The Panthers baseball team opened their 2011 conference play in the best possible fashion by sweeping the Towson Tigers in a 3-game series at Panthersville. There was no better way to return the favor to Towson after they swept the Panthers in the 2010 season. The Panthers are now 13-4 on the season and 3-0 in the CAA.
Ryan Flemming had a great offensive showing in the series with 3 hits and 8 walks in 15 at-bats. That's a .429 batting average and a .733 on-base percentage. Ryan also accounted for 6 RBI's in the series with a 3-run home run during game 3. Rob Lind also had a great series going 6-for-8 (.750 BA) and drawing 7 walks for a .867 on-base percentage. A congratulations goes to Theo Asher for hitting his first home run as a Panther in the 5th inning. He hit a solo shot off a 3-2 pitch in the 5th inning to open the Panther's lead to 8-4.
The Panther's relief pitchers stepped up big when called upon this weekend only allowing 1 (earned) run in their 11.2 innings pitched during the 3 games. The lone run came off typical starter Will Campbell as he relieved Charley Olsen for 3 innings to earn the win in Saturday's victory. Justin Malone proved he is human after all and allowed 5 runs in his Friday start after going 5.1 innings. He had 6 K's and 2 walks in the outing. Nick Squeglia entered in relief for Justin and pitched 3 innings allowing only 2 hits. Jake Dyer would earn the win in his 1.2 innings of perfect relief.
Charley Olsen started Saturday's game and went 6 innings of what felt like a rough outing however he allowed only 3 runs in the game. His issue came from 4 walks and the Towson hitters getting clutch hits. Charley showed his composure through his jams and even through a pick-off to 1st to and a 5th inning scoring threat. Previous to the pick-off, Brett Maxwell gunned down a runner at home coming from 2nd base on a single to center field.
Aidan Francis pitched 5 innings in Sunday's win allowing 6 runs (5 earned) on 9 hits and allowed only 1 walk. Jeremy Gazerro and Jake Dyer pitched 4 innings of combined no-run relief allowing only 2 hits and 1 walk.
The Panthers are now sitting in 1st place in the CAA.
This week's opponents feature Alabama State (4-5-1), Harvard (0-8) and Murray State (8-7) all at Panthersville. The Panthers are 8-0 against Alabama State under Frady and have not faced Harvard or Murray State under Frady.
Showing posts with label Nick Squeglia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nick Squeglia. Show all posts
Monday, March 14, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
Georgia State Baseball to Mississippi State Tournament
First let me say this will be a long one as we go into the weekend to face two opponents so there is twice the info to cover. Sit back and enjoy...
The Panthers baseball team will be playing against Iowa and Mississippi State University in the Mississippi State Tournament this weekend. The tournament will feature a double round-robin play system where each team will face each other twice. MSU's Dudy Noble Field acts as the host stadium for the tournament.
GSU will face Iowa on Friday at 12:00 PM, MSU on Saturday at 1:00 PM and Sunday is a doubleheader against Iowa at 12:00 PM and MSU at 3:30 PM.
Iowa Hawkeyes
The Iowa Hawkeyes compete in the Big Ten Conference and currently stands at 1-4 on the season. The Hawkeyes finished the 2010 season tied for 3rd in the conference and have bee picked to finish 5th in the 2011 season. This will be the first meeting between the two schools. GSU has faced only one Big Ten school in the past when they defeated Michigan State in 2009.
The Iowa pitching staff is sitting at a 3.20 ERA through the first 5 games giving up 18 runs on the season, 3.6 runs per game. Unfortunately their offense has plated only 12 runs or 2.4 per game and that is a recipe for a bad season.
Probably starters for the Hawkeyes are as follows:
Friday we should see sophomore right hander Ricky Sandquist (6-4, 185). This will be Ricky's 3rd appearance but 1st start in his college career. He is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA (1 earned run on 2 hits) after pitching only 1.2 innings so probably still not in his groove. Ricky pitched the 2010 season from the bullpen, appearing 16 times and finishing with a 8.14 ERA through 21 innings pitched. Ricky has a fastball touching the low-90's.
Sunday, Iowa should be sending out sophomore lefty Matt Dermody (6-5, 200). Matt is 0-2 with a 4.15 ERA on the season. He has pitched 8.2 innings and allowed 5 runs (4 earned) on 6 hits with 5 walks and 9 strikeouts. Batters are hitting only .188 against him. Matt was selected by the Pirates in the MLB 2009 Draft (Round 29) with a fastball sitting near 90 with good action. He also has an above-average change-up he can throw to keep hitters off balance.
Now we visit Iowa's problem area. The team is hitting .195 at the plate with no power so far in the 2011 season. They are striking out twice as many times as they're taking walks and they're not stealing many bases. The highest batting average among their starters, .222 and 3RBI's. To have this type of average over the 5-game stretch, you have to assume they're just not seeing the ball well right now as running into 5 hot pitchers in a row is tough to do in college ball.
How do I see the Panthers stacking up against Iowa? With Justin Malone going in the first game against Iowa and Will Campbell in the 2nd, the pitching advantage goes to GSU. Malone has yet to give up a run after 2 starts and 13 innings pitched. Batters are only hitting .239 against him. His walks and hits per inning is below 1.0 at .92. If Malone is on his game, the Iowa lineup will be hard-pressed to get much from him. Even if Malone is twice as bad as his WHIP he's still giving less than 2 hits/walks per inning and because Iowa hasn't shown they like to steal bases, you're not scoring much off that. Will Campbell is 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA after also pitching 13 innings. Both pitchers have 6 strikeouts but Campbell has given 6 free bases to hitters. However, Campbell has allowed only 7 hits so his WHIP is sitting exactly at 1.0 and batters are hitting only .175 against him. Iowa will need our pitchers to be off their game in order to score enough runs to win.
Our offense has been somewhat tough to predict due to inconsistent play. They're coming off a recent game of seeing a 6-6 pitcher throwing a fastball in the low-to-mid 90's so seeing the ball should be easy for them. If the guys, especially Mark Micowski, are able to pickup where they left off against Georgia Tech it will be a long day for the Iowa pitchers. The fielders are coming off an excellent game so let's hope that also continues.
Mississippi State Bulldogs
The MSU Bulldogs compete in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and currently have a record of 8-1. All games thus far played at home and their lone loss coming against Belmont where they went down by a low score of 1-2. MSU is coming off a 23-33 record on the 2010 season and was picked to finish sixth in the SEC Western Division for 2011. GSU has not fared well against SEC opponents in the past, under Coach Frady they are 0-10 but have not yet faced the MSU Diamond Dogs.
The MSU pitching staff is giving up an average of 2 runs per game this season and the offense is scoring a little over 8, thus their 8-1 record.
The probable starters are currently unknown so here's a rundown on their whole staff. The team ERA currently sits at 2.00. Their starters are 5-1 in their 9 games played. They have only one pitcher who has given up more than 3 runs total on the season, Chad Girodo who has started 1 game and appeared in 2 and given up 4 runs in 6 innings. The team is striking out batters and not giving much for walks, their team WHIP is .86. That's low folks. GSU compares at 1.1 which is also low but obviously MSU is doing better here. I know we will NOT see starter Devin Jones as he starts Friday for MSU against Iowa. This is a break for GSU as Jones has thrown 15 innings and given up only 2 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks.
MSU is currently 2nd in the SEC in team batting average at .338. They have hit 7 home runs and are 11-for-16 in stolen bases. They're slugging .480, their extra base hits are accounting for about 1-of-4 total hits. GSU is doing better here hitting about 2-of-5 for extra bases. MSU appears to be patient at the plate as they have one more walk than strikeout as a team.
It's worth noting that MSU has played clean defense through their first 9 games. They've only committed 4 errors, showing off a .988 fielding percentage.
I think MSU has benefited from their early season schedule and will likely be brought back to Earth once SEC play begins for them. The SEC currently holds 7 of the 30 spots in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's Top 30, 4 being in the top 10. However, these two games will be an excellent test for Georgia State and will show the Panthers where they are as a program.
GSU will be sending Nick Squeglia and Charley Olsen to the mound against MSU. Nick is 1-0 through 2 starts and has not given up a run in his 11 innings pitched. He has a WHIP of .63 and batters are hitting only .135 against him. It's hard not to love your chances with numbers like that going to the mound. Charley is 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA. Charley was the victim of a mad Western Illinois batting lineup and a messy defensive effort by the Panthers. He's given up 5 runs but only 2 earned in 8.2 innings. Charley appeared in relief during the Mercer game and has set down 8 batters by way of strikeout.
Without knowing the MSU starting pitchers it's tough to call how we'll do against them. I think the pitching matchups will be key here. Right now, I would say going 1-1 against them is likely considering who is not and should not be starting for them. I feel good with Nick and Charley on the mound for GSU. The performance of the entire GSU pitching staff has been nothing short of outstanding so that's a big confidence booster for the team. About the Panthers offense, again, they're coming off a great game. If they're able to continue the momentum they should be fine. It's safe to say they won't be facing a pitcher with greater potential than Matt Grimes (Georgia Tech starter) during this weekend and they were able to put 4 runs on him. Mark Micowski, Brett Maxwell and Brandon Williams all had multi-hit games against Tech on Wednesday.
Good luck to Coach Frady and his team during this tournament. Splitting with MSU at Dudy Noble would be a great follow-up to beating Georgia Tech at Russ Chandler.
***UPDATE***
Possible starter for game 1 versus MSU is right hand sophomore Chris Stratton. Chris was selected to the SEC All-Freshman Team in 2010 and was a weekend starter for MSU as a freshman. He's off to a blazing start this season with similar numbers to his GSU counterpart Nick Squeglia.
ERA: Nick 0.00 / Chris 0.00
W-L: Nick 1-0 in 2 games / Chris 2-0 in 2 games
Innings Pitched: Nick 11 / Chris 13.2
WHIP: Nick 0.63 / Chris 0.83
Opposing Batting Average: Nick .135 / Chris .200
Extra Base Hits Allowed: Nick 0 / Chris 2
Here is the difference, Nick has 5 strikouts and Chris has struck out 23 of 50 batters faced. Wow. That's almost 2 per inning based on his innings pitched. According to his coach, Chris has a 92 mph fastball that he's able to locate well almost all the time. He also has a "big, slow breaking curve." Apparently he's also mature beyond his years. Those are all the same things said about the pitcher just faced in Matt Grimes.
The Panthers baseball team will be playing against Iowa and Mississippi State University in the Mississippi State Tournament this weekend. The tournament will feature a double round-robin play system where each team will face each other twice. MSU's Dudy Noble Field acts as the host stadium for the tournament.
GSU will face Iowa on Friday at 12:00 PM, MSU on Saturday at 1:00 PM and Sunday is a doubleheader against Iowa at 12:00 PM and MSU at 3:30 PM.
Iowa Hawkeyes
The Iowa Hawkeyes compete in the Big Ten Conference and currently stands at 1-4 on the season. The Hawkeyes finished the 2010 season tied for 3rd in the conference and have bee picked to finish 5th in the 2011 season. This will be the first meeting between the two schools. GSU has faced only one Big Ten school in the past when they defeated Michigan State in 2009.
The Iowa pitching staff is sitting at a 3.20 ERA through the first 5 games giving up 18 runs on the season, 3.6 runs per game. Unfortunately their offense has plated only 12 runs or 2.4 per game and that is a recipe for a bad season.
Probably starters for the Hawkeyes are as follows:
Friday we should see sophomore right hander Ricky Sandquist (6-4, 185). This will be Ricky's 3rd appearance but 1st start in his college career. He is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA (1 earned run on 2 hits) after pitching only 1.2 innings so probably still not in his groove. Ricky pitched the 2010 season from the bullpen, appearing 16 times and finishing with a 8.14 ERA through 21 innings pitched. Ricky has a fastball touching the low-90's.
Sunday, Iowa should be sending out sophomore lefty Matt Dermody (6-5, 200). Matt is 0-2 with a 4.15 ERA on the season. He has pitched 8.2 innings and allowed 5 runs (4 earned) on 6 hits with 5 walks and 9 strikeouts. Batters are hitting only .188 against him. Matt was selected by the Pirates in the MLB 2009 Draft (Round 29) with a fastball sitting near 90 with good action. He also has an above-average change-up he can throw to keep hitters off balance.
Now we visit Iowa's problem area. The team is hitting .195 at the plate with no power so far in the 2011 season. They are striking out twice as many times as they're taking walks and they're not stealing many bases. The highest batting average among their starters, .222 and 3RBI's. To have this type of average over the 5-game stretch, you have to assume they're just not seeing the ball well right now as running into 5 hot pitchers in a row is tough to do in college ball.
How do I see the Panthers stacking up against Iowa? With Justin Malone going in the first game against Iowa and Will Campbell in the 2nd, the pitching advantage goes to GSU. Malone has yet to give up a run after 2 starts and 13 innings pitched. Batters are only hitting .239 against him. His walks and hits per inning is below 1.0 at .92. If Malone is on his game, the Iowa lineup will be hard-pressed to get much from him. Even if Malone is twice as bad as his WHIP he's still giving less than 2 hits/walks per inning and because Iowa hasn't shown they like to steal bases, you're not scoring much off that. Will Campbell is 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA after also pitching 13 innings. Both pitchers have 6 strikeouts but Campbell has given 6 free bases to hitters. However, Campbell has allowed only 7 hits so his WHIP is sitting exactly at 1.0 and batters are hitting only .175 against him. Iowa will need our pitchers to be off their game in order to score enough runs to win.
Our offense has been somewhat tough to predict due to inconsistent play. They're coming off a recent game of seeing a 6-6 pitcher throwing a fastball in the low-to-mid 90's so seeing the ball should be easy for them. If the guys, especially Mark Micowski, are able to pickup where they left off against Georgia Tech it will be a long day for the Iowa pitchers. The fielders are coming off an excellent game so let's hope that also continues.
Mississippi State Bulldogs
The MSU Bulldogs compete in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and currently have a record of 8-1. All games thus far played at home and their lone loss coming against Belmont where they went down by a low score of 1-2. MSU is coming off a 23-33 record on the 2010 season and was picked to finish sixth in the SEC Western Division for 2011. GSU has not fared well against SEC opponents in the past, under Coach Frady they are 0-10 but have not yet faced the MSU Diamond Dogs.
The MSU pitching staff is giving up an average of 2 runs per game this season and the offense is scoring a little over 8, thus their 8-1 record.
The probable starters are currently unknown so here's a rundown on their whole staff. The team ERA currently sits at 2.00. Their starters are 5-1 in their 9 games played. They have only one pitcher who has given up more than 3 runs total on the season, Chad Girodo who has started 1 game and appeared in 2 and given up 4 runs in 6 innings. The team is striking out batters and not giving much for walks, their team WHIP is .86. That's low folks. GSU compares at 1.1 which is also low but obviously MSU is doing better here. I know we will NOT see starter Devin Jones as he starts Friday for MSU against Iowa. This is a break for GSU as Jones has thrown 15 innings and given up only 2 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks.
MSU is currently 2nd in the SEC in team batting average at .338. They have hit 7 home runs and are 11-for-16 in stolen bases. They're slugging .480, their extra base hits are accounting for about 1-of-4 total hits. GSU is doing better here hitting about 2-of-5 for extra bases. MSU appears to be patient at the plate as they have one more walk than strikeout as a team.
It's worth noting that MSU has played clean defense through their first 9 games. They've only committed 4 errors, showing off a .988 fielding percentage.
I think MSU has benefited from their early season schedule and will likely be brought back to Earth once SEC play begins for them. The SEC currently holds 7 of the 30 spots in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's Top 30, 4 being in the top 10. However, these two games will be an excellent test for Georgia State and will show the Panthers where they are as a program.
GSU will be sending Nick Squeglia and Charley Olsen to the mound against MSU. Nick is 1-0 through 2 starts and has not given up a run in his 11 innings pitched. He has a WHIP of .63 and batters are hitting only .135 against him. It's hard not to love your chances with numbers like that going to the mound. Charley is 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA. Charley was the victim of a mad Western Illinois batting lineup and a messy defensive effort by the Panthers. He's given up 5 runs but only 2 earned in 8.2 innings. Charley appeared in relief during the Mercer game and has set down 8 batters by way of strikeout.
Without knowing the MSU starting pitchers it's tough to call how we'll do against them. I think the pitching matchups will be key here. Right now, I would say going 1-1 against them is likely considering who is not and should not be starting for them. I feel good with Nick and Charley on the mound for GSU. The performance of the entire GSU pitching staff has been nothing short of outstanding so that's a big confidence booster for the team. About the Panthers offense, again, they're coming off a great game. If they're able to continue the momentum they should be fine. It's safe to say they won't be facing a pitcher with greater potential than Matt Grimes (Georgia Tech starter) during this weekend and they were able to put 4 runs on him. Mark Micowski, Brett Maxwell and Brandon Williams all had multi-hit games against Tech on Wednesday.
Good luck to Coach Frady and his team during this tournament. Splitting with MSU at Dudy Noble would be a great follow-up to beating Georgia Tech at Russ Chandler.
***UPDATE***
Possible starter for game 1 versus MSU is right hand sophomore Chris Stratton. Chris was selected to the SEC All-Freshman Team in 2010 and was a weekend starter for MSU as a freshman. He's off to a blazing start this season with similar numbers to his GSU counterpart Nick Squeglia.
ERA: Nick 0.00 / Chris 0.00
W-L: Nick 1-0 in 2 games / Chris 2-0 in 2 games
Innings Pitched: Nick 11 / Chris 13.2
WHIP: Nick 0.63 / Chris 0.83
Opposing Batting Average: Nick .135 / Chris .200
Extra Base Hits Allowed: Nick 0 / Chris 2
Here is the difference, Nick has 5 strikouts and Chris has struck out 23 of 50 batters faced. Wow. That's almost 2 per inning based on his innings pitched. According to his coach, Chris has a 92 mph fastball that he's able to locate well almost all the time. He also has a "big, slow breaking curve." Apparently he's also mature beyond his years. Those are all the same things said about the pitcher just faced in Matt Grimes.
Monday, February 28, 2011
GSU Baseball Checkup 2/28/2011
With the first full week of the season in the books I'd like to take a look at where the Panthers stand and compare to the rest of the CAA.
First off, the baseball Panthers are 7-1 through the first 8 games of the 2011 season. In comparison to last year that's 5 wins better, even if you remove the opening series against #7 ranked FSU it's 2 wins better. The top three teams in the CAA are currently GSU @ 7-1, James Madison @ 7-1 and George Mason @ 6-2.
I think the obvious statement of the season so far would be this: the new bat rule IS affecting offensive production. The Panthers scored 72 runs through the first 8 games in the 2010 season (9 RPG). The run total for this season so far is 55 or 6.9 RPG which is far below the 2010 total of 10.5 RPG. I have personally seen about 6-8 balls hit (by the Panthers) to the outfield and caught for outs that would have been a home run last year. Just for the Panthers to keep up with last year's production they will have to score 17.9 RPG over the next 8 games and I don't see this happening, especially considering the next 3 opponents are Georgia Tech, Iowa and Mississippi State. The point is, run production for the Panthers is down thus far however they are 3rd in the CAA for runs scored behind George Mason (72) and James Madison (132). Yes, you read that correctly. Allow me to expand on JMU for a minute.
Can someone check the bats the JMU baseball team is carrying around??? Here's some numbers for you. 132 runs scored (2nd best is GM at 72), batting .431 as a team (2nd best is GM at .327), 29 home runs (2nd best is GSU at 8) and slugging .869 (2nd best is GM at .472). Those are crazy numbers my friends. In addition they've stolen 29 of 31 bases and you're next best in that category would be GSU at 20 of 23. You may say to yourself, "well they probably strike out alot with those numbers." Nope, they're currently sitting on the lowest K/AB ratio in the CAA. Now that I may have frightened you about JMU's offensive production let's move on.
Back to the GSU offense for a quick look at individual performances. Brett Maxwell, Joey Wood and Bryan Condotta are the only three Panthers batting over .300. Maxwell leads the team at .444. There are 13 CAA batters with higher averages, 8 on the JMU squad. Joey Wood (leads in slugging on the Panthers), Rob Lind and Ryan Fleming both have 2 home runs each. Mark Micowski is repeating his early 2010 performance with a somewhat slow start. He's hitting .281 but does have (team leading) 7 RBIs.
It's undisputable that the early season MVP goes to the GSU pitching staff. After being a middle of the road crew last season, the Panthers are sporting the league's lowest team ERA at 2.34 (starters at 1.99). The next best is Old Dominion at 3.04 and VCU at 3.38. The Panthers also lead in shutouts with 3 (2nd best is UNCW with 1) and opposing hitters are batting only .214 against them which is also best in the CAA. A stat I like looking at is walks and hits per inning pitched (WHIP). The Panthers lead here with a ratio of just over 1.0. Here's where I can give you some comfort if you're still scared about JMU. Their team WHIP is near 2.0 and team ERA is 7.94. The Panthers have proven to be a far superior pitching team thus far and typically pitching wins games. Good pitching will cool off hot hitting. James Madison has their record because of their offense. Our series against them will be an interesting one for sure.
This needs to stand out and be seen because these guys have worked their tails off for us so far. In the top 5 of CAA pitchers with an ERA of 0.00 who've gone the most innings you'll find 4 Panthers. Starters Justin Malone and Nick Squeglia as well as relievers Jake Dyer and Sam Agnew-Wieland. Jake (junior) and Sam (freshman) are both new additions to the pitching squad for the 2011 season. Good job guys.
The worst news for the season so far is the fielding effort. The Panthers find themselves dead in the middle for fielding percentage in the CAA. I'll be honest, I assumed we were bottom 3 so this is good news I guess. The defense has turned the most double plays at 10, some of which being highlight makers and ERA savers.
Well that's it for now. We'll look at the run production level in another couple weeks after we have more data. My early guess is that RPG will edge closer to 8/8.5 but I don't see it reaching last year's NCAA leading number of 10.5.
On to Tech!
First off, the baseball Panthers are 7-1 through the first 8 games of the 2011 season. In comparison to last year that's 5 wins better, even if you remove the opening series against #7 ranked FSU it's 2 wins better. The top three teams in the CAA are currently GSU @ 7-1, James Madison @ 7-1 and George Mason @ 6-2.
I think the obvious statement of the season so far would be this: the new bat rule IS affecting offensive production. The Panthers scored 72 runs through the first 8 games in the 2010 season (9 RPG). The run total for this season so far is 55 or 6.9 RPG which is far below the 2010 total of 10.5 RPG. I have personally seen about 6-8 balls hit (by the Panthers) to the outfield and caught for outs that would have been a home run last year. Just for the Panthers to keep up with last year's production they will have to score 17.9 RPG over the next 8 games and I don't see this happening, especially considering the next 3 opponents are Georgia Tech, Iowa and Mississippi State. The point is, run production for the Panthers is down thus far however they are 3rd in the CAA for runs scored behind George Mason (72) and James Madison (132). Yes, you read that correctly. Allow me to expand on JMU for a minute.
Can someone check the bats the JMU baseball team is carrying around??? Here's some numbers for you. 132 runs scored (2nd best is GM at 72), batting .431 as a team (2nd best is GM at .327), 29 home runs (2nd best is GSU at 8) and slugging .869 (2nd best is GM at .472). Those are crazy numbers my friends. In addition they've stolen 29 of 31 bases and you're next best in that category would be GSU at 20 of 23. You may say to yourself, "well they probably strike out alot with those numbers." Nope, they're currently sitting on the lowest K/AB ratio in the CAA. Now that I may have frightened you about JMU's offensive production let's move on.
Back to the GSU offense for a quick look at individual performances. Brett Maxwell, Joey Wood and Bryan Condotta are the only three Panthers batting over .300. Maxwell leads the team at .444. There are 13 CAA batters with higher averages, 8 on the JMU squad. Joey Wood (leads in slugging on the Panthers), Rob Lind and Ryan Fleming both have 2 home runs each. Mark Micowski is repeating his early 2010 performance with a somewhat slow start. He's hitting .281 but does have (team leading) 7 RBIs.
It's undisputable that the early season MVP goes to the GSU pitching staff. After being a middle of the road crew last season, the Panthers are sporting the league's lowest team ERA at 2.34 (starters at 1.99). The next best is Old Dominion at 3.04 and VCU at 3.38. The Panthers also lead in shutouts with 3 (2nd best is UNCW with 1) and opposing hitters are batting only .214 against them which is also best in the CAA. A stat I like looking at is walks and hits per inning pitched (WHIP). The Panthers lead here with a ratio of just over 1.0. Here's where I can give you some comfort if you're still scared about JMU. Their team WHIP is near 2.0 and team ERA is 7.94. The Panthers have proven to be a far superior pitching team thus far and typically pitching wins games. Good pitching will cool off hot hitting. James Madison has their record because of their offense. Our series against them will be an interesting one for sure.
This needs to stand out and be seen because these guys have worked their tails off for us so far. In the top 5 of CAA pitchers with an ERA of 0.00 who've gone the most innings you'll find 4 Panthers. Starters Justin Malone and Nick Squeglia as well as relievers Jake Dyer and Sam Agnew-Wieland. Jake (junior) and Sam (freshman) are both new additions to the pitching squad for the 2011 season. Good job guys.
The worst news for the season so far is the fielding effort. The Panthers find themselves dead in the middle for fielding percentage in the CAA. I'll be honest, I assumed we were bottom 3 so this is good news I guess. The defense has turned the most double plays at 10, some of which being highlight makers and ERA savers.
Well that's it for now. We'll look at the run production level in another couple weeks after we have more data. My early guess is that RPG will edge closer to 8/8.5 but I don't see it reaching last year's NCAA leading number of 10.5.
On to Tech!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Georgia State Baseball (4-0) vs Western Illinois (0-3)
Who: Western Illinois Fighting Leathernecks (we'll call them WIFL for short), compete in the NCAA D1 Summit League. The Leathernecks baseball team has not had much success in recent years due to Oral Roberts run of the conference. The team returns 7 of 9 starter position players and only 5 of 15 pitchers from last year and enters Friday's game with a record of 0-3 after being swept at Samford. This is the first matchup with Western Illinois.
Previous Season: WIFL finished the 2010 season with a 14-39 overall record finishing 8th (last) in the Summit League.
Western Illinois at the Plate: The Leathernecks are currently batting .204 as a team. They have not shown much offensive ability thus far as they've scored only 9 runs. The team has 7 extra base hits, 2 being HRs. They've walked 11 times and went down swinging 37 times through 103 at-bats. They do have a speed threat in outfielder Anthony Kaskadden who is 4 of 4 in stolen base attempts in his 3 games. Interesting note, all 4 stolen bases came in one game. I don't expect much luck for them against our pitching staff.
Western Illinois on the Mound: The starters are 0-3 and the team is enjoying an 8.62 ERA coming into Friday. I see this number being increased when the Leathernecks leave town Sunday. The starters (all rightys) are as follows:
Beau Below, Senior - Rough first outing for Beau. 0-1 with a 36.00 ERA after giving up 9 runs in his first and only inning of work. Batters hit .800 against him.
Ryan Wachholder, Junior - Ryan, also 0-1, gave up 5 runs on 8 hits in his 5 innings pitched. He does have 5 strikeouts and only 1 walk to go with it. Ryan is a new addition to the team and pitched well at his previous community college.
Alexander Zarate, Junior - 0-1. Gave up 6 runs on 5 hits in 4 innings pitched. Zarate is another community college transfer and was an effective pitcher in 2010. He didn't see much action in 2009.
Dustin Hunter, Junior - Has appeared in 2 games, pitching 1.2 innings of relief work and has been touched for 7 runs. Yet another community college transfer posting a 10-4 record in his first two years.
The Leathernecks have only 1 relief pitcher who has thrown 1 or more innings without giving up a run. Chris Fuchs had 1 clean inning of work allowing no hits and striking out 1.
Georgia State at the Plate: After the offensive breakout at Mercer on Tuesday, the Panthers are now batting .295 as a team. Improved but there's still room to grow especially considering Micowski is still trying to get going. Nothing wrong with a slow start (Mark Texeira anyone?) as long as you get going before the conference play, or preferably the GT game. Senior Brett Maxwell (OF) is currently leading the CAA in batting average at .727 and he's 3 for 4 in stolen bases. Rob Lind will look to continue his blasting efforts after hitting 2 out of the park at Mercer. The lineup should look the same as it did on opening day.
Georgia State on the Mound: Justin Malone, Nick Squeglia, Will Campbell and Charley Olsen will take the mound for the Panthers. All of these starters are 1-0 on the season and Campbell is the only one with an ERA above 0.00, at a cool 1.29. Justin gave up 7 hits in his 6 inning effort on opening day but kept the runs from crossing. Nick gave up only 3 hit in 5 innings with 3 K's. Will Campbell had a great first outing giving the bullpen some relief by going 7 innings and giving up only 1 run. Charley gave relief to Aidan Francis at Mercer and earned the win while going 4 innings giving up only 3 hits and 1 run. Charley sent away 7 batters by strikeout in his outing.
The Panthers outmatch the Fighting Leathernecks in all phases of the game. Georgia State will be looking to carry an 8-0 record into Russ Chandler Stadium for in-state showdown with Georgia Tech next Wednesday. Get out and enjoy the beautiful weather and what's sure to be an offensive attack on the Leathernecks pitching staff at Panthersville! GO PANTHERS!!!
Previous Season: WIFL finished the 2010 season with a 14-39 overall record finishing 8th (last) in the Summit League.
Western Illinois at the Plate: The Leathernecks are currently batting .204 as a team. They have not shown much offensive ability thus far as they've scored only 9 runs. The team has 7 extra base hits, 2 being HRs. They've walked 11 times and went down swinging 37 times through 103 at-bats. They do have a speed threat in outfielder Anthony Kaskadden who is 4 of 4 in stolen base attempts in his 3 games. Interesting note, all 4 stolen bases came in one game. I don't expect much luck for them against our pitching staff.
Western Illinois on the Mound: The starters are 0-3 and the team is enjoying an 8.62 ERA coming into Friday. I see this number being increased when the Leathernecks leave town Sunday. The starters (all rightys) are as follows:
Beau Below, Senior - Rough first outing for Beau. 0-1 with a 36.00 ERA after giving up 9 runs in his first and only inning of work. Batters hit .800 against him.
Ryan Wachholder, Junior - Ryan, also 0-1, gave up 5 runs on 8 hits in his 5 innings pitched. He does have 5 strikeouts and only 1 walk to go with it. Ryan is a new addition to the team and pitched well at his previous community college.
Alexander Zarate, Junior - 0-1. Gave up 6 runs on 5 hits in 4 innings pitched. Zarate is another community college transfer and was an effective pitcher in 2010. He didn't see much action in 2009.
Dustin Hunter, Junior - Has appeared in 2 games, pitching 1.2 innings of relief work and has been touched for 7 runs. Yet another community college transfer posting a 10-4 record in his first two years.
The Leathernecks have only 1 relief pitcher who has thrown 1 or more innings without giving up a run. Chris Fuchs had 1 clean inning of work allowing no hits and striking out 1.
Georgia State at the Plate: After the offensive breakout at Mercer on Tuesday, the Panthers are now batting .295 as a team. Improved but there's still room to grow especially considering Micowski is still trying to get going. Nothing wrong with a slow start (Mark Texeira anyone?) as long as you get going before the conference play, or preferably the GT game. Senior Brett Maxwell (OF) is currently leading the CAA in batting average at .727 and he's 3 for 4 in stolen bases. Rob Lind will look to continue his blasting efforts after hitting 2 out of the park at Mercer. The lineup should look the same as it did on opening day.
Georgia State on the Mound: Justin Malone, Nick Squeglia, Will Campbell and Charley Olsen will take the mound for the Panthers. All of these starters are 1-0 on the season and Campbell is the only one with an ERA above 0.00, at a cool 1.29. Justin gave up 7 hits in his 6 inning effort on opening day but kept the runs from crossing. Nick gave up only 3 hit in 5 innings with 3 K's. Will Campbell had a great first outing giving the bullpen some relief by going 7 innings and giving up only 1 run. Charley gave relief to Aidan Francis at Mercer and earned the win while going 4 innings giving up only 3 hits and 1 run. Charley sent away 7 batters by strikeout in his outing.
The Panthers outmatch the Fighting Leathernecks in all phases of the game. Georgia State will be looking to carry an 8-0 record into Russ Chandler Stadium for in-state showdown with Georgia Tech next Wednesday. Get out and enjoy the beautiful weather and what's sure to be an offensive attack on the Leathernecks pitching staff at Panthersville! GO PANTHERS!!!
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