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Baseball: Talbot And Freeman Named Ragin’™ Cajuns Baseball AssistantsLAFAYETTE, La. – Jeremy Talbot has been named an assistant baseball coach at Louisiana pending board approval, while Daniel Freeman has been added as a volunteer assistant coach for the Ragin’ Cajuns, head coach Tony Robichaux announced on Tuesday.
Talbot will serve as the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator alongside associate head coach Anthony Babineaux and Freeman will work with the pitching staff and help with on-campus recruiting. The two hires complete the full-time Louisiana baseball coaching staff after losing assistants Matt Deggs and Lance Harvell to Sam Houston State last month.
“Our goal was to go out and find a hitting coach that could continue to help us grow,” Robichaux said. “Jeremy was the perfect answer having coached at a high level and played at a high level while coming from the same hitting system as Deggs. The two of them worked together at Texas A&M under head coach Rob Childress in a similar situation to here, where the head coach was also the pitching coach. I think it’s a good fit, just like it was a good fit when Matt came in. I really like our hitting system and this hire will help to keep it the same.
“It’s good to have Daniel come on to work with the pitchers and balance our staff out amongst the hitters and pitchers. Working with pitchers is unique where everyone has a different routine each day, while hitters will all do the same things each day. We knew we were going to lose a great coach like Lance, and we feel like Daniel is the perfect person to replace him having played at a high level and had success. He also has a background in conditioning and can help to elevate our game on the mound.
“I think we got the best of both worlds. Jeremy is the hitting guy we were looking for and should fit in pretty seamlessly, while Daniel will be able to come in and help our pitching staff and divvy up the coaching jobs more evenly.”
During his coaching career, Talbot has coached and developed 61 players that were selected in the MLB first-year player draft. He has also brought in a top 10 recruiting class with a No. 6 ranked class by Baseball America in his last season at Texas A&M.
Talbot served as the Aggies’ hitting coach and recruiting coordinator alongside Deggs from 2005-09. Under his direction, the Aggie bats compiled a .309 average since the start of the 2007 season, averaging over seven runs a game and smashed over 230 home runs. Talbot helped lead Texas A&M baseball to consecutive Big 12 championships in 2007 and 2008, three trips to the postseason and the first back-to-back NCAA Regional crowns in school history.
A year before taking the Texas A&M job, Talbot coached the 2005 season at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Ala. under head coach Jim Case. He coached the catchers and hitters as well as assisting recruiting and serving as the third base coach. The Gamecocks won the Ohio Valley Conference Regular-Season Championship, but just missed out on the NCAA Tournament after dropping the championship game in the OVC post-season tourney.
Prior to his stint at JSU, Talbot served as an assistant at ULM, where he was the hitting instructor and third base coach for four seasons. In 2002, the Warhawks belted 61 home runs and had a .462 slugging percentage, which was the third best in school history.
2001 was a record setting season for the Warhawks. ULM collected 659 hits, a school and Southland Conference record. The team’s batting average of .320 ranked the best in school history and was second in the Southland record books. ULM won the SLC Title in 2002 and finished second in 2001.
A native of Labadieville, La., Talbot spent the 2000 season as an assistant at Northeast Texas Community College in Mt. Pleasant, Texas, where he coached all position players and assisted in recruiting.
Talbot served as the volunteer assistant coach for Dave Van Horn at Nebraska in 1999. Talbot helped the Huskers to a 42-18 finish, the championship of the Big 12 Tournament, and a spot in the NCAA Regionals. 12 Huskers were eventually drafted that played on the 1999 squad including current Major Leaguers Ken Harvey and Jamal Strong. During Talbot’s year at Nebraska, the Huskers tied a school record with a .338 team batting average and finished third in the country in runs scored per game.
In 1998, Talbot began his coaching career at Nicholls State under Jim Pizzalato. In the summer of 1998, Talbot coached the Anchorage Glacier Pilots of the Alaskan Summer Collegiate League.
An all-state and three-time all-district performer at Assumption High School, Talbot began his collegiate playing career at Nicholls State where he hit .310 as a freshman.
He played one year at Mendocino Junior College (Calif.) where he was all-conference before transferring to Arkansas where he started as a designated hitter and catcher, helping the Razorbacks to a Regional appearance and ranked in the polls as high as third nationally. Arkansas’ 18-0 start in 1996 was a school and SEC record.
Freeman comes to the Ragin’ Cajuns from West Monroe High School where he spent the last three years as the Rebels pitching coach.
Prior to his coaching stint at West Monroe, Freeman was a private instructor from 2006-11. In the last nine years, Freeman has coached 14 athletes that have moved on to play college or professional baseball.
Freeman spent five years in professional baseball from 2002-07 including four seasons in the Astros farm system, playing his last two seasons with the Salem Avalanche in High-A. While playing pro ball, Freeman was named to an all-star team twice and led the Appalachian League in wins in 2002. Freeman also played with the Shreveport Sports of the Independent League in 2007.
The Houston Astros drafted Freeman in the 17th round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft out of Texarkana College. Freeman spent two seasons at Texarkana College. Prior to enrolling at Texarkana College, Freeman was named to the Class 5A All-State team and was the District 2-5A MVP in 2000 at Ruston High School.
— Ragin’ Cajuns —
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Jeff Schneider
Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Cox Communications Athletics Center Office: (337) 482-6332
@ULRaginCajuns
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