Tulane looking for fresh start

• By LES EAST
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: May 30, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

NEW ORLEANS — Tulane and starting pitcher Shooter Hunt look at their opening game against Florida (noon CDT today) in the Tallahassee Regional as a fresh start.

The third-seeded Green Wave (37-20-1) lost two of three games in the Conference USA Tournament last week and has lost five of its last six games. It’ll need a return to the form it had in winning nine of 11 prior to the late-season slide if it’s going to succeed against the second-seeded Gators (34-22).

“I think the most important thing for us is to forget about how those last six or so games went and remember the games before them, how well we were playing then,” said Hunt, a junior right-hander. “If we go back to that baseball we’ve got a good shot.”

Tulane will have a better shot if Hunt returns to the form that earned him Conference USA Pitcher of the Year honors, rather than what he showed in his last outing in losing the conference tourney opener against Marshall.

Hunt leads the team with nine wins, 119 strikeouts, a 2.45 ERA, a .156 opponent batting average, and 91.2 innings pitched. Against Marshall he pitched six innings, allowing six hits and six runs, five earned, walking five and striking out nine.

“I really want to pound the strike zone,” Hunt said. “My last start I was kind of wild, so I’m going to go out there and try to throw a lot of strikes and give our team a chance to win.”

Green Wave coach Rick Jones said Hunt’s need to throw strikes will be magnified by Florida’s ability to steal bases (106 for 128).

“You have to keep a team like Florida off base and he just had trouble with his command against Marshall,” Jones said. “The key for Shooter is minimizing his pitch count.

“He’s not a guy who pitches to contact much. He’s more of a swing-and-miss type guy so his pitch count will escalate just in throwing a good game. But if he’s behind in the count then it really becomes an issue. If we can stay ahead in the count and keep them off base, that’s the key for him.”

Tulane is hitting .288 with 57 home runs. Third baseman Rob Segedin leads the team with a .333 batting average followed by middle infielder Seth Henry (.332) and infielder/outfielder Anthony Scelfo (.324). Scelfo has a team-high 12 home runs, and Segedin a team-high 56 RBI. But the offense also was lacking during the late-season slide.

“We’ve got to have better at bats and do a better job with guys on base, moving them over, getting them in,” Scelfo said.

“In RBI situations we all have to have better at bats. I think if we do that we’ll be fine.”

Jones is taking the Green Wave into the NCAA Tournament for the 12th time in his 15 seasons, returning after a one-year absence. This team has less NCAA experience than most of its predecessors.