Morehead State baseball will conclude its fall practice this weekend with the annual Blue and Gold Fall World Series. This season's event will run in conjunction baseball's parents' weekend and recognition of the 2018 Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Championship team at Saturday's football game.
This season's rendition of the Blue and Gold World Series will pit volunteer assistant coach Blaine Barthel's gold squad against hitting coach Kane Sweeney's blue squad with both teams being selected through a controlled draft. Approximant start times for the weekend series are 4 p.m. ET Friday, 4:45 p.m. Saturday, and 12 p.m. Sunday.
Pitching depth stands out for Morehead State as head coach Mike McGuire and pitching coach Adam Brown return 72 percent of the team's innings pitched from a year ago while also returning 67 percent of the team's starts.
Redshirt junior southpaw Dalton Stambaugh looks to play into the rotation mix after starting a team-high 16 games a season ago. Stambaugh tossed a team-best 90.0 innings last spring en route to a 7-3 record, tossing a complete game at Alabama A&M and recording a career-high 11 strikeouts at Murray State. Also returning for the Eagles is senior righty Garret Rogers who made five starts down the stretch, including three during the Eagles' postseason run. Rogers notched a 1-3 record in 32.2 innings but did give the Eagles five scoreless innings with six punch outs versus Tennessee and 4.1 innings of two-run ball in the OVC Tournament Championship Game versus Tennessee Tech.
Others that could factor into the starting rotation for coach McGuire this season are right-handers redshirt sophomore Alex Garbrick and junior Jake Ziegelmeyer, both of whom are returning after being hampered with injuries last season. Garbrick-who's returning from Tommy John Surgery last fall-returns to the mound after tossing 24.1 innings out of the bullpen during his freshman campaign. Ziegelmeyer who was nicked up a bit last spring is battling back after posting a 5-2 record in 15 appearances on the spring, tossing 38.2 innings for the Eagles.
"It's been great to see the reemergence of Alex Garbrick coming back from Tommy John Surgery as he's going to be a factor for us come this spring. Jake Zeigelmeyer is another pitcher who's working back from injuries last year who's had a very good fall," said McGuire. "The continued improvement of Dalton Stambaugh and Garret Rogers should provide us with several good starting options come the spring."
In the bullpen, redshirt sophomore lefthander Cory Conway returns after a freshman campaign that saw him garner Freshman All-American honors from Collegiate Baseball while also being named to the OVC All-Newcomer Team. Conway appeared in a program-record 35 games last season, notching an 8-4 record in 52.0 innings while tying a team-high with four saves. Tying atop the saves list with Conway was junior righty Dom Masullo who recorded four saves in 20 appearances spanning 17.2 innings. The duo will provide the Eagles with a formidable back end of the bullpen as they'll team with senior right-hander TJ Satterly (20 appearances, 58.2 innings) and senior lefty David Looney (22 appearances, 34.2 innings) in the relief corps.
"Dom Masullo is a power arm that has had his most consistent fall to this point and gives us another good option out of the pen to go with returning Freshman All-American Cory Conway, TJ Satterly, and David Looney," added McGuire.
Newcomers Landon Weins and Noah Short-both freshman right-handers-have made good strides during the fall and look to factor into Morehead State's pitching depth come the spring.
Offensively, Morehead State looks to blend its veteran presence-five returning starters-with an impressive group of junior college transfers that could make an immediate impact. The group of returners includes a pair of All-OVC First Team members, an All-OVC Second Team member, and a member of last season's OVC All-Tournament team.
Senior shortstop Reid Leonard headlines the returning group, being named a Brooks Wallace Award (given to the nation's top shortstop) finalist a year ago. He reached base safely in 50 consecutive games for the Eagles last season, putting a stamp on a campaign that saw him hit .344 with 20 extra-base hits while drawing a team-leading 55 walks. Senior centerfielder Connor Pauly-the Eagles' other First Team All-OVC selection-hit .339 with 26 extra-base hits and 53 runs batted in.
Second-Team All-OVC member, senior first baseman Trevor Snyder returns after slugging his way to a .335 average, 18 homers, and 69 RBI a year ago. Both his home run and run batted in total ranked as career-bests while slotting into the league's top-ten bests for the 2018 season. Senior right fielder Jake Hammon returns after a campaign that saw him hit .361-the best mark amongst Eagle returners-with 19 extra-base hits and 53 RBI. Senior catcher Hunter Fain returns after collecting a lion's share of time behind the dish for Morehead State, throwing out 14 would-be base stealers.
"Offensively, we're a veteran group with five returning starters, but also several junior college transfers that should make an immediate impact for us this spring," explained McGuire. "Ryan Layne and Jon Burghardt have had very good falls and should step into the middle of the lineup for us. Arthur Sells, Dom Peroni, Stephen Hill, and Scott Wolverton will all push to get a lot of at-bats as well. In addition, freshman outfielder Zach Boyd has made a good impression this fall."
Morehead State's Fall World Series also culminates with parents' weekend that includes a luncheon for all players, parents, family, and friends in attendance on Saturday.
