University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
2003 Mardi Gras Ball Baseball Classic News and Notes
3/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
2003 Mardi
Gras Ball Baseball Classic News and Notes
Thursday, March 6, 2003
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
When:
Friday-Sunday, March 7-9, 2003
Where:
M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field (4,000) – Louisiana-Lafayette
campus
Teams
Participating:
Louisiana-Lafayette, McNeese State, Ohio State and Wichita
State
Tournament Format:
Round robin – each team plays each other once
Ticket
Information:
$7
reserved seating; UL Lafayette season ticket holders can use
their tickets for both games each day.
SCHEDUE OF EVENTS
2003 Mardi
Gras Ball Baseball Classic Schedule of Events
(all
times are subject to change)
FRIDAY,
MARCH 7, 2003
2 p.m.
Wichita State vs. McNeese State
6:30 p.m.
Louisiana-Lafayette vs.
Ohio
State
SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 2003
2 p.m.
McNeese State vs. Ohio State
6:30 p.m.
Louisiana-Lafayette vs.
Wichita
State
SUNDAY,
MARCH 9, 2003
Noon Ohio
State vs. Wichita State
4:30 p.m.
Louisiana-Lafayette vs.
McNeese
State
*Home team is listed on the left
MEET THE TEAMS
University of
Louisiana at Lafayette
“Ragin'
Cajuns”
Location:
Lafayette, La.
Enrollment:
16,006
Colors:
Vermilion & White
Conference:
Sun Belt
Athletics Director:
Nelson
Schexnayder
Head
Coach:
Tony Robichaux
Career
Record:
535-353 (16 years)
Record
at School:
291-203 (9 years)
2003
Record:
5-11
Baseball
SID:
Trey Franchebois
Franchebois' Office Phone:
(337) 482-6331
Web
Site:
www.ragincajuns.com
McNeese State University
“Cowboys”
Location:
Lake Charles, La.
Enrollment:
8,200
Colors:
Blue & Gold
Conference:
Southland
Athletics Director:
Sonny
Watkins
Head
Coach:
Todd Butler
Career
Record:
70-59 (3 years)
Record
at School:
Same
2003
Record:
11-6
Baseball
SID:
Louis Bonnette
Bonnette's Office Phone:
(337) 475-5207
Web
Site:
www.mcneese.edu/sports
Ohio State University
“Buckeyes”
Location:
Columbus, Ohio
Enrollment:
47,952
Colors:
Scarlet & Gray
Conference:
Big Ten
Athletics Director:
Andy
Geiger
Head
Coach:
Bob Todd
Career
Record:
732-382-3 (20 years)
Record
at School:
608-310-2 (16 years)
2003
Record:
1-2
Baseball
SID:
Todd Lamb
Lamb's
Office Phone:
(614) 688-0343
Web
Site:
www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com
Wichita State University
“Shockers”
Location:
Wichita, Kan.
Enrollment:
15,100
Colors:
Black & Yellow
Conference:
Missouri Valley
Athletics Director:
Jim
Schaus
Head
Coach:
Gene Stephenson
Career
Record:
1,368-423-3 (26 years)
Record
at School:
Same
2003
Record:
11-1
Baseball
SID:
Tami Cutler
Cutler's
Office Phone:
(316) 978-5559
Web
Site:
www.goshockers.com
Tournament Notes
TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Louisiana-Lafayette is hosting the Mardi Gras Ball Baseball Classic for the third time…The tournament started in 1999 and has been played every other year since then with the last tournament being held in 2001…Ohio State and Wichita State are making their second appearance in the Mardi Gras Ball Baseball Classic with both having participated in the 2001 event…Both Ohio State and Wichita State went 1-2 in the 2001 event…Louisiana-Lafayette is 4-2 all-time in the Mardi Gras Baseball Classic, but was 1-2 in its last appearance (2001)…McNeese State is appearing in the tournament for the fist time.
2001 Mardi Gras Ball Baseball Classic Results
Friday,
Feb. 23, 2001
Nebraska
10 Ohio State 5
UL Lafayette 1
Wichita
State
0
Saturday, Feb. 24, 2001
Wichita
State
6 Ohio State 5
Nebraska
6 UL Lafayette 3
Sunday,
Feb. 25, 2001
Nebraska
8 Wichita State 7
Ohio
State
10 UL Lafayette 2
2001
Tournament Champion:
Nebraska (3-0)
1999
Tournament Champion:
Louisiana-Lafayette (3-0)
CLASSIC FLASHBACK: The last time Wichita State appeared in the Mardi Gras Ball Baseball Classic, UL Lafayette pitcher Tim Ramon ended one of the Shockers more impressive streaks…Ramon tossed a complete game, 12-strikeout, four-hit performance against the Shockers ending WSU's string of 332 games with at least one run scored marking the first time since 1996 that Wichita State had failed to score in a game…Ricky Haydel delivered a two-out, run-scoring single in the sixth inning as the Cajuns squeaked out a 1-0 win over the Shockers in their first visit to Lafayette.
ROBICHAUX WATCH: Louisiana-Lafayette head coach Tony Robichaux needs just one more win to become the all-time wins leader in UL Lafayette history…He has 291 wins as Cajuns boss, tying him with former head coach Mike Boulanger (1988-94) for the all-time wins lead…Robichaux tied Boulanger in the Cajuns 2-1 win over Troy State on Sunday, Feb. 21.
SCOUTING THE TEAMS:
Louisiana-Lafayette (5-11): The host Ragin' Cajuns dropped their fourth straight game on Wednesday in an 11-4 loss at in-state rival Tulane…All of the Cajuns wins have come at home (5-3)...UL Lafayette defeated Southwest Texas twice and Troy State twice in weekend home series; the other win came against Southeastern Louisiana in a mid-week game on Wednesday, Feb. 18…The Ragin' Cajuns were swept in a three-game series by Houston last weekend, the Cajuns scored three runs and had only 15 hits in the three-game set…The Cajuns have been outscored 92-50 this season and have tallied over five runs just twice…As a team this season, the Cajuns are batting a paltry .216 and have hit double-digit hits just three times in 16 games…Corey Coles is the Cajuns leading hitting with a .339 clip and has five extra base hits to his credit (two doubles, two triples and one home run)…1B Phillip Hawke is the Cajuns other above-.300 hitter coming in with a .314 batting average; Hawke's .510 slugging percentage is tops on the club…The Cajuns pitching staff has been hit hard this season with the ERA at 4.96 which is uncharacteristic of a Tony Robichaux-led pitching staff…Jordy Templet leads the pitchers with a 2.42 ERA and has one shutout to his credit…Templet's 17 strikeouts are a team-best and opponent's are hitting just .214 off of him…Three pitchers sport a 1-2 record (Templet, Andy Gros and Austin Faught)…Of the Cajuns 11 losses four have come against Conference USA teams, two against Big XII teams and one to SEC-member Alabama…The Cajuns are beginning a stretch of six-of-seven games at “Tigue” Moore Field this weekend.
McNeese State (11-6): The Cowboys are coming off of a two-game series sweep of Ole Miss on Tuesday and Wednesday winning 9-8 and 4-3…MSU has won three straight overall…The Cowboys opened the season with four straight wins which included a three-game sweep of Delaware State…Southern University handed the Cowboys their first loss of the season before Southern Miss took two-of-three from the Pokes…The Cowboys took two-of-three from Arkansas State before falling to Georgia and Oral Roberts in the Lake Area Classic last weekend; McNeese defeated South Alabama 8-3 in the Lake Area Classic finale…The Cowboys are hitting .307 entering this weekend's tournament and have seven players hitting above .300…Dooley Prince leads the regular starters with a .377 average....He had a nine game hitting streak snapped two games ago...Tim Lemke is hitting .365 with five home runs and 18 RBIs while Tommy Eubanks is batting .356 with four homers and 23 RBIs.....catcher Ran Prince, the team's leading hitter last season, has started moving up the ladder and is now batting .273 with three homers and 16 RBIs...he is currently on an eight game hitting streak…The Cowboys are coached by Todd Butler, a former player under Cajuns current head coach Tony Robichaux..
Ohio State (1-2): The Buckeyes of the Big Ten Conference recently began their 2003 slate last weekend at the Tournament of Champions Cardinal Classic at Lamar University…OSU went 1-2 in the tournament getting a 5-3 win over host-Lamar on Friday, Feb. 28 before falling Saturday, March 1 to Oklahoma 5-1 and Sunday, March 2 to Southwest Missouri 18-3…The Bucks got a solid pitching performance from Pre-season All-America pick Scott Lewis Friday vs. Lamar; the left-hander tossed 11 strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work in getting the victory…Lewis will face UL Lafayette's Andy Gros in a matchup of southpaws in Friday's nightcap…OSU struggled at the plate in its season-opening weekend against three outstanding starting pitchers, as a result the Buckeyes team batting average was .225…Brett Garrard and Steve Caravati led the team in the three-games last weekend, both batting .364 in 4-for-11 efforts at the plate…All three of OSU's opponents last weekend played in the NCAA Tournament in 2002…This weekend's action will bring to an end the Buckeye's six-game road trip to open the 2003 season (OSU will play its first home game Friday, March 14 against Detroit)…Last weekend's tournament at Lamar was OSU's first outdoor action since beginning practice on Jan. 27 as the team was forced indoors at the Woody Hayes Athletics Center on artificial turf as 27 inches of snow fell in the Columbus area during the month of February…OSU was ranked 29th in the preseason Collegiate Baseball Poll and were picked No. 35 in the preseason Baseball America poll.
Wichita State (11-1): The Shockers enter the 2003 Mardi Gras Ball Baseball Classic with the best record among the four-team field…WSU is currently ranked No. 24 in the NCBWA poll and No. 19 in the USA Today poll…The Shockers opened the season with a trip to Hawaii that produced seven wins against Hawaii-Hilo in a seven-game series…The Shockers then took two-of-three from Hawaii before returning home to sweep a doubleheader from Iowa…WSU will enter on a four-game winning streak and has four players batting better than .405…The team's batting average is a tournament-best .340…Brandon Green owns a .458 batting average with a team-best 22 hits…Nick McCoola is hitting .455 while Mark Johnson checks in at .433 and Cody Clark at .405…The Shockers have a team ERA of 2.79 led by Mike Pelfrey who has yet to allow an earned run in 18 innings…He has 12 strikeouts and has given up only one walk while allowing just 12 hits en route to a 2-0 record…Shockers coach Gene Stephenson and OSU coach Bob Todd both attended Missouri...In WSU's last visit to Lafayette, its streak of 332 games with at least one run scored was snapped by Cajuns pitcher Tim Ramon on Friday, Feb. 23, 2001.
MEET THE COACHES:
Louisiana-Lafayette: Tony Robichaux is in his ninth season at Louisiana-Lafayette and 16th overall…He needs just one more win to become the all-time wins leader in school history (his 291 wins are tied with Mike Boulanger for the all-time lead)….Robichaux has an overall record of 535-353 which includes a seven-year stint at McNeese State…His UL Lafayette record is 291-203 which includes three 40-win seasons…He recently moved over 500 wins in his career last season against Texas-Pan American on March 2, 2002 in the second game of a doubleheader…He led the Ragin' Cajuns to a third-place finish in the 2000 College World Series, in the school's first-ever appearance in the CWS, and tied the school record with 49 wins; the team's No. 4 ranking in the Collegiate Baseball poll that season was the highest in school history…His teams have posted a 177-61 mark in eight-plus seasons at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field….
McNeese State: Todd Butler is in his third season as head skipper for the Cowboys…Has a record of 70-59....Last year the Cowboys were 30-28 overall and 15-12 in league play for a fifth place finish and a berth in the post season SLC tournament.....Prior to coming to McNeese Butler had served as an assistant to two of the top collegiate coaches in the nation - Jim Wells at Alabama and Tony Robichaux, then at McNeese State and now at Louisiana-Lafayette.
Ohio State: One of two coaching legends to be at Moore Field this weekend, Ohio State's Bob Todd is in his 16th season at OSU and 20th overall…He has posted a 608-310-2 record with the Buckeyes and has guided the program to an average of 40 wins per season, six Big 10 titles, five straight first-place finishes in the Big 10 standings from 1991-95, and nine total NCAA regional appearances…He has helped every player at OSU to leave the school with a Big Ten Championship ring…Has led OSU to seven Big 10 titles and one NCAA Regional Championship…He is the winningest coach in program history…Has an overall record of 732-382-2 in 20 years…Has been named the Big 10 Coach of the Year in 2001, 1999, 1994 and 1989…A native of St. Louis, Todd graduated from Missouri in 1971.
Wichita State: A named know well in baseball circles is Wichita State head coach Gene Stephenson...Stephenson is one of few collegiate baseball head coaches with 1,000 career wins…His career winning percentage is highest among active NCAA Division I coaches…He has guided the Shockers to an NCAA-best 1,368 victories over the last 25-plus years…His current record at WSU and overall is 1,368-423-3…He is second on the all-time NCAA coaching victories list…Has led WSU to the College World series seven times with a national title in 1989…Has coached in 20 NCAA Regionals and led the Shockers to 16 Missouri Valley regular season championships and 12 MVC tournament titles…He has collected 50-plus wins in 17 seasons and has won 60-plus games five times…
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
