MOREHEAD, Ky. – Head Coach Jay Sorg and the 2010 Morehead State baseball squad returns starters at every position, has a preseason All-American power hitting shortstop, and plays one of the most competitive schedules in the Ohio Valley Conference as the 2010 season kicks off with a four-game set at Mercer this weekend.
The Team
MSU is coming off a 2009 season where they finished third in the OVC with a conference record of 12-10. The 2009 season marked the first time in four years that MSU qualified for the conference tournament, where they were knocked out in the second round of the loser’s bracket by Murray State. Overall the club finished the 2009 season with a record of 20-32.
Sorg returns the majority of the players that helped MSU to many national top 50 statistical rankings last season. The club led the nation in double plays turned per game and also ranked in the top fifty in batting average (41), scoring (48), home runs (19), home runs per game (14), slugging percentage (14), and double plays (6).
The Eagles were picked fifth in the Preseason OVC Coaches Poll, behind top pick Eastern Illinois, Jacksonville State, Tennessee Tech, and Murray State. Eastern Kentucky, SEMO, Austin Peay, and UT Martin rounded out the poll in what many consider to be a wide open OVC race.
“We feel like we are one of those teams that are in the hunt (for the OVC Title),” said Sorg. “This is the strongest the league has been since I’ve been here and I think a lot of the teams in the conference feel they have a chance to win it.”
The Players
“We return starters at all nine positions and I feel like we are 13 players deep with some interchangeable parts,” Sorg stated. “So what that’s done is allow for some very good competition, which pushes all the guys to get better because they have guys behind them who are ready to play.”
A Preseason All-American and the Presason OVC Co-Player of the Year,
shortstop Drew Lee was a force both behind the plate and in the field a season ago, and will look to add to his storied MSU career during his senior season. Lee broke the school record for hits in a season (86) and led the Eagles in batting average (.413) home runs (17) and RBI (67) a season ago. Lee was also part of a middle infield that turned the most double plays in the country. He was a Louisville Slugger All-America pick last season and has already been named to the Louisville Slugger and Ping!Baseball Preseason All-America teams this season. Lee will most likely leave MSU as the career leader in hits and total bases.
#J.D. Ashbrook# was a mainstay in
centerfield for Sorg in 2009 and earned second Team All-OVC honors for his play. Ashbrook finished the season tied for second on the team in batting average (.366) and led the club in runs scored (65). Ashbrook also hit 14 homers and batted in 36 runs. The Cynthiana Ky. native also swiped 10 bases in 15 attempts.
First Baseman/Starting Pitcher Michael Bottoms not only returns as the team leader in ERA from a season ago, but also as one of Sorg’s top threats at the plate. Appearing primarily in a relief and closing role, the Harrodsburg, Ky. native compiled a 3-5 record on the hill and team low ERA of 4.15 in 52 innings of work. This season, Bottoms will move out of the bullpen and back to the top of the starting rotation and will also see significant action at first base. At the plate, Bottoms was second on the team in RBI (61), while belting eight homers and hitting for an average of .350 on the season.
“We have Drew, and J.D., and Michael, and I thought these were the guys that would have to lead our club coming out of last year, and I think as seniors they are excited to leave on a high note,” commented Sorg. “They are outstanding leaders for us.”
Also seeing time at
first base, will be junior
Michael Fear. The Versailles, Ind. native started 30 games last season, batting .291 and driving in 19 runs.
Sophomore
Third Baseman #Andrew Deeds# will look to expand on a successful freshman season where he tied for second on the team in batting average (.366), drove in 37 runs, and led the team with 14 stolen bases. Deeds earned OVC All-Freshmen team honors for his efforts and was also named Freshman All-America by Collegiate Baseball.
Second Baseman Travis Redmon also returns to the middle of the infield. The junior from Lexington, Ky. is the second half of the middle infield that led the nation in double plays last season. Offensively, Redmon hit .260, belted the homers, and stole eight bases last season.
Behind the plate, sophomore
Taylor Davis returns as the starting
catcher. The Jupiter, Fla. native batted .315 and belted 12 four-baggers during his freshman season while also driving in 40 runs. Sophomore
Eric Bainer will also see action behind the plate and also serve as the primary
designated hitter. As a freshman the Louisville, Ky., hit .302 with nine home runs en route to an OVC All-Freshman Team nod.
Outfielders Daniel Pugh and Lucas Bainer return to form the final two-thirds of the Eagle outfield. Pugh, a junior from Paintsville, Ky., batted .297 as a sophomore while hitting eight home runs and tallying 38 RBI. Bainer, a sophomore from Louisville, Ky., hit .324 during his rookie campaign, smacking nine long balls and receiving OVC All-Freshman Team honors.
On the mound, MSU will have to overcome the loss of Tyler Bess, last season’s most consistent starter, to graduation. The Eagles do return experienced
starting pitchers in
Jeff Arnold,
Trey Smith,
Quentin Morgan, and
Tyler Hieneman to comprise the rest of the starting staff. Arnold started eight games last season and made relief appearances in 10 other contests. The Junior Louisville, Ky. native’s 5-1 record tied him for most wins on last year’s team. Smith, a junior from London, Ky., also made eight starts and 10 relief appearances last year and pitched total of 49 innings strucking out 36 during the season. Morgan made the most starts (13) of anyone on the team last season and finished the season with an era of 6.14 in 71.1 innings pitched. Hieneman made 16 appearances last season (three starts) and will likely be the midweek starter of the staff.
Commented Sorg on his staff: “I think our starters will get deeper into games this year and we will have better quality in the middle out of our pitching staff.”
The Eagle
relief pitching staff is formed by the core group of seniors
Michael Fahs and
Hunter Hewitt, junior
Jake Helvey, and sophomores
Matthew Robertson and
Josh Schneider. Fahs made 16 appearances out of the bullpen last season, totaling 17.1 innings of work and tallied a record of 1-1. Robertson put in 14.1 innings of work during his freshman season, while Hewitt and Schneider will be returning from injury shortened 2009 seasons and will add quality depth. Schneider was a top starter on the pitching in both of his first two seasons before being sidelined with injuries and will look to return to form coming out of the bullpen. Helvey made only six appearances last season but pitched in 19 contests during his freshman season and will be looking to make a similar impact this spring.
Freshman
Cody Gibson will start the season as the club’s
closer. Gibson comes to MSU after a successful career at Pleasure Ridge Park high school in Louisville and will have an immediate impact for the club during his freshman season.
“I’m excited about what our back end looks like, Cody is tremendously improved over his last high school year and coming in this year as a freshman. We also get Josh Schneider back, who was a starter for us in the past, and we’ll throw him out of the pen to help his arm along.”
MSU will also look to several other players to contribute during the 2010 season including Junior
Casey Branham who appeared in 36 games last season as a utility player and started nine games. Sophomore
Cameron Flynn also saw extensive action last season, starting in 10 games and appearing in 16 others. Flynn also made three appearances on the hill and will see extensive action in the outfield in the 2010 campaign.
Along with Gibson, two other freshmen will look to make significant contributions for Sorg’s club. Shortstop
Austin Haney will add depth to the middle infield and right-handed hurler
Garrick Whittle will likely see action as a middle reliever.
The Schedule
An exciting and challenging schedule that awaits Sorg and his players in 2010 is highlighted by an early season matchup with Louisville (ranked #20 in the AP Preseason Poll), home dates with Kentucky and Indiana, and four OVC home series.
“We play 13 different conferences this year, so I’m excited to see how we stack up,” said Sorg. “We also play a couple of teams from the SEC and the BIG EAST. It’s a very tough schedule, but I think it will make us better for our conference schedule.”
After opening the season with a four game set at Mercer Feb. 19 – 21, the Eagles will travel to Louisville to face the #20 Cardinals on Feb. 23. MSU then travels to the first of its two round-robin tournaments of 2010: the UNC Wilmington Hughes Brothers Baseball Challenge. The Eagles will take on Liberty, UNC Wilmington, and Lehigh during the tournament.
MSU opens the home portion of the season on March 2 when Kentuckys visit Morehead for a 2 p.m. showdown. The Eagles then welcome Buffalo for a four game weekend set at Allen Field.
MSU hosts Transylvania on March 10 before traveling to the University of Evansville Dunn Hospitality Diamond Classic, where the Eagles will face the host Purple Aces, the Boilermakers of Purdue, and the Dolphins of LeMoyne.
A midweek road game at Tennessee precedes a 12 game home stand that includes nonconference weekend series with IPFW and SIU Edwardsville and the opening OVC weekend versus Southeast Missouri State. Indiana, the 2009 Big Ten Tournament Champions also visit Morehead during the stand, as the Eagles will battle the Hoosiers on March 23.
The rest of the OVC schedule finds MSU visiting Eastern Illinois, Tennessee Tech, Austin Peay, and Murray State, while hosting Eastern Kentucky, UT Martin, and Jacksonville State for three game sets. A game at Cincinnati, and a three game set with Marshall (two on the road, one at home) make up the midweek Eagle schedule during the conference season.
The 2010 OVC Basbeball Tournament will move from Paducah, Ky. to Pringles Park in Jackson, Tenn. Pringles Park is the home of the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx, the double AA affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. Pringles Park provides the OVC Tournament with major league style amenities for this season’s tournament. The tournament will take place from May 26-30.
