George Washington University Athletics
2003 Season Review
2/18/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
WASHINGTON, DC - Under the leadership of Coach Walter, the 2003 Colonials posted a 37-18 (.673) record for the team's best winning percentage since 1986 and the 32nd-best percentage in the NCAA last year. George Washington finished the year fourth in the Atlantic 10 West and fourth in the A-10 Tournament after going 2-2 in the postseason. It was the fourth consecutive year that GW made the conference tournament the longest streak in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
GW opened the season with an impressive 15-4 record, their best start since 1957 when the team went 19-4. Three of the team's four early losses in 2003 were at No. 1 Georgia Tech. The Colonials also strung together two 11-game winning streaks, each tied for the fifth-longest streak in GW baseball history. It also marked the first time that the Colonials have had two winning streaks of 10, or more, games in a single season.
GW started the season with a strong showing at the Amtrak Invitational in Deland, FL. The Colonials upset host No. 18 Stetson in an 11-inning thriller, 9-8. The next night, GW lost to Kentucky 3-2 in an 11-inning marathon on Valentine's Day that lasted 4:26. GW notched three more wins before dropping a three-game series at No. 1 Georgia Tech. GW responded with 11-straight victories followed by another 11-game winning streak at the end of April. Despite the mid-atlantic region suffering through the wettest year in recorded history, resulting in 16 postponments due to rain or snow, GW collected its third-highest win total.
The Colonials dropped two of three games to Rhode Island to open A-10 play and found themselves in a hole when their next two conference series were cancelled due to rain. The team then lost a three-game series to Xavier giving them only one win in their first six league games. The Colonials got back into the playoff picture when they swept Duquesne and La Salle at home en route to their second 11-game winning streak. GW dropped three games at No. 14 Richmond before closing out the season with five wins in six league games at home against Temple and Dayton.
With a strong conference finish, GW entered the A-10 Tournament at Dodd Memorial Stadium in Norwich, CT as the sixth and final seed. The Colonials faced third-seeded Rhode Island in the first round and won, 7-2, behind a two-hit performance from Dan Sullivan. GW then lost to Massachusetts, 3-1, with Tony Dokoupil scoring the sole run for ace pitcher Greg Conden. The Colonials came back in the double-elimination to urnament to defeat Rhode Island for the second time in two days, winning 8-4. Freshman Dan Pfau led GW with an incredible 13-strikeout complete-game victory. The Colonials concluded their postseason run with an 8-2 loss to conference rival Richmond who ultimately won the Atlantic 10 Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
GW opened the season with an impressive 15-4 record, their best start since 1957 when the team went 19-4. Three of the team's four early losses in 2003 were at No. 1 Georgia Tech. The Colonials also strung together two 11-game winning streaks, each tied for the fifth-longest streak in GW baseball history. It also marked the first time that the Colonials have had two winning streaks of 10, or more, games in a single season.
In addition to their 32nd-best winning percentage in the NCAA, GW was in the Top 100 (out of 284 Division I baseball programs) in seven other categories. GW was 39th in runs per game (7.4), 57th in slugging percentage (.465), 58th in home runs per game (.98), 70th in ERA (4.35), 70th in doubles per game (2.04) 78th in stolen bases per game (1.38) and 87th in batting average (.301).
Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American, Tom Shanley had a 15-game hitting streak to start his collegiate career while hitting .398 as a freshman. Shanley was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year as well as Second Team All-Conference at shortstop and ECAC Second-Team All-Star. Shanley's batting average ranked 43rd in the NCAA. Fellow freshman Josh Wilkie pitched his way onto the national list by throwing an average of 10.0 strikeouts per game, good for 40th in the country. Southpaw freshman Pfau currently has the best winning percentage (1.000) in GW's record books after going 6-0 as a rookie.
Travis Crowder was named First Team All-Conference as a second baseman while Ryan Roberson was named First Team All-Conference as the designated hitter. Roberson finished the year 14th in the country with 1.28 RBIs per g ame and 78th in the country with a .383 batting average. Roberson also was named to the A-10 All-Championship Team along with pitcher Dan Sullivan who pitched a two-hit complete game in the postseason opener. Sullivan's ERA of 2.96 was the 98th best in the NCAA last season.
Despite a fourth-place finish, the Colonials collected more A-10 Weekly Awards than any other conference school. Eight GW players earned 12 such citations, including seven Rookie of the Week awards.
The 2003 team MVP, Greg Conden, became the winningest pitcher in Colonials history with 35 victories capping a stellar career at GW. The four-year starter sits atop GW's all-time starts list with 61 and is sixth in appearances with 63. Conden had a 35-16 (.686) record for the Colonials and collected 276 strikeouts. In June 2003, Conden was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 18th round. The righthander had a 4-3 record with the lowest ERA, 3.94, among the starters for the Rookie League Idaho Falls Padres . Conden led his team with 80 innings pitched and had 96 strikeouts, 31 more than anyone else on the team. Conden becomes the seventh Colonials player drafted in the last two years. Highlighting the record-setting draft class of 2002, Jake Wald will be a non-roster invitee to the San Francisco Giants spring training camp in 2004.
