MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Morehead State baseball looks to rebound after a difficult 2011 season, with an influx of talented junior college and freshmen players anchored by a core of veteran talent.
Jay Sorg heads into his fifth season at the helm of the Eagles and believes the team is geared for the highly competitive year following a 10-39 finish last season.
“Despite the fact that we didn’t win a lot of games last year, we were in a lot of games,” said Sorg. “I think we will be competitive and win more games this year.”
Despite the loss of First Team All-Ohio Valley Conference pick and offensive leader Taylor Davis, the Eagles return a talented bunch of seasoned student-athletes, including senior
Andrew Deeds, who also earned First Team All-OVC honors last year.
“We are expecting big things from Deeds,” explained Sorg. “He has had such a great career here. We think he is the kind of guy who can be OVC Player of the Year.”
Deeds combined with Davis last season to form a powerful hitting tandem, but alone he can be just as dangerous. Deeds batted .380 last season with 17 doubles, five home runs, 49 RBI and a school-record seven triples. He also broke the program career record for triples with 11.
Sorg expects Deeds to split time in the outfield and at third base this season.
The Eagle infield will also see some noticeable changes. Competition has been stiff for the opening left by two graduating seniors, first baseman Michael Fear and second baseman Travis Redmon.
“You may see a lot of combinations on the infield,” said Sorg. “Especially in end-of- game switches, pinch hitting and pinch running. In years past there has been a considerable drop off from our starters. I think this year we have some returning guys with a lot of experience, and the new guys have a lot of junior college experience.”
Returnees
Bud Morton,
Austin Haney,
Cole Cleveland and
Kellen Begeman scored valuable playing time last year for MSU, and they have jockeyed for starting spots with talented junior college transfers in the off-season. Seasoned JuCo standouts like
Jeff Birkofer,
Chase Greenwell and
Bobby Lewis will also see time on the infield for the Eagles.
“Something about our club this year that is different than previous years is that we are deeper,” said Sorg. “With that depth, there is not a lot of difference between the first-string guy and second-string guy. You can see guys flip flopping on the depth chart.”
Depth is never more evident in this year’s Eagle squad than in the outfield, where Sorg admits multiple players could earn the starting nod.
“We have five players who could be starters in the outfield,” explained Sorg. “You look at Deeds,
Nick Duff,
Duran Elmore,
Taylor Pickens and
Luke Bainer. All of those guys could be a starter out there.”
Pickens joins the club after a pair of seasons at Olney Community College. He stole 30 bases last season and compiled a .300 batting average.
Elmore was redshirted last season and is expected to see significant playing time for the Eagles this year both in centerfield and on the mound. A Louisville?Slugger TPX High School All-American at Danville, Elmore is a quick and athletic right-handed bat.
Senior outfielder
Luke Bainer served as the Eagles primary right fielder last year and hit .306 with five home runs and 24 RBI. He is expected to resume his duties corralling caroms off the high right field wall at Allen Field.
MSU expects a retooled pitching staff to make last season’s pitching statistics a distant memory. With an injection of junior college and freshmen pitching talent at the front and back end of games, Eagle throwers are primed for a successful 2012 campaign.
The addition of two talented freshmen arms will bolster a rotation that ranked last in the conference last season.
Aaron Goe and
Blake Smith were two highly touted recruits that Sorg believes will make a difference this season and beyond.
“Goe is probably our best arm in terms of upside,” said Sorg. “Smith has a chance to be a special pitcher for us.”
Righty
Josh Schneider returns for his senior season and junior southpaw
Garrick Whittle is healthy to start the year. Whittle led the team last season with three wins.
“We have six guys vying hard for a spot in the starting rotation,” explained Sorg. “
Garrick Whittle bounced back very well after battling cancer last year.
Josh Schneider, who has worked a lot of roles for us over his years here.
Noah Smallwood did a very good job with his poise on the mound last year. Like any freshman, he had some games where he looked very good like his start against West Virginia and games where he struggled a little bit in conference. But he kept his poise no matter what.”
The bullpen has seen a makeover since last year with the addition of Second Team National Junior College All-American
Matt Duncan at the back end. Duncan was selected to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Watch List after a dominating sophomore season at Southeastern Community College. He surrendered just three earned runs during the 2011 campaign, held a 0.83 ERA over 32.2 innings and earned 13 saves.
“Matt Duncan was a really highly touted pitcher out of junior college, a junior college All-American, and the key for us is getting him the ball with the lead late in the game,” said Sorg. “We have been really impressed with him through he fall and the spring.”
Senior
Eric Bainer and junior
Drew Williams are expected to be behind the dish in 2012.
“Despite the fact that we had Taylor all those years, Eric has caught a lot of games for us,” said Sorg. “And when he wasn’t catching, he was our DH.
Drew Williams was here his freshman year. We really liked him. He went to a junior college and we told him we wanted to recruit him once his time at his junior college was up. He is going to do a nice job helping us behind the plate.”
Bainer made 43 starts for MSU last season and hit .286 with 11 doubles and 26 RBI.
Sorg believes that after a tough transitional year last season, the Eagles are ready to compete in 2012.
“Our schedule on paper is a little bit easier than it has been in the past,” said Sorg. “We have some pieces in place and we are going to play hard. And if we do those things we have a chance to be a nice club at the end of the year.”
