Baseball 2/21/2018 12:37:00 PM

NOTES: Bulldogs& Lions To Tangle In Joplin This Weekend

Truman Baseball Notes (February 24-25)
Twitter: @TrumanAthletics || @TrumanBaseball || #BewareofDog

Series 2: Truman (2-2; 0-0 GLVC) vs. Missouri Southern (7-2; 0-0 MIAA)
When: Saturday, February 24, 2018 || 1:00 p.m. (DH)
Sunday, February 25, 2018 || 1:00 p.m. (DH)
Where: Joplin, Mo. || Warren Turner Field
Live Stats || Live Stats (Media)

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – After splitting with Washburn on the road in the opening weekend, the Truman Baseball team heads south to face another former MIAA opponent when they play a four-game series with Missouri Southern starting on Saturday.

The Bulldogs took the opener 6-4 behind an inside the park home run by Evan Kayser and the series finale 2-0 on a four-pitcher combine shutout. Kayser finished the series with a .333 average with two triples and the homer among his four hits. Brendan Trimble had five hits out of the DH spot and scored a team-leading three runs.

Peter Young nailed down his first two save opportunities of the season in both victories while Matt Tometz and Matthew Wade pitched three innings apiece out of the pen and did not allow a run to score.

Bryan Clark and Kent Frantz were the pitching winners. Frantz tied Cody Gardner for second on the all-time wins list with 15 and will have the opportunity to move into first place with Alex Hoffmann in his next start. He also moved into the top eight in career innings pitched with over 200 and into the top 10 in career strikeouts with 121.

Weather Forecast (as of Wednesday 12:00 p.m. update):
National Weather Service Springfield Office (@NWSSpringfield).
Saturday – 50% Chance of Showers, Mostly Cloudy with high near 63
Sunday – Sunny, with a high near 56

Scouting the 'Lions:
Southern has had a heavy dose of GLVC teams on their schedule since opening the season. The Lions played three GLVC schools last week and went 4-1. The loss was a 2-0 decision on the road at Missouri S&T while they swept Illinois Springfield 3-2 and 8-5 and Maryville 13-7 and 7-5 at home.

The team is hitting .245 overall with eight home runs and 56 RBIs and are averaging 6.5 runs per game. Mike Million is hitting .355 with a pair of home runs and three doubles. The pitching staff has a very solid 3.12 ERA in nine games and has had four different closers record savers. Corbin Osburn is 0-1 with a 2.08 ERA and leads the staff in strikeouts with 22. Opponents are hitting .205 against the Lions pitching.

The Lions were picked seventh in the MIAA preseason coaches poll after going 29-26 last season and 18-18 in the conference.

Last Year vs. Missouri Southern:
The two teams swept doubleheaders last year in Joplin. The Lions won on Saturday by scores of 7-1 and 15-12 while Truman won 9-8 and 15-11.

The team combine for 12 home runs, two triples, 15 doubles and were walked a total of 38 times over the four games. Southern hit .375 with Max Hogan leading the way with four dingers and 12 RBIs. Brendan Trimble and Dave Gambino drove in eight apiece for Truman and Charlie Kreh had the game-winning RBI in the 9-8 decision in extra innings.

The team ERAs were not something the coaches would approve of. The Bulldog staff had a 10.55 ERA while the Southern pitchers had an 8.71 ERA with 27 hurlers used between the two teams.

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 46, Charlie Kreh is second with 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 23 career saves is first by 14 over Dan Hillen (2003-05) and his 60 appearances is two shy of the 62 set by Tyler Stefan (2009-12).
Frantz is second in career wins with 15, tied with Cody Gardner (2012-15) and one shy of Alex Hoffmann (2014-17). Frantz is 10^th in starts with 29, seventh in complete games with 11 and eighth in innings pitched with 202.2. He just entered the top 10 in strikeouts with 121 and is tied with Denny Foster (1971-73 and one back of Mike Dahlberg (1971-73).

Up Next:
A new opponent with dot the Bulldog schedule as Truman heads to "Music City USA" to face Trevecca Nazarene in Nashville, Tennessee on March 2-3. The Trojans are a Midwest regional team and are 3-3 on the young season.

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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

#6 Dave Gambino: OF/1B; 6' 2"; Senior; L/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

#14 Evan Kayser: SS/2B; 5' 10"; Sophomore; R/R

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

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

#1 Matt Tometz: LHP; 6' 0"; Senior; R/L

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

Players Mentioned

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

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

#6 Dave Gambino
: 6' 2"; Senior; L/L
: OF/1B

#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

#14 Evan Kayser
: 5' 10"; Sophomore; R/R
: SS/2B

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

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

#1 Matt Tometz
: 6' 0"; Senior; R/L
: LHP

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