After Sunday's much needed, bounce-back win over Arizona to salvage one game in the weekend series, it's time to build some confidence in our upcoming mid-week games vs. Dallas Baptist and Texas State as we head into the Minute Maid tournament, where we will face three top 25 ranked teams (Arkansas, TCU and ULaLa). To do so we're going to have to show a little more energy and aggressiveness than we showed opening weekend, and do a much better job in the fundamentals (i.e., throwing strikes, covering bases, bunting and minimizing defensive lapses).

Both Tuesday and Wednesday evening games are The Reck, with each scheduled to start at 6:00pm CST. I will not be preparing a separate preview for the Texas State game as there is hardly any information on them from any of the college baseball sites.

The Dallas Baptist Patriots are coming off arguably their best year ever in 2015, winning the Missouri Valley Conference championship, holding the #1 ranking in RPI for the majority of the season and hosting their first-ever Dallas regional (where they were upset by VCU). Their 2016 preseason ranking is only in the #22 - #35 range due to the departure of three of their top 4 hitters, their two all-american bullpen arms, as well as their Friday and Saturday starting pitchers. In all, the Patriots lost 8 players to the draft. Having said that, they do return 5 everyday players, including 2014 Freshman all-americans in SS Camden Duzenack and OF David martinelli, as well as 2015 Freshman all-american pitcher Dalton Higgins and redshirt Sr LHP Sean Stutzman. Last year they were amongst the national leaders in offense, and had one of the best bullpens in the country. Their offense should continue to hold it's own in 2016, but the bullpen must be totally rebuilt. Given it's the first mid-week games of the year, I don't have a clue whom the Patriots will trot to the mound. I hear unofficially that So. RHP Willy Amador will get the start for the Owls vs. DBU on Tuesday, while one of two RHP Freshmen (Zach Esquivel, Jackson Parthasarathy) will likely get the start vs. Texas State on Wednesday.

Here's DBU's 2016 media guide...
http://athleticmanagement.com/_ezines/db...all16/#p=1

Here are DBU's individual and team stats after their 3-game sweep over Iowa...
http://dbupatriots.com/cumestats.aspx?pa...&year=2016
...you'll note that they outscored Iowa 16 - 5 over the three games, and they committed just one error in the field. They're everyday lineup includes four left-handed bats and one switch hitter.

...and their individual and team stats from their regional hosting 2015 season...
http://dbupatriots.com/cumestats.aspx?pa...&year=2015

Here's their roster for this year's squad...
http://dbupatriots.com/roster.aspx?path=baseball



D1Baseball picked the Patriots to once again win the Missouri Valley Conference...
http://www.d1baseball.com/analysis/2016-...ri-valley/

Quote:• Dallas Baptist is a program that saw a lot of attrition from its roster following last year’s brilliant 46-15 campaign, which saw them ranked No. 1 in the RPI nearly the entire year. But don’t shed a lot of tears for the Patriots as Dan Heefner and his staff have recruited well and there won’t exactly be a falling off the continental shelf. Look no further for new reinforcements than LHP Colin Poche, an Arkansas transfer who was a former 5th-round draft pick out of high school. Poche should be the Pats new Friday night starter. LHP Sean Stutzman (8-1, 4.29) is back for the Sunday role and reliever-turned-starter Dalton Higgins (0-1, 2.95) could fill out the weekend rotation. But the late inning pitchers will be the big question after DBU lost a 3rd, a 4th and a 5th round pick from the ‘pen. Only four starters return to the field, but having SS Camden Duzenack (.286) back is a luxury. Coach Heefner calls Duzenack “as good as any shortstop in the country.” Don’t forget about 3B Austin Listi (19 career HRs), who is coming off a lost season, but was All-MVC in 2014. Also, he may not count as a returning full-time starter, but RF Daniel Sweet (.265) is worth keeping a watch on after being named a top 10 prospect in the Florida Summer League and also after being drafted twice already in his career. LF Justin Wall (.301-12-58) is one of the better lumberjacks in Division 1 and teams with DH Trooper Reynolds (.270-7-32) in the power department.

Baseball America also picked DBU as the team to beat in the Missouri Valley...
'http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/2016-college-conference-preview-missouri-valley/

Quote:Team to Beat: Dallas Baptist. Last year’s Patriots raised the bar for the program, earning a No. 1 regional seed and hosting for the first time ever. They’ll have a tough time duplicating those feats after losing seven players to the draft—five of them pitchers—but DBU should still be a force in a very competitive MVC. The Patriots were the Valley’s top power hitting team a year ago, and their lineup still boasts at least five players with above-average power at the college level, headlined by outfielders Justin Wall (12 homers) and David Martinelli (10). Energetic junior shortstop Camden Duzenack is also back, anchoring the defense and serving as the team’s emotional center. The pitching staff has more holes to fill, but the Patriots have high hopes for lefty Colin Poche, an Arkansas transfer and unsigned fifth-round pick out of high school in 2012. Returners Dalton Higgins and Sean Stutzman both finished well last year and round out what should be a solid rotation.

Because of their numerous departures from last year's team, Perfect Game picks DBU to finish only 3rd in conference, but placed three Patriots on their Missouri Valley all-conference team: SS Camden Duzenack (.286, 4 HRs, 39 RBIs), OF Justin Wall (.301, 12 HRs, 58 RBIs)and OF David Martinelli (.267, 10 HRs, 38 RBIs). C Garrett Wolforth was also selected as conference Freshman of the Year...
http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View...icle=12054



College Baseball Madness ranked DBU #22 (one spot ahead of us) in their preseason ranking....
http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/12523

Quote:Dallas Baptist set a school record with 46 wins in 2015 and earned their first opportunity to host a regional as a Division I program. The Patriots fell short in the Dallas Regional as they could not recover from losing the regional opener against VCU and ended up falling short against the Rams in the winner take all second championship game. Fortunately, Dallas Baptist brings back plenty of experience in 2016 and it should be a group that will be mere prepared to deal with hosting in the NCAA Tournament if they are fortunate to do so again this season.

2015: 46-15, 15-6
2015 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Dan Heefner

Field Players:
Outfielder Justin Wall is a great example of how well the Patriots develop players. Wall took a big step forward in 2015 offensively, jumping from two homeruns in 2014 to 12 and raising his runs batted in production up to 58. If Wall can continue to progress, Dallas Baptist will only become that much stronger offensively this season. Infielder Trooper Reynolds brings senior leadership and plenty of power to the table as he hit seven homeruns last season while driving in 32. Junior infielder Camden Duzenack is going to be to looking to put together a strong junior season. He hit just under .290, while driving in 39 runs.

Pitchers:
Left hander Sean Stutzman will be the most experienced starting pitcher this season for the Patriots. Stuntman was 8-1 with a 4.29 earned run average. It is going to be important for Stuntman to be able to stretch himself to be able to pitch closer to 100 innings this season to save stress on the bullpen.

Who to Watch:
Dalton Higgins is going to be expected to work his way into the weekend rotation this season. Higgins was 0-1 with a 2.95 earned run average while making three starts out of his 13 appearances last season. The ability to limit walks for Higgins is going to continue to be important as he only walked 12 batters in 36.2 innings of work, while striking out 20. Outfielder Daniel Sweet is going to be another interesting player to watch as Sweet went through a bit of an up and down season in 2015. He only appeared in 34 games; however, there is plenty of potential with Sweet as he has twice been drafted, by the Cincinnati Reds in 2012 and the Texas Rangers during the 2014 MLB Draft in the 25th round.

Final Projection:
Despite being one of the most dangerous mid-major programs in all of college baseball, the Patriots will not lack for any competition in their non-conference schedule. Rice, Baylor, Oklahoma State and TCU will all take on Dallas Baptist over the course of several games stretched out over the duration of the season. The season as a whole going to come down to how well the inexperience within the pitching staff comes together. It may take some time, but the Patriots should be firing on all cylinders by the time Missouri Valley Conference play starts and be in position to win 40 plus games again this season.

Projected Postseason: NCAA Baseball Tournament

Returning Leaders:
At Bats: Justin Wall, OF, 259
Hits: Justin Wall, OF, 78
Home Runs: Justin Wall, OF, 12
RBIs: Justin Wall, OF, 58
Runs: Camden Duzenack, IF, 52
Stolen Bases: Justin Wall, OF, 12

Wins: Sean Stutzman, P, 8
Innings Pitched: Sean Stutzman, P, 56.2
Strikeouts: Sean Stutzman, P, 55
Saves: Two with 1