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Baseball Falls To Pepperdine In Day One Of Dairy Queen Classic, 4-2
Feb. 29, 2008
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Junior right-hander Shooter Hunt struck out a season-high eight batters in 6.0 solid innings, but it was not enough as the Tulane University baseball team fell to Pepperdine, 4-2, in day one of the Dairy Queen Baseball Classic Friday afternoon at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. With the score knotted at 2-all after seven and a half innings, Pepperdine rallied for two runs on three hits in the bottom of the eighth to account for the final score. With the loss, Tulane's first of the 2008 season, the Green Wave fall to 5-1 on the year. Pepperdine, meanwhile, improves to 4-1. "This was a really well-played ballgame," Tulane head coach Rick Jones said. "It was just a case where (Pepperdine) did a good job in the bottom of the eighth. I thought we swung the bat well, too, against some outstanding pitching. We had three or four balls that were really hit well, but just to the wrong part of the ballpark. "I thought Shooter was really good. They did a good job of being patient and running up his pitch count. He just missed on so many pitches, that ran his pitch count up a little bit and we got him out an inning earlier than we wanted to. But we had to do that to protect him." Hunt gave up just a pair of singles, but leadoff walks in the first and sixth innings both came around to score as the native of Wyckoff, N.J., drew a no decision. Junior righty Trey Martin faced the minimum in the seventh, but after giving up a leadoff single to left fielder Eric Thames in the eighth, was lifted in favor of Mason Griffin. Pepperdine catcher Trent Diedrich moved Thames into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt and first baseman Ryan Heroy made an intentional walk to designated hitter Matt Aidem hurt with an RBI-single to shallow right to push the Waves ahead, 3-2. A single by Pepperdine centerfielder Nate Simon loaded the bases and pinch-runner R.W. Zeller scored the final run of the ballgame on an RBI-groundout by second baseman Denny Duron. Tulane drew first blood in the ballgame as junior second baseman Anthony Scelfo drew a one-out walk, moved to second on a wild pitch by Pepperdine starter Brett Hunter, and scored on an RBI single by junior catcher Jared Dyer. Pepperdine answered in the home half of the inning, however, when third baseman Bryce Mendonca walked, stole second and third, and came home on an RBI-grounder off the bat of shortstop Chase d'Arnaud. The Green Wave reclaimed the lead in the third when junior right fielder Drew Allain hit a leadoff single, advanced the bases on a steal and a groundout, and scored on an RBI-single to right center by junior first baseman Sam Honeck. From there, however, Hunter faced just one more than the minimum the rest of the way, posting four of his seven strikeouts and allowing just one base-runner on a hit batsmen over his final 4.2 innings of work. The Pepperdine offense, meanwhile, took him off the hook for the loss in the sixth when Diedrich walked, went to third on a single by Aidem and scored on a fielder's choice grounder by Heroy to tie the score and set up their eighth-inning rally. Nick Gaudi (1-0) took over for Hunter in the eighth and allowed just one walk in the inning before striking out the side in the ninth to pick up the win. Martin (0-1) was tagged with the loss after giving up one run on two hits and a walk in 1.0 inning. "We probably hit a few too many balls in the air, but you have to tip your hat," Jones said. "They had six hits, three of them were in the eighth, and this was just a great matchup between two potential first-round picks (Hunt and Hunter). I think we've got something that we can really build on." Tulane returns to action on Saturday, March 1, when the Green Wave continue play in 2008 Dairy Queen Classic at 6:30 p.m. vs. host Minnesota before closing out tourney play on Sunday against TCU with first pitch slated for 11 a.m. Saturday's ballgame will be broadcast on the internet on www.TulaneGreenWave.com to paid members of the All-Access Pass, and will be picked up on the radio on WRBH 88.3 FM once the women's basketball game between Tulane and SMU has concluded. Sunday's game will be carried in its entirety on WRBH. The Green Wave's next home game is slated for Tuesday, March 4 when Tulane opens Wow Café & Wingery Cup play against cross-town foe UNO at 6 p.m. For ticket information, contact the Tulane University Athletics Ticket Office at 504-861-WAVE or go on-line at www.TulaneGreenWave.com.
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