The First Pitch:
The Truman Bulldogs will concluded their 22-game homestand with a four-game GLVC West Division series against the Drury Panthers. The two teams played six games last season with the Bulldogs winning four out of the six. The teams split their four-game conference series in Springfield last season while Truman knocked off the Panthers on consecutive nights at the NCAA Midwest Regional in May.
 
Both Truman and Drury have three common opponents thus far in Missouri Western, Southwest Baptist and Southern Indiana. The Griffons won both games over Truman and Drury while the Bulldogs split their two games with USI and Drury was swept in a three-game series. The Panthers knocked off Southwest Baptist in their one game they played against one another while the Bearcats won three of four against Truman in a home and home doubleheader.
 
Players to Watch:
For the Bulldogs, junior shortshop Nick Agliolo is hitting .420 with 22 runs scored and drawing 11 walks. He had a 15-game hitting streak to start the season and has hit safely in 22 of 25 games played. Sophomore left fielder Adam Gregorich (.362/.435/.400), senior center fielders T.J. Wood (.333/.347/.422) and senior first baseman Dave Gambino (.287.457/.356) are among the other Bulldog leaders. Gambino and junior Jason Preist (.298/.394/.343) are the top two run producers with Gambino leading the team with 20 RBIs and Priest second with 19.
 
For the Panthers, Ryan Columbo has been the team's leading hitter and pitcher this season. Columbo is hitting .318 with 15 runs scored and three triples. Columbo has also started five games with a 3-2 record and a 1.46 ERA in 37 innings pitched. Drury is hitting .250 as a team with six home runs and are averaging six strikeouts a game.
 
Pitching Matchups:
The Bulldogs have a 6.81 team ERA. Nate Lukas, Alex Hoffmann and Mark Roberts have two wins apiece. Hoffmann and closer Peter Young have each appeared in a team leading eight games this season. Freshman Adrian Morris has appeared in seven games, making one start and has a 3.43 ERA and a 1-2 record. Sophomore Kent Frantz has been the number two starter and is 1-3 with a 6.59 ERA.
 
On the backend of the games, Young has converted on all five save opportunities this season and all 11 opportunities since taking over the closer roll last April. Young is 3-1 with a 0.98 ERA and has made 31 appearances, eight this season, for the Bulldogs.
 
Sterling Sharp and Luke Burnidge have six starts apiece to lead the Panthers. Burnidge is 1-4 with a 5.09 ERA while Sharp is also 1-4 with a 5.67 ERA. Ryan Wedermyer has made 11 appearances thus far and has a 1.74 ERA with four saves out of Drury's nine wins.
 
Last Year vs. Drury:
The Bulldogs won four of six over Drury last season. In game one of their four-game set in Springfield, Truman won 5-3 in 10 innings. Brendan Trimble got the infield single to score Paul Trenhaile for the go ahead run and Trimble later scored on a throwing error. T.J. Wood saved the game with a spectacular catch over the centerfield fence to preserve the victory for Cody Gardner, who pitched the first nine innings.
 
Drury took game two 8-7 as the Panthers scored seven runs in the first two innings but had to hold on as the Bulldogs rallied with four in the top of the seventh.
 
The Bulldogs won game three 6-2 as they pounded out 13 hits while Kent Frantz was the winner allowing four in five-plus innings pitched.
 
The Panthers took the finale 6-5 with three runs in the bottom of the ninth for the walkoff win.
 
At the regional in St. Charles, Truman sent Drury into the elimination bracket with a 9-5 win. The Bulldogs scored seven times in the second inning aided by three Panthers errors. Frantz was the winning pitcher while Austin Faulconer took the loss.
 
In an elimination game for Drury, the Bulldogs did just that winning 5-3 over the Panthers. T.J. Wood went 3-for-4 and Truman scored single runs in the first, second and six innings before breaking the three-all tie with two in the seventh aided again by Panther errors. Mark Roberts earned the win and Peter Young notched his sixth save of the season.
 
Home Run Homer:
 
Player – Inning/Game (Season/Career HR)
Dave Gambino - 5^th Inning Game 3 vs. Lincoln solo (1/7) *
Jason Priest  - 5^th Inning Game 3 vs. Lincoln solo (1/1)
Nick Agliolo – 1^st Inning Game 8 vs. Bemidji solo (1/1)
Adam Gregorich – 5^th Inning Game 12 vs. Lewis Grand Slam (1/2)
Dave Gambino – 3^rd Inning Game 14 vs. Lewis one on (2/8)
Mason King – 5^th Inning Game 14 vs. Lewis solo (1/1) *
Dave Gambino – 5^th Inning Game 17 vs. Missouri Western two-on (3/9)
Jason Priest – 3^rd Inning Game 19 vs. Augustana Grand Slam (2/2)
Charlie Kreh – 9^th Inning Game 25 vs. Quincy solo (1/1)
*leadoff home runs
 
The Bulldogs had not hit a grand slam since 2010 but have hit two this season.
 
Quick Hits:

• Opponents have scored in the first inning of games 11 out of 25 games played and are 7-4 in those games. Opponents have scored first against Truman in 20 games and are 13-7.
• Opponents have scored the Bulldogs 32-19 in the first inning and the highest scoring inning has been the third at 40-23 in favor of the opponents.
• Mark Roberts and Tanner Forck have the team's only combine shutout thus far, a 7-0 seven-inning victory over Bemidji State on March 4.
• Truman has been shutout once this year, an 8-0 loss to Augustana on March 19, a seven-inning game.
• The Bulldogs are 5-7 in nine-inning games with two needed extra innings (both losses) and 5-8 in seven-inning games with one (a loss) only going five innings due to darkness.
• Truman has had over 10 hits in 13 games this season with a high of 17 in a victory over Saint Joseph's (Ind.). The Bulldogs are 7-6 in those 13 games, with two being extra inning losses.
• Nick Agliolo has 12 multi-hit games including a 4-for-6 performance against Southern Indiana.
• Jason Priest is second on the team with nine multi-hit games. Mason King went 4-for-4 with two runs scored on a March 15 game against Missouri Western.
• Agliolo had the longest hitting streak of any 'Dog this year as he hit safely in the first 15 games.
• Dave Gambino (First Base), Nick Agliolo (Shortstop) and T.J. Wood (Center Field) have played and started each game at those respective positions.
• Gambino (3^rd), Jason Priest (Cleanup) and, Brendan Trimble (5^th) have been placed in the batting order in those spots for all 25 games.
• Mark Roberts (6), Kent Frantz (6), Nate Lukas (4), Brad Molski (4), Adrian Morris (1), Sam Reuter (2), Tyler Spencer (1) and Alex Hoffman (1) have made the pitching starts this season.
• Truman is wrapping up a 22-game home stand after playing their first five on the road. The Bulldogs are scheduled to play 31 games in Kirksville this year.

 
 
Career Record Watch:
Mark Roberts is Truman's career leader in innings pitched. Roberts surpassed Kyle Veazey (220.1) earlier this season and has pitched 240.0 innings over the course of 46 appearances and 36 starts. His 11 career wins is fifth in Truman history. He is now in the top 10 of career Bulldogs in appearances while his next start will bring him five away from the all-time record of 42 held by Veazey.
 
Peter Young's 11 career saves is two better than the former record of nine held by Dan Hillen from 2003-2005. Young has converted on all 11 save opportunities in his career.
 
Dave Gambino's 605 putouts is sixth on Truman's career list.
 
GLVC West Primer:
Both Missouri-St. Louis and Missouri S&T sit atop the division after the first weekend of play. Both the Tritons and Miners went 3-1 in the first weekend with series wins over Maryville and Drury respectively. The other four schools, including Truman split their opening weekend.
 
Drury (2-2) at Truman (2-2)
Missouri S&T (3-1) at Quincy (2-2)
Missouri-St. Louis (3-1) at William Jewell (2-2)
Maryville (1-3) at Rockhurst (2-2)
 
The top four teams in the division will advance to the GLVC Postseason Tournament in Westfield, Indiana that will run from May 12-15.
 
Preseason Polls:
In the GLVC Preseason Coaches' Poll, Truman was picked third in the West Division behind Quincy and Drury. The Hawks picked up 12 first place votes and had 117 points, Drury had one first place vote and 96 total and Truman had two first place tallies and 91 total votes.
 
The University of Indianapolis earned 11 first place votes to sit atop the poll for the GLVC East Division with Southern Indiana gaining the other five first place votes and totaled 105 points.
 
This season, the GLVC will play exclusively within their divisions to decide postseason tournament berths. The top four in each Division will gain spots in the tournament to be played in Westfield, Indiana in mid-May.
 
Up Next:
After all the home cooking, the Bulldogs will play the next two conference weekends on the road. Next week, Truman will travel to Maryville University in St. Louis for a four-game series against the Saints. Maryville's field is under construction so the exact location of the game will be announced next week.  Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled to being at 2 p.m. while Sunday's twinbill begins at 1 p.m.
 
 
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