Tech will host Arkansas State this weekend at J.C. Love Field. The series will get started Friday night with a 6 p.m. first pitch. The two teams will then play again Saturday at 2 p.m., before wrapping up the series at 1 p.m. Sunday. Looks like the weather might play a role in this series.
This is a sneaky good series that I did not expect coming into the year.
The Red Wolves finished 20-31 (11-19) a season ago, but are off to a quick 7-2 start in 2019. They won 2 of three against SFA to open the year. They were then defeated by Ole Miss 15-3 in their first midweek of the year. They’ve responded to that loss by winning five straight. They swept Valpo last weekend and swept a two-game midweek series with Mississippi Valley this week.
Tech was ranked 24th in the country last year when they went to Jonesboro and split a two-game set. The last game was snowed out. Tech won the first game 19-3, lost the second game 6-5. Tech leads the all-time series 78-37.
Zach Jackson, Chandler Coates, and Nate Alberius have gotten the weekend starts through the first two weeks of the season.
Jackson is a big, bad bodied right-hander at 6’0, 250. He’s a JC transfer from Crowder CC and has been really good so far this year. In two starts, he’s thrown 11.2 innings, allowed only 8 hits, walked 2, struck out 13, and has a 3.09 ERA.
Coates is another JC guy that comes from Howard College in TX. He began his career at New Mexico. He’s the lone left-hander in the rotation. To this point, he’s thrown 12 innings, allowed 9 hits, walked 3, struck out 12, and has a 1.50 ERA.
Alberius will round out the rotation, he’s one of only three pitchers on their roster with substantial D1 experience. He spent a year at Arkansas, so he has some talent. He tossed 81.1 innings a season ago and had a 4.43 ERA. So far this year, he has thrown 10 innings, allowed 11 hits, walked 3, struck out 8, and has a 2.70 ERA.
The go to guys in the bullpen are Kollin Stone and Jack Jumper. The duo has combined to throw 12 scoreless innings in 9 appearances so far. Both are right-handers.
They also have a RS FR pitcher, Noah Stone, who is 6’8 275!! I hope he gets on the mound this weekend haha.
As a team, they have a 3.44 team ERA. Their team ERA was 6.01 in 2018, so they look to be improved.
Offensively, the Red Wolves are hitting .251, have a .386 OBP, and are averaging just over 6 runs per game.
Their best offensive player is Kyle MacDonald. He’s hitting .281 with 1 home run and 9 RBI in the early going. He hit .346 with 15 home runs and 50 RBI last season. MacDonald was picked as the Preseason Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year by the coaches.
Sky-Lar Culver is off to a scorching hot start in his first season in Jonesboro. He’s hitting .414 with 1 home run and 10 RBI. He hit 34 home runs in 2 years at Allen CC.
Justin Felix is the leader of their team at catcher. He missed all of 2018 with an injury, but is back this year. He’s hitting .310 in the early going with 1 home run and 6 RBI. The A-State coaching staff thinks he’ll be a top 15 round MLB Draft pick.
Drew Tipton is a guy to watch on the base paths. He stole 15 bases last year and already is 7/7 this year.
Statistically, A-State looks pretty good. That said, I’m not sure they’ve really been tested all that much so far. SFA is usually pretty bad, Valpo is not a good baseball program, and MVSU is turribleeee. The only team they’ve played with a pulse is Ole Miss, and they got annihilated. I think Tech is closer to Ole Miss than they are to SFA. We’ll see though. We can’t afford another home series loss, especially with the gauntlet we have coming up.
According to A-State game notes, Follis, Robbins, and Bailey will get the starts on the bump for Tech. Robbins and Bailey need to pick things up. I’d imagine Miller will be ready to roll early in any of the three games.
This is a sneaky good series that I did not expect coming into the year.
The Red Wolves finished 20-31 (11-19) a season ago, but are off to a quick 7-2 start in 2019. They won 2 of three against SFA to open the year. They were then defeated by Ole Miss 15-3 in their first midweek of the year. They’ve responded to that loss by winning five straight. They swept Valpo last weekend and swept a two-game midweek series with Mississippi Valley this week.
Tech was ranked 24th in the country last year when they went to Jonesboro and split a two-game set. The last game was snowed out. Tech won the first game 19-3, lost the second game 6-5. Tech leads the all-time series 78-37.
Zach Jackson, Chandler Coates, and Nate Alberius have gotten the weekend starts through the first two weeks of the season.
Jackson is a big, bad bodied right-hander at 6’0, 250. He’s a JC transfer from Crowder CC and has been really good so far this year. In two starts, he’s thrown 11.2 innings, allowed only 8 hits, walked 2, struck out 13, and has a 3.09 ERA.
Coates is another JC guy that comes from Howard College in TX. He began his career at New Mexico. He’s the lone left-hander in the rotation. To this point, he’s thrown 12 innings, allowed 9 hits, walked 3, struck out 12, and has a 1.50 ERA.
Alberius will round out the rotation, he’s one of only three pitchers on their roster with substantial D1 experience. He spent a year at Arkansas, so he has some talent. He tossed 81.1 innings a season ago and had a 4.43 ERA. So far this year, he has thrown 10 innings, allowed 11 hits, walked 3, struck out 8, and has a 2.70 ERA.
The go to guys in the bullpen are Kollin Stone and Jack Jumper. The duo has combined to throw 12 scoreless innings in 9 appearances so far. Both are right-handers.
They also have a RS FR pitcher, Noah Stone, who is 6’8 275!! I hope he gets on the mound this weekend haha.
As a team, they have a 3.44 team ERA. Their team ERA was 6.01 in 2018, so they look to be improved.
Offensively, the Red Wolves are hitting .251, have a .386 OBP, and are averaging just over 6 runs per game.
Their best offensive player is Kyle MacDonald. He’s hitting .281 with 1 home run and 9 RBI in the early going. He hit .346 with 15 home runs and 50 RBI last season. MacDonald was picked as the Preseason Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year by the coaches.
Sky-Lar Culver is off to a scorching hot start in his first season in Jonesboro. He’s hitting .414 with 1 home run and 10 RBI. He hit 34 home runs in 2 years at Allen CC.
Justin Felix is the leader of their team at catcher. He missed all of 2018 with an injury, but is back this year. He’s hitting .310 in the early going with 1 home run and 6 RBI. The A-State coaching staff thinks he’ll be a top 15 round MLB Draft pick.
Drew Tipton is a guy to watch on the base paths. He stole 15 bases last year and already is 7/7 this year.
Statistically, A-State looks pretty good. That said, I’m not sure they’ve really been tested all that much so far. SFA is usually pretty bad, Valpo is not a good baseball program, and MVSU is turribleeee. The only team they’ve played with a pulse is Ole Miss, and they got annihilated. I think Tech is closer to Ole Miss than they are to SFA. We’ll see though. We can’t afford another home series loss, especially with the gauntlet we have coming up.
According to A-State game notes, Follis, Robbins, and Bailey will get the starts on the bump for Tech. Robbins and Bailey need to pick things up. I’d imagine Miller will be ready to roll early in any of the three games.
