The regional that got away (1999)

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FW
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The regional that got away (1999)

Post by FW »

To this day, this one still haunts me. We were really good and ran into some bad luck (and Tulane doing Tulane things).

For those that don't remember, or were too young to know, we hit the most HR in school history, and had four very good starting pitchers in Bonilla, Berk, O'Gara and Echeverz. We also had Belanger closing things out. We were ranked as high as 9 or 10 during the season and ended the season 45-15, winning the C-USA tournament and ranked 14 in one poll. We should have hosted but didn't put in a real bid and were sent to Auburn as a 1 seed. Auburn was actually ranked higher in one poll (13). Our RPI was 18 and Auburn's was 13 too, though there is no doubt we were a better club. We drew a tough 3 seed in NC State who had an RPI of 29, and a very solid 4 seed in Winthrop who had an RPI in the 50s.

Anyway, we blew the opening game against Winthrop. We were up 6-3 in the 9th and blew it with errors and lost 8-7 in 10 or 11. We came back and bombed NC State 11-5, Winthrop 15-9 (it was 15-3 I think, but they scored 6-7 in the 9th to make it look closer) and then we had to beat Auburn twice. We beat them 7-5 but then ran out of pitching and lost 13-9.

I'm not saying we would have gone to the CWS, because we were matched up with an FSU team in Tallahassee that was CWS runner up, but I would have loved to see us try.
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Re: The regional that got away (1999)

Post by tufinal4 »

I remember like it was last week. I drove around Gulf Shores all afternoon listening to the radio all afternoon, college baseball wasn't on TV in 1999. Almost, almost. Rick Jones could recruit as well as anyone in the country, we could beat any team straight up, no exceptions.
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Re: The regional that got away (1999)

Post by GSx »

Those games were definitely on TV.
And we were the best team in the regional.
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Re: The regional that got away (1999)

Post by greenguy »

The '99 season also included a $5 all-you-can-drink game for students (with a lengthy rain delay). We probably won the game too.
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Re: The regional that got away (1999)

Post by Bham Wave »

I also remember that series. I went to the opener and blowing that game cost us the regional.

The memories are fuzzy but I think we started someone on the final day who had only pitched a few innings all season. I can’t remember which game. That’s how depleted the pitching was. Belanger came in early in the final or may have started the final and threw a ton of innings which was impressive for a closer. I just remember him grabbing dirt and rubbing his thigh over and over again. After a bunch of innings his pants were filthy.
Roll Wave Roll!!!
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Re: The regional that got away (1999)

Post by LawGreenie »

I’ll add 2002. That was the post 9/11 Louisiana regional with LSU, ULL, and Southern. Smoke Laval’s first season, we had just been to Omaha.

The Rickie Weeks Southern team got jobbed in game 1 against LSU; we lost to ULL. ULL beat LSU the next day. We beat Southern (using Beau Richardson) and then lost 4-2 to LSU with a bunch of BS a calls. LSU went in bear ULL twice.

Totally there for the taking and we didn’t do it.
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FW
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Re: The regional that got away (1999)

Post by FW »

Bham Wave wrote: Fri Jun 02, 2023 6:31 pm I also remember that series. I went to the opener and blowing that game cost us the regional.

The memories are fuzzy but I think we started someone on the final day who had only pitched a few innings all season. I can’t remember which game. That’s how depleted the pitching was. Belanger came in early in the final or may have started the final and threw a ton of innings which was impressive for a closer. I just remember him grabbing dirt and rubbing his thigh over and over again. After a bunch of innings his pants were filthy.
We started James Carroll in game 2, a freshman who had thrown a handful of innings. Belanger came in and we took like an 8-7 lead after being down like 4-0 or something, but he ran out of gas eventually. I think he went 6+ innings. In the first game against Auburn to reach the final game, O'Gara threw. I believe he threw a CG.
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Re: The regional that got away (1999)

Post by doc »

We should have beaten Winthrop, but HC Jones pulled Bonilla out of the game with a solid lead, and the bullpen gave it up. Tulane could really hit that season,
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Re: The regional that got away (1999)

Post by GauWave »

I recall that Regional at Auburn cuz one of Wave Baseball's biggest fans/financial supporters, TU grad and President of the Louisiana Senate, John Hainkel, lamented that loss and told me that his drive back to NOLA was the longest and most depressing he had ever taken for The Green Wave.

RIP, John,... at least you never lived to see a 19/42 Wave Baseball team.
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Re: The regional that got away (1999)

Post by Godfather »

The meltdown in the 2005 CWS still stings. Especially because we never erased it.
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Re: The regional that got away (1999)

Post by CletusRelm »

In the 1999 Auburn Regional, the players that I recall (had to be 1 of the best lineups) were:

P - Carroll
P - Belanger
P - Ogara
C - Sutter
3rd - Gautreau
SS - Cannizarro
2nd - Jurries
1st - ????
LF - Feldman
CF - ?????
RF - Sparks
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Re: The regional that got away (1999)

Post by waverider »

Godfather wrote: Sun Jun 04, 2023 1:24 pm The meltdown in the 2005 CWS still stings. Especially because we never erased it.
The way we lost was just as bad. We committed errors that we didn’t commit all season.

Then, the Saints go and sign the brother of one of the Baylor Bears that beat us. :lol:
Tulane Greenbackers

"If you want to win you have to have good players." Vince Gibson
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FW
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Re: The regional that got away (1999)

Post by FW »

CletusRelm wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 10:09 am In the 1999 Auburn Regional, the players that I recall (had to be 1 of the best lineups) were:

P - Carroll
P - Belanger
P - Ogara
C - Sutter
3rd - Gautreau
SS - Cannizarro
2nd - Jurries
1st - ????
LF - Feldman
CF - ?????
RF - Sparks

It was

SP-Bonilla
SP-Berkowitz
SP-O'Gara
Midweek P-Echeverz
RP-Melius
RP-Robinson
RP-Carroll
Closer-Belanger

1B-McKee
2B-Jurries
SS-Cannizarro
3B-Gautreau
C-Sutter
LF-Burnham
CF-Groff
RF-Spraks
DH-Shirley
CletusRelm
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Re: The regional that got away (1999)

Post by CletusRelm »

Thanks for the corrections, FW.

I wasn't sure if Groff was in CF because he was only here for 2 years. I knew he was in RF the following year at Zepyher Field for that last catch.
I also forgot about Burnham and the rest of the players. Those were some good pitchers.
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Re: The regional that got away (1999)

Post by FW »

Fun fact. Andy got hurt and Groff played SS for a couple of weeks during the early season.
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Re: The regional that got away (1999)

Post by LawGreenie »

Turns out the old "recruit short stops who can hit" wasn't a bad idea.
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