Tech will host FIU in a Conference USA series this weekend. The series will be played Thursday, Friday, and Saturday due to it being Easter weekend.
The Golden Panthers are 12-14 overall and 3-3 in Conference USA play. They picked up a home series victory over Old Dominion last weekend.
They also have wins over Missouri and Miami so far in 2018.
Burroughs is really impressed with the roster that Mervyl Melendez has put together. He has stated on numerous occasions this week that he believes talent wise they are one of the better teams in the conference.
FIU was picked to finish 5th in the preseason poll. This weekend should be a very competitive series.
Logan Allen, Nick MacDonald, and Tyler Myrick have collected the weekend starts in each of the first two Conference USA series.
The order could be altered this weekend, MacDonald has really struggled in each of the first two weekends. That said, he and Myrick are two of the top prospects in the league for the 2019 draft. Both are right-handers.
Allen was picked by D1 Baseball to be the Conference USA Freshman of the Year. Allen is a left-hander that will work 90-92 with his fastball. He leads the team with 34 innings pitched. In those 34 innings, he has allowed 41 hits, walked 6, and struck out 41. He has a 3.97 era.
MacDonald will work around 89-92. He can reach back and get 93-94 when he needs it. He has a 4.68 era in 25 innings pitched. He has allowed 28 hits, while walking 14, and striking out 28. The walks have really hurt him.
Myrick has some really good stuff, he has a 3.37 era in 26.2 innings pitched this season. He has allowed only 18 hits, walked 14, and has struck out 30. He’ll be 91-94 with his fastball but can reach back and get 95-96 if he needs. He has a wipe out low 80s slider as well.
Freshman Christian Santana is a really good reliever that Tech will see. He has a power arm that will work 90-94 with his fastball. He does walk a ton of guys, he has walked 16 in 16 innings pitched which has resulted in a 5.06 era.
Chandler Raiden leads the team with 10 appearances out of the bullpen. He has a ¾ arm slot, and will work 93-94 with his fastball. He’ll sink that fastball to induce a lot of groundballs.
Steven Casey has also been really good out of the bullpen. He has a 2.14 era in 21 innings pitched in 2018. He has only allowed 12 hits while striking out 30.
Offensively, look out. This may be the best offensive team that Tech has seen so far in 2018. They are hitting .290 as a team with 6.5 runs per game.
Austin Shenton is perhaps their best hitter. He has a sweet lefty stroke and is hitting .366 with 8 home runs and 15 RBI. He is a really good prospect for the 2019 draft. JUCO transfer.
Juan Teixeira is hitting .362 with three home runs and 14 RBI.
Eddie Silva is hitting .348 with 4 home runs and 15 RBI.
Lorenzo Hampton is hitting .289 with 6 home runs and 22 RBI.
Jose Garcia is hitting .278 with 8 home runs and 23 RBI.
Get the point? This team has power up and down its lineup while also hitting for good average. The Golden Panthers have 34 home runs in 26 games. Pretty solid.
Tech’s starting pitching has gotten a lot of love, rightfully so. However, I think it’s time for the bullpen to get some love as well. I went back 9 games and in their last 28.1 innings pitched they have a 0.95 ERA. Outstanding.
To me, it’s pretty clear that Tech’s top arms are Miller, Robbins, Bailey, Leal, Follis, Smith, Griffen, Hasler, Ahlrich, and Logan going forward. That’s a solid group.
This will be a huge test for Tech’s staff with FIU being so good offensively.
FIU has a ton of arms that they will throw at the ‘Dogs. All of these guys will likely by 90+, Tech was up for the task against Rice, we’ll see what they do this weekend.
The Golden Panthers are 12-14 overall and 3-3 in Conference USA play. They picked up a home series victory over Old Dominion last weekend.
They also have wins over Missouri and Miami so far in 2018.
Burroughs is really impressed with the roster that Mervyl Melendez has put together. He has stated on numerous occasions this week that he believes talent wise they are one of the better teams in the conference.
FIU was picked to finish 5th in the preseason poll. This weekend should be a very competitive series.
Logan Allen, Nick MacDonald, and Tyler Myrick have collected the weekend starts in each of the first two Conference USA series.
The order could be altered this weekend, MacDonald has really struggled in each of the first two weekends. That said, he and Myrick are two of the top prospects in the league for the 2019 draft. Both are right-handers.
Allen was picked by D1 Baseball to be the Conference USA Freshman of the Year. Allen is a left-hander that will work 90-92 with his fastball. He leads the team with 34 innings pitched. In those 34 innings, he has allowed 41 hits, walked 6, and struck out 41. He has a 3.97 era.
MacDonald will work around 89-92. He can reach back and get 93-94 when he needs it. He has a 4.68 era in 25 innings pitched. He has allowed 28 hits, while walking 14, and striking out 28. The walks have really hurt him.
Myrick has some really good stuff, he has a 3.37 era in 26.2 innings pitched this season. He has allowed only 18 hits, walked 14, and has struck out 30. He’ll be 91-94 with his fastball but can reach back and get 95-96 if he needs. He has a wipe out low 80s slider as well.
Freshman Christian Santana is a really good reliever that Tech will see. He has a power arm that will work 90-94 with his fastball. He does walk a ton of guys, he has walked 16 in 16 innings pitched which has resulted in a 5.06 era.
Chandler Raiden leads the team with 10 appearances out of the bullpen. He has a ¾ arm slot, and will work 93-94 with his fastball. He’ll sink that fastball to induce a lot of groundballs.
Steven Casey has also been really good out of the bullpen. He has a 2.14 era in 21 innings pitched in 2018. He has only allowed 12 hits while striking out 30.
Offensively, look out. This may be the best offensive team that Tech has seen so far in 2018. They are hitting .290 as a team with 6.5 runs per game.
Austin Shenton is perhaps their best hitter. He has a sweet lefty stroke and is hitting .366 with 8 home runs and 15 RBI. He is a really good prospect for the 2019 draft. JUCO transfer.
Juan Teixeira is hitting .362 with three home runs and 14 RBI.
Eddie Silva is hitting .348 with 4 home runs and 15 RBI.
Lorenzo Hampton is hitting .289 with 6 home runs and 22 RBI.
Jose Garcia is hitting .278 with 8 home runs and 23 RBI.
Get the point? This team has power up and down its lineup while also hitting for good average. The Golden Panthers have 34 home runs in 26 games. Pretty solid.
Tech’s starting pitching has gotten a lot of love, rightfully so. However, I think it’s time for the bullpen to get some love as well. I went back 9 games and in their last 28.1 innings pitched they have a 0.95 ERA. Outstanding.
To me, it’s pretty clear that Tech’s top arms are Miller, Robbins, Bailey, Leal, Follis, Smith, Griffen, Hasler, Ahlrich, and Logan going forward. That’s a solid group.
This will be a huge test for Tech’s staff with FIU being so good offensively.
FIU has a ton of arms that they will throw at the ‘Dogs. All of these guys will likely by 90+, Tech was up for the task against Rice, we’ll see what they do this weekend.
