Belton, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball team will open the 2014 season on Tuesday, February 18
th. The Cru will travel to Seguin to face former conference rival Texas Lutheran University in a 2:00 PM non-conference single game.
UMHB is scheduled to play three more games in a busy opening week. The Cru is set to follow up Tuesday's opener with the start of American Southwest Conference play this week. UMHB will play its first conference series of the year in a three-game set at Howard Payne University in Brownwood. The two teams will play a 2:00 PM single game on Friday before closing out the weekend with a 1:00 PM doubleheader on Saturday.
UMHB returns five starting position players, seven total pitchers and 14 total letter winners this season. The Cru went 21-21 overall and 10-8 in American Southwest Conference play last season. UMHB advanced to the ASC Championship Tournament for the first time in three seasons before falling to Louisiana College in a three-game First Round series 2-1. UMHB returns three total All-West Division selections this season and will build around that nucleus this year. Designated hitter Zach Whiddon (So., Katy) was an All-Region selection after hitting .333 with a homer, 28 RBI and team-bests with six triples and 11 stolen bases. Catcher
Robert Loewe (Sr., Waller) hit .328 with two home runs and 25 RBI. Utility player
Heath Spencer (Jr., Temple) batted .352 and scored 14 runs at a variety of positions. Outfielders
Chase Burrow (So., Groesbeck) and
Will Stafford (So., Katy) were both starters last season with Burrow hitting .321 and stealing ten bases and Stafford batting .252.
Tyler Taute (So., Austin) and
Justin Dingman (So., Killeen) were part-time starters at first base and catcher respectively last season and should once again compete for starting roles. Newcomers are expected to claim the other spots in the starting line-up after the Cru brought in a deep and talented class of fresh faces.
The pitching staff features three returners who saw time as starters last season.
Ian Ekery (Jr., El Paso) went 2-5 with a 4.67 ERA. Nick Bergmann (So., Houston) posted a 2-4 mark and 5.56 ERA and
Jordan Mattke (Sr., Troy) was 2-0 with a 4.40 ERA.
Danny Horstman (Sr., Clifton),
Aaron Barteau (So., Dallas) and
Riley Davis (Jr., North Richland Hills) are the top returning relievers after combining for a 3-4 record and two saves last season. Several talented newcomers will also compete for time in the rotation and out of the bullpen this year.
Ben Shipp returns for the second season of his second stint as head coach of the UMHB baseball program. Those stints wrap around a 16-year tenure as Vice-President for Athletics for the Cru. Shipp enters the 2014 season with 298 career wins and needs just two more victories to become just the second coach in Cru athletics history to reach 300 wins at the school. Men's basketball
Ken DeWeese accomplished that feat earlier this season.
Texas Lutheran will enter Tuesday's game with a 5-2 record on the season. The Bulldogs are in their first year of competition in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference after leaving the ASC following the 2012-13 school year. TLU will offer free live video and live stats for Tuesday's game. You can find those links on the UMHB athletic department web site or by clicking directly on:
http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/tlu.portal.
