BATON ROUGE — Louisiana-Lafayette, the highest ranked team in the state, which advanced to within one game of an NCAA Super Regional and LSU, building for the future under new coach Paul Mainieri, combined to sweep the special awards on the 2007 All-Louisiana College Baseball Team as chosen by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.
The team was chosen based on nominations from the regular season by the baseball SIDs of the state and then voted on by a panel of LSWA members.
Catcher Jonathon Lucroy of Louisiana-Lafayette took the honors as the top hitter of the year, while Jared Bradford of LSU and Danny Farquhar of Louisiana-Lafayette tied for top pitcher in the state. Ironically, Bradford again tied for another honor, the Newcomer of the Year with Cajun outfielder Nolan Gisclair. LSU outfielder Blake Dean was named the state’s top freshman and Louisiana-Lafayette Coach Tony Robichaux won the award in a close vote over Tom Walter of UNO, the coach of the other team in the state to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
Lucroy had a strong season as the catcher for the Cajuns, hitting .362 over 61 games with 94 hits that included 19 doubles and 18 home runs. The junior from Umatilla, Fla., had 67 RBI and scored 56 runs earning first-team All-Sun Belt Conference honors. He ranked nationally in homers and slugging percentage and led his team in seven different statistical categories.
Bradford’s co-honors as Pitcher and Newcomer after he became the dominate pitcher for the Tigers with a 10-4 record and a 4.41 ERA. He had 81 strikeouts and just 16 walks in 96 innings pitched. He was the Southeastern Conference’s leader in wins and he also added five save. He posted either a win or a save in 10 of LSU’s 12 league wins. He earned second team All-SEC and all-region honors.
Tying with Bradford for pitcher of the year was Farquhar, the Louisiana-Lafayette sophomore from Pembroke Pines, Fla. Farquhar was 6-3 with a 3.08 ERA, but more importantly he struck out 115 batters (just 22 walks) in 87.2 innings, ranking him fourth in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings. He also had six saves in earning All-Sun Belt Conference honors. His ERA for SBC games was 43 points lower and league opponents hit just .179 against him.
Bradford earned Newcomer honors as well for those players playing for the first time at a Louisiana institution as a non-freshman. Bradford was a junior college transfer and he tied for the away with Cajun outfielder Nolan Gisclair, another JC transfer. Gisclair was also the SBC Newcomer of the Year, hitting .350 with 10 doubles, 13 homers and 53 RBI. He ranked in the top five on the team in 14 stat categories. He had nine of his 13 homers in the league including a grand slam against Arkansas-Little Rock.
LSU’s Dean took the freshman of the year honors as the Crestview, Fla., native hit .316 with 46 RBI as he earned freshman All-SEC honors. He lead LSU in batting average, RBI, hits (65), doubles (12) and home runs. Dean had a team-best 20-game hitting streak from March 17-April 20.
Robichaux earned his fourth coach of the year honor as head coach at Louisiana-Lafayette to go with his Sun Belt Coach of the Year honor. He led the Cajuns to a 45-16 overall record and a 23-7 SBC mark. He directed the Cajuns to their second SBC title in the last three year and their second NCAA appearance in as many years as well as the Cajuns were the winningest team in the state in 2007.
Joining pitcher Bradford and Farquhar, catcher Lucroy and outfield Gisclair were: Pitchers — Matt Clayman, LSU-Shreveport; David Mixon, Louisiana-Monroe; 1B — Abie Goulder, Louisiana Tech; 2B — Johnny Giavotella, UNO; SS — Brandon Richey, Northwestern State; 3B — T. J. Baxter, UNO; OF — Charlie Kingrey, McNeese State; Brian Rike, Louisiana Tech; DH — Scott Hawkins, Louisiana-Lafayette; Utility — Brandon Hudson, Louisiana Tech
2007 LSWA All-Louisiana College Baseball Team
First Team
PosNameSchoolClassHometownNotes
PJared BradfordLSUJr.Hueytown, Ala.10-4, 4.41 ERA, 2nd team All-SEC
PDanny FarquharLouisiana-LafayetteSo.Pembroke Pines, Fla.6-3, 3.08 ERA, All-SBC
PDavid MixonLouisiana-MonroeSr.Americus, Ga.5-1, 3.28 ERA, .209 opp. BA
PMatt ClaymanLSU-ShreveportSr.Austin, Texas10-1, 3.09 ERA, 91 K, GCAC Pitcher of Year
CJonathan LucroyLouisiana-LafayetteJr.Umatilla, Fla..362 BA, 19 2B, 18 HR, 67 RBI, All-SBC
1BAlbie GoulderLouisiana TechJr.Cave Creek, Ark..323 BA, 14 HR, 51 RBI, All-WAC
2BJohnny GiavotellaUNOSo.Harahan, La..373 BA, 15 HR, 60 RBI, All-SBC, SBC Tourney MOP
SSBrandon RicheyNorthwestern StateJr.Sour Lake, Texas.365 BA, 7 HR, 32 RBI, All-SLC
3BT. J. BaxterUNOJr.Point Pleasant, N.J..372 BA, 11 HR, 60 RBI
OFNolan GisclairLouisiana-LafayetteJr.Marrero, La..350 BA, 13 HR, 53 RBI, SBC Newcomer
OFCharlie KingreyMcNeese StateSr.Lake Charles, La..360 BA, 15 HR, 47 RBI, All-SLC
OFBrian RikeLouisiana Tech.Jr.Richmond, Texas346 BA, 20 HR, 66 RBI, WAC Player of Year
DHScott HawkinsLouisiana-LafayetteSo.Collierville, Tenn..351 BA, 16 HR, 49 RBI. All-SBC
UtilBrandon HudsonLouisiana TechSr.Benton, La..343 BA, 5-3 W-L, 4.40 ERA, All-WAC
Hitter of the Year — Jonathan Lucroy, Louisiana-Lafayette
Voting — Lucroy 8, Brian Rike 4, Johnny Giavotella 2
Pitcher of the Year — (tie) — Jared Bradford, LSU; Danny Farquhar, Louisiana-Lafayette
Voting — Bradford 6, Farquhar 6, Matt Clayman 2
Freshman of the Year — Blake Dean, LSU
Voting — Dean 12, Nick Schwaner 2
Newcomer of the Year — (tie) — Jared Bradford, LSU; Nolan Gisclair, Louisiana-Lafayette
Voting — Bradford 5, Gisclair 5, Dennis Winn 2, Kyle Suire 1, Josh Black 1
Coach of the Year — Tony Robichaux, Louisiana-Lafayette
Voting — Robichaux 7, Tom Walter 6, Wade Simoneaux 1
Second Team
P — Josh Black, Southeastern Louisiana (Jr, Fountain City, Ind., 8-3, 3.97 ERA); Adam Campbell, UNO (Sr., Arroyo Grande, Calif., 4-1, 1.73 ERA, 7 SV); Shooter Hunt, Tulane (So., Wyckoff, N.J., 6-6, 2.62 ERA); Buddy Glass, Louisiana-Lafayette (Jr., Clermont, Fla., 7-4, 3.28).
C — Sean Ochinko, LSU (Fr., Parkland, Fla., .277, 7 HR 32 RBI).
1B — Bo Bowman, Louisiana-Monroe (Sr, Gering, Neb., .335 BA, 9 HR, 46 RBI)
2B — Kyle Suire, Louisiana-Monroe (Jr., Gonzales, La., .338 BA, 10 HR, 4 RBI)
SS — Dennis Winn, Louisiana Tech (Sr., Bowling Green, Ky., .351 BA, 8 HR, 26 RBI)
3B — Bryan Cartie, McNeese State (Jr., Meadows Place, Texas, .354 BA, 3 HR, 41 RBI)
OF — Drew Anderson, UNO (Sr., Phoenix, Ariz, .278 BA, 15 HR, 49 RBI)
OF — Blake Dean, LSU (Fr., Crestview, Fla., .316, 7 HR, 46 RBI)
OF — Jefferies Tatford, Louisiana-Lafayette, (Sr., Lafayette, La., .358 BA, 10 HR, 46 RBI)
DH — Chase Burch, Southeastern La. (Jr., Fultondale, Ala., .361 BA, 5 HR, 53 RBI)
UTIL — Cameron Penny, Centenary (Jr., Valley Center, Calif., .312 BA, 34 RBI)
Honorable Mention
P — Brandon Fulenchek, Centenary; Hunter Moody, Louisiana-Lafayette; Sean Morgan, Tulane. 1B — Calvin Anderson, Southern.