June 6, 2008

Tulane junior right-hander Shooter Hunt has been named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association District VII Player of the Year, the organization announced today. The NCBWA awards District Player of the Year in nine districts around the country and District VII covers Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Hunt earned District VII Player of the Year honors after a stellar year on the mound for Coach Rick Jones' Tulane Green Wave. The 2008 Conference USA Pitcher of the Year, the junior right-hander was named second-team Louisville Slugger All-American by Collegiate Baseball newspaper earlier this week. The All-America honor is the first of Hunt's career and he becomes Tulane's first All-American since 2006 when first baseman Mark Hamilton claimed the honor. Hunt is also the first Green Wave hurler to earn the distinction since Brian Bogusevic and Micah Owings both did so in 2005.

Hunt led Tulane and Conference USA in opponent batting average (.175), total strikeouts (126), and strikeouts looking (48). He also leads the team and is tied for the C-USA mark with nine wins and paces the club while ranking second in the conference with a 2.68 ERA and topped the circuit with 100.2 innings pitched. With 126 strikeouts, Hunt becomes the fourth Tulane hurler in as many years to eclipse the 100-K mark in a season. In addition, Hunt ranks fifth in the NCAA in strikeouts and hits allowed per nine innings (5.54) and 12th in strikeouts per nine innings (11.26).

His .175 opponent batting average in 2008 is a Tulane single-season record, surpassing the former mark of .203 set by Jason Navarro in 1997, and is fifth in strikeout-per-nine-inning average (11.26). Hunt's .204 career opponent batting average also tops Navarro's former school record of .224 (1995-97) and also ranks fifth in Tulane career history in K/9 and is seventh in career ERA.

In two seasons with the Green Wave, Hunt posted a combined 15-10 record, a 2.65 ERA and a .204 opponent batting average. He started 31 of the 32 games he appeared in during his Tulane career, during which time he posted a 10.33 strikeout-per-nine-inning average and a 2.67 strikeout-to-walk ratio after fanning 230 batters and walking just 86 in 200.1 innings of work.

Hunt will continue his baseball career in the Minnesota Twins organization. The Twins selected the righthander in the compensatory first round (#31 overall) of the June major league draft on Thursday.

The other NCBWA District Players of the Year include utility man Jason Buursma (Bucknell), pitcher George Brown (St. John's), catcher Buster Posey (Florida State), shortstop Gordon Beckham (Georgia), utility-man Zach Putnam (Michigan), pitcher Aaron Crow (Missouri), first baseman Xavier Scruggs (UNLV) and pitchers Brian Matusz (San Diego) and Stephen Strasburg (San Diego State).