Garrett leads Tulane Green Wave past Southern Jaguars

Published 12:00 am Friday, May 9, 2008

NEW ORLEANS, La.–According to the 2008 Tulane University Baseball Media, junior right-hander Jonathan Garrett is a biomedical engineering major.

After the masterpiece he drew on Wednesday night in the Green Wave’s 10-3 win over Southern University at Lee Hines Field, the native of Mandeville, La., may consider changing his major to art. Garrett (3-2) posted four strikeouts and allowed three runs on six hits in a complete-game effort as Tulane improve to 33-15-1 on the year. With the loss, Southern falls to 26-16.

“Jonathan Garrett saved us tonight,” Tulane head coach Rick Jones said. “He was just what the doctor order. He didn’t walk anybody and he threw a complete game – our second of the week. He saved our bullpen and kept us rested for the weekend. We swung the bats and we played as well defensively as we could play.

“After last night’s disappointing loss – and I know our guys were tired and a lot of them had exams – it wasn’t easy to do what we did tonight. Maybe we took a step forward. It was combination of great defense, some real timely hits, some crooked numbers, some big flies and great pitching.”

The complete game was the first of Garrett’s career, and comes at an opportune time as the Green Wave head to Greenville, N.C., on Thursday for a weekend Conference USA series against East Carolina. By going the distance, Garrett was able to keep the Tulane bullpen intact and give Tulane a momentum boost heading into the series against the Pirates.

Garrett faced just four more than the minimum and was able to throw a complete game on just 95 pitches. A major reason for that was not allowing a walk during his time on the hill and getting a flawless performance from the defense behind him as Tulane turned a pair of double plays. On three different occasions, Garrett fell behind in the count to Jaguar hitters, 3-0. Each time, however, he was able to come all the way back to record the out.

“I just focused on throwing strikes, keeping it over the plate and letting the defense work,” Garrett said. “I’m not surprised that they put some good swings on the ball tonight, late especially. But a good hitter is a good hitter. It doesn’t matter who you’re pitching against. I just had a good night and the defense worked well.

“I wanted to finish the game and I knew if I started walking people, I wouldn’t get there. I just wanted to keep throwing strikes.”

While Garrett was taking care of business on the mound, the Tulane offense pounded out 11 hits – including home runs by junior second baseman Seth Henry, junior designated hitter Andrew Rodgers and junior centerfielder Anthony Scelfo. Henry, Rodgers, junior left fielder Warren McFadden and rookie third baseman Rob Segedin each had a pair of hits to lead the Tulane effort.

Scelfo opened the third with a leadoff walk, and Henry sparked a four-run frame with a two-run homer center to stake the Green Wave to a 4-0 advantage. Henry’s bomb chased Southern starter Belfred Pryer from the game, but Tulane kept the pressure on as Segedin and Honeck sandwiched walks around a fly-ball out, and the pair scored respectively on a base hit to left by McFadden and a bunt single by sophomore shortstop Josh Prince to make it a 6-0 affair.

Jaguars reliever Kyle Wahl settled down to keep Tulane off the scoreboard over the next two innings, but Rodgers and Sceflo both hit solo homers in the sixth to extend the lead to 8-0. Tulane plated its final runs of the ballgame in the eighth when Allain was hit by a pitch and Henry singled, and the pair came around to score on a two-out error by Jaguar right fielder Brad McDavid.

Garrett faced just one more than the minimum through seven innings, but Southern centerfielder Torey Brown sparked a rally in the eighth with a one-out single that rocketed off Garrett’s glove and catcher Michael Thomas hammered a two-run homer to left central to break up Garrett’s shutout bid.

Southern left fielder James Armstrong hit a one-out, solo home run to right in the ninth, but Garrett bounced back to get a fly ball to right for the second out of the inning and put an exclamation point on the victory with a strikeout to spark the Tulane celebration.

“He came back each time and stayed in the strikezone,” Jones said of Garrett. “He really threw well tonight. The big thing is that, sure he gave up the solo home run in the ninth and the two runner after the ball caromed off of him in the eighth, but he came right back each time and got them.

“We had Preston (Claiborne) up in the bullpen, but we kept our fingers crossed that we could get a complete game to just to rest our pen and give some guys the opportunity to be as fresh as they can be when we get to Greenville. It was easier to do that with the lead we had and with Jonathan going back out there and pumping strikes.”

Pryer (1-2) was saddled with the loss after giving up four runs on four hits and a pair of walks while striking out three in two-plus innings. Tulane tagged Wahl for four runs on five this and four walks over the next 5.0 innings, and touched Theo Ycoy for a pair of unearned runs in the eighth.

The Green Wave return to action on Friday, May 9, when they open a three-game series against Conference USA foe East Carolina at 6 p.m. in Greenville, N.C. The two teams will play again on Saturday at 2 p.m. before closing out the weekend on Sunday with first pitch slated for 11 a.m. From there, Tulane will enjoy four days off before closing out the regular season with a three-game series against Rice on May 15-16 at the new Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.

For tickets to that ballgame, as well as the 2008 Entergy Conference USA Baseball Championship – which Tulane hosts from May 21-25, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE or log onto the internet at www.TulaneGreenWave.com.or.

After the masterpiece he drew on Wednesday night in the Green Wave’s 10-3 win over Southern University at Lee Hines Field, the native of Mandeville, La., may consider changing his major to art. Garrett (3-2) posted four strikeouts and allowed three runs on six hits in a complete-game effort as Tulane improve to 33-15-1 on the year. With the loss, Southern falls to 26-16.

“Jonathan Garrett saved us tonight,” Tulane head coach Rick Jones said. “He was just what the doctor order. He didn’t walk anybody and he threw a complete game – our second of the week. He saved our bullpen and kept us rested for the weekend. We swung the bats and we played as well defensively as we could play.

“After last night’s disappointing loss – and I know our guys were tired and a lot of them had exams – it wasn’t easy to do what we did tonight. Maybe we took a step forward. It was combination of great defense, some real timely hits, some crooked numbers, some big flies and great pitching.”

The complete game was the first of Garrett’s career, and comes at an opportune time as the Green Wave head to Greenville, N.C., on Thursday for a weekend Conference USA series against East Carolina. By going the distance, Garrett was able to keep the Tulane bullpen intact and give Tulane a momentum boost heading into the series against the Pirates.

Garrett faced just four more than the minimum and was able to throw a complete game on just 95 pitches. A major reason for that was not allowing a walk during his time on the hill and getting a flawless performance from the defense behind him as Tulane turned a pair of double plays. On three different occasions, Garrett fell behind in the count to Jaguar hitters, 3-0. Each time, however, he was able to come all the way back to record the out.

“I just focused on throwing strikes, keeping it over the plate and letting the defense work,” Garrett said. “I’m not surprised that they put some good swings on the ball tonight, late especially. But a good hitter is a good hitter. It doesn’t matter who you’re pitching against. I just had a good night and the defense worked well.

“I wanted to finish the game and I knew if I started walking people, I wouldn’t get there. I just wanted to keep throwing strikes.”

While Garrett was taking care of business on the mound, the Tulane offense pounded out 11 hits – including home runs by junior second baseman Seth Henry, junior designated hitter Andrew Rodgers and junior centerfielder Anthony Scelfo. Henry, Rodgers, junior left fielder Warren McFadden and rookie third baseman Rob Segedin each had a pair of hits to lead the Tulane effort.

Tulane got off to a good start as junior right fielder Drew Allain opened the ballgame with a double to center and scored two batters later on a ground ball to second by Henry. On inning later, junior first baseman Sam Honeck drew a leadoff walk, advanced to third on a seeing-eye single off the bat of McFadden, and scored on a fielder’s choice grounder by Rodgers to give Tulane a 2-0 advantage.

Scelfo opened the third with a leadoff walk, and Henry sparked a four-run frame with a two-run homer center to stake the Green Wave to a 4-0 advantage. Henry’s bomb chased Southern starter Belfred Pryer from the game, but Tulane kept the pressure on as Segedin and Honeck sandwiched walks around a fly-ball out, and the pair scored respectively on a base hit to left by McFadden and a bunt single by sophomore shortstop Josh Prince to make it a 6-0 affair.

Jaguars reliever Kyle Wahl settled down to keep Tulane off the scoreboard over the next two innings, but Rodgers and Sceflo both hit solo homers in the sixth to extend the lead to 8-0. Tulane plated its final runs of the ballgame in the eighth when Allain was hit by a pitch and Henry singled, and the pair came around to score on a two-out error by Jaguar right fielder Brad McDavid.

Garrett faced just one more than the minimum through seven innings, but Southern centerfielder Torey Brown sparked a rally in the eighth with a one-out single that rocketed off Garrett’s glove and catcher Michael Thomas hammered a two-run homer to left central to break up Garrett’s shutout bid.

Southern left fielder James Armstrong hit a one-out, solo home run to right in the ninth, but Garrett bounced back to get a fly ball to right for the second out of the inning and put an exclamation point on the victory with a strikeout to spark the Tulane celebration.

“He came back each time and stayed in the strikezone,” Jones said of Garrett. “He really threw well tonight. The big thing is that, sure he gave up the solo home run in the ninth and the two runner after the ball caromed off of him in the eighth, but he came right back each time and got them.

“We had Preston (Claiborne) up in the bullpen, but we kept our fingers crossed that we could get a complete game to just to rest our pen and give some guys the opportunity to be as fresh as they can be when we get to Greenville. It was easier to do that with the lead we had and with Jonathan going back out there and pumping strikes.”

Pryer (1-2) was saddled with the loss after giving up four runs on four hits and a pair of walks while striking out three in two-plus innings. Tulane tagged Wahl for four runs on five this and four walks over the next 5.0 innings, and touched Theo Ycoy for a pair of unearned runs in the eighth.

The Green Wave return to action on Friday, May 9, when they open a three-game series against Conference USA foe East Carolina at 6 p.m. in Greenville, N.C. The two teams will play again on Saturday at 2 p.m. before closing out the weekend on Sunday with first pitch slated for 11 a.m. From there, Tulane will enjoy four days off before closing out the regular season with a three-game series against Rice on May 15-16 at the new Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.

For tickets to that ballgame, as well as the 2008 Entergy Conference USA Baseball Championship – which Tulane hosts from May 21-25, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE or log onto the internet at www.TulaneGreenWave.com.