waltgreenberg
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I Root For: Rice Owls
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Rice Baseball at LaTech: Starting Conference Play on the Right Foot
Riding a little bit of momentum thanks to solid mid-week wins against nationally ranked TCU and Columbia, the Diamond Owls kickoff CUSA play this weekend on the road against he Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (12-6, 7-2 at home, 2-0 vs. Top 50, 4-2 vs. Top 100). The Bulldogs have swept Houston Baptist, beaten A&M and Cal in a weekend tournament, and split a 4-game series with Pepperdine. Here's their schedule and results to date...
http://warrennolan.com/baseball/2018/sch...siana-Tech
...somewhat counter to past offensive-minded LaTech teams, this year's squad features dominant pitching, with all 3 weekend starters sporting ERAs under 1.50, and BAAs below 0.215 over their first four starts (a posting a combined 7-0 record). More disconcerting to us, two of their three weekend starters are left-handers. It will certainly help if Andrew Dunlap returns to the lineup, giving us another quality right-handed bat (to go along with Comeaux and switch-hitting Cruz). Their closer has already appeared in 7 games and has yet to yield a run while striking out 21 batters in 14.1 IP. The entire pitching staff has posted exceptional across-the-board stats: 1.86 ERA, .206 BAA, 3.7 K:BB ratio with 171 strikeouts in 164 IP.
Offensively, they're hitting a very respectable .276/.380/.384 as a team, with 10 HRs, 31 doubles/triples, 19-29 SBs and averaging 4.9 runs/game. They're averaging almost 5.5 free passes a game, so it's imperative that our pitchers throw strikes.
Oh, and as with Western Kentucky, this is an upperclass-laden team, with no less than 15 JUCO transfers on the roster.
Here's their individual and team stats...
http://www.latechsports.com/sports/m-bas...l#TEAM.MLB
...and here's their game notes for the weekend series...
http://www.latechsports.com/sports/m-bas...18aaa.html
D1Baseball picked LaTech to finish fourth in the conference...
https://d1baseball.com/analysis/2018-con...ews-c-usa/
Quote:• Louisiana Tech is yet another team who put together a solid 2017 campaign, but didn’t have the resume to get into the postseason. The Bulldogs finished last season with a 36-20 overall record and 17-13 mark in the league, but the RPI and resume just weren’t there. With that said, this team has the ability to make some serious noise, and the Bulldogs got a good one with the addition of pitching coach Cory Barton. On the mound, Friday night starter Logan Bailey is a rather interesting lefty. He has the ability to change his arm slot, and he’ll sit anywhere from 86-88 and up to 89, along with a good curveball and feel for a changeup. Meanwhile, Matt Miller is an undersized righty who will sit 89-90 and up to 91-92, along with a three-pitch mix, and projected No. 3 starter Logan Robbins, a lefty, was 87-89 and up to 90 mph with his fastball in junior college last season, and threw three pitches for strikes in the fall. Tyler Follis is a quality midweek arm for the Bulldogs, while at the back-end, veteran Kent Hasler was up to 93 in the fall with his fastball and is the consummate competitor and Quinton Logan will sit 89-91 with a quality slider from the left side … Juco transfer catcher Chris Clayton was the surprise of the fall with his catch and throw ability and strong offensive skill set, while Cole Warken has power and the newcomer duo of Mason Mallard and Hudson Hopkins look to provide athleticism and versatility to the lineup. There’s also freshman Steele Netterville, who showed big raw power in the fall, but who also continues to develop as a seasoned hitter.
Perfect Game picked the Bulldogs to finish 8th in CUSA...
https://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/Vie...icle=14816
Quote:Louisiana Tech: There’s going to be a new look to this Louisiana Tech club as seven everyday players that started at least 50 games in 2017 have departed, leaving just Dalton Skelton, a redshirt-senior infielder, on the roster with 50-plus starts from a season ago. How does the coaching staff plan on filling those lineup voids? The current roster features 27 new names, 15 of whom enter from the JuCo ranks, meaning they should be able to step in right away. That said, the Bulldogs have had past success through the JuCo route and hopes are 2018 will be more of the same. Among the transfers are infielder Tanner Huddleston, who hit .379 last season with pop, outfielder Hudson Hopkins, who showed plenty of power with 15 long balls at Seminole State (Okla.), speedy Grant Jones from Odessa, who is a top-of-the-order hitter, and Shelton Wallace, who did it all offensively for Jones County. Kent Hassler returns with seven starts a year ago, most on the current staff, but again new faces should make an impact. Two-ways Logan Bailey and Quinton Logan both put up good numbers last season and Ben Stiglets went 11-0 over two years, and these newcomers don’t even factor in the talented crop of arms in the freshman class.
Let's build on our wins vs. TCU and Columbia, and start conference play on a positive note. A series win finally gets us back over .500 on the season. Let's get it done. Go Owls!
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