Transferred over from another thread...
MTSU comes into this series with an overall 18 - 16 record (9-10 home, 5-7 CUSA, 6-9 vs. Top 150, #182 RPI, #156 ISR, #185 SoS), but losers in 4 of their last 5 games. (In comparison, Rice is #133 RPI, #128 ISR, #34 SoS, 9-18 vs. Top 150...but have played just 8 games against sub-RPI 150 teams, while MTSU has played a whopping 19 games against such weak opponents.) They split two midweek games with #67 Tennessee, but that's about their only quality win. And they've yet to play any of the 3 elite teams in CUSA; instead, they've gone only 5-7 vs. WKU (2-1), Charlotte (1-2), ODU (2-1) and Marshall (who swept them on the road last weekend). They still have USM, FAU and LaTech remaining on their schedule, with two of those three series on the road. Here's their schedule and results to date...
http://goblueraiders.com/documents/2018/...h=baseball
MTSU appears to be a team with a quality bullpen, solid offense and defense, but weak starting pitching. They're both scoring and giving up 6.5 runs per game. And remember, those stats are inflated given their very weak Stength of Schedule. This week's midweek is a perfect reflection of their season-- the blew out #260 Belmont at home 9-0, then followed that up with a blowout 2-14 loss on the road to #28 Tennessee Tech.
Offensively, they're hitting .274/.374/.408 as a team, with 28 HRs, 67 doubles/triples, 42-55 SBs and averaging 6.5 runs per game. They're led buy CUSA POY candidate, Aaron Auker (.351/.412/.634, 8 HRs, 14 doubles, 40 RBIs) and speedster/leadoff man, Austin Dennis (.338/.419/.500, 4 HRs, 24 RBIs, 37 runs, 13-15 SBs). The entire lineup is composed of very patient hitters who work the count, which is reflective in both their high free pass (BBs, HBPs) tally of just under 6/game and high strikeout frequency (8.5/game against week competition). Though they have two elite basestealers (28-32 SBs combined), they don't deploy small ball, as they've only collected 5 sac bunts (even less than us, and that's saying something!). Fortunately for us, though MTSU does appear to platoon at a couple positions, only one everyday player is left-handed, which gives us an advantage with our overwhelmingly right-handed pitching staff. Our Canterino-Garcia-Moss should rack up a ton of strikeouts this weekend, but our bullpen MUST throw strikes or we could be in for a walkathon.
MTSU's defense has been solid, but far from great, posting a .968 fielding percentage, while committing just 41 errors in 34 games and allowing only 21 unearned runs. They've also turned 31 double plays (vs. only 21 DPs turned by the Owls so far. However, opponents have run successfully against them, stealing 40-50 bases.
On the mound, Sr LHP Jake Wyrick is their only quality, above-average starter (7 starts, 1-2, 33.2 IP, 3.21 ERA, .225 BAA, 12 BBs, 33 Ks), but he's averaging less than 5 innings per start. The other two weekend starters have ERAs below 5.80, though one is yet another southpaw. As noted, their bullpen has been solid and relatively deep. Relievers account for 9 (half) of MTSU's 18 wins, and have another 8 saves. Overall team pitching stats are really poor: 5.81 ERA, .284 BAA, 1.42 K:BB ratio, 1.90 WHIP...and that's against a very weak SoS. Also of note, the Blue Raider staff may be the only team we face that gives us a run for the money-- and actually tops us-- in the "gift giving" category...
Rice staff: 35 games, 137 BBs, 34 HBP, 41 WPs, 10 balks
MTSU staff: 34 games, 195 BBs, 47 HBP, 36 WPs, 9 balks
Hopefully, our lineup can demonstrate some patience this weekend, though that didn't help us against UH midweek when we collected 8 free passes, yet still failed to score.
Here are the Blue Raider's individual and team stats to date...
http://goblueraiders.com/documents/2018/...h=baseball
