Baseball 2/14/2018 9:56:00 AM

NOTES: First Pitch For Truman Baseball Slated For This Weekend

Truman Baseball Notes (February 16-18)
Twitter: @TrumanAthletics || @TrumanBaseball || #BewareofDog

Series 1: Truman (0-0; 0-0 GLVC) vs. Washburn (3-3; 0-0 MIAA)
When: Friday, February 16, 2018 || 3:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 17, 2018 || 1:00 p.m. (DH)
Sunday, February 18, 2018 || 12:00 p.m.
Where: Topeka, Kan. || Falley Field
Live Stats || Live Stats (Media)

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The first pitch of the 2018 Truman Baseball season is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Friday as the Bulldogs play in Topeka, Kansas against Washburn University for the start of four-game weekend series.

The teams will play a single-game on Friday, a double-header on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. and a single-game on Sunday beginning at noon. It will be the first of nine games scheduled against Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association teams with Truman playing at Missouri Southern the following weekend and a single game on March 13 against Southwest Baptist.

The Bulldogs last visit to Topeka was in February 2013 when the opened up their final season in the MIAA with a three-game series. The Ichabods took the opener 14-8 and the finale 16-11 while Truman won the middle game 8-1.

Washburn returned to Kirksville for a non-conference game in 2015 and were ranked #25 in the nation at that time. The Bulldogs scored eight unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth innings to win 10-6. Current Bulldog Brendan Trimble went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI and Peter Young pitched two scoreless innings and allowed one hit.

Weather Forecast (as of Wednesday 6:00 a.m. update):
National Weather Service Topeka Office (@NWSTopeka).
Friday – Sunny with a High near 34. North wind 10-15 mph decreasing in the afternoon.
Saturday – Mostly Sunny with high near 50
Sunday – Mostly Sunny with high near 57. Breezy

Scouting the 'Bods:
Washburn will be battle tested with six games under their belts. They went 2-2 in the opening weekend at the 2018 Air Hog Classic in Grand Prairie, Texas with wins against Southeastern Oklahoma State and Oklahoma Christian and losses to Southern Arkansas and Arkansas Tech. Last weekend, they got two of their four games in against Southeastern Oklahoma and split. They won game one 9-2 and lost the nightcap 7-1.

Josh Crosby had nine hits in 23 at bats (.391) with two home runs. He is the only Washburn player hitting above .300. The Ichabods have stolen 17 of 20 bases in the early going but have hit .233 with six home runs in the six games.

Josh Ramirez and Nick Sloan have both made two starts each and 13 total arms have been used in six games. The staff has a 4.11 ERA with opponents batting .276 against Ichabod pitching.
Washburn was picked ninth in the MIAA Preseason Coaches poll after going 21-28 overall and 12-24 in the MIAA last season.

GLVC Coaches Poll:
Truman was picked in a tie for sixth in the GLVC West Division with Rockhurst in the conference coaches' poll. Truman and Rockhurst each garnered 47 points to trail last year's division and Midwest Region champion Quincy, who had 13 first-place votes. The Bulldogs were 18-30 last year and 11-15 in the GLVC.

Early Season Games:
Truman was 3-5 last year in games played during the month of February. The eight games played in the second month of the year tied for third most played in the month in program history.
The Bulldogs played 11 games in February 2009 and nine games in February 2010 along with eight in 2013.

Last year's opener against Central Missouri on February 10 matched the earliest a Truman team had opened the season. The Bulldogs played a home game on February 10 in 2009 for the other earliest calendar start for the team.

Bulldog Bites:

Last year's squad hit .288 which was the ninth highest single-season average for the program. The Bulldogs have placed the last three seasons (2015, 2016 and 2017) in the top 10 in single season batting averages.
The Bulldogs belted 31 home runs a year ago. That was three off the school record of 34 set in both 1983 and 1993. Nine different players had a home run last year and senior Jason Priest led the team with nine.
Truman averaged 4.8 runs per game. They were shutout twice and had a single-game high in runs scored of 15. The scored over 10 runs in seven games and allowed over 10 runs in 10 games.
Truman's .961 fielding percentage last year was the third best in school history trailing the 2015 (.969) and 2014 (.961) averages.
Jason Priest had 22 multi-hit games to lead the Bulldogs last year followed by Charlie Kreh with 20. Priest had the longest hitting streak of the season at 12 games while Kreh had the longest reached base streak of 16 games.
Brendan Trimble is the active leader in multi-hit games with 44 with Kreh at 25 and Mason King at 18.
The pitching staff fanned 227 hitters last year while opponent hit .317 with 37 home runs.
Peter Young's seven saves was one off his school record of eight that he nailed down in the 2016 season.
Kent Frantz made 18 appearances, which tied for seventh in single-season pitching appearances. The record was 25 by Greg Mundy in 2005 followed by Young's 23 in 2015.
Young's 1.68 career ERA would rank third on the Bulldog career pitching list with those with a minimum of 25 innings pitched. His 21 career saves is first by 12 over Dan Hillen (2003-05) and his 58 appearances is four shy of the 62 set by Tyler Stefan (2009-12).
Frantz is third in career wins with 14, one back of Cody Gardner (2012-15) and two shy of Alex Hoffmann (2014-17). Frantz is tied for 10^th in starts with 28, seventh in complete games with 11 and ninth in innings pitched with 196.2. He will enter the top 10 in strikeouts with three and sits with 119.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs will remain in the MIAA next weekend with a four-game series at Missouri Southern State University. The Lions are 3-1 and will host GLVC members Missouri S&T, Illinois Springfield and Maryville in the lead up to the Bulldogs visit.

2018 Season Preview:
The 2018 edition of the Bulldogs will be led by Brendan Trimble, juniors Mason King and Charlie Kreh on the offensive side. Trimble hit .309 last season in 40 games played with eight doubles and 22 RBIs. King is the only returning player to start all 48 games last season, hitting .259 with four doubles and three home runs. King swiped a team high 12 stolen bases a year ago.

???????Kreh was named to the "Collegiate Baseball Regional Watch List" after matching the school's doubles record last year with 19 and hitting .348 in 43 games started. He was second on the team in runs batted in with 29 and added a pair of home runs.

The pitching staff will be anchored by Young on the backend while three weekend starters return to the rotation. Young has nailed down a school record 21 saves in his three seasons as the closer and has a career 1.68 ERA in 58 appearances. Last year, Young was a first team all-GLVC reliever with a 1-1 record and seven saves.

Bryan Clark was the wins leader in 2017 with four and started 11 of 12 games he appeared in. Clark posted a 4-4 record with a 4.66 ERA. Rian Markes started all 11 games he appeared in and was 3-4 with a 5.15 ERA.

Kent Frantz is two career wins shy of the school record of 16 and appeared in a team-high 18 games last season making four starts. The former GLVC Freshman of the Year led the staff in strikeouts with 41 and was 3-6 with a 5.17 ERA in his junior season. Freshman Matt Wade was also named as a Newcomer Player to Watch in the Midwest Region by Collegiate Baseball and the American Baseball Coaches Association.

Head Coach Dan Davis is in his 12^th season at the helm of the Bulldogs and is second on the career wins list at 184. The team has averaged 20 wins in the past seven years and were the NCAA Midwest Region champion and Division II World Series participant in 2015. Davis' teams has also averaged over 20 players each year being named to the Academic All-GLVC team (3.3 GPA) and has routinely been the winner of the GLVC Sportsmanship Team Award.

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Players Mentioned

#8 Tyler Stefan: RHP/OF; 6' 1"; Junior; R/R

#17 Cody Gardner: LHP; 6' 2"; Sophomore; R/L

#31 Alex Hoffmann: RHP; 6' 1"; Senior; R/R

#26 Jason Priest: C/3B; 6' 0"; Senior; R/R

#11 Bryan Clark: LHP; 6' 4"; Sophomore; L/L

#3 Kent Frantz: RHP; 5' 11"; Senior; R/R

#33 Mason King: OF; 5' 10"; Junior; L/L

#24 Charlie Kreh: 1B; 6' 2"; Junior; L/R

#16 Rian Markes: LHP; 6' 2"; Sophomore; L/L

#6 Brendan Trimble: 3B/OF; 6' 2"; Senior; L/R

#21 Peter Young: RHP; 6' 2"; Senior; R/R

Players Mentioned

#8 Tyler Stefan
: 6' 1"; Junior; R/R
: RHP/OF

#17 Cody Gardner
: 6' 2"; Sophomore; R/L
: LHP

#31 Alex Hoffmann
: 6' 1"; Senior; R/R
: RHP

#26 Jason Priest
: 6' 0"; Senior; R/R
: C/3B

#11 Bryan Clark
: 6' 4"; Sophomore; L/L
: LHP

#3 Kent Frantz
: 5' 11"; Senior; R/R
: RHP

#33 Mason King
: 5' 10"; Junior; L/L
: OF

#24 Charlie Kreh
: 6' 2"; Junior; L/R
: 1B

#16 Rian Markes
: 6' 2"; Sophomore; L/L
: LHP

#6 Brendan Trimble
: 6' 2"; Senior; L/R
: 3B/OF

#21 Peter Young
: 6' 2"; Senior; R/R
: RHP