Series 3: Truman (2-6; 0-0 GLVC) vs. Trevecca Nazarene (4-6; 0-0 GMAC)
When: Friday, March 2, 2018 || 4:00 p.m. (DH)
Saturday, March 3, 2018 || 12:00 p.m. (DH)
Where: Nashville, Tenn. || Jackson Field
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman Baseball team plays their third straight road weekend series to start the season when they travel to Nashville, Tennessee for a set against Trevecca Nazarene. The teams will play doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday.
The Bulldogs were swept by Missouri Southern this past weekend in Joplin with each game decided by three runs or less. Truman scored in the top of the first inning in three games over the weekend only to watch the Lions answer back with runs in their half of the inning. Due to the weather last weekend in Joplin, all four games were completed in a 27-hour time period.
Josh Abegg hit .429 with seven runs scored and collected three doubles and two triples in the four games. Abegg currently leads the Bulldogs with a .357 batting average with half of his 10 hits going for extra bases. He leads the team as well in multi-hit games with three and seven players overall have at least one multi-hit game.
Charlie Kreh (.320) heads into the series with a seven-game hitting streak and has reached base safely in all eight games played. Kreh and shortstop Evan Kayser are the lone Bulldogs to have started the same position in all eight games. Truman has had to use three different starting centerfielders and rightfielders.
This will be the first ever meeting between Truman and Trevecca on the diamond. They are both members of the NCAA Midwest Regional. The Trojans were 22-23 last season and play in the GMAC conference. They became full time NCAA members in the 2014 season.
The scheduled weekend format will be a nine-inning game followed by a seven-inning game.
Weather Forecast (as of Wednesday 12:00 p.m. update):
National Weather Service Springfield Office (@NWSNashville).
Friday – Sunny, with a high near 54. North wind around 10 mph.
Saturday – Sunny, with a high near 56. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
Scouting the Trojans:
The Trojans are hitting .340 as a team with 13 doubles, a triple and two home runs. Tyler Burns leads the way with a .385 average in four games played while Ethan Hurt has a .324 mark in nine games. They have averaged 3.8 runs per game while giving up 8.7. A skewing number in that average was a 22-5 loss to Northwood University on Saturday.
Trevecca split with GLVC member Lewis on Friday by scores of 10-7 (L) and 4-1 (W).
Drew Pierce and Ryan Shultz have each made three starts. Jake Roberson is 2-0 in six appearances and one start. The staff in general has an ERA of 7.01 and opponents have hit .299 against Trojan pitching.
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.
- In the 16 innings Truman has scored runs, opponents have countered with runs in their next at bat on eight occasions. On the flip side, when opponents have scored runs (29 innings), Truman has responded six times.
- 40 Bulldogs have reached base via being hit, walk or error with 12 coming in to score. Opponents have had 51 reach via the same ways with 18 coming in to score.
- Truman is averaging 4.1 runs per game this season and 6.7 hits per game. Opponents are averaging 6.3 runs per game and 9.2 hits.
- Truman's .961 fielding percentage last year was the third best in school history trailing the 2015 (.969) and 2014 (.961) averages.
- Brendan Trimble is the active leader in multi-hit games with 46, Charlie Kreh is second with 25 and Mason King at 18.
- Peter Young's seven saves was one off his school record of eight that he nailed down in the 2016 season.
- 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 tied for seventh in starts with 30, seventh in complete games with 11 and sixth in innings pitched with 207.1. He just entered the top 10 in strikeouts with 123 and in eighth position there. Next on the charts for Ks is Jeff Birdsong's 141.
Up Next:
Truman will play at home for the first time during the 2018 season when the University of Indianapolis comes calling for a non-conference four-game set. The teams played a four-game series in Indianapolis back in 2014 with each team winning two games.
They met in the 2014 GLVC Tournament as Truman knocked off the Greyhounds in a wild 13-12 affair. The game lasted eight hours aided by a four-hour rain delay. The Bulldogs trailed 10-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh. They would score four runs in both the seventh and eighth innings to send the game to a 10th. After UINDY took the lead again in their half of the extra inning, Truman scored twice with the winning run coming on a balk.
