Baseball 3/5/2014 4:15:00 PM

Diamond Notes: Baseball Returns To Work With Six-Game Trip

Truman Roster | @TrumanBaseball

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – After a two-week hiatus, the Truman Baseball team is scheduled to play six games over the course of four days when they travel to Louisville, Ky. to face Hillsdale (Mich.) and Bellarmine(Ky.).

The Bulldogs will play single games against Hillsdale on Saturday and Sunday, followed by a non-conference doubleheader with the Bellarmine Knights on Monday. Truman will they travel to Bolivar, Mo. to face Southwest Baptist University for a doubleheader on Tuesday.

Game Coverage: The Truman/Hillsdale games, since they are neutral site games, will not have live stats or any coverage. Once we learn the score, we will post that on TrumanBulldogs.com and on @TrumanBaseball on Twitter. We anticipate live stats for the Bellarmine doubleheader and Southwest Baptist doubleheader with link information posted on the Bulldog Baseball schedule page.

Truman vs. Hillsdale
Series Format: The teams will play two, nine-inning games. On Saturday, Hillsdale will be designated the home team while on Sunday, the Bulldogs will get the final at bat. Game times are 11:00 a.m. (CST) on Saturday and 12:00 p.m. (CDT) on Sunday.

Series History: The two teams have met just once prior on the diamond with a rare tie. They played in Florida in 1996 with the score tied at five apiece. It is the last of six ties in Truman Baseball history.

Hillsdale Last Time Out: The Chargers played Davis & Elkins in a doubleheader in Louisville on March 1. After winning the first game 3-2, Hillsdale was defeated 6-1 in the nightcap. Shane Armstrong got the win tossing five and a third innings with three hits and two runs allowed.

About the Chargers: Finished 2013 with a 20-25 overall record and were 13-18 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference…Chargers were picked 11th in the GLIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll…return four starting pitchers and seven positions players from last season…top returners are pitcher Matthew Reck and Shane Armstrong along with hitters Vinny Delicata, Luke Ortel and Connor Bartlett…Eric Theisen is in his first season as head coach for Hillsdale.

Truman vs. Bellarmine
Series Format: The teams will play a doubleheader on Monday starting with a nine-inning game and concluding with a seven-inning contest.

Series History: This will be the first meeting between Truman and the Knights on the diamond. These games are not considered conference games despite the fact that both are members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

Bellarmine Last Time Out: The Knights dropped a doubleheader to Alderson Broaddus at home on March 1. ABU won the opener 3-2 and took game two 5-2. The Knights are scheduled to play Lake Erie College on Thursday and Hillsdale College in a pair of single-games on Saturday and Sunday.

About the Knights: Bellarmine was 33-23 overall last year and 20-13 in the GLVC advancing to the NCAA Midwest Regional…they dropped two games in the Midwest regional championship games to Grand Valley State (Mich.) by scores of 7-4 and 6-3…the Knights were picked fifth in the GLVC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Truman vs. Southwest Baptist
Series Format: The teams will play a doubleheader on Tuesday starting with a seven-inning game and concluding with a nine-inning contest.

Series History: SBU holds a 32-31 advantage over their former MIAA mates. The Bearcats took three out of four against Truman last season. They swept a doubleheader in Bolivar by scores of 3-2 and 13-4 while in Kirksville, the Bulldogs won game one 2-1 but lost game two 9-5.

Southwest Baptist Last Time Out: The Bearcats play a weekend series with Central Oklahoma in a four-game conference series before hosting the Bulldogs on Tuesday. SBU took three of four from Nebraska-Kearney in their last action with the games being played in Tishomingo, Okla.

About the Bearcats: SBU is 4-6 overall and 4-4 in the MIAA, including a 10-6 win over the University of Central Missouri…they are hitting .300 as a team with six starters hitting over .316…Drew Miller leads team with a .394 batting average while Christian Binger leads the Bearcats with 12 RBIs…the pitching staff has a 6.66 ERA with an opponent batting average of .300…Spencer Andrews has appeared in six games, all in relief with a 2.45 ERA and Sam Vergara leads the team with two wins and two saves.

Bulldog Notebook:

Remember When:
The Bulldogs dropped three games at Harding (Ark.) to open the season three weeks ago. Truman had a lead in each game but lost 9-4, 3-2 and 7-3.

Paul Trenhaile went 6-for-10 with a pair of doubles during the opening weekend while Corbin Williams had four hits to lead the Bulldogs. Starters Mark Roberts and Tim Lee had solid starts with each throwing six innings and allowing one earned run and five hits.

New Digs This Season:
The Bulldogs join the Great Lakes Valley Conference this season after spending the previous seasons as a member of the Mid-America (former Missouri) Intercollegiate Athletics Association. Truman was picked eighth in the GLVC West Division Coaches' poll.

Truman will play four games against each member of the GLVC West Division and eight total games against two members of the GLVC East Division. The top eight teams, four from each division will qualify for the GLVC Postseason Tournament, beginning May 8 in Evansville, Ind.

Lewis (Ill.) in the east and Drury (Mo.) in the west were picked to win and repeat in their respective divisions this season. While the Flyers, Indianapolis (Ind.) and Saint Joseph's (Ind.) have won the most GLVC titles with five apiece. Nine current GLVC schools have won at least one GLVC championship.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs are schedule to open up the home and conference season by hosting the University of Wisconsin-Parkside March 15-16 in Kirksville, Mo. It will be the first games played by the Bulldogs under the GLVC banner. It will be the first ever meeting with the Rangers on the diamond.

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