How are we looking heading into opening weekend?

#1
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BaseVol

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#1
I've read and watched bits and pieces but haven't seen any live action. Anyone following practices closely enough to comment specifically on how we're shaping up for opening weekend?
 
#2
#2
I've been there on occasion but cold weather has kept me away some. Team looks good with some room to grow also. Offense should be good, many left-handed hitters and some power. Pitching looks much better but some key guys are still young. Owenby, Lee, Serrano and Martin are all key but not much experience. Owenby the most experienced but mostly last summer. Many different position movement in squad games but defense looks good.
I'm very excited about the start of season finally here again. It should be a good year ahead for the baseball VOLS.
 
#4
#4
BaseVol said:
I've read and watched bits and pieces but haven't seen any live action. Anyone following practices closely enough to comment specifically on how we're shaping up for opening weekend?
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I've been to a few practices and I left some notes in the practice schedule threads, been a little cold for note taking though.

Serrano looks like the real deal. Obviously, he's a freshman and he's probably...okay, definitely have some issues. I'll be absolutely shocked if he's not a weekend starter, I don't love putting that kind of pressure on the kid, but it is what it is.

Owenby didn't pitch this week and I'm hoping it's just to keep him rested and not that he's injured.

Hunter Martin, Andy Cox, Andrew Lee...these are the guys I'm still wondering about, they've looked good, but I don't think we'll know until we're down the road a bit.
The Trevors too...I haven't seen them since the summer.

I'll tell you who is not a freshman anymore. VJax, Simcox and Stewart look totally different. I would be completely stunned if AJ has the same mishaps as he did at the beginning of last season. He's been stellar in the field at practice and showed improvement in Alaska.

Maggio and Senzel will be freshmen to look out for.

You've got Price, Maddox, and Taylor Smart with another year of experience, obviously Maddox had the wild summer starting out in the Cape Cod, then USA Baseball, before winding up on the west coast and going to the NBC.

I don't really go as far back as Delmonico, but this is Serrano's best team. We need to get to Hoover, that's the goal and that's my expectation too, not because it's his 3rd year, but because we look like a team that can.

Can't wait!

GBO!
 
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#5
#5
. . . Dave Serrano has recruited well in his first two years at Tennessee, which could make a postseason run if talented sophomores A.J. Simcox, Vincent Jackson and Christin Stewart mature into offensive forces as hoped. Two more sophomores, RHP Andrew Lee and LHP Drake Owenby, have flashed swing-and-miss stuff on the mound. Serrano’s son, Fr. RHP Kyle Serrano, gives UT even more pitching upside, thanks to a fastball that has reached 95 and feel for a wipeout curve . . .
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2014 College Preview: SEC - BaseballAmerica.com
 
#6
#6
A nice thing about Kyle Serrano, I'm reasonably confident his arm will remain healthy as his father simply did not allow overuse or tough curve balls until he got older.

That cannot be said over many of the travel league kids who are a Tommy John Bomb waiting to go off. I think the pro scouts will appreciate that in 3-years as well.

The sky's the limit for the kid as he starts removing the stops. His technique, his reasonable use and his demeanor will make him better every season.
 
#7
#7
Starters for this weekend

Friday - Andrew Lee

Saturday - Hunter Martin

Sunday - Game 1 - Kyle Serrano
- Game 2 - Nick Williams

Pitchers will be on 75-80 pitch count...Owenby will be the closer, battling arm soreness.

GBO!
 
#8
#8
The weaterh forecast is iffy. Should be fine on Friday-Sunday but how much snow will be on the ground from Thursday?
 
#10
#10
A little info on the teams we face this weekend.


From UNO website:

OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha baseball team is favored to repeat as The Summit League's regular-season champion in a preseason vote among the league’s head coaches, the conference office announced Thursday.

The Mavericks received three first-place votes and a total of 15 points. South Dakota State came in second with 12 points and one first-place vote while North Dakota State had 10 points for third place. Western Illinois received the final first-place vote and totaled eight points, followed by Fort Wayne with five points.

Omaha welcomes back a pair of first-team all-league selections in senior Tyler Splichal and junior Alex Mortensen and a pair of second-team honorees with senior Brett Bass and sophomore Clayton Taylor. Bass (.301), Mortensen (.318) and Taylor (.352) all finished the 2013 campaign in the league’s top 10 in batting average.

Taylor is the league’s top returning hitter and was first in on-base percentage (.464) a year ago, while Mortensen finished second in the league in doubles (15). Sophomore Tyler Fox and junior Zach Williamsen, two right-handed pitchers, are the Mavericks' top returning hurlers. Fox finished with a 6-2 record and 3.99 ERA in his freshman campaign, while Williamsen was 4-1 with a 3.38 ERA and 42 strikeouts last season.

UNO capped 2013 with an overall record of 27-22 and a league mark of 20-6. The Mavericks won the regular-season title in just their first year as a member of the league and their second year as a Division I school, and it marked UNO’s first Division I conference championship in any sport.

Omaha opens the 2014 season in Knoxville, Tenn., facing Tennessee and Purdue, on Friday, Feb. 14.
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From BA's Summit League Preview:

Making its Summit League debut, Nebraska-Omaha went 20-6 in conference play last year and won the regular-season title by four games, but the Mavericks aren’t yet eligible for postseason play after moving up from Division II in 2011. They’ll have to wait for that until 2016. In the meantime, UNO remains the favorite to win the regular season, led by sophomores Taylor and C Alex Mortensen, who’s coming off a .318 season . . .
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Purdue Baseball Preview

McHugh, Hudnall, Minch & Schreiber -- 2014 Season Preview Part 1 - YouTube

Friday probable starter - Brett Haan - Jr. RHP - JUCO

Saturday - Kyle Wood - So. LHP - 2013 ERA - 5.00

Sunday (1) - Jordan Minch - So. LHP - 2013 ERA - 4.98

Sunday (2) - Conner Podlkul - So. RHP - missed 2013 season, elbow surgery, 2012 ERA 4.84

Purdue won the Big 10 Title in 2012, had a disappointing season with a young team in 2013.
 
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#12
#12
I think we'll he a successful team that wins more than 12 division games, and we make it to the division tournament.
 
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