The Appy State Mountaineers make their way through coal country and to Lexington for a three day baseball battle this weekend. First pitch for today's game is at 4pm.
The Mountaineers are 1-2 on the season with their Tuesday game this week being rained out. They faced Gardner Webb on the road in Boiling Springs, NC last weekend. Kermit Smith is the head coach of the Mountaineers and is entering his 4th year at the helm in Boone, NC. He is 59-103 entering the season.
Tyler Tuthill got the start Appy in game one a week ago. Tuthill is a 6'2 200 pound lefty sophomore. He begins his second year as the Friday starter for the Mountaineers after going 6-7 with a 4.36 ERA and 60 strikeouts in a team-high 74.1 innings a year ago. He took the loss in Game 1 of 2020 after giving up 4 earned runs in the 4th inning. He was a bit shaky in that start, he hit a batter and walked a batter in the first, but got out of that jam. In the 4th he gave up a leadoff walk and a single and then got a bit wild with a passed ball and a wild pitch before giving up 2 singles, a double, and another walk before being pulled from the game. He left that game holding a 9.82 ERA having given up 4 earned on 6 hits (one double), with 4 walks, an HBP, and 4 strikeouts. Tuthill has the ability to go the distance and had a complete game shutout a year ago. Out of HS Tuthill was ranked a top 260 lefty and featured a mid-to-upper 80s fastball. I imagine it is probably upper 80s or low 90s at this point. Not sure what secondary pitches he works with.
The Mountaineers also had 4 guys work at least 1 inning and did it without giving up an earned run. So, they for the most part did a good job of limiting damage. Freshman Cy Smith and sophomore Cole Phillip are the two more impressive of these. Combined, they worked 3 innings of hitless and scoreless baseball, with Smith getting 2 and Phillip getting 1. Smith had 4 strikeouts in his two innings of work while facing just 1 over the minimum. Both pitched in relief of Martinez on Sunday.
Overall, the numbers are good for the Mountaineers on the mound. Despite a few high ERAs, the Mountaineers carry a 3.60 ERA in the Kentucky series. GW hit just .227 against them. Still, they did give up 11 runs, 10 earned, on 22 hits through 25 innings. They also compiled a very impressive 30 strikeouts through the 3 games. Especially impressive were Sunday Starter Quinton Martinez who had 7 strikeouts in 6 innings and Noah Hall, who had 5 in 2.1. Martinez is a JUCO transfer from Orlando, FL who played at St. Petersburg College a year ago. He gave up 4 hits, 1 earned, and had 4 walks in his debut with the Mountaineers on Sunday. Noah Hall is a 6 foot 173 pound freshman righty. He had 2.1 innings in relief of Tuthill on Friday and gave up 1 unearned run off 2 hits. His stuff isn't likely to overpower. Shane Roberts will go on Saturday. He had a pretty solid showing against GW giving up 1 earned off of 2 hits, and 2 walks in 6 innings of work. He grabbed 2 strikeouts and interestingly, most of his outs, 12 of 18, were fly outs. Roberts is a 6 foot sophomore transfer from Palm Beach State College. He began his career at South Carolina before going to PBSC, so I would presume he has some talent.
Overall, the Mountaineers have struggled to hit. As a team they are hitting .229. They had one home run and 6 doubles on the weekend while striking out 26 times and walking 10. Right fielder Andrew Geckel leads them in average at .375 and has their lone HR while first baseman Robbie Young and 2B Luke Drumheller are behind him at .364 and .286 respectively. Drumheller has 2 of the four doubles. The Mountaineers lineup remained fairly stagnant through the first three games. and will look like this:
Leek - CF (.143)
Drumheller - 2B (.268)
McGowan - LF (.143)
Young - 1B (.364)
Cross - DH (.375)
Greckel - RF (.375)
Allison - SS (.000)
Lipson - C (.500)
Welch - 3B (.200)
Allison came out of game 3 and didn't play SS, instead they moved some things around and had Leshock (.200) play CF, Leek in RF, Welch at SS, and Greckel at 3B. They also had Cross catch game 1, but moved Lipson there after that game. Cross didn't play game 2, but hit DH for Phillip Cole (.000) in game 3. With he and Lipson hitting so well, I imagine they say in the lineup tonight.
For UK, you'll see see the same weekend rotation as a week ago with Jimmy Ramsey leading the way. I imagine the lineup will continue to be fairly similar to what we have seen. We have some possibilities of some changes though. For starters, UK will face a lefty starter for the second time in 5 games. The last time that happened both Anu and Hill were left out of the starting lineup with Harmon and Lewis taking their places. Hill has been regularly taken out against lefties, so that could happen again. We also saw a shakeup on Tuesday that might continue with Grace at SS, Schultz and 2B and Curtis in right. That might continue, or might continue with Hill coming out of left and Daniel taking his place.
The Mountaineers are 1-2 on the season with their Tuesday game this week being rained out. They faced Gardner Webb on the road in Boiling Springs, NC last weekend. Kermit Smith is the head coach of the Mountaineers and is entering his 4th year at the helm in Boone, NC. He is 59-103 entering the season.
Tyler Tuthill got the start Appy in game one a week ago. Tuthill is a 6'2 200 pound lefty sophomore. He begins his second year as the Friday starter for the Mountaineers after going 6-7 with a 4.36 ERA and 60 strikeouts in a team-high 74.1 innings a year ago. He took the loss in Game 1 of 2020 after giving up 4 earned runs in the 4th inning. He was a bit shaky in that start, he hit a batter and walked a batter in the first, but got out of that jam. In the 4th he gave up a leadoff walk and a single and then got a bit wild with a passed ball and a wild pitch before giving up 2 singles, a double, and another walk before being pulled from the game. He left that game holding a 9.82 ERA having given up 4 earned on 6 hits (one double), with 4 walks, an HBP, and 4 strikeouts. Tuthill has the ability to go the distance and had a complete game shutout a year ago. Out of HS Tuthill was ranked a top 260 lefty and featured a mid-to-upper 80s fastball. I imagine it is probably upper 80s or low 90s at this point. Not sure what secondary pitches he works with.
The Mountaineers also had 4 guys work at least 1 inning and did it without giving up an earned run. So, they for the most part did a good job of limiting damage. Freshman Cy Smith and sophomore Cole Phillip are the two more impressive of these. Combined, they worked 3 innings of hitless and scoreless baseball, with Smith getting 2 and Phillip getting 1. Smith had 4 strikeouts in his two innings of work while facing just 1 over the minimum. Both pitched in relief of Martinez on Sunday.
Overall, the numbers are good for the Mountaineers on the mound. Despite a few high ERAs, the Mountaineers carry a 3.60 ERA in the Kentucky series. GW hit just .227 against them. Still, they did give up 11 runs, 10 earned, on 22 hits through 25 innings. They also compiled a very impressive 30 strikeouts through the 3 games. Especially impressive were Sunday Starter Quinton Martinez who had 7 strikeouts in 6 innings and Noah Hall, who had 5 in 2.1. Martinez is a JUCO transfer from Orlando, FL who played at St. Petersburg College a year ago. He gave up 4 hits, 1 earned, and had 4 walks in his debut with the Mountaineers on Sunday. Noah Hall is a 6 foot 173 pound freshman righty. He had 2.1 innings in relief of Tuthill on Friday and gave up 1 unearned run off 2 hits. His stuff isn't likely to overpower. Shane Roberts will go on Saturday. He had a pretty solid showing against GW giving up 1 earned off of 2 hits, and 2 walks in 6 innings of work. He grabbed 2 strikeouts and interestingly, most of his outs, 12 of 18, were fly outs. Roberts is a 6 foot sophomore transfer from Palm Beach State College. He began his career at South Carolina before going to PBSC, so I would presume he has some talent.
Overall, the Mountaineers have struggled to hit. As a team they are hitting .229. They had one home run and 6 doubles on the weekend while striking out 26 times and walking 10. Right fielder Andrew Geckel leads them in average at .375 and has their lone HR while first baseman Robbie Young and 2B Luke Drumheller are behind him at .364 and .286 respectively. Drumheller has 2 of the four doubles. The Mountaineers lineup remained fairly stagnant through the first three games. and will look like this:
Leek - CF (.143)
Drumheller - 2B (.268)
McGowan - LF (.143)
Young - 1B (.364)
Cross - DH (.375)
Greckel - RF (.375)
Allison - SS (.000)
Lipson - C (.500)
Welch - 3B (.200)
Allison came out of game 3 and didn't play SS, instead they moved some things around and had Leshock (.200) play CF, Leek in RF, Welch at SS, and Greckel at 3B. They also had Cross catch game 1, but moved Lipson there after that game. Cross didn't play game 2, but hit DH for Phillip Cole (.000) in game 3. With he and Lipson hitting so well, I imagine they say in the lineup tonight.
For UK, you'll see see the same weekend rotation as a week ago with Jimmy Ramsey leading the way. I imagine the lineup will continue to be fairly similar to what we have seen. We have some possibilities of some changes though. For starters, UK will face a lefty starter for the second time in 5 games. The last time that happened both Anu and Hill were left out of the starting lineup with Harmon and Lewis taking their places. Hill has been regularly taken out against lefties, so that could happen again. We also saw a shakeup on Tuesday that might continue with Grace at SS, Schultz and 2B and Curtis in right. That might continue, or might continue with Hill coming out of left and Daniel taking his place.
