Hi all,
I'm sure you all are just as excited about the looming weekend opener as Greg and I.
Ryan Gregg, our stalker of a sports editor, saw the players taking off for Florida this morning from his apartment, so things are really getting under way. Greg and I also have features running in tomorrow's edition of the IDS for you to check out. Outfielder Kipp Schutz isn't with that group, as he is still getting over appendicitis, but is expected to be back in action next weekend.
Below is a quick rundown of the Hoosiers weekend competitors, projected pitchers and batting orders. Descriptions of each team are also down below, if you make it that far.
Feb. 20 at McKechnie Field in Bradenton- 4 p.m.
IU vs. West Virginia
IU - LHP Matt Bashore WVU - RHP Billy Gross
Feb. 21 at Red McEwen Field in Tampa- 1p.m.
IU vs. Georgetown
IU - RHP Eric Arnett GU - RHP Tim Adleman
Feb. 22 at Frederick A. Naimoli Complex in St. Petersburg- 1p.m.
University of South Florida
IU - LHP Blake Monar USF - RHP Shawn Sanford
Projected Batting Order
Crawford, CF Hervey, RF Phegley, C Dickerson, DH Sabourin, 1B Earley, LF Rogers, 2B Wilson, 3B Dunning, SS
Quick Description of each competitor
West Virginia
West Virginia returns eight of its nine position players, and four of its top pitchers from a 31-25 season, which landed them seventh in the BIG EAST. The Mountaineers have a couple of talented players within that group. Pitcher Billy Gross (5-2, 3.01 ERA) returns after an impressive season and will take on Bashore.
The Mountaineers also have some hitting with all-BIG EAST Third Team performer, senior first baseman Joe Agreste who batted .369 and hit six home runs, 45 RBI, 15 doubles and six triples. He also carried a .620 slugging percentage.
The most impressive player is sophomore shortstop Joe Gyorko, who hit .409 with eight home runs and 63 RBI, and graces just as many All-American lists as Phegley. He was second team BIG EAST, and had his name associated with every freshman All-American list known to man. He's hitting in the third spot and is obviously dangerous at the plate.
Georgetown
A less impressive team, Georgetown went 18-32 last season. They had four players hit above .300. One of which was senior outfielder Matt Harrirgan who hit .336, with four home runs and 24 RBI. Surprisingly, the Hoyas played worse at home, losing 6-16.
Another talented player was redshirt sophomore first baseman Dan Capeless, who led the team in hits (53), and finished second in runs (34) and home runs (7). He also had a .425 on-base percentage.
Despite their record, the Hoyas pitchers set the school-record for fewest walks. Jimmy Saris is the ace of this staff. He won a team-high six games, while pitching 55.2 innings and throwing 44 strikeouts.
South Florida
South Florida is a pretty good, as many warm-weather teams tend to be. The Bulls are predicted to finish second in the Big East after posting a 31-27 record. Outfielder Ryan Lockwood was the first freshman to ever lead the BIG EAST in conference-play batting average at .454. He also posted a .415 average in 47 games. A BIG EAST All-Conference First Team performer, the sophomore is poised to slow down some but would be one for the Hoosiers to be cognoscente of.
USF also lead the country in batters hit by a pitch, finishing the year with 116, just nine short of an NCAA record of 125, set by Nevada in 1997.
The season is finally here, and I saw that talk already started about this weekend. So what do you guys think about the upcoming competitors? Sound off?
