DSC baseball team starts season Friday
Tyler Roberts
Issue date: 2/3/10 Section: Sports
Friend said they need to beat the good teams in order to accomplish their goal of making the NCAA postseason this year.
"If we beat Mesa State three out of the four games or even sweep them, we have a good shot at jumping up in the regional rankings," he said. "If we do that we have a good chance of making the postseason at the end of the year."
Both Zitting and Friend said the team's goal is to qualify for the NCAA tournament and the team has made improvements from last season to this one.
"I think our offense has improved over last year's," Friend said. "We won't hit as many home runs as we did last year, but we have improved. We are very quick throughout our lineup and every guy has the potential to hit .300."
The pitching staff of the team will be a strong point as well, Zitting said. Senior pitcher Preston Grimes will be the staff ace with senior Todd Morlock anchoring the bullpen as the closer. Grimes recorded a 7-2 record with a 7.44 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 65 innings last year, while Morlock had a 4.35 ERA with a 4-2 record with 7 saves in 31 innings of work.
Friend led the team last year in batting average with a .383, recording 72 hits and accounting for 35 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. Fellow senior Brett Adams, an outfielder, is the returner with the next highest batting average, hitting .353 with 71 hits, 9 home runs and 50 RBIs.
The team will start the season Friday against MSC at Bruce Hurst Field at 3 p.m. The team will then play a doubleheader against the Mavericks on Saturday starting at noon and finish the four-game set on Sunday at noon.
"If we beat Mesa State three out of the four games or even sweep them, we have a good shot at jumping up in the regional rankings," he said. "If we do that we have a good chance of making the postseason at the end of the year."
Both Zitting and Friend said the team's goal is to qualify for the NCAA tournament and the team has made improvements from last season to this one.
"I think our offense has improved over last year's," Friend said. "We won't hit as many home runs as we did last year, but we have improved. We are very quick throughout our lineup and every guy has the potential to hit .300."
The pitching staff of the team will be a strong point as well, Zitting said. Senior pitcher Preston Grimes will be the staff ace with senior Todd Morlock anchoring the bullpen as the closer. Grimes recorded a 7-2 record with a 7.44 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 65 innings last year, while Morlock had a 4.35 ERA with a 4-2 record with 7 saves in 31 innings of work.
Friend led the team last year in batting average with a .383, recording 72 hits and accounting for 35 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. Fellow senior Brett Adams, an outfielder, is the returner with the next highest batting average, hitting .353 with 71 hits, 9 home runs and 50 RBIs.
The team will start the season Friday against MSC at Bruce Hurst Field at 3 p.m. The team will then play a doubleheader against the Mavericks on Saturday starting at noon and finish the four-game set on Sunday at noon.
Be the first to comment on this story