Mark West: Red Wolves Baseball – Previews: Texas State, Southeast Missouri

The Arkansas State Red Wolves baseball team heads into the seventh week of the season at 14-11 with an RPI of 51 and a 5-1 Sun Belt Conference record that sees them tied for second place with the Texas State Bobcats, whom they just happen to be playing this weekend.

Arkansas State seems to be getting things together as a team. The team is young and full of new parts but they seem to be coming together just in time for conference play, having won five of their first six conference games which includes a sweep of the UALR Trojans in Jonesboro and winning 2-of-3 on the road at the UT Arlington Mavericks.

The offense has seen an almost complete overhaul yet for the most part the new parts are rolling pretty well as the Red Wolves are hitting .281 as a team with a .381 slugging percentage and a .386 on base average and are averaging 6.6 runs per game. Arkansas State has been hitting with some power season with six home runs out of 65 extra-base hits while sprinkling in some small ball when they need to with 19 sac hits on the year with 15 sac flies which is three more than all of last season. A-State is running the bases well with 37 steals on 41 attempts which is nine steals ahead of all of last season.

The Red Wolves pitching staff has a 4.16 ERA while allowing a .260 opponent batting average. Arkansas State averages 7.1 strike outs and 3.3 walks every nine innings for a 2.1 strike-out-to-walk ratio. The staff has a 1.36 WHIP having allowed 50 extra-base hits of which 12 were home runs. Arkansas State has allowed 15 sac hits and only two sac flies all season. A-State has allowed 21 stolen bases on 33 attempts.

Stuart Levy (Jr., C) has reached base safely in 22 consecutive games and Morgan Croft (Sr., RHP) has pitched 11 and one-third consecutive scoreless innings.

Arkansas State hosts the Texas State Bobcats in a pivotal three game set at Tomlinson/Kell Field in Jonesboro this weekend. If the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers can manage a win or two against the No. 4 Louisiana Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns, this series’ winner could be in first place in the Sun Belt.

The Red Wolves will travel to play the Southeast Missouri Redhawks for a midweek tilt on Tuesday.

Offensive Leaders

Austin Baker (So., CF) 26 R, 29 H, 4 3B, 5 HR, 55 TB, .567 SLG%, 16 BB, 8-8 SB-SBA, 3 SF

Lucas Fedderson (Jr., 2B) .322 AVG, 29 H, 5 SH

Stuart Levy (Jr., C) .415 OBA, 9 2B

Matt Burgess (So., 1B) 26 RBI

Starting Rotation

David Owen (So., RHP) 4-0, 2.97 ERA, 30.1 IP, 11 BB, 29 K, .235 OBA, 1.25 WHIP

Chandler Hawkins (Jr., LHP) 2-3, 5.04 ERA, 30.1 IP, 8 BB, 25 K, .302 OBA, 1.19 WHIP

Bradley Wallace (Sr., RHP) 1-3, 6.66 ERA, 24.1 IP, 12 BB, 22 K, .330 OBA, 1.85 WHIP

Tanner Gaines (Jr., RHP) 2-0, 5.14 ERA, 21.0 IP, 8 BB, 11 K, .309 OBA, 1.57 WHIP

Bullpen

Cody Woodhouse (Sr., RHP) 2-0, 1.61 ERA, 10 APP, 22.1 IP, 6 BB, 12 K, .232 OBA, 1.12 WHIP

Colton Kibler (Jr., RHP) 1-1, 3.15 ERA, 15 APP, 20.0 IP, 3 BB, 16 K, .208 OBA, 0.90 WHIP

Morgan Croft (Sr., RHP) 1-1, 2.57 ERA, 9 APP, 21.0 IP, 6 BB, 16 K, .194 OBA, 0.95 WHIP

Texas State Bobcats (15-9, 5-1 Sun Belt, 98 RPI)

Texas State is playing in its’ inaugural season in the Sun Belt conference and has gotten off to a solid start with a 15-9 overall record while going 5-1 in the Sun Belt. Texas State pulled off the home sweep of UT Arlington before taking 2-of-3 from the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in Bowling Green last weekend.

The Bobcats are hitting.245 with 11 home runs while averaging 5.1 runs per game. Texas State has 44 extra-base hits with 15 sac hits while stealing 16 bases on 23 attempts. Their offense is really best described as opportunistic as they tend to be pitching dominant. Garrett Mattlage (Jr., SS), Tyler Pearson (Sr., C), and Granger Studdard (Fr., LF) carry the offensive load.

Texas State’s pitching has a 3.83 ERA while holding opponents to a .254 batting average with a combined 1.32 WHIP while allowing an average of 4.7 runs per game.  The Bobcats average 8.1 strike outs and 3.1 walks per nine innings for a 2.6 strike-out-to-walk ratio. Starters Taylor Black (RJr., RHP)) 2-3, 3.54 ERA, 7 BB, 38 K; Austen Williams (Jr., RHP) 3-0, 2.89 ERA, 12 BB, 39 K; and Lucas Humpal (So., RHP) 2-0, 3.49 ERA, 10 BB, 36 K are averaging 6.1 innings per start with a combined 3.9 strike-out-to-walk ratio. Cory Geisler (So., LHP) 2-0, 1.35 ERA, 11 APP, 20.0 IP, 7 BB 16 K is the set-up man and Hunter Lemke (Sr., RHP) 4-1, 6 SV, 15 APP, 20.0 IP, 3 BB, 13 K is the closer.

Southeast Missouri State Redhawks (14-10, 7-2 Ohio Valley, 136 RPI)

Southeast Missouri State is a yearly opponent for the Red Wolves hailing from the Ohio Valley Conference who just ended a seven game winning streak with three straight losses. The Redhawks face conference foe Tennessee Martin this weekend before hosting the Red Wolves on Tuesday night.

The Redhawks are hitting .301 with 11 home runs while averaging 6.8 runs per game. Southeast Missouri has hit 66 extra-base hits with 18 sac hits on the year and 37 steals on 44 attempts. The Redhawk attack is led by Derek Gibson (Sr., OF), Matt Tellor (Sr., 1B) and Jason Blum (Jr., INF).

SEMO’s staff has posted a 4.39 ERA while allowing opponents to hit .266 against them averaging 5.0 runs per game.

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You can read more of Mark West at College Baseball Central where he covers Arkansas State, the Sun Belt Conference and the Big 12 Conference at http://collegebaseballcentral.com/author/markwest/