Mountaineers bring experience, depth
to Baum Stadium
The
Arkansas Razorbacks open their baseball season this weekend against the
Appalachian State Mountaineers, and for both of these teams the first pitch
cannot come soon enough. The Hogs are
coming off a season that began with high expectations and ended with broken
hearts. Similarly, the Mountaineers saw
a promising start to last season turn into a disappointing finish and were left
wondering what could have been. Last
year’s team had signature wins over national power—and the nation’s number one
collegiate pitcher—North Carolina State and SEC stalwart Georgia. Their overall record of 30-24 does not tell
the true story of how good the team really was.
And a closer look at the numbers shows that the team played well away
from home, going 15-11 on the road. The
Mountaineers also played well in the post-season last year, beating No.1 seeded
Western Carolina in the SOCON tournament before eventually falling to the Citadel
in the semi-finals. There are high
expectations for Mountaineers again this year.
They have been picked by the conference coaches to finish 3rd
in the SOCON. Appalachian State has a
chance, with a strong conference finish and key wins over some tough non-conference
opponents, to possibly make the NCAA tournament.
With
hitting leaders like Hector Crespo (.336/40RBI) and Will Callaway (.344/40RBI)
graduating, Appalachian State will turn to some new faces in order to score
runs. First baseman Bradley Morton
transferred in from Louisburg College where he hit a solid .420 as a
sophomore. Ozzie Gonzalez, a transfer
from Miami, could really add some pop to the middle of the order. He hit 2 homeruns and drove in 5 runs over
the last two games of their three game fall intra-squad series. The Mountaineers will also have some familiar
names back in the line-up this year, including Tyler Zupic who is coming off of
a knee injury from 2012 that forced him to miss all of last season. In that 2012 season Zupic lead the team in
most offensive categories and set a number of school records, including having
a 19-game hitting streak. Despite not
playing for almost 20 months Zupic has been chosen as a 1st team
all-Southern Conference selection. Sophomore
Alex Leach (.370/54AB) has shown clutch hitting in his short career and could
possibly help at the top of the line-up.
Others who should have a large impact in putting runs on the board for
the Mountaineers this year include seniors Noah Holmes (.296), who led the team
last year with 5 homeruns, and William Head, who was successful on 27 of 31
stolen base attempts. Look for
Appalachian State to have a very patient approach at the plate and simply work
hard to find ways to get on base. The
power numbers are not there as they only hit 37 homeruns last year as a club;
however, they proved to be a very effective base running team, stealing 100
bases in 124 attempts. Expect the
Mountaineers to get on base by any means possible and to manufacture runs
throughout each game.
Having
three proven pitchers in your weekend rotation is enough to make any coach
happy. Which means Appalachian State
coach Billy Jones is likely grinning from ear to ear. Setting the tone for the Mountaineers this
year will be last year’s Friday starter junior righty Jamie Nunn. A nine game winner last year, Nunn finished
the year with a 3.96 ERA and averaged better than 2 strikeouts per walk. His biggest win of the year came in the
season opener against eventual College World Series participant NC State, who
trotted all-everything lefty Carlos Rodon out to face Nunn. Sunday’s starter will likely be junior
Jeffrey Springs. The lefty is in the
weekend rotation for the second straight season after starting 11 games for the
Mountaineers last year. All indications
point to sixth-year senior Tyler Moore taking the mound to start the Saturday
game. Moore has appeared in 60 games
over the course of his career at Appalachian State, but this will be his first
collegiate start. The bullpen could pose
some question marks for the Mountaineers.
They are having to replace 3 key contributors from last season’s club,
two of which combined for 80% of the teams saves. The pitcher that fans are likely to see the
most of from this staff is junior Taylor Thurber. Thurber led the team with 26 appearances a
season ago and had an astounding 5.14 strikeout to walk ratio. His pinpoint control helped him manage just
over 1 walk per nine innings. Also
expected to contribute out of the pen are highly touted freshmen Matt Brill,
who was selected in the 24th round of last year’s MLB draft, and
Sean Mason. Both are righties who may be
leaned upon heavily at times over the course of the weekend. At the back end of the bullpen is JUCO transfer
Robert Whaley, a righty who has a thick frame and has shown a very live arm
over the fall. This combination of
seasoned veterans and optimistic youngsters could be just the right formula to
spell trouble for the Razorbacks throughout the series.
Appalachian
State is a team coming to Fayetteville, AR on a mission. They have a great opportunity to beat a top
25 team on the road in a traditionally hostile environment. The Mountaineers have nothing to lose in this
situation. If they come to Baum Stadium
and get beat well hey, they were supposed to, right? But if they can come in and find a way to
win, even one game, it will be a huge lift for their season and for the program
overall. Don’t let Appalachian State’s
all-time record of 10-36 against the SEC fool you. They have won 6 of their last 10 games
against SEC foes including taking two of three from LSU at Alex Box Stadium in
2012. Every Hog fan knows what a
difficult atmosphere that is in Baton Rouge and the Mountaineers never batted
an eye. They will come to town with no
fear and a chip on their shoulder. The
Razorbacks need to be highly focused and on their game in order to win this
weekend. This will not be a pushover
opening series.
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