Tennessee vs. Northern Illinois baseball series

by Caban on Feb 9, 2012 8:45 PM EST

Lindsey-Nelson Stadium
Schedule
2/17 - 4pm
2/18 - 1pm
2/19 - 1pm

Series Record: First meeting
2011 record: 30-27(16-11 MAC)
2011 RPI: 181

Tickets
Game One - $4 to $7, Kids under 12 get in free, bring 2 school supplies to get in free
Game Two - $4 to $7, bring 2 school supplies to get in free
Game Three - $4 to $7, Kids under 12 get in free

Additional information after the jump

Tennessee
Coach: Dave Serrano, 1st year at UT, 286-136-1 all-time
2011 record: 25-29, 7-23 SEC

Key Players
SS - Zach Osborne - .330 avg, 19 RBI, .389 OBP, .961 Fielding %
1B - Davis Morgan - .278 avg, 16 RBI, .361 OBP, .985 Fielding %
C - Ethan Bennett - .262 avg, 25 RBI, 7 HR, .356 OBP, .982 Fielding % - Preseason All-SEC 2nd Team
SP/OF - Drew Steckenreider - 6.12 ERA, 2-0, 37 K, 32.1 IP, .311 OBP hitting
SP - Nick Williams - 6.48 ERA, 2-1, 30 K, 33.1 IP

Watch for Steckenreider, he's getting a lot of attention as a potential darkhorse candidate for All-SEC after a sensational fall camp. I'd like to ask anyone with information on the 2011 commitments exactly who ended up enrolling, UTsports.com doesn't have the spring roster up yet.

Northern Illinois
Coach: Ed Mathey, 240-261-1 at NIU(10 years), 445-432-3 all-time
2011 record: 30-27, 25-16 MAC

Key Players
RP - Kyle Glancy - 2.86 ERA, 1-0, 12 SV, 28.1 IP - Preseason All-American, All-MAC
SS - Alex Jones - .352 avg, 15 2B, 6 3B, 47 RBI
1B/DH - Jeff Zimmerman - .326 avg, 11HR, 47 RBI
CF - Jamison Wells - .321 avg, 27 SB, 26 RBI
SP - Tony Manville - 4.73 ERA, 9-1, 42 SO, 72.1 IP

This is a team that you absolutely DO NOT want to be behind late in the game, Glancy is just too good to reliably come back on.

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Comments

Going over the numbers...

really makes you realize just how bad we were last season. Honestly, we were an extremely lucky team as our raw numbers were by far the worst in the SEC.

That said, I expect some serious improvement… and we’ll need it, because NIU returns the bulk of their most talented guys from last season and they could arguably have kicked our butt last season.

by Caban on Feb 9, 2012 9:03 PM EST reply actions

Extremely lucky?

Or wel coached?

by danmarcel on Feb 10, 2012 6:55 PM EST up reply actions

Forgot the

by danmarcel on Feb 10, 2012 6:56 PM EST up reply actions

knowing next to nothing about the intricacies of college bball...

How much improvement can we expect from the coaching change, and how much is just recruitment and player development?

Nice article, BTW. Always good to see something outside the two main sports.

by CobbWebbAttack on Feb 10, 2012 3:48 PM EST reply actions

I know next to nothing either

but I’m pretty sure that baseball is a sport where freshmen can come in and straight dominate, so fruits of improved recruiting should be evident sooner rather than later. I think

If I cared more about my UNC side, I'd call myself "Tar Volon," and that'd be awesome.
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by Incipient_Senescence on Feb 10, 2012 4:00 PM EST up reply actions

I expect us to be pretty good actually...

I hold Todd Raleigh in incredibly low esteem. We’ve consistently recruited high level talent and gotten nothing out of them, so it’s not like Serrano has nothing to work with.

by Caban on Feb 10, 2012 4:03 PM EST up reply actions

Ah, good.

I took a look at Serrano’s first seasons at each of his coaching gigs (via Wikipedia) and they were pretty solid, but I didn’t know what kind of player material he inherited at those stops, especially at Cal-State Fullerton.

Well, here’s hoping for another Todd Helton-esque performance!

by CobbWebbAttack on Feb 10, 2012 4:12 PM EST up reply actions

Some of it is just natural development, too.

Physical maturity and the like. My instincts / ability to remember how development works in the 18-21 range is rusty, but I think this is still tool development stage, and if one guy’s more developed than the rest, so much the better.

Formerly 'snail. You get used to it after a while.

by Chris Pendley on Feb 12, 2012 2:18 PM EST up reply actions