[Baseball] BASEBALL OPENS PRACTICE ON TUESDAY

[LUSportsFan]

from lamarcardinals.com

 

With their eyes always on the development of college baseball players, Lamar baseball head coach Jim Gilligan and staff announced practice times for their first week of training for another Southland Conference championship run during the 2015 season.

 

Lamar will hold skill groups on Tuesday and Wednesday at 2:30 before the captain's hold their own practice at 2 o'clock on Thursday. The entire week leads to a squad scrimmage set to be played on Friday at 2 o'clock. All times are weather permitting and the weekend's times have not be set.

 

Read more here: http://www.lamarcardinals.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/011915aab.html

[Big T]

For those of you who do not keep up with Lamar baseball all that much here is a run down of what to expect this season. Lamar is coming back with some very good talent in the starting pitching department. In fact, they may have too many good starters. The ace of the staff is Collin Chapman. Now Collin is coming off of two consecutive years where an arm injury prematurely ended his season. So the big question is if that arm is finally healed and can he keep it healthy. Next is aJUCO transfer that the Cards landed last year and had high hopes for. However, Billy Love's season ended before it ever began when he injured his arm as well. As a result, he has yet to throw a game for the Cards but if all of the hype is true this guy is a stud. Third is Will Hibbs. Big ol' dude but doesn't throw very hard but has a curve that buckles hitters knees. He solidified himself as a very good SLC starter last season as a sophomore and is now entering his junior year. Chase Angelle is also a returning starter from last year who gave the Cards some great innings. He originally started the year in the bullpen but with the injuries of Collin and Billy Love he was forced into the rotation. Jayson McKinnely and Travis Moore also made starts for the Cards. All I can say id that they are stacked on that side of the ball.

 

As for hitting, the Cards lost some very key pieces. Returning is Catcher Brandon Provost who while not a big time power guy can slap the ball into the gaps. Santana who is a legit power guy. If he can learn how to hit to all fields and not be just a pull hitter then the guy would be unstoppable. At one point last year before he was injured he was leading the nation in doubles. Reed Sealy was one of those paradoxes last year. He would look great one game and then look terrible the next two. But one thing is for sure, whether or not his bat become consistent they guy can play a mean 3B. Jacoby Middleton started out the season looking like he did not belong on a D1 team then in the middle portion he began to fire up and then went on a hot streak like you wouldn't believe. But then he slacked back off towards the end of the season. He is another one that needs to put it all together.

 

The pitching is going to be fantastic as long as they stay healthy. The hitting may have to come as the season rolls along. I am not sold on the offense. I think the offense is going to hinge on what Gilligan was able to bring in during the signing period. Maybe the returning guys will have developed into more consistent hitters and I am pleasantly surprised. But there were too many series where we saw Lamar go win the fist game big 10-2 and then loose the next couple 2-1 or 4-2. They were able to keep their noses above the water on some of those low scoring games which is what allowed Lamar to have a decent record last season. Perhaps that is what they are going to have to do this year. A 3-2 2-1 win is just as good as a 10-2 win but they are going to have to find some offense somewhere. Lets hope that these guys have put their time in this off season and we see the results.