Tulane Green Wave Baseball preview 2007

Head Coach: Rick Jones (14th Season)

Associate Head Coach/Recruiting Coordinator: Mark Kingston (Sixth Season)

J.R. Crowel, who posted a 10-1 record and 4.86 ERA in 2005, could be the Green Wave's mid-week starter after missing last season.

Assistant coach (Pitching): Chad Sutter (Sixth Season)

Assistant coach (Outfielders/First Base; Hitting): Luke Weatherford (Second Season)

Student Assistant: Billy Mohl (First Season)

2006 Record: 43-21 (15-9 CUSA/3 rd of 9)

College World Series Appearances: 2 (2001 and 2005)

Super Regional Appearances: 3 (2001, 2004 and 2005)

NCAA Appearances: 18

2007 Preseason Rankings:

• 15th (Baseball America)
• 16th (Collegiate Baseball and NCBWA)

After a heartbreaking loss to Baylor in the College World Series ended the 2005 college baseball season for the Tulane Green Wave, the Greenies looked forward to the 2006 as they had a wealth of talent returning to New Orleans.

In August, disaster struck the New Orleans and Gulf Coast communities, closing the New Orleans campus and sending the baseball team on the road for the fall semester. The Greenies were welcomed by the Texas Tech community and subsequently called Lubbock home for the next couple of months.

Brandon Gomes finished with a 7-6 record and 5.03 ERA last season. He also recorded 79 strikeouts.

Unfortunately for the Green Wave, their homecoming was not completed in 2006 due to the fact that they were forced to play all of their home games at Zephyr Field. In fact, Tulane will not move into a newly renovated and expanded Turchin Stadium, on the University’s campus, until later in the 2007 season.

Despite the adversity, Tulane finished the 2006 campaign with 43 wins and a 2 nd place finish at the Oxford Regional.

Tulane enters 2007 ranked anywhere from #15 to #20 in the preseason polls and is a consensus pick to finish 2 nd in Conference USA behind the Rice Owls.

Tulane will have to replace key position starters such as Mark Hamilton (.336-20-69), Nathan Southard (.342-7-48) and Matt Riser (.262-3-37). Pitchers Billy Mohl (9-0, 4.03 ERA) and Stephen Porlier (7-5, 4.81 ERA) will also have to be replaced.

However, they do return a lot of experienced players and, once again, welcome a highly touted recruiting class to New Orleans.

Headlining the newcomers is sophomore transfer Shooter Hunt, who pitched at the University of Virginia last season. Hunt also pitched in the Cape Code League over the summer and was rated as the league’s #9 prospect by Baseball America.

Tulane also adds catcher Jared Dyer who played last season at San Jacinto College-North where he hit .316 with 6 home runs and 35 runs batted in.

The two transfers are bolstered by the addition of 8 incoming freshman.

Preston Claiborne from Dallas headlines the class along with southpaws Hunter Johnson from Bellaire, Texas and Aaron Loup from Hahnville High School in Louisiana.

Two more pitchers included in the freshman class are right-handers Taylor Rogers from Round Rock, Texas and Drew Zizinia also of Bellaire, Texas.

Outfielders Jay Ackal from Mandeville, LA and Ryan Scott New Orleans are joined by catcher Andrew Robinson Gonzalez, LA as the new position players.

Claiborne looks to follow Michael Aubrey, Brian Bogusevic and Micah Owings as the next great two-way player at Tulane. He earned Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association All-State honors as well as being named to the first team all-area by the Dallas Morning News. He hit .430-6-25 while going 9-1, 0.80 ERA, 103 K’s and just 15 walks in 72.1 innings. Claiborne was also named the #14 prospect in Texas and #35 in the nation.

Loup was one of the best, if not the top pitcher in the state of Louisiana and was 9-0, 1.02 ERA as a junior in high school.

While the starting lineup of a Rick Jones team is never cemented until the last minute and it will undoubtedly change 36 times before May, there are some positions that are likely locked up.

Here is an educated guess at the starting lineup:

Position/Player/2006 Stats

Daniel Latham, who is expected to be the team's closer this season, finished with 14 saves in 2006.  He posted a 5-3 record and 4.75 ERA.

1B: Jonny Weiss (.444-0-5)

2B: Brad Emaus (.289-6-45)

SS: Cat Everett (.276-0-26)

3B: Seth Henry (.226-1-23)

C: Ty Wallace (.215-4-9)

LF: Aja Barto (.152-2-6) or Nate Simon (.283-0-6)

CF: Anthony Scelfo (.241-1-8) or Nate Simon (.283-0-6)

RF: Warren McFadden (.382-1-50)

DH: Tim Guidry (.333-3-39)

Weekend Rotation

Sean Morgan 8-6, 3.51 ERA, 125 K

Brandon Gomes 7-6, 5.03 ERA, 79 K

Shooter Hunt 0-0, 4.76 ERA, 33 K (at Virginia)

Midweek Starter

J.R. Crowel (if healthy) 10-1, 4.86 ERA, 83 K (2005 stats)

Setup Man

Trey Martin 6-0, 2.32 ERA, 37 K

Closer

Daniel Latham 5-3, 4.75 ERA, 14 Saves

Schedule

Once again, Tulane faces a daunting schedule. The Greenies non-conference schedule includes home dates with North Florida, Loyola Maramount, Louisiana-Lafayette and LSU while the Wave travels to Los Angeles to face the Trojans of USC.

The conference slate includes a much anticipated road trip to Houston to take on Rice as well as a series in Hattiesburg against rival Southern Miss. The Greenies also host East Carolina, Houston, UAB and Memphis. The ECU series could possibly be the first games played at the new Turchin Stadium.