As I'm still on the road this week, I thought I'd just get the ball rolling...
Texas State, despite their disappointing 25 - 26 overall record and #133 RPI, has been very tough playing at home (19-7), and have won their last four mid-weekers, including a shutout victory over Baylor and a 4-1 win over the Aggies. Over those past four weeks, the Bobcats have deployed a "pitching by committee" approach toward the mid-week games, with no pitcher throwing more than 3 innings and, oftentimes, the starter being removed after just one or two innings despite giving up no runs. The strategy appears to be to get the opposition to commit to a set lineup and then rotate right- and left-handed pitchers in to keep the opposing offense off-balance and with a new pitcher each time through the lineup.
They have won 13 of their last 18 games, but just dropped the final two games over the weekend to UT-Arlington. Here is their schedule/results to date...
http://warrennolan.com/baseball/2013/sch...exas-State
We beat them 4-3 at Reckling on April 1st, but it was a nailbiter, with the Owls scoring the tying run in the bottom of the 9th inning, and winning it in the 12th inning. Fr RHP Lucas Humpal held us to 2 runs on 7 hits in 5.0 innings of work. Here's the boxscore of that earlier game...
http://www.txstatebobcats.com/boxscore.a...ll&id=3196
Playing to a similar stength of schedule as Rice, they are solid offensive club, hitting .278/.378/.369 as a team, with 14 HRs, and averaging 2.5 extrabase hits and 5.8 runs per game. Their lineup boasts six regulars hitting above .290 (3 over .300), led by Cody Lovejoy (.354/.426/.434, 1 HR, 11 doubles, 22 RBIs, 8-12 SBs). They have stolen 58-76 bases (76%), led by leadoff man and speedster Kevin Sah (24-30 SBs) and Morgan Mickan (14-17 SBs). Kevin McCanna and the rest of the pitching staff must be mindful to hold these guys close if/when they're on base.
Overall, their pitching has been slightly below average: 4.28 ERA, .268 BAA, 2.1 strikeout:walk ration, 7.1 strikeouts/game...HOWEVER, their bullpen has been exceptional, and their 4 best pitchers statistically have not only been workhorses, but have been the ones who usually make up the "committee" in mid-week games, and all have reasonably good control...
Hunter Lemke (Jr, RHP): 32 app, 1-3, 8 saves, 41.1 IP, 2.40 ERA, .222 BAA, 13 BBs, 42 Ks
Donnie Hart (Jr, LHP): 36 app, 1-1, 36.1 IP, 2.48 ERA, .208 BAA, 12 BBs, 36 Ks
Lucas Humpal (Fr, RHP): 23 app, 6 starts, 4-2, 51.0 IP, 3.00 ERA, .255 BAA, 13 BBs, 35 Ks
Austin Williams (So, RHP): 25 app, 1-3, 1 save, 27.2 IP, 3.25 ERA, .216 BAA, 12 BBs, 25 Ks
Here's Texas State's individual/team statistics over their first 51 games...
http://www.txstatebobcats.com/cumestats....&year=2013
