NOTES: Kansas City Here We Come Says Truman Baseball

Truman Baseball Notes (April 28-29)
Twitter: @TrumanAthletics|| @TrumanBaseball|| #BewareofDog

Series 10: Truman (11-29; 5-15 GLVC) vs. Missouri-St. Louis (13-26; 5-15 GLVC)
When: Saturday, April 28, 2018 || 12:00 p.m. (DH)
Sunday, April 29, 2018 || 12:00 p.m. (DH)
Where:Kansas City, Mo. || Loyola Park Baseball Field
Live Stats|| Live Stats(Media) || Live Video (if available)

KIRKSVILLE, Mo.– It will be the final road conference series for the Truman Baseball team when they head to Kansas City for a four-game series with Rockhurst.

The Bulldogs are still in contention for a GLVC Tournament berth but will need to make up ground if they want to catch fourth place William Jewell in the standings. Truman and Rockhurst are both 5-15 in the league while the Cardinals hold that last spot with a 10-10 conference record. The Bulldogs have the favorable schedule with Rockhurst this week and Missouri S&T (8-12) at home to close things out next weekend at home. Jewell finishes with the other top teams in the conference in Quincy and Maryville, both at 14-6.

Truman was a swing away from taking the first three games of this past weekend's series against Missouri-St. Louis. The Bulldogs won the first two games by scores of 21-9 and 9-7 but let a five-run lead slip away in the seventh inning before falling 11-9 in extra innings in game three. The Tritons carried the momentum into game four with a 7-5 win to split the set.

Charlie Kreh had a dominating performance at the plate. Kreh extended his season-long hitting streak to 15 games while going 8-of-16 with three doubles, two home runs and driving in 12 runs against UMSL. He raised his season average to .381 and is hitting a paltry .472 (26-of-55) with 26 RBIs during the 15 game hitting streak. That streak is currently the third longest in Truman history, still nine games back of Paul Trenhaile's 24 in 2015.

Last year, Truman and Rockhurst closed the 2017 regular season in Kirksville and played four games that were all decided by two runs or less. The Hawks took the opener 8-6 but the Bulldogs came back to win game two 6-5. On day two, Rockhurst won 6-4 but Truman finished the set with an 8-6 win. The Bulldogs hit .352 in the series and the two teams combined for 13 home runs.

Rockhurst was dumped in three of four games at home against Maryville this past weekend. The Hawks salvaged game three of the series 6-4 but lost the other three games 19-5, 6-4 and 6-5.

Format:
Conference series are four games with the first game of the series being a nine-inning game. Games two and three are seven inning games and the fourth game is also a nine-inning affair. The first game of the series serves as a tiebreaker if teams are tied in the conference standings at the end of the season.

Truman In GLVC:
The Bulldogs have played 37 GLVC series since joining the league in 2014. They have swept all four games once (vs. Southern Indiana in 2015), won three games six times, split the series 18 times, won just once nine times and lost all four games three times (last vs. Drury 2018).

Truman's longest GLVC winning streak is five games in 2014 and longest GLVC losing streak is six games twice, in 2017 and this season.

Weather Forecast (as of Thursday 6:00 a.m. update):
National Weather Service Kansas City/St. Louis Office (@NWSKansasCity)
Saturday – Sunny, with a high near 67. Northeast wind around 7 mph
Sunday – Sunney with a high near 72.

Truman individual player stats against Rockhurst

Bryan Clark was the losing pitcher in game one of the series last year and went five innings, allowing 13 hits and six earned runs.
Kent Frantz has made three pitching performances and one start against the Hawks. He has thrown 8.1 innings with six hits and three earned runs. Rockhurst has hit .194 against Frantz.
Evan Kayser has one hit in nine at bats in last year's series.
Mason King has started all eight games against Rockhurst and is hitting .303 against the Hawks. King hit .471 last year in Kirksville with a homer and six RBIs.
Charlie Kreh has three doubles, a home run and six RBIs against Rockhurst in eight games played and started.
Jon Lyons has started one of six games played against Rockhurst and is hitless in three at bats with a run scored. He does have two stolen bases.
Rian Markes started game three last year and allowed four earned runs in 4.1 innings pitched while taking the loss.
Matt Tometz has appeared in five games and pitched 12.2 innings. He has struck out four and allowed 18 hits with a 1-0 record and a 2.13 ERA. He had a win and a save in the two Truman wins last year.
Brendan Trimble has started and played 12 games and has four doubles and six RBIs. He has 14 hits in 47 at bats (.298) and has scored seven times.
Peter Young has thrown 6.1 innings in six appearances against the Hawks. He is 2-1 with both wins coming in 2015. UMSL and Rockhurst are the only two GLVC West Division teams that Young does not have a save against. The most against a division opponent is six against Drury.

Scouting Rockhurst:
Rockhurst is sixth in the GLVC in hitting (.297) and 13^thin the conference in pitching (7.63 ERA). They are only one of two conference teams that have yet to hit 10 home runs this season (9). Wisconsin-Parkside has the lowest output at three.

Alex Van Pelt is among the league leaders in hitting with his .381 batting average. He has 14 doubles, two triples and four of the team's nine home runs. Van Pelt leads the team with 38 RBIs. Corbin Hare is next with a .359 batting average.

Jacob Thigpen leads the team with nine starts and is 2-4 with a 7.33 ERA. Brock Collins has the most appearances with 14 and has made two starts. Five Rockhurst pitchers, including Collins and Thigpen, have two wins apiece. The Hawks pitching has averaged 6.7 strikeouts per game and 4.34 walks per game.
The Hawks have lost five of their last seven.

Kreh On A Terror:
Charlie Kreh was hitting .323 on the last day of March and has since ripped the cover off the ball in April. He is on a 15-game hitting streak with 26 hits in 55 at bats (.472). The 15-game streak is the third longest since the streaks were tracked in 2004 and matches Nick Agliolo's 2016 streak. Only Corbin Williams (16 – 2014) and Paul Trenhaile (24 – 2015) have longer hitting streaks.

His .381 season averages sits just outside the top 10 in Truman history while his 40 RBIs are sixth and within 10 of the school record held by Tony Vandemore in 1999. He career .344 mark is fourth in Truman history at this time and along with Brendan Trimble, who also has 33 career doubles, they are tied for fifth in Truman lore.

Kreh is hitting .413 in GLVC games with 29 RBIs.

The Starting Rota:
Bryan Clark, Kent Frantz and Rian Markes all have 10 starts.

Frantz, in his five GLVC starts, is 4-1 with two complete games and a 2.50 ERA. He has allowed 10 runs in 36 innings of work. Frantz is first in career wins with 19 at Truman, third in career starts with 38, second in innings pitched at 259.1 and second in strikeouts with 162. He is eight innings away from the career innings mark of 267.1 held by Mark Roberts and 12 strikeouts away from Brant Kraner's career mark of 174.

Markes has tossed 49 innings and is 2-5 and Clark has thrown 46 innings and is 2-7.

Blake Bagenstos (6), Matthew Wade (3) and Josh Woodmansee (1) have made the starts in the other games this year. Bagenstos is 1-3, Wade started the past three weekends and is second on the team in appearances with 15 and Woodmansee is 0-1 in 10 appearances.

Shutting Things Down:
Closer Peter Young has four saves this season and 25 for his Bulldog career. Young was a first-team all-GLVC pitcher in 2017 and is the only Bulldog pitcher with more than 10 career saves.
Matt Tometz has the most relief appearances for the Bulldogs at 17 and is 0-3 with a 3.94 ERA. Tometz has seven pickoffs this season and one save.

Countdown to 200:
Head Coach Dan Davis needs five wins to hit the 200-win plateau. He will be only the second Truman Baseball Coach to win 200 games joining all-time leader in wins Sam Nugent (238).

Up Next:
Truman will close out the 2018 regular season with a Friday/Saturday GLVC series against longtime rival Missouri S&T.

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Players Mentioned

#34 Paul Trenhaile: 1B/3B; 6' 5"; Sophomore; R/R

#12 Mark Roberts: RHP; 6' 1"; Freshman; R/R

#5 Nick Agliolo: SS/2B; 6' 1"; Senior; L/R

#15 Blake Bagenstos: RHP; 6' 0"; Sophomore; 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

#8 Jon Lyons: C; 5' 10"; Junior; R/R

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

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

Players Mentioned

#34 Paul Trenhaile
: 6' 5"; Sophomore; R/R
: 1B/3B

#12 Mark Roberts
: 6' 1"; Freshman; R/R
: RHP

#5 Nick Agliolo
: 6' 1"; Senior; L/R
: SS/2B

#15 Blake Bagenstos
: 6' 0"; Sophomore; R/R
: RHP

#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

#8 Jon Lyons
: 5' 10"; Junior; R/R
: C

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

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