2004 Aggie Baseball Season Preview
Thursday February 12th, 2004
1:30amThe Spectacular 2004 Aggie Baseball Preview
I'm pretty pumped up about the upcoming Aggie season starting tomorrow afternoon! In fact, I'm so pumped up that I started working on this post over a week ago simply because I was excited. That turned out to be a good thing because had I not been so pumped I would have dropped a lot of hours on it that would have been taken out of my sleeping schedule over the last couple of days.
To somewhat recap what happened in 2003 for the Aggies, we finished the season with a 45-19 record and lasted until the championship game of the NCAA Regionals that we hosted, losing on a painfully vivid errant throw that allowed the University of Houston to score the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. That miserable moment aside, we were awesome last year. We finished in second place in the Big XII conference (19-9) and offensively we had 7 of our players hit over .320, & 3 of our players hit 10+ HRs. Our pitching was very solid across the board with a team ERA of 4.05.
We were hit pretty hard by the MLB draft in 2003, losing 11 players plus a huge recruit. You can't fault a 20-something year old kid for leaving school if he's going to get a 6 or even 7-figure bonus. The draft was great for the program with regards to our prestige, but it kills us depth wise for 2004.
The good news is that of those 11 players drafted, only one of them was one of the 7 who hit +.320 (he was also one of the +10 HRs), so we have 6 guys coming back who hit +.320 and 2 of them hit +10 HRs. On the flip side to that, that one player we lost there was also our lights out closer. We also lost most of our pitching staff (although many were seniors) which leaves us a bit of uncertainty on the hill going into the season.....but hey, that's what college athletics is all about.
If you break down our record from '03 you will see that one of the keys to our success was the fact that we were 11-3 during our weekday non-conference games that we play throughout the season (that is huge). The one weak link, if you can even call it that, was our road record of 13-10. Granted, it is extremely rough playing away games in the Big XII every other weekend or so, especially with the home field advantages some of our opponents have. We also played two road games against Rice (the CWS Champs) and one against the then ranked #11 Houston Cougars.
Here's a little table of contents for the preview :
Roster
Offensive Lettermen Stats
Summer League Results
Opponents
Position-by-Position Look at Team
Here's a look at the roster just to give you an idea of whom and where everyone is....
2004 Aggie RosterReturning Lettermen: Alexander, Bowe, Dalton, Donaldson, Infante, Mavroulis, Moore, Patton, Pennington, Pouk, Ray, Ruggiano, Scheidt, Schindewolf, Stinson, Whelan
Alphabetical: Numerical:
Player Pos Cl-L B/T # Player
M.Alexander INF Sr-3 S/R 1 P.Daulton
A.Baldwin OF Jr-T R/R 2 E.Schindewolf
T.Bartek OF Jr-T R/R 3 M.Alexander
W.Blackman LHP Fr-H L/L 4 A.Boggs
B.Boening RHP Fr-R R/R 5 C.Pennington
A.Boggs 3B Fr-H S/R 6 A.Creps
B.Bowe 1B Sr-1 R/R 8 B.Bowe
J.Cline LHP Jr-T L/L 9 Z.Jackson
A.Creps RHP/INF Fr-H R/R 10 T.Bartek
P.Dalton INF So-1 R/R 11 J.Meyer
D.Donaldson LHP So-1 L/L 12 C.Mavroulis
D.Frame LHP Fr-H L/L 13 E.Scheidt
L.Harughty C Fr-H R/R 14 R.Ray
S.Holdren INF Jr-T L/R 15 C.Patton
J.Infante OF So-1 R/L 16 A.Baldwin
B.Jackson LHP Jr-T L/L 17 J.Infante
Z.Jackson LHP Jr-T L/L 18 J.Moore
K.Marlatt RHP Jr-T R/R 20 B.Jackson
C.Mavroulis 1B/OF So-1 L/L 21 J.Ruggiano
J.Meyer LHP Fr-R L/L 22 T.Stroud
J.Moore INF Sr-3 R/R 23 K.Whelan
K.Nicholson RHP/INF Fr-H R/R 24 K.Nicholson
C.Patton OF/LHP Sr-1 L/L 27 D.Donaldson
C.Pennington INF/RHP So-1 S/R 28 J.Pouk
J.Pouk C/3B Sr-2 R/R 29 C.Stinson
B.Rampy RHP Fr-H R/R 30 J.Cline
R.Ray RHP So-1 R/R 32 B.Boening
J.Ruggiano OF Sr-1 R/R 33 S.Holdren
E.Scheidt INF Sr-1 R/R 34 K.Marlatt
E.Schindewolf 2B Sr-3 L/R 35 B.Rampy
T.Soeder LHP Fr-H L/L 36 J.Turner
B.Steinocher RHP Fr-H R/R 37 L.Harughty
C.Stinson C So-1 R/R 39 D.Frame
T.Stroud C/OF Jr-T R/R 40 W.Blackmon
J.Turner RHP/INF Fr-H R/R 42 T.Soeder
K.Whelan RHP/C So-1 R/R 43 B.Steinocher
Transfers: Baldwin, Bartek, Cline, Holdren, B.Jackson, Z.Jackson, Marlatt, Stroud
Freshmen: Blackmon, Boening+, Boggs, Creps, Frame, Harughty, Meyer+, Nicholson, Rampy, Soeder, Steinocher, Turner
Lettermen Lost: S.Beerer, Z.Dixon*, M.Farnum, B.Finch, L.Kensing, J.Mitchell*, K.Parcus, D.Pollok*, R.Ramsey+Redshirts
*Graduated SeniorsOffensive Lettermen Stats
Here are the guys we have coming back this year and how they have swung the stick for us in the past....2004 Aggie Hitting Preview
Returning Aggie Lettermen (ranked by ABs from 2003):
Player Year G-GS AB R H RBI HR XBH SO/BB SB/A BA OPS GPA
C.Patton 2003 64-64 257 53 85 58 13 29 25/28 4/6 .331 .950 .318
C.Pennington 2003 63-61 241 54 82 41 2 18 27/22 12/14 .340 .832 .286
J.Ruggiano 2003 62-62 236 49 76 49 10 31 44/28 6/11 .322 .958 .320
M.Alexander 2003 63-63 236 32 54 40 4 18 52/14 4/5 .229 .621 .212
2002 56-56 223 38 63 39 2 14 33/14 10/13 .283 .703 .240
2001 37-23 99 18 29 13 2 8 19/3 5/7 .293 .738 .247
E.Schindewolf 2003 63-62 231 66 81 29 2 17 29/39 12/17 .351 .895 .314
2002 39-29 108 17 26 17 1 3 15/22 3/4 .241 .663 .241
2001 40-34 133 22 38 17 0 8 16/21 1/1 .286 .733 .261
J.Pouk 2003 49-47 160 33 52 27 5 15 22/14 3/5 .325 .920 .318
2002 47-46 158 26 53 24 1 10 24/7 2/6 .335 .783 .270
E.Scheidt 2003 31-26 94 14 31 14 2 8 11/9 0/0 .330 .857 .294
B.Bowe 2003 39-27 93 11 23 16 1 6 15/8 0/1 .247 .647 .225
J.Infante 2003 44-16 69 15 17 9 3 10 11/7 1/3 .246 .803 .266
C.Stinson 2003 22-18 62 10 17 8 1 2 13/9 2/3 .274 .714 .254
K.Whelan 2003 26-13 49 4 12 6 1 3 10/4 2/3 .245 .675 .234
C.Mavroulis* 2003 11-6 26 5 6 1 0 2 4/4 0/1 .231 .718 .246
2002 45-40 139 22 35 19 0 9 33/23 3/5 .252 .618 .228
P.Dalton 2003 16-2 13 6 3 1 0 2 3/0 0/0 .231 .718 .246
J.Moore --------------------------DNH-----------------------------
*Mavroulis redshirted last season due to minimal P.T. caused by injurySummer League Results
I did a bit of research to find out how our Ags did during summer leagues across the nation and I found that we had some mixed results. Keep in mind the sample size for these stats before you freak out or become wowed....remember that 4-5 IP is less than one game....Also, some of these are wood bat leagues which are totally different from using aluminum or scandium or whatever they make the metal bats out of nowadays.
Aggies in 2003 Summer Leagues
Pitchers:
Player League G GS W-L S IP H R ER HR SO/BB ERA
Z.Jackson C.Cod 8 8 6-0 0 52.2 42 11 11 1 48/10 1.88
J.Moore Valley 1 1 0-0 0 3.0 0 0 0 0 2/1 0.00
C.Cod 4 1 0-1 0 5.1 11 15 11 4/8 18.56
D.Donaldson Valley 2 1 0-0 0 3.1 3 1 1 0 3/4 2.70
C.Pennington Valley 4 0 1-1 1 4.0 4 2 2 0 5/6 4.50
R.Ray Jayhawk 5 21.0 8 2 2 2 29/7 0.86
K.Whelan Jayhawk 4 4.2 1 0 0 0 7/4 0.00
C.Patton Jayhawk 3 4.1 6 3 3 0 6/3 6.23
Hitters:
Player League G AB R H RBI HR XBH SO/BB BA OPS GPA
C.Stinson Valley 25 68 8 10 3 0 0 18/14 .147 .448 .172
C.Pennington Valley 38 153 23 38 9 0 6 14/12 .248 .604 .212
C.Patton Jayhawk 33 118 30 42 29 4 21 13/13 .356 1.053 .350
J.Infante Jayhawk 33 119 19 24 14 3 7 22/12 .202 .604 .206
K.Whelan Jayhawk 18 56 5 10 8 0 1 21/6 .179 .454 .165
S.Holdren Northwoods 40 110 13 24 10 1 9 24/14 .218 .650 .227
2002 Jayhawk 66 16 19 10 3 5 22/8 .288 .852 .292
A.Baldwin Northwoods 39 142 24 42 25 1 16 34/7 .296 .770 .259
T.Bartek Cent.Ill. 47 184 28 45 17 1 13 25/7 .245 .610 .208
E.Schinderwolf BigStates ---------------------n/a---------------------You have to love seeing Patton just hack away as if our season never ended, & you've got to love that SO/BB ratio of 1:1. I also like to see that Baldwin was hitting pretty well (note: I put Holdren's stats from 2002 up as well because we've never seen him play before and it give a bit more insight to what he's capable of). Pitching wise, Zach Jackson was awesome up in the Cape Cod league (probably the premier summer league) and Robert Ray was fantastic as well.
Opponents
For our entire season schedule, click HERECurrently Ranked
I know that early season polls aren't a wonderful indicator of how good a team is this year, but more on how they finished last year. Tough because it's all I've got to work with. Here are Baseball America's thoughts on our opponents in their Top 25 (except Rice, I wrote that one) from their College Preview issue (February 2nd-15th, issue #0403):#1 Rice Owls (March 23rd; home)
2003 Record (Ranking): 58-12 (1st). RPI: 4th.
Coach (Record, Years): Wayne Graham (536-224, 12 years).'04 Lineup
C Adam Rogers
1B Matt Ueckert
2B Adam Morris
3B Clay Reichenbach
SS Paul Janish
LF Lance Pendleton
CF Chris Kolkhorst
RF Austin Davis
DH Adam HaleRotation/Closer
SP Jeff Niemann
SP Wade Townsend
SP Philip Humber
RP Josh Baker2003 Record: 58-12 (2-0 v. A&M in '03)
Defending National Champions with entire pitching rotation back....3 of which will be drafted in the first 15 picks of the MLB draft in June (never been done before)....Let's just say they're the best and leave it at that...
#6 texas longhorns (May 21; 1 home & May 22-23; away; 3-3 v. A&M in '03)
2003 Record (Ranking): 50-20 (4th). RPI: 6th.
Coach (Record, Years): Augie Garrido (277-162, 7 years).'04 Lineup
C Taylor Teagarden 1B Curtis Thigpen
2B Seth Johnston
3B J.D. Reininger
SS Michael Hollimon
LF Dooley Prince
CF Drew Stubbs
RF Hunter Harris
DH Scott DodgeRotation/Closer
SP J.P. Howell
SP Justin Simmons
SP Sam LeCure
RP Huston StreetOffense: The Longhorns must replace OF Dustin Majewski (.391-12-85), 2B Tim Moss (.319-3-33) and Omar Quintanilla (.348-6-76), the trio that carried the Longhorns offense the last two seasons, and it won't be easy. The athletic Stubbs, an unsigned third-round pick of the Astros, steps right into the lineup as a freshman, and his speed should play well on Disch-Falk Field's turf. Thigpen, a savvy gamer and versatile defender, was the team's best hitter at the College World Series, then turned in a strong summer in the Cape Cod League.
Pitching/Defense: Street shortens games and might be the most respected player in college baseball; no one questions his heart or ability to finish games. He should be even better this year if he doesn't have to play in the field like last year. Howell gave the 'Horns an ace last year, a role Simmons played in 2002 when he won 16 games for the CWS champs. LeCure and fellow sophomore RHP J. Brent Cox complement the crafty lefties with power righthanded arms. Scouts say Teagarden could be an above-average defender in the big leagues right now; his catch-and-throw skills pushed Thigpen, a solid catcher himself, to first.
X-Factor: Reininger and Hollimon may hold the keys to a third straight trip to Omaha. Both contributed during the run to the national title in 2002, yet were bit players last season. Reininger, who hit .13 homers as a freshman, struggled with injuries and attitude last year, hitting just four homers; Hollimon's main issue has been confidence, as the game came easy to him as a prep star. The Horns need Reininger's power to resurface and Hollimon to be steady in the field and at the plate to fulfill their weighty expectations.
#13 Baylor (March 19; home & March 20-21; away; 1-2 v. A&M in '03)
2003 Record (Ranking): 45-23 (11th). RPI: 10th.
Coach (Record, Years): Steve Smith (343-203, 9 years).'04 Lineup
C Zach Dillon
1B Jared Clements
2B Paul Witt
3B Michael Griffin
SS Kyle Reynolds
LF Reid Brees
CF Chase Gerdes
RF Mike Pankrats
DH Josh FordRotation/Closer
SP Mark McCormick
SP Trey Taylor
SP Sean Walker
RP Zane CarlsonOffense: With the departure of OFs David Murphy (.413-11-67) and Chris Durbin (.346-18-50), the Bears lost a lot of production from a club that ranked sixth in the nation in runs, third in doubles and seventh in home runs last season. Yet they should be potent again. Griffin, one of the nation's best fastball hitters, and Ford provide excellent power as long as someone sets the table for them. Pankratz, a former football recruit at Texas A&M (he redshirted, then transferred to junior college), and Gerdes, who redshirted last spring, finished 1-2 in the Northwoods League in batting last summer.
Pitching/Defense: McCormick regularly pumps his fastball into the mid-90s and should be ready to take over as the staff ace after a solid summer in the Cape Cod League. Taylor, his summer league teammate and a former second-round draft pick, used to throw harder but he has sacrificed velocity for command. Carlson has pitched three summers in the Cape and one for Team USA. Now a fifth-year senior, he will try to hold off Texas' Huston Street for the Big 12 career saves lead. Griffin has been shaky at third in the past and spent most of 2003 in the outfield, but Reynolds thrived in the fall with the move from second base to shortstop, his dad Craig's old big league position.
X-Factor: The X-Factor could also have applied to senior LHP Jared Theodorakos in 2002, when he led the Bears with 105 strikeouts. He's coming off shoulder surgery and could give the rotation a veteran boost if he's healthy. He worked only nine innings in 2003. Also recovering from shoulder surgery is Ford, normally a catcher who will be limited to DH duty until his arm heals.
#24 Nebraska (Apr 30-May 2; away; 1-2 v. A&M in '03)
2003 Record (Ranking): 47-18 (13th). RPI: 19th.
Coach (Record, Years): Mike Anderson (47-18, 1 year).'04 Lineup
C John Grose
1B Curtis Ledbetter
2B Jake Mullinax
3B Alex Gordon
SS Joe Simokaitis
LF Brandon Fusilier
CF Colin Shockey
RF Daniel Bruce
DH Chad SteeleRotation/Closer
SP Quinton Robertson
SP Zach Kroenke
SP Justin Pekarek
RP Mike SillmanOffense: A veteran lineup has bought into the Huskers' Moneyball-oriented offensive philosophy. The team ranked second in league play in walks and home runs. In their second year in the program, Gordon, an intriguing lefthanded power threat, and Ledbetter should mitigate the loss of Big 12 player of the year Matt Hopper (.382-22-66) as they mature.
Pitching/Defense: Simokaitis and Mullinax helped the Huskers lead the league with 70 double plays last season. Grose, banged up much of 2003, is also a plus defender behind the plate. Nebraska doesn't have a strikeout pitcher on the staff, so sound defense will be a key to the team's success. Robertson is the Big 12's returning wins leader, but Kroenke was just as big a factor during conference play. Sillman, sophomore RHP Tim Schoeninger, who had a team-high six saves, and junior RHP Phil Shirek, who has power stuff and a plus slider when he commands it, lead a deep bullpen.
X-Factor: The Cornhuskers will need to find a dependable third starter. Two lefthanders on the mend, Pekarek and redshirt sophomore Brian Duensing, will contend for that spot in the rotation. Pekarek has had myriad problems over five seasons and has yet to pitch a full campaign. Duensing (3-0, 2.42) was on his way to being the team's ace a year ago before having Tommy John surgery. A healthy return by both of them would give the Huskers one of the Big 12's deepest pitching staffs.
Big XII
The rest of the Big XII isn't a pushover either. (listed alphabetically)Kansas Jayhawks (Apr 9-11; away; 0-3 v. A&M in '03)
2003 Record: 35-28 (9-18)
Kansas has already started out their season, playing a couple of series down in Hawaii. They've already got 12 games in on the season and will be traveling to #4 Stanford for a 3 game set Friday through Sunday, which would be a true test for anyone.Here is their schedule and record thus far in the season:
Date Opponent W-L-T ScoreThat sure is a lot of games against Hawaii-Hilo....for individual player's stats click HERE....BA has them picked to finish 6th in the Big XII
1/16 @Hawaii-Hilo G1 0-1-0 3-7
1/16 @Hawaii-Hilo G2 1-1-0 9-5
1/17 @Hawaii-Hilo 2-1-0 14-2
1/18 Hawaii-Hilo 3-1-0 14-9
1/19 Hawaii-Hilo G1 4-1-0 3-2
1/19 Hawaii-Hilo G2 4-2-0 3-4
1/20 @Hawaii-Hilo 5-2-0 17-10
1/31 @Texas Southern 6-2-0 9-1
2/01 @Texas Southern 7-2-0 8-0
2/06 Lamar 7-3-0 2-3
2/07 @UT-Pan Am 7-4-0 6-8
2/08 Sam Houston 7-4-1 8-8Kansas State Wildcats (May 14-16; home; 0-3 v. A&M in '03)
2003 Record: 15-37 (5-22)
The poor Wildcats get to start off their new era with Head Coach Brad Hill this weekend in the Minute Maid Park College Classic where they will face #26 Houston on Friday and #1 Rice on Saturday. They're really the worst team in the Big XII by quite a long shot, but hopefully they'll turn things around a bit this year....BA has them picked to finish 10th in the Big XII (out of 10 teams; Colorado and Iowa State do not have baseball teams)Missouri Tigers (Apr 23-25; home; 1-2 v. A&M in '03)
2003 Record: 36-22 (15-11)
Mizzou starts their season off tomorrow v. Nevada as they play in a tourney in Phoenix. They were hit hard by losing players from a team that finished 4th in the Big XII last season (they lost 6 offensive starters and 6 pitchers)....BA has them picked to finish 8th in the Big XIIOklahoma Sooners (Apr 16-18; home; 1-2 v. OU in '03)
2003 Record: 23-31 (10-17)
Phew...We have finally found the sport that OU isn't very good at. Unfortunately for them they lost 6 of their 9 starters on offense, but I suppose it could be good considering their meager record last year. They start their season off Friday as well, playing Gonzaga in a tourney hosted in Surprise, Arizona....BA has them picked to finish 9th in the Big XIIOklahoma State Cowboys (Apr 2-4; away; 1-2 v. A&M in '03)
2003 Record: 34-24 (14-13)
OSU is the only other Big XII team ranked in BA's Top 50, coming in at #37. They have a new Head Coach, Frank Anderson, and are bringing back most of their players from last year (lost 3 offensive starters and 4 pitchers)....They start off their season Friday as they play host to Eastern Michigan....BA has them picked to finish 5th in the Big XIItexas tech (Mar 26-28; home; 2-1 v. A&M in '03)
2003 Record: 30-25 (8-18)
tech really wanted to help themselves get better so they scheduled a tough first opponent who they stomped 19-1, 19-4, & 9-4 in the 3 game series (that team was Campbell...where on earth is that?). Unfortunately for raider fans they'll get a dose of reality this weekend when they play Rice and Houston in the opposite order that K-State plays'em...the tech series last year was the only Big XII series that we lost....BA has them picked to finish 7th in the Big XIIPosition-by-position
Now let's take a look at everything by position....
Catcher
Player Year G-GS AB R H RBI HR XBH SO/BB SB/A BA OPS GPAI think Pouk will be our starter at C....mainly because he can flat out rake! Coach Johnson said that Whelan will probably get a bit more time on the hill than behind the plate as we search for a closer to replace Scott Beerer.
J.Pouk 2003 49-47 160 33 52 27 5 15 22/14 3/5 .325 .920 .318
2002 47-46 158 26 53 24 1 10 24/7 2/6 .335 .783 .270
C.Stinson 2003 22-18 62 10 17 8 1 2 13/9 2/3 .274 .714 .254
K.Whelan 2003 26-13 49 4 12 6 1 3 10/4 2/3 .245 .675 .234
L.Harughty 2003 ---------------------High School---------------------First Base
Player Year G-GS AB R H RBI HR XBH SO/BB SB/A BA OPS GPAI think that Coby will start the season off as our 1Bman, but I think that this position is one of the ones that is totally up in the air. If Coby can hit like he did during the 1st half of 2002 we'll be in great shape.
B.Bowe 2003 39-27 93 11 23 16 1 6 15/8 0/1 .247 .647 .225
C.Mavroulis 2003 11-6 26 5 6 1 0 2 4/4 0/1 .231 .718 .246
E.Scheidt 2003 31-26 94 14 31 14 2 8 11/9 0/0 .330 .857 .294Second Base
Player Year G-GS AB R H RBI HR XBH SO/BB SB/A BA OPS GPA
P.Dalton 2003 16-2 13 6 3 1 0 2 3/0 0/0 .231 .718 .246
E.Schindewolf 2003 63-62 231 66 81 29 2 17 29/39 12/17 .351 .895 .314
2002 39-29 108 17 26 17 1 3 15/22 3/4 .241 .663 .241
2001 40-34 133 22 38 17 0 8 16/21 1/1 .286 .733 .261Erik is the man here at 2B. He led the team in BA last year and was named to the All-Big XII team. I think Erik will be a big component of our lineup, especially out of the #1 spot. He has a great on-base % and he can flat out run.
Short Stop
Player Year G-GS AB R H RBI HR XBH SO/BB SB/A BA OPS GPAPennington will be the starting SS this season on opening day. He was an All-Big XII player last year as well as the Big XII Freshman of the Year. His transition from 3B to SS might be a bit rougher with the glove, but he's got a sweet swing. Matt was our starting SS all of last year and he has a very steady glove but his bat is what will keep him out of the lineup. The switch probably would have happened last season, but we didn't have very much depth at 3B behind Pennington.
M.Alexander 2003 63-63 236 32 54 40 4 18 52/14 4/5 .229 .621 .212
2002 56-56 223 38 63 39 2 14 33/14 10/13 .283 .703 .240
2001 37-23 99 18 29 13 2 8 19/3 5/7 .293 .738 .247
C.Pennington 2003 63-61 241 54 82 41 2 18 27/22 12/14 .340 .832 .286Third Base
Player Yr/Exp B/T Ht Wt HometownI didn't know what else to put up there because our top 3 choices at 3B are all fish. Obviously this makes for a very risky situation, but the worst case scenario is putting someone like Pouk or Dalton or even Pennington there and hoping they can play well.
A.Boggs Fr-HS S/R 5'10" 185 Pflugerville, Tx
K.Nicholson Fr-HS R/R 5'11" 185 College Station, Tx
J.Turner Fr-HS R/R 6'2" 195 Longview, TxOutfield
Player Year G-GS AB R H RBI HR XBH SO/BB SB/A BA OPS GPAHow can I not fall in love with the endless outfield possibilities? Obviously Patton (2003 All-Big XII)and Ruggiano will be steadfasts in the 3-4 spots in the lineup, and the 3rd OF spot will go to one of the next three listed, each with his own strengths. Bartek is tabbed a speedster (something we're not too used to seeing out there) with a phenomenal glove, Baldwin had some pop in his bat at SanJaq as they finished 2nd in the JC CWS last season, Infante showed us what he's capable of from the t.u. series and on to the end of '03, and Holdren led the nation in walks last season (which always holds a high mark in my eyes).
C.Patton 2003 64-64 257 53 85 58 13 29 25/28 4/6 .331 .950 .318
J.Ruggiano 2003 62-62 236 49 76 49 10 31 44/28 6/11 .322 .958 .320
J.Infante 2003 44-16 69 15 17 9 3 10 11/7 1/3 .246 .803 .266
T.Bartek 2003 7 35/ .400
A.Baldwin 2003 49 14 .372
S.Holdren 2003 13 /64 .377
C.Mavroulis 2003 11-6 26 5 6 1 0 2 4/4 0/1 .231 .718 .246
2002 45-40 139 22 35 19 0 9 33/23 3/5 .252 .618 .228
T.Stroud 2003 -------------------------na--------------------------
*Note*
Barteck transferred from Feather River JC and his 2003 stats reflect that
Baldwin transferred from San Jacinto JC and his 2003 stats reflect that
Holdren transferred from Butler County CC and his 2003 stats reflect that
Stroud Transferred from Grayson CCRegardless of all of Patton's huge numbers, the one that amazes me more than any other is his SO/BB. For a guy with his kind of pop, that is pretty rare.
This is by far our strength, and it will be awesome to watch these guys from Aggie Alley this year!
Pitching
Returning Aggie Lettermen:If the outfield is our most secure position, pitching is easily our most iffy position. If you look at the stats from our returning lettermen, our returnees had a total of 5 starts last season. If J-Moore can return to his pre-injury form (he won the C.E. "Pat" Olsen Outstanding Pitcher award on the team in 2001 and 2002), we will be in much better shape. Zach Jackson will also be HUGE for us. He is coming off of an excellent summer in the Cape and has strong credentials from Louisville.
Player Cl-L R/L Year G GS W-L IP H ER HR SO/BB ERA
D.Donaldson So-1 LHP 2003 14 1 1-3 37.0 37 14 2 25/13 3.41
C.Patton Sr-1 LHP 2003 ---------------DNP----------------
C.Pennington So-1 RHP 2003 ---------------DNP----------------
J.Moore Sr-3 RHP 2003 3 1 0-0 8.0 4 1 1 2/4 1.12
2002 13 13 5-3 93.0 90 35 55/16 3.48
2001 17 11 7-3 77.0 79 29 6 49/17 3.39
R.Ray So-1 RHP 2003 12 3 4-0 37.0 34 9 1 42/12 2.19
K.Whelan So-1 RHP 2003 ---------------DNP----------------
Transfers:
Player Cl-L R/L Year G GS W-L IP H ER HR SO/BB ERA
J.Cline Jr-T LHP 2003 -----------------DNP-----------------
Z.Jackson Jr-T LHP 2003 21 19 7-6 112.2 121 54 12 75/29 4.31
2002 17 14 10-3 83.0 80 44 8 46/24 4.77
B.Jackson Jr-T LHP 2003 na na 18-3 137.3 na na na na/na 2.94
K.Marlatt Jr-T RHP 2003 -----------------N/A-----------------
*Note*
Z.Jackson transferred from Louisville (C-USA)
B.Jackson transferred from North Central CC
J.Cline transferred from Tyler JC
K.Marlatt transferred from San Jacinto JC
Freshmen:
Player Hometown (School) R/L Size
W.Blackman Arlington, Tx (Heights) LHP 6'6"/215
D.Frame Tomball, Tx (Tomball) LHP 6'0"/225
J.Meyer* Abilene, Tx (Cooper) LHP 5'9"/175
T.Soeder Woodlands, Tx (Woodlands) LHP 6'1"/160
B.Boening* Yoakum, Tx (Yoakum) RHP 6'5"/200
A.Creps Spring, Tx (Klien) RHP 6'2"/170
K.Nicholson College Station, Tx (A&M Cons.) RHP 5'11"/185
B.Rampy Tomball, Tx (Tomball) RHP 6'2"/170
B.Steinocher Hallettsvilee, Tx (Sacred Heart) RHP 6'1"/180
J.Turner Longview, Tx (Pine Tree) RHP 6'2"/195
*red-shirted freshmanOne thing that stands out to me about our staff is the amount of lefthandedness (I think I just made up a word). You have to absolutely love the amount of LHP we will have this year (I count 9 potential lefties)! I wonder if there is another team in the Big XII with more southpaws than that.
As I mentioned at the top of the page, we did lose our lights out closer, Scott Beerer, so our bullpen starts off the season as a HUGE question mark. I've heard that Whelan will be given the role to start off the season and that Pennington or Patton could be inline if that falls through.
There are a lot of fish arms that we'll be counting on to help us get through the season, so if nothing else they'll be getting some big time experience.
Looking at the schedule, I'm scared to death thinking about what these guys will be feeling like in the beginning of March. We play host to a tournament in which we will play 6 games in 3 days (Fri Feb 27th-Sun 29th). Add in the fact that we've got a game on Tuesday before that and we're looking at 63 IP in a span of 6 days (the tourney will be 51 IP in 3 days). Hopefully I'm fretting too much and we'll only play 7 inning games during the tourney (that'd be 42 IP in the 3 days and 49 IP over the 6 day span).
This weekend's rotation has been officially set and it will look like this....
Friday-Zach JacksonI like it...
Saturday-Justin Moore
Sunday-Robert RayOverall
I'm really pumped about the season, and I hope that I've given all of you a solid background of what to expect from our team for this year.
Something interesting that I noticed in the team's media guide is that former players, Jordy Mitchell (2002-2003) and Steven Ponder (2000-2002), are back as a student trainer and a student manager, respectively. Talk about the Aggie Network...
As much as I love Aggie football, the entire Aggie baseball experience just blows it out of the water and I think that every single fan that walks through our gates (Aggie fan or opponent fan) walks out with a great experience under their belt. Hopefully, Olsen Field and our awesome fans will become a measuring stick to which those fans will base all of their future and past experiences against.
Let's Gig'em Ags and B.T.H.O A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday at 3pm! Whoop!
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posted by AgRyan04 at 10:02 PM
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