Murray State University Athletics
'Breds Open 2007 Season At Louisville
2/19/2007 6:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Murray State Thoroughbreds open their 2007 season on Tuesday at Louisville, the first of a string of five games at big-name schools. The 'Breds start the season off at Louisville on Tuesday, at Kentucky on Wednesday and at Mississippi State Friday through Sunday for a three-day, three-game series.
MSU has eight of its starting position players and designated hitters coming back from last season, with a total of 15 players coming back in 2007. Among those coming back are sophomore shortstop Justin Yount, who had the best fielding percentage among Ohio Valley Conference shortstops, and sophomore third baseman Tyler Owen, who ranked second in the league in fielding at his position.
Also back is senior second baseman Seth Hudson, one of the conference's hottest hitters before breaking his hand on April 14. Despite that, Hudson was named to the All-OVC Second Team, while Owen earned honors on the All-OVC Freshman Team.
Hudson returns after hitting .385 last season, while senior Jamie Leidolf (.327) and sophomore catcher Daniel Miller (.318) also return big bats. Senior left fielder Austin Swain (.293) and senior catcher Jason Payton (.285) also bring back solid offensive production.
On the mound, junior right-hander Mike Perconte (4-7, three saves, 4.92 earned-run average) returns after a season in which he had 59 strikeouts to 21 walks. Senior lefty Jon Newton, whose team-best opponent batting average was .254, also returns.
"I feel like we've got a good mix of veterans and returning guys," said MSU head coach Rob McDonald. "I think our veterans are good leaders, and they've been working hard. We certainly are going to have to have some production out of our new guys. This will be their first time through Division I baseball, but I feel good about where they are and the work that they've done up to this point and their ability to play well at this level.
"One of the things we have to do this year much better than last year is to do things in a more timely manner. Too often last year, we wouldn't pitch and hit well, both, on the same day. We might pitch really well one day and not score, and the next day, we might score several runs and not pitch well. Timeliness is important, and that's hard to put a finger on.
"I feel like our defense is going to be solid," he said. "I feel like our pitching is deeper than it has been. We've got guys who are very capable of swinging the bat. Hopefully, we'll get off to a great start by swinging the bats. Hitting is contagious, and if we can start off feeling good about ourselves, we can build on that."
Murray State's roster features 13 players from Kentucky, something that McDonald has worked hard on.
"We will always start our recruiting locally and work our way out," he said. "I don't think we'll ever be at a point where we have entirely all locally guys. I think of 'local' as within a two-hour radius, along with anybody from Kentucky and within the surrounding states.
"It's just a matter of finding the right kids who fit in our program and fit in our needs. I've compared recruiting with grocery shopping. If you have four catchers, you don't go recruiting another catcher. If your pantry's full of corn, then you shop for something else that you need. It all depends on your needs. If we are in need of an outfielder, there may be a good player from not too far away who would play in another position in that particular year."
Murray State's game at Louisville begins Tuesday at 2 p.m. CT. The 'Breds' game at Kentucky will be Wednesday at 3 p.m. CT. Click here for live stats - http://uoflsports.cstv.com/gametracker/launch/gt_mbasebl.html?event=531100&school=lou&sport=mbasebl&camefrom=&startschool=& and here for access to video and game day audio -http://all-access.cstv.com/cstv/player/player.html?code=lou&sport=m-basebl&category=live&media=24389
