April 18, 2007

Hello Wave Fans! I'm happy to write you today coming off a successful, important week for our ballclub!

Hopefully many of you were able to make it out to Zephyr Field for our victory over Louisiana-Lafayette last Tuesday night. It was a very exciting game and a big momentum boost for our team as we prepared to take on conference rival Southern Miss in Hattiesburg last weekend. We knew we had a tough week ahead of us and I was proud of how our team prepared both physically and mentally. The hard work paid off and we came home from Hattiesburg with a hard-fought series win, and two critical midweek wins as well.

Because of the bad weather, we had more free time than we had hoped to have over the weekend - but it also gave us a chance to visit one of my favorite buffets in the South. The Farmer's Market Buffet features just about every type of food you could hope to find at a southern buffet - from fried alligator, quail, and frog legs to boiled crawfish, barbecue ribs, sweet potato casserole and jambalaya. They have everything, and it's all pretty good too! On Saturday night, our bus driver was kind enough to take a dozen or so of us there so we could get some nourishment. We definitely got our money's worth!

Many of the guys have been pretty busy with school these past few days. It's that time of year when final projects and papers all come due - not an easy time to be a student-athlete in season! Around this time you really see why it takes a special person to be able to come play baseball at a demanding academic school like Tulane. The coaches do a great job or recruiting players who are not only capable of playing baseball at the highest level but also players who can handle the workload of a top university. It's no secret why players who come through this program go on to become successful in whatever they chose to do. It's been a lot of fun keeping up with past teammates and their post-collegiate successes in all different arenas. I'm excited to join them and enjoy my own success after I'm through here!

As this semester comes to a close I find it hard not to feel nostalgic and a bit sentimental about it all. For the last five years, this program and this University have been my life and my passion. It's hard to identify myself as anything but a student and baseball player at Tulane University. I think back to high school and feeling the same way as graduation approached - and then I fell in love with this school and team. I guess it's a mixture of sadness and excitement that I feel, because I know that no matter what the future holds for me I am prepared to succeed. The lessons I've learned in the classroom and on the field are going to serve me no matter what happens after this June, and I'm excited about the next challenge my life will present me.

Alright, enough of the mushy stuff - I could go on all day about this program and this University, but for now there are bigger fish to fry! We've got a very good University of Houston team coming to town this weekend and we have been hard at work preparing ourselves for another tough series. The conference race is very close throughout, and we still have some tough competition to face before it's all said and done. Every conference win is huge, so we are eager and hungry to come out this weekend and try to take over the top conference spot!

Be sure and check the revised schedule for updated game times for this weekend and the rest of the season. With the Zephyrs' season beginning, we've had to adjust several of our game times so that we can still use their stadium. This week, we open up the series at noon on Friday, and then play a rare night game on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Sunday's game time is the same as usual, with a 1 p.m. start.

I hope to see you all out at the ballpark this weekend! Hopefully the time changes won't inconvenience you all too much! Thanks again for all your support throughout this season!

Roll Wave,
Matt

Members of the baseball team enjoy a hearty meal at The Farmer's Market in Hattiesburg, Miss., during their weekend series against Southern Miss.