Baseball Season Preview Part One: Pitching

Morehead, Ky.-- The Morehead State baseball team is gearing up for their season opener Friday with UMass-Lowell. The Eagles are coming off a 2025 season that saw their pitching staff decimated by injuries to returners and newcomers alike.
 
Similarly, injuries nagged the Eagle position players as well. Morehead State is looking to rebound in 2026 and return to the type of success the program has become accustomed to.
 
A couple of sophomores, Landon Waugh and Kamden Hawks, are expected to begin the season as anchors of the staff.
 
"Those two guys (Waugh and Hawks), because of all the injuries we had, got catapulted into a bigger role than we would normally want for a true freshman," said Morehead State head coach Chris Rose. "We would prefer to ease them into the roles they had to assume."
 
"I think that has helped them this year, they are much more mature than the normal sophomore," said Rose. "They understand they have to create outs, they understand what their weaknesses were last year and they've really done a good job of addressing those."

Waugh, a Louisville native, appeared in 18 games last season, making two starts. He posted no record but got his first career save against Western Illinois May 11. In 41 innings pitched, he gave up 26 runs (24 earned). He struck out 34 hitters and walked 29.
 
Rose tabbed him as the Friday starter to begin the season.
 
"With Waugh, last year was never really a stuff thing," said Rose. "He's a smaller-framed guy and the ability to really bounce back (after an outing) was a challenge. He's worked on his physicality and has found a routine that works for him to be ready to go every week as a starter.
 
Hawks appeared in games last season making 10 starts. He led the MSU staff with 57 strikeouts, ranking eighth in the OVC.
 
"He was just so aggressive last season, he was more of a thrower than a pitcher," said Rose. "He went deep into a lot of counts last season, seven or eight pitches until he walked or struck somebody out. This season, he's understanding of what he has to do create outs."
 
Hawks threw a team-high 58 innings last season, giving up 53 hits and holding opponents to a .245 batting average. He gave up 53 runs (40 earned).
 
"Learning how to create contact early and getting his punchout when that opens itself up is going to be key for him," said Rose.
 
Rose said Hawks' increasing command of his slider and the development of a change up have both made jumps in the offseason. Rose said Hawks figures to be the Saturday starter for the Eagles.
 
"Having those two guys set the tone for the weekend is huge," said Rose "We want to set the tone for Friday with a strike thrower and that's what Waugh is. The Saturday game is a big deal in a series. It give you a chance to win the series if you won on Friday, or gives you a chance to win it on Sunday.
 
"We're leaning heavily on those two guys and they're doing everything they can to separate themselves from what I think is a really deep pitching staff," said Rose.
 
Rose said senior Ethan Davis has impressed in the preseason.
 
"He's been throwing a lot of strikes with two or three pitches every time he comes out," said Rose.
 
Davis appeared in 15 games last season making four starts and posted a 2-4 record. He threw 24 innings with 19 strikeouts.

Rose singled out three freshmen as having a strong fall and preseason: Connor Davis, Sam Smith and Cole Wells.
 
Davis, a 6'-2" right-hander, is a product out of Reading High School in Cincinnati, where he played for Morehead State baseball alum R J Hayes. He was a First-Team All-Ohio Division 4 selection. In seven appearances, Davis posted a 4-2 record with a 2.33 ERA. In 39 innings pitched, he struck out 66 batters and posted a .744 WHIP.
 
Smith, a native of Chapel Hill, N.C., was a standout at East Chapel Hill High School and Wells had an outstanding senior season last Spring at Lynchburg-Clay High School in Lynchburg, Ohio. He posted a 6-0 record with a 0.84 ERA. In 58.2 innings, he struck out 107 batters and walked just 17, while holding opponents to a .164 batting average.  
 
Rose said the coaching staff is excited for the return of Carter Owens and Callum McGill, both of whom missed last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Owen emerged in 2024 as a two way player, making 17 appearances on the mound with eight starts. He posted a 3-3 record with a 6.75 ERA. In 41.1 innings pitched, he struck out 34 batters. In Owens' freshman campaign, the Lexington Lafayette product hit .243 with six doubles, three triples and three home runs with 11 runs batted in.
 
"(Owens) will hit, probably be a bat off the bench instead of seeing a lot of time in the outfield because he's just too big of a piece for us on the mound," said Rose.
 
Rose said newcomer Hayden Mains, a Morehead native and Rowan County Senior High School product could also see action both on the mound and in the batters' box. Mains was a Second-Team All-State selection in his senior season in 2024, hitting .460. He led the State with nine triples and posted a .814 Slugging Percentage.
 
McGill, who was injured last January, will not be fully released until a couple of weeks into the season. Rose said he is healthy and his velocity is coming back. In 2024 as a true freshman, McGill appeared on the mound in 13 games with 11 starts. He posted a 4-3 record. In 40.1 innings pitched, he notched 36 strikeouts.
 
Newcomers Alex Miller and Devin Costa figure to be big pieces in the back end of the bullpen. Miller is a 6'-6" right-hander from Rochester, Minnesota. He lost his last two seasons of high school and played last season at Florence-Darlington Technical College (South Carolina). He made 13 appearance with one start posting a 1-1 record.
 
"(Miller) was throwing up to 94-95 (mph) at Kentucky last fall," said Rose. "He pitched at a nationally-recognized junior college last season. Bringing in guys who know how to win was a priority for our coaching staff. He knows how to win and how to prepare, even on a non-game day. He understands what he needs to do to be ready to go when his name gets called."
 
Costa is a right-handed side-winder from Half Moon Bay, California. He pitched the last two seasons at Skyline College (California).
 
"He is unflappable," said Rose. "It's a funky delivery, coming out of a funky slot with a lot of movement. He has a high level of command of his pitches. He can move all three pitches in, out and up and down."
 
Last season at Skyline, Costa posted a 6-2 record with five saves and a 1.66 ERA. In 43.1 innings, he struck out 37 with a 0.77 WHIP.
 
Junior Bradley Poynter returns after making 12 starts and 14 mound appearances last Spring. He posted a 2-4 record, notching a seven-inning complete game win over Arkansas State last February. at South Carolina, he scattered four hits allowing just one run in the Eagles' 1-0 loss to the Gamecocks.
 
Senior Josh Furtado will provide depth out of the bullpen. He posted a 2-3 record with a save in 20 appearances last season. In 30 innings, he struck out 28 and walked 23.
 
"We need Furtado to be what I believe he can be," said Rose. "What he can be is one of the best bullpen pieces in the OVC. We need him to find a consistency with his good competitive pitches."
 
Returnees sophomore Blake Hager and redshirt-freshman Jacob Vanover will compete for mound time with transfers Brady Fitzpatrick (Ball State), Louden Hilliard (George Mason) and Evan Lopez (John A. Logan).
 
Rose said he is optimistic about his pitching staff.
 
"Coach (Corey) Kubbs has hit the ground running with the pitching staff," he said. "They are organized, aggressive and healthy. He is instilling the urgency of creating contact early this year."

Next in the Baseball Season Preview: The Infield.