Posey was selected the regional’s Most Outstanding Player, center fielder Tyler Holt stole the show, going 5-for-6 with four runs and two RBIs, becoming the first Seminole this season with five hits in one game.
The Seminoles scored six runs in the fourth inning and four in the fifth to take a 10-0 lead before cruising into their eighth super regional in the past 10 years.
For all the success Tulane had on the mound in winning the first two games of the regional, Green Wave pitchers struggled against FSU, which beat Tulane for the second consecutive day.
After Tulane gave up 14 hits in Sunday’s 17-8 loss to the Seminoles, Coach Rick Jones decided to start staff ace Shooter Hunt, who threw 99 pitches Friday, on two days’ rest.
That experiment started out well but didn’t last long. FSU was just as efficient as the previous day and went on to collect 18 hits Monday.
Hunt tired in the fourth inning, and he wasn’t able to work himself out of the jams the way he did in the first three innings. The Seminoles capitalized, scoring six runs.
Hunt hit Tony Delmonico, the first batter of the fourth inning, then allowed a single to Stuart Tapley. Delmonico eventually scored when Tommy Oravetz grounded out to first, giving FSU a 1-0 lead. Tapley scored on a wild pitch, increasing the lead to 2-0.
But the real damage came with two out in the inning on an
error by center fielder Anthony Scelfo, who dropped a popup
in shallow center after a long run and a near collision with
shortstop Prince. A run scored on the play. And after a
three-run double by Dennis Guinn, FSU led 6-0.Hunt (9-4) took the loss, going 3 2/3 innings, giving up
six hits and six runs (two earned). He struck out two,
walked three and hit three batters on 86 pitches.In all, the Green Wave used six pitchers Monday and nine
for the two games against FSU. None was effective, often
struggling with control and walking nine FSU players and
hitting four.
Perhaps the lone bright spot for the Green Wave in the
two games against the Seminoles was designated hitter Warren
McFadden, who along with left fielder Scott Powell was
selected to the all-regional team. McFadden didn’t play
in the first two games of the regional. But he went 6-for-7
in the final two games, including a solo home run in the
sixth inning that closed FSU’s margin to 10-4.Tulane couldn’t get any closer, though. FSU
continued to batter the Green Wave’s pitchers and
scored four runs in the top of the seventh, increasing the
margin to 14-4.Matt Fairel (11-2) picked up the win for FSU, allowing
seven hits and three earned runs in 5 2/3 innings.
Baseball’s Season Ends With 16-7 NCAA Regional Loss To Florida State
June 3, 2008
Green Wave conclude the 2008 season 39-22-1; Powell, McFadden named to All-Regional TeamJune 2, 2008
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - At the end of the day, Tulane University head baseball coach Rick Jones could not have been prouder of his club.
Fielding a team that featured 15 newcomers and having to replace four positional starters, three-quarters of its starting pitching and the all-time saves leader in Tulane and Conference USA history, the 2008 Green Wave finished third in the regular-season C-USA standings and returned to the NCAA Regionals after a one-year hiatus as the No. 3 seed at Florida State.
Tulane’s season, however, came to end on a hot, humid Monday night at Dick Howser Stadium as the host and No. 4 national seed Seminoles defeated the Green Wave, 16-7, in day four of the 2008 NCAA Tallahassee Regional.
“We ran into one of the hottest teams in the country,” Jones said. “There’s no question about that. I felt good about our club going into tonight. We were in the same place we were this time last night. We came in and we had to win one ballgame. We had been playing well. But when you’re facing a Florida State club who is as good offensively as they are, you can’t let them have anything other than what they earned.”
Junior designated hitter Warren McFadden went 2-for-3 with a home run, a double and a pair of RBI, and was joined on the two-hit club by junior centerfielder Anthony Scelfo, junior catcher Jared Dyer, junior first baseman Sam Honeck and sophomore shortstop Josh Prince. Three Green Wave errors, however, led to seven unearned runs, and the Seminoles out-hit Tulane, 18-11.
With the loss, Tulane concludes its season 39-22-1 overall. Florida State, meanwhile, improves to 52-11 on the year and advances to play the winner of the NCAA Stillwater (Okla.) Regional, Wichita State, next weekend in the NCAA Tallahassee Super Regional at Dick Howser Stadium.
Despite the season-ending loss, the future looks bright for the Green Wave as the vast majority of the 2008 team should return for next year.
“I didn’t run a senior out there tonight until Trey Martin went out in the ninth,” Jones said. “I’ve got a couple of juniors that we may lose in the draft, but this is a relatively young club that returns almost everyone next year position player wise as well as the vast majority of our staff. We’ve had a tremendous recruiting class, so if the draft is not too tough on us, I think our club a year from now certainly can resemble the club that we faced tonight.”
Junior right-hander Shooter Hunt gave the Green Wave a gutsy 3.2-inning start, and held the Seminoles scoreless over the first three innings. Florida State scratched across a pair of runs in the top of the fourth courtesy of an RBI-groundout to first by designated hitter Tommy Oravetz and a two-out wild pitch by Hunt which allowed third baseman Stuart Tapley to touch the paystation.
Hunt appeared to get out of the inning without any further damage done, but a dropped fly ball in shallow center gave the Seminoles new life and they capitalized by loading the bases before first baseman Dennis Guinn hammered a three-run double to right field to make it a 6-0 ballgame.
“We had some things happen tonight that is a little uncharacteristic of this club, and if you look at our numbers, they bear that out,” Jones said. “The dropped ball in the outfield where we had a little miscommunication (was big). That’s something we take a lot of pride in and it very seldom happens to us, but it happened at bad time tonight. You go from a two-run lead to a four-run lead there real quickly, and then they tacked on. They had the infield single after that, and they took advantage again. They’re just too good offensively.”
FSU got four more runs in the top of the fifth on a two-RBI single by centerfielder Tyler Holt and run-scoring base hits by catcher Buster Posey and right fielder Jack Rye, but Tulane responded in the home half of the frame. Junior designated hitter Warren McFadden got things going with a leadoff double, junior first baseman Sam Honeck followed with a single to right and sophomore shortstop Josh Prince plated McFadden with an RBI-single back up the middle. Honeck scored on an error by Seminole shortstop Tony Delmonico to cut the lead to 10-2.
Tulane continued to cut into the lead in the sixth when junior catcher Jared Dyer led off the frame with a triple to right, scored on an RBI-groundout off the bat of junior right fielder Drew Allain, and McFadden ripped a solo home run to left to make it 10-4.
The Seminoles, however, got all four runs back in the top of the seventh as Delmonico and Tapley hit back-to-back, one-out doubles, Tapley scored on a Tulane error and second baseman Jason Stidham roped a two-run single through the right side of the infield.
The Green Wave scratched across single runs in the each of the final three innings courtesy of a sacrifice fly by freshman third baseman Rob Segedin in the seventh, an RBI-double by Prince in the eighth and a run-scoring fielder’s choice grounder by McFadden in the ninth. Florida State, meanwhile, got a two-run double by Stidham in the top of the ninth to account for the final score.
McFadden and junior left fielder Scott Powell were named to the NCAA Tallahassee Regional All-Tournament Team after hitting .857 (6-for-7, 3 2Bs, 1 HR, 3 RBI) and .333 (5-for-15, 1 2B, 3 R) over the weekend, respectively.
Hunt (9-4) was tagged with the loss after allowing six runs (two earned) on six hits and three walks while striking out a pair during his time on the hill. Florida State starter Matt Fairel (11-2) earned the victory after allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits and a walk while fanning three in 5.2 innings of work.
Holt led all players with five hits in six at-bats and reached in all seven of his plate appearances. Stidham went 3-for-5 with four RBI, while Rye, Delmonico and Tapley had two hits apiece.
2008 NCAA TALLAHASSEE REGIONAL
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMC - Buster Posey, Florida State*
1B - Dennis Guinn, Florida State*
2B - Jason Stidham, Florida State
3B - Stuart Tapley, Florida State*
SS - Tony Delmonico, Florida State
OF - Tyler Holt, Florida State*
OF - Scott Powell, Tulane
OF - Matt den Dekker, Florida
P - Mathew Wilson, Bucknell*
P - Matt Fairel, Florida State
DH - Warren McFadden, TulaneMost Outstanding Player
Buster Posey, Florida State*
Hunt could start for Wave in regional final
June 2, 2008
Hunt could start for Wave in regional final - Tulane Beat - Times-Picayune - NOLA.com
Posted by By Nakia Hogan, Times-Picayune June 01, 2008 11:41PM
Categories: BaseballTALLAHASSEE, FLA. - Tulane ace right-hander Shooter Hunt has had two days of rest and has told his coach he’s ready if needed.
Coach Rick Jones just might take him up on that offer.
Down to what could be the Green Wave’s last game of the season and facing the best hitting team its come up against all year, Jones said Sunday night he’d sleep on the idea of bringing Hunt back early and then talk about it more on Monday before making a decision.
After the 17-8 shellacking Florida State put on the Green Wave here Sunday in the NCAA Tallahassee Regional, Jones is willing to try almost anything.
The regional final is at 6 p.m. Monday night.
The top-seeded Seminoles are one of the best hitting teams in the country. And lately, they’ve been scorching hot. Since being shutout 7-0 in the regional opener against Bucknell, the Seminoles have been on a tear, scoring 58 runs and racking up 64 hits in its three straight victories over Florida, Bucknell and Tulane.
That’s why, even on short notice, Hunt, who is expected to be selected in the first round of the MLB amateur draft this week, is an option.
Hunt started Tulane’s 7-4 victory over Florida on Friday. He didn’t get the decision, but threw 99 pitches in 5 1/3 innings, allowing three earned runs and striking out five.
Sophomore Taylor Rogers appears to be the most logical starter, however. But he hasn’t started a game since May 6 against UNO, and has pitched just twice since then.
“We’ll send out a right-hander,” Jones said. “I’m not going to make that decision yet. We got a couple pretty good arms down there, and in regional play you go with your best available guy tomorrow.”
When asked if that meant Hunt was available, Jones replied:
“Yes.”
Even as a starter?
“Yes,” he said. “But I’m not going to say he’s going to do that yet. We’re going to go with a right-hander. I want to talk to (Hunt) again tomorrow. But he feels good. He felt good (Sunday). And we have our bullpen that we’ve been utilizing a lot in Nick Pepiton and Rob Segedin. (They’ll) have had two days of rest, too. That gives us a little bit more depth in the bullpen.”
Florida State coach Mike Martin said if Hunt is the starter for the game, the Green Wave is sending out one of the best arms in the nation, and one the could present some problems for his potent lineup.
“Shooter Hunt is one of the best pitchers in college baseball,” Martin said. “I saw him pitch against Florida and was extremely impressed. His reputation certainly precedes him. He’s a definite No. 1 draft pick and will certainly pose a challenge against anybody he pitches against.”
Martin added that he’ll use his ace on short rest as well, sending left-hander Matt Fairel to the mound. Fairel (10-2) started Saturday in the Seminoles’ 17-11 win over Florida. In that game he threw 62 pitches
FSU slugs its way to finals
June 2, 2008
Posey homers four times in two big wins for FSU By Steve Ellis * DEMOCRAT SENIOR WRITER * June 2, 2008 The postseason belongs to Buster Posey.
http://www.topix.com/ncaa/tulane-football/…
Pitching powers Wave to regional final
June 1, 2008
Sunday, June 01, 2008By Nakia Hogan
TALLAHASSEE, FLA. — Shortstop Josh Prince snagged a line drive and catcher Jared Dyer sprinted to the mound to put a big bear hug on relief pitcher Preston Claiborne. Their Tulane teammates rushed to get their turn at slapping Claiborne on the back.
It was a bit early for a full-fledged celebration. But this one felt good.
The Green Wave’s Matt Petiton and Claiborne combined for a three-hit hitter as Tulane defeated Bucknell 4-1 Saturday night in the winners’ bracket game of the NCAA Tallahassee Regional at Howser Stadium.
“This is just a good win for us,” Tulane Coach Rick Jones said. “This is our fourth regional final in the past five years. So it’s not unchartered territory for us to be where we are, but it is for a lot of these players. It was good to see us play the way we did today, knowing what was riding on it. Still, we know that we have a very, very tough challenge ahead of us.”
Tulane is in the driver’s seat of this double-elimination regional.
This is the fourth time the Green Wave has opened a regional with consecutive victories. And each time it has advanced to the Super Regional. Tulane also started 2-0 in 2001, 2004 and 2005.
The path to a super regional this season is a bit clearer, but it certainly isn’t an easy one. At 6 p.m. tonight, Tulane will play the winner of the Bucknell-Florida State game, which is at noon.
The Green Wave needs a victory to advance to a super regional. If Tulane loses tonight, it will play again at 6 p.m. Monday.
“We are one win away,” Tulane center fielder Anthony Scelfo said. “We don’t have to win three or four, we don’t have to worry about Omaha. All we have to do is win one game. It’s a great situation to be in.”
Claiborne helped the cause for the Green Wave (39-20-1). In perhaps the best outing of his Tulane career, he entered the game in the sixth inning and worked the Green Wave out of trouble.
Claiborne pitched 3 2/3 innings, allowing just one hit. He struck out four and walked none on his way to his third save of the season. Petiton (7-1) started and pitched 5 1/3 innings, yielding two hits, striking out two and walking five.
“I knew I was coming in a big situation,” Claiborne said. “I’m a reliever, that’s what we got to do. . . . There was nothing that could have distracted me. It was just Jared (Dyer) and the mitt. I just tried to hit that mitt as many times as I could.”
Freshman Rob Segedin put the Green Wave ahead 2-0 with a two-run single in the third inning, and ended a 16-inning scoreless streak by Bucknell pitchers (30-23-2).
An inning later, Scelfo smoked a two-run triple to left-center field, bringing home Josh Prince, who reached on a bloop single, and Scott Powell, who walked.
Petiton worked his way out of a potentially dangerous fifth inning. He opened the inning by walking the first two batters — Chris Pieper and Ed Rubbo. After a sacrifice bunt that advanced the runners to third and second base, Petiton hit Ben Allen, loading the bases with only one out.
But the Bison couldn’t take advantage. Petiton scrambled to get the next hitter, Dane Grandizio, to pop up in the infield. And then he got Mark Angelo to fly out to center field.
Petiton was in trouble again in the sixth inning. This time Jones didn’t allow him the chance to work his way out.
After getting the leadoff batter in the sixth to fly out to left field, Petiton walked the next two. And Jones replaced him with Claiborne, who got Austin Turban to fly out for the second out.
Claiborne then struck out Rubbo on a wild pitch, and Andrew Brouse scored, closing the margin to 4-1 before the inning ended one batter latter on a groundout to shortstop.
In the eighth inning, Tulane encountered more trouble following a throwing error by Segedin that left the Bison with runners at first and second base with no outs.
Again, the Green Wave came through. Claiborne induced Shawn Hirsch into a ground ball to Prince at shortstop. Prince tossed the ball to second baseman Seth Henry, for an out, and Henry threw to first for the double play.
Claiborne put an end to the inning one batter later by striking out Turban.
“They had quality pitching from both their pitchers,” Bucknell Coach Gene Depew said. “We obviously needed more than three hits to win a ball game. We had a lot of opportunities earlier in the game. We had some bases on balls and just couldn’t get the hit when we needed at the right time.”
Petiton, Claiborne Pitch Baseball Past Bucknell In NCAA Regional, 4-1
June 1, 2008
Green Wave duo hold Bison to just three hits while striking out six; Segedin, Scelfo drive in a pair eachClick here to find out more!
May 31, 2008
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Sophomores Matt Petiton and Preston Claiborne combined to strike out six while allowing just three hits and the Green Wave defense turned in another nearly flawless performance as the third-seeded Tulane University baseball team defeated No. 4 seed Bucknell, 4-1, Saturday evening in day two of the 2008 NCAA Tallahassee Regional at Dick Howser Stadium.
Freshman third baseman Rob Segedin put Tulane ahead 2-0 with a two-run single in the third and junior centerfielder Anthony Scelfo gave the Wave a 4-0 lead with a two-out, two-run triple an inning later. From there, the game belonged to the pitchers. Petiton (7-1) allowed just a run on two hits and five walks while striking out a pair in a 5.1-inning start while Claiborne allowed just a single while punching out four over the final 3.2 stanzas to earn his third save of the year.
With the win, Tulane (39-20-1) advances to the Regional Championship Game where it will take on the winner of tomorrow’s Florida State/Bucknell contest at 6 p.m. (CDT). The Bison (30-23-2), meanwhile, fall into the loser’s bracket and will play the Seminoles on Sunday at noon for the right to play the Wave in the championship game. The loser of the Seminole/Bison matchup will be eliminated from NCAA postseason play.
“I’m real excited about the win because I thought we had to play very, very well,” Tulane head coach Rick Jones said. “Bucknell played so well defensively. You know they’re going to score unless you make good pitchers. They showed that last night (when they defeated Florida State, 7-0).
“When they brought in their best guy (Jason Buursma), and he was outstanding, that was a concern. He held us at bay and it was a situation where can we protect the lead. Anthony’s triple was huge for us to stretch the lead, and Preston was just outstanding - getting out of the jam in the eighth when we turned the double play, we didn’t panic, and going to work in the ninth with two outs on two pitches. It was just a good win for us.”
Sophomore shortstop Josh Prince was the only player for either team to post more than one hit on the night, going 2-for-3 with a double, a run scored and a stolen base. Junior second baseman Seth Henry went 0-for-2, but stole a pair of bases and scored a run in the victory.
Tulane and Bucknell battled to a scoreless tie over the first two innings, but the Green Wave got things going in the third when junior left fielder Scott Powell reached safely on a leadoff, bunt single and advanced to second on a walk issued to Scelfo. Henry’s sacrifice bunt attempt was thwarted when Bison catcher Shawn Hirsch fielded the ball in front of the plate and fired a strike to third to erase the lead runner, but a wild pitch allowed Scelfo and Henry to both move into scoring position.
From there, Segedin ripped a two-run single through the left side of the infield to give Tulane a 2-0 lead it would not relinquish. An inning later, Bucknell starting pitcher Eric Jarrett retired the first two Green Wave hitters with relative ease, but Prince sparked a two-out rally with a single to center, and Powell worked a seven-pitch plate appearance into a walk. Jarrett jumped ahead of Scelfo 0-2, but the native of North Kenner ripped the next pitch he saw into the gap in left central for a two-run triple to stretch the lead to four.
“(Jarrett) was getting me out front with his slider in the first at-bat and he got me 0-1 to start that at-bat off with a slider,” Scelfo said. “Then I fouled off a fastball to get 0-2, and I just thought he was going to come with that pitch (the slider). That was the pitch he was going to get me with. He kept me off balance with it. I happened to stay back on that one, hit it where it was pitched, and drove it to the gap.
“It was with two outs, too. Josh got the rally going with the single and Scotty had a big walk. They did a great job with two outs. Two-out rallies like that just put so much pressure on the other team. There was nobody on base, they didn’t have any pressure on them, and those two guys did a good job to get on base for me.”
The Bison made things interesting in the top of the fifth when Chris Pieper and Ed Rubbo drew back-to-back walks to lead off the frame and shortstop Ben Allen was hit by a pitch to load the bases with only one out. Petiton, however, bounced back to get Dane Grandizio to pop up to short and Mark Angelo to fly out to center to escape the frame with no damage done.
Petiton pitched his way into trouble again in the fifth when he issued back-to-back, one-out walks to Andrew Brouse and Shawn Hirsch, and was lifted at that point in favor of sophomore right-hander Preston Claiborne. Claiborne nearly pitched the Wave out of the jam with a fly ball to center and a swinging strikeout of Rubbo, but his third strike to the Bucknell third baseman bounced in front of the plate and rolled to the backstop. That allowed Brouse, who went from second to third on the fly ball, to score and make it a 4-1 ballgame.
The Bison had something going again in the top of the eighth when Buursma hit a leadoff single and advanced to second on an errant throw following a fielder’s choice ground ball to third by Brouse. From there, however, Claiborne got Hirsch to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play and struck out reserve left fielder Austin Turban to wiggle off the hook.
From there, Claiborne got pinch hitters Zachary Brown and John Avanzino fly out on first-pitch offerings before Allen hit a line drive to Prince to spark the Tulane celebration.
“Today, I knew I was coming into a big situation,” Claiborne said. “I’m a reliever. That’s what we have to do. In the bullpen, I was struggling a little bit finding my rhythm, my tempo and finding the zone. When I got out there and started throwing my warm-up pitches, I had a little bit more adrenalin pumping and that’s when I got really focused in.
“After I got out of that inning in the sixth, there was nothing that could have distracted me. It was just (junior catcher) Jared (Dyer) and the mitt. I just tried to hit that mitt as much as I could. I had more great plays made behind me tonight than I’ve had in any outing previously.”
Lost in the Tulane victory was the performance of Bucknell reliever Jason Buursma, who allowed just one hit while striking out three in 4.1 scoreless innings of work. Buursma entered the game right after Scelfo’s triple in the fourth and retired the first six batters he faced before giving up a double to Prince. The only other blemish on his Saturday performance came in the seventh when he plunked Henry, but Buursma bounced back to retire the final five Tulane hitters he faced.
“First of all, I’d like to congratulate Tulane on a very well-played ball game,” Bucknell head coach Gene Depew said. `They had quality pitching from both their pitchers and their aggressive base running was a very good thing for them. You know, we obviously needed more than three hits to win a ball game. I think that we had a lot of opportunities earlier in the game. We had some bases on balls and just couldn’t get the hit that we needed at the right time. We had a lot of hard hit balls that were outs but just didn’t get it done when we needed to.”
Allen, Buursma - who also served as the Bison’s designated hitter - and second baseman Bret Sokirka had one hit each for the Bucknell cause. Jarrett (5-6) was tagged with the loss after allowing four runs on six hits and three walks while striking out three in a 3.2-inning start.
Tulane beats Bucknell 4-1
May 31, 2008
Tulane pitchers Matt Petiton and Preston Claiborne combined for a three-hitter as the Green Wave advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Regional with a 4-1 win over Bucknell on Saturday.
