Belton, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball team will open the 2011 season with a 2:30 PM home non-conference game against Texas Wesleyan University on Tuesday, February 8th. The Derek Dunaway era as the Cru's head coach will also open with that game, one that was added to the schedule on Sunday to fill an open date.
UMHB is scheduled to play four more games in a busy opening week. The Cru is set to follow up Tuesday's opener with a 3:00 PM single game at Southwestern University in Georgetown on Wednesday. UMHB will then travel to Tyler this weekend to play a three-game series against U.T.-Tyler on Friday and Saturday.
UMHB returns three starting position players, two-thirds of the starting rotation, six total pitchers and 13 total letter winners this season. The Cru went 22-19 overall and 13-8 in ASC play and qualified for the ASC Championship Tournament before falling to Mississippi College in a first-round series. UMHB returns two First Team All-West Division selections in 3B
Josh Fredrick (Jr., Troy) and utility player
Chris Joshlin (Jr., Rogers). Fredrick batted .335 with four home runs and 32 RBI and Joshlin batted .380 with two homers and 31 RBI while splitting the season between catcher and designated hitter. 1B
Seth Lynn (Jr., Katy) is the only other returning starting position player. Lynn batted .270 with two home runs and 27 RBI last season. OF
Reinaldo Araujo (Sr., Alief Hastings), C/DH
Derek Draeger (Jr., Northeast Christian Academy) and 2B
Jeremy Sapp (So., Caney Creek) also return from last year's roster and will have a chance to see significant playing time and could nail down starting jobs. P
Jared Hopper transferred to U.T.-San Antonio but
Cameron Arnett (Jr., Belton) and
Chance Ryan (So., Rosebud-Lott) return to headline the starting rotation. Ryan was 5-2 with a 4.30 ERA last season and Arnett went 6-6 with a 4.73 ERA last year. P
Sam VanHoozer (So., Salado) also returns after sitting out last season. VanHoozer was 3-1 with six saves and a 3.36 ERA as a freshman in 2009.
Andy Evans (Jr., Linden-Kildare),
Kendall Kusak (So., Shiner St. Paul),
Ricky Brenek (Sr., Rogers) and
Kel Shannon (Jr., Katy) all saw time out of the bullpen last season and could compete with a deep and talented group of newcomers for innings.
The Cru will also rely on some new faces to fill holes and spots in the starting line-up. OF
Braden Embry (Jr., Riesel) transferred in from McLennan Community College and has a good chance to lock up a starting job in the outfield. SS
Zach Young (Jr., Cameron Yoe) is another transfer from MCC and the early favorite to claim the starting job at shortstop. P
Cameron Graham (So., Midway) was a junior college teammate of Young and Embry at MCC last season and is in the mix to claim the open job in the starting rotation. 2B/DH
Seth Mogavero (So., Robinson) spent the past two seasons playing football for UMHB and he should compete for a starting job and at-bats along with 3B/DH
Tim Yan (Fr., Langham Creek) and DH/OF
Logan Pratt (Fr., Bruceville-Eddy). P
Trevor Alaniz (Jr., Belton) transferred in from Southwestern Assemblies of God and will be counted on to contribute out of the bullpen along with freshmen P's
Parker Edmonds (Fr., Waller) and
Danny Horstman (Fr., Clifton).
Dunaway was named head coach on an interim basis when Micah Wells resigned in July. Dunaway spent the previous five seasons as an assistant coach for the Cru and he was a four-year letter winner for the UMHB baseball program. Dunaway still holds the school records for wins and innings pitched. The Cru was picked to finish fourth in the ASC West Division in the league's annual Preseason Coaches and Media Poll. UMHB has advanced to the ASC Championship Tournament in each of the last four seasons, setting a school record in the process.
