NEW ORLEANS - The University of New Orleans Athletics Department has
announced new inductees into the re-established UNO Athletics Hall of
Fame.
The 2009 class includes the 1974 and 1984 baseball teams in
addition to men's basketball player Gabe Corchiani. All were officially
inducted during a ceremony prior to Saturday's baseball game against
Louisiana-Lafayette.
The 1974 baseball team finished second in
the Division II College World Series in the program's fifth season.
Under head coach Ron Maestri, the team had to bounce back from an
opening loss to Nicholls State in the South Regional to win three
straight games, including back-to-back wins against the Colonels in
order to advance.
Pitchers Terry Kieffer and Don Kunde had a
combined 22-1 record for the Privateers, who finished the year 34-14.
Chris Barcus led the UNO offense with a .344 batting average.
The
1984 edition became the first Louisiana team to reach the Division I
College World Series, winning the South II Regional at Mississippi
State. Maestri's squad compiled a 46-26 on their way to the CWS.
Scott
Raziano and Mark Higgins each totaled over 70 runs for the Privateers
with Higgins' single-season school-record 24 home runs providing
firepower at the plate. On the mound, Wally Whitehurst threw a
school-record 15 complete games, totaling 132 strikeouts over 156
innings of work.
The '09 baseball squad wore commemorative “throwback” jerseys to honor both teams during Saturday's game.
Corchiani, meanwhile, was a standout point guard for the Privateers from 1984 through 1988.
He
is the school-record holder in assists (456) and also has a school-best
46 percent career mark from 3-point range. He also ranks second with
178 steals and is No. 3 in the UNO record book for career games (120).
Off
the court, Corchiani provided UNO with another assist -- teaming with
local businessman John Georges to give the largest donation to UNO
Athletics in its history.
The inductees join the 12 other Hall
of Fame members who were inducted between 1988 and 1991. The Hall of
Fame committee will announce the 2010 group of inductees in the fall,
before inducting both classes in a special ceremony in spring 2010.
A complete UNO Athletic Hall of Fame listing is available at the above link.
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