First game: Saturday, February 15th at 1:00PM versus High Point (29-29 in 2013). This is a doubleheader with a third game on Sunday.
Mercer opens the 2014 season with high hopes of winning the A-Sun again (regular season) and returning to the NCAA Tournament. It would be nice to win the A-Sun tourney as well, but the NCAA Tournament is what matters.
Last season was incredible until the final few games where the team lost their edge. The season ended with four consecutive losses (2 in the A-Sun tourney and 2 in the NCAA Tournament). That alone should be enough motivation to get back to the big dance and prove themselves worthy of being there.
The lineup is superb. Seven batters return from last years lineup, and two newcomers are listed in the #8/#9 slots.
Projected Starting Lineup:
1. LF - Nate Moorhouse (JR) -- Medical redshirt in 2013 with an early season injury. Hit .318 with 5 steals in limited action.
2. 3B - Chesny Young (JR) -- Did it all in 2013. Hit .401 with 105 total hits and 9 stolen bases. Enters the season on an active 30-game hit streak.
3. 1B - Nick Backlund (SR) -- Powerful hitter with 13 HR in 2013. Also maintained a nice .326 average. Moved to 1B from DH.
4. RF - Derrick Workman (SR) -- .338 with 9 HR in 2013. A staple of the lineup.
5. C - Austin Barrett (SR) -- Experience behind the plate and hit .309 last year. Being placed in the #5 slot carries a lot of responsibility... also shows the confidence the coach has in him.
6. CF - Sasha LaGarde (SR) -- Second (and final) year at Mercer. Could easily be our leadoff as he was last year. Surprising to see him in the #6 slot. I would bet this would change at some point this year.
7. SS - Michael Massi (SR) -- Also in second and final year at Mercer. Top defender in A-Sun, but has to move to SS from 2B by necessity. How will this impact him?
8. DH - Howard Joe (R-FR) -- Newcomer, but was on team last year as a redshirt. No data to go by... went to a Georgia high school.
9. 2B - Devin Bonin (JR) -- JUCO transfer that his .339 + in both seasons prior to Mercer. Will be needed just like Joe to produce.
PITCHING:
Here's where Mercer needs to improve... the pitching staff. A lot of unknowns going into this season on the mound. The main reason Mercer is really weakened at the Pitcher position though, is D.J. Johnson has redshirted with no explanation that I can find.
Mercer does have a true Senior Ace in Brandon Barker. He is the #1 weekend starter. In 2013 he posted a 2.66 ERA, 7-2 record, and a 1.32 WHIP.
The #2 weekend starter is Grant Papelian who posted a 5.60 ERA last year and 3-4 record. These are reasonable stats, but the A-Sun race is tight this year and every game will count. He allowed 93 walks + hits in only 53 innings (1.75 WHIP). Now that he's an upperclassman, there's some added responsibility with that.
The #3 weekend starter is Eric Nyquist. 4.25 ERA and 1.46 WHIP in 2013. A real question mark though, because he only started 2 games. Papelian started 10 and Barker 17.
Closer -- Dimitri Kourtis is a great pitcher. 2.94 ERA and a low 1.16 WHIP makes him dominant. We can use him at closer, but if the starters are struggling he might have to do that. He started 4 games last year. It's pretty simple... there are no saves if there are no wins. Need someone getting those wins first.
There's a lot of pitchers on the roster that I don't recognize. Competition is a good thing and there's room for EVERY good pitcher. It's a long season and I know we'll see some new names emerge when they get chances to pitch either in midweek games or if given a chance over the weekend.
Here's the media guide on the first weekend series that I used to get a lot of information:
http://static.psbin.com/n/y/opb0cv1oe8tn...point1.pdf
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2014 Baseball Preview/Opening Weekend
