David Maroul: A name to remember

OMAHA, Neb. -- Prior to Monday night's first pitch between Texas and Tulane, ESPN Baseball Tonight and CWS color analyst Harold Reynolds implored baseball fans to remember the name of UT's third baseman David Maroul (pronounced "muh-roll") for his defensive skills in the opening segment of the broadcast.

"I've been covering the College World Series for a long time and I have yet to come across a third baseman like The University of Texas' David Maroul," Reynolds said. "He's got the full package defensively."

While Maroul was his usual self in the field on Monday night, sucking up ground balls (both foul and fair) like a Hoover vacuum, he came through with what very well could have been Texas' most clutch performance in the Longhorns' CWS second-round win over the top-ranked Tulane at the plate.

With a 1-1 count and up 2-0, Maroul laced a fastball down the left field line with two runners on base and two outs in the fifth, scoring Carson Kainer and Taylor Teagarden, which gave Texas starter Kyle McCulloch and the Longhorns some sought after separation by increasing their lead to four runs.

"It's always big to get runs on the scoreboard after you score two in the first and don't score for a while, Maroul said, who finished 2-for-4 with two RBI on the night. "I was more relaxed tonight than usual and I saw the ball a lot better than I have lately."

Maroul attacked the ball from the batter's box in his first two at bats, swinging at the first strike he saw in each one and coming out with a single and a line out to show for it, before doubling in two runners in his third at bat.

"David's hit was exactly what we needed," said McCulloch, who allowed no runs and struck out seven in seven innings of work en route to his first College World Series victory. "Really, that's how everybody feels on this team. When someone might be struggling here or someone might be struggling there, our teammates are going to pick them up. That just gives you the confidence that you can go out and do the things that you can do - that's what David did tonight."

Offensively, Maroul's outbursts have come in spurts throughout the year. He finished the 2005 regular season going 4-for-10 with eight RBI and two home runs in a three-game series against Texas A&M, but had cooled off in the super regional, going a combined 1-for-10 at Mississippi. To which his teammates are quick to point out that while Maroul will lunge and bite on occasion, he also has a knack for coming through in the clutch when needed the most.

"He is a guy that will go into small slumps, but then out of nowhere, he'll come out and hit a ball farther than anyone on our team is even capable of doing," Texas right fielder Nick Peoples said. "It was like he saw three pitches and hit two home runs and a triple at Texas A&M. It's scary for a pitcher because you never know when he is going to get into one of those zones where he is seeing the ball so well."

But defensively, it seems a consensus that Maroul is as consistent as they come.

"David is - by far - the best defensive third baseman in college baseball," said Keith Moreland, the Longhorns color commentator on AM 1300 "The Zone", who was also a member of the Texas' 1975 National Championship team and a 12-year third baseman at the major league level. "He is focused on what he does best. He gets his sacrifices down, he comes up with big hits like he did tonight in the College World Series and he is outstanding defensively."

Maroul was a 23rd-round pick of the San Francisco Giants in the 2005 MLB First-year Player Draft.

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics