Baseball vs. Illinois-Chicago (Game 1)

Final Score: Tulane 6, Illinois-Chicago 0.

Quotes and analysis to follow this weekend.


Ninth Inning

Top Half

The Green Wave is three outs away from winning its season opener. Closer Mason Griffin, a right-handed submariner with a great breaking ball.

Batter 1: After Rubio works the count to 1-1, the Flames pull him and put in Devin Melecio to throw off Griffin. The bizarre move doesn't pay off as Melecio hits a weak chopper to Griffin, who throws him out.

Batter 2: Altavilla, bewildered by Grffin's breaking ball, swings wildly at one way off the plate for the second out.

Batter 3: Rutto grounds out to the third baseman. Game Over.


Eighth Inning

Top Half

Batter 1: With Trey Martin pitching for the Green Wave, Ganek grounds out to start the inning.

Batter 2: Infielder Andy Leonard singles to the right field gap but can't turn it into two.

Batter 3: Mcguiggan fouls out to the right field bullpen area.

Batter 4: Garcia grounds into a force out to end the inning.

Bottom Half


Batter 1: Adam Worthington now in to pitch for the Flames. Barto leads off the inning by grounding out to the shortstop.

Batter 2: Jared Dyer, looking for the first four-hit game of his career, works the count to 2-2, then fouls off about six pitches before striking out on a pitch in the dirt. Two outs.

Batter 3: Henry pops up to end the inning. Looks like Mason Griffin will come in to close out the game for the Green Wave.

Seventh Inning

Top Half

Shooter Hunt has left the game. His line: 6.0 IP, 0 runs, 3 hits, 8 strikeouts

Batter 1: Another dribbler in front of the catcher, another great play by Dyer. He's the MVP of the game so far.

Batter 2: Schaffer grounds out to the second baseman Henry. Two outs.

Batter 3: Yet another dribbler in front of Dyer, who tosses it to first base to end the inning.

Bottom Half

Batter 1: Righty Chris Kovacevich comes in for Phillis and gets off to a good start by striking out McFadden.

Batter 2: Scelfo hits a blooper to the second baseman. Two quick outs.

Batter 3: Segedin hits a sharp grounder to the third baseman, who throws him out. Inning over.


Sixth Inning

Top Half

Batter 1: Garcia grounds out to Segedin for the first out. Tulane's defense has been outstanding so far.

Batter 2: Rubio grounds out to Segedin. Hunt is starting to pitch to contact more as the game wears on.

Batter 3: Altavilla dribbles a ball three feet in front of the catcher, Dyer, who promptly throws him out to end the inning.

Bottom Half

Batter 1: With the count full, Segedin smashes a ball throught the left side of the infield. Flames starter Grant Kohlstaedt looks vulnerable right now. I predict at least a run this inning.

Batter 2: On a 2-2 pitch, Barto makes contact on an off-speed pitch low and away and drives through the left side of the infield for a hit. The Green Wave hitters continue to take Kohlsteadt deep into counts. Runners on first and second, no outs.

Batter 3: After trying to bunt the runners over on the first pitch, Dyer gets a hit to load the bases. Kohlsteadt gets yanked by Flames coach Mike Dee, who brings in left hander Don Phillis to face Seth Henry, who usually struggles against southpaws. I'm going to go out on a limb and predict three runs this inning instead of one.

Batter 4: Henry hits a line drive down the left field line, but it lands foul. He strikes out on the next pitch. Bases still loaded, one out.

Batter 5: After telling everyone i the press box that the next pitch would be a hit, Prince sure enough dribbles one to the third baseman, than beats out the throw to make me look like a genious. 5-0 Tulane

Batter 6: Phillis, the Flames' reliever, stops a sharp grounder at his legs. With an easy force-out available at home plate, he unexplicably throws the ball to first, allowing the run to score. Runners on second and third, two outs. 6-0 Tulane.

Batter 7: Strikeout

Fifth Inning

Top Half

Batter 1: Jason Ganek strikes out looking. That's seven strikeouts for Hunt, who hasn't shown signs of slowing down yet.

Batter 2: Leonard strikes out looking. Eight strikeouts now.

Batter 3: McGuiggan successfully bunts his way on base, then gets caught stealing to end the inning. Inning over.

Bottom Half

Batter 1: Allain strikes out swinging.

Batter 2: Honeck gets under a pitch and flies out to center field. Two outs

Batter 3: McFadden beats out a throw to first on a routine grounder. The scorekeeper rules it as an error.Surpringly, that's only three for the game by the Flames despite all the mistakes they've made in the field.

Batter 4: Scelfo looks like he had a pitch to hit, but gets under the ball slightly. The ball lands just shy of the warning track.Inning over.

Thoughts so far:

Both pitchers look great so far. The difference has been Illinois-Chicago's poor defense.

Fourth inning

Top Half

Batter 1: Altavilla gets a hit to lead off the inning. It's the least he could do for botching at least three plays in the field.

Batter 2: Schaefer strikes out.

Batter 3: Coddington gets caught looking to end the inning. Hunt

Bottom Half

Batter 1: Barto makes great contact, but gets under the pitch a little bit and flies out to left field.

Batter 2: Dyer with another hit, this time a solid base hit to left field.

Batter 3: henry reaches on a dying quail to right field, but Dyer, unsure of whether the ball would drop for a hit), can't advance to third. Runners on first and second.

Batter 4: Prince grounds sharply to the third baseman, who steps on the bag and the fires the ball across the infield for a double play. Dyer's inability to advane to third comes back to haunt the Green Wave. Inning over.

Third Inning

Top Half

Batter 1: Ho-hum groundout by No. 8 hitter McGuiggan.

Batter 2: Pop-up by shortstop Garcia. Two easy outs for Hunt.

Batter 3: Ty Rubio finally gets Illinois-Chcago its first hit of the game. However, someone forgot to tell Rubio that the baselines are slippery, which means base runners are prone to over-sliding. Sure enough, Rubio over-slides and gets tagged out. Inning over.

Bottom Half

Batter 1: McFadden strikes out swinging on a 2-2 pitch.

Batter 2: Scelfo draws a walk.

Batter 3: Scelfo gets caught stealing on a perfect throw by Coddington. Segudin flies out to end the inning. Illinois-Chicago pitcher Grant Kohlstaedt has thrown a heck of a game, but his defense has let him down so far.

Second Inning

Top Half

Batter 1: Ground out by cleanup hitter Brent Schaeffer. Close call, but it looked like Tulane got the benefit of the doubt again.

Batter 2: Hunt hits catcher Kevin Coddington. Second baserunner of the game.

Batter 3: Jason Ganek strikes out on a 2-2 pitch. Hunt is throwing high 90s right now.

Batter 4: Andy Leonard strikes out as well. It's going to be a long night for Illinois-Chicago if they continue to hit like this.


Bottom Half

Batter 1: Jared Dyer crushes a fastball inside to notch the first home run in Turchin-Greer history! 4-0 Tulane

Batter 2: Seth Henry hits a sharp grounder to the shortstop Garcia, who was playing too deep to make a play. That's three infield hits for Tulane.

Batter 3: Henry steals second, then heads to third after a bad throw by the catcher. But Allain strikes out with a man on third and only one out.

Batter 4: Honeck gets robbed of an RBI on a great play by the second baseman. Inning over.


First Inning

Top Half

Batter 1: Hunt strikes out outfielder Ty Rubio on a questionable third strike to start the game. Nothing like a little home cookin' to christen Turchin-Greer.

Batter 2: Strike 'em out, throw 'em out. Hunt looks jittery, but sharp

Batter 3: Hunt walks arguably ICU's best hitter, left fielder Chris Rutta. Green Wave catcher Jared Dyer goes out to calm Hunt down.

Batter 4: Rutta gets picked off by Hunt. Why was he even thinking of stealing (four steals all last year)? Inning over.

Bottom Half

Batter 1: Texas transfer Josh Prince records the first hit in Turchin-Greer history, a weak grounder to the shortstop, who had no play.

Batter 2: Allain bounces one over the pitcher's head. The shortstop, Rafael Garcia, drew first baseman Tony Altavilla off the bag (another instance of "home cookin').

Batter 3: Honeck strikes out on an off-speed pitch, certainly not what you want with runners on first and second.ONE OUT

Batter 4: The runners execute a double stealm but McFadden walks anyway. BASES LOADED

Batter 5: Altavilla bobbles what could have been a 3-6-3 double play. Scelfo is still out, but McFadden and Allain advance while Prince scores. 1-0 Tulane

Batter 6: Another bad play by Altavilla on a grounder by Segudin scores both runners. Segudin andvances to second as the outfielder tries to throw out McFadden at the plate. 3-0 Tulane

Batter 7: Barto fouls out to, of all people, Altavilla, to end the inning. Terrible fielding by the ICU led to all three runs.

Pregame

It's opening night here at Turchin. My apologies for being late with the blog, as even the distinguished members of the media such as myself had trouble finding their seats. The game began with fireworks...literally. Tulane Athletics sponsored a surprise fireworks show over the outfield fence to begin the game.

The bad news is people are getting ticketed $75 for parking on the neutral ground on Claiborne. In addition, the scoreboard operators are having trouble tonight (can't fault them for that, although the operator keeps asking everyone in the press box: "Does anyone have a manual for this thing?").