Canisius at Kentucky

[Comebakatz3]

For the first weekend in new Kentucky Proud Park, the Wildcats will host the Golden Griffins of Canisius. The Golden Griffins are out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and are currently 3-4 overall. They have faced North Carolina Central (1-2), West Virginia (0-1), and Charlotte (2-1).


Kentucky is likely to face 6’3 230 pound senior right-hander Andrew Sipowicz who has started the two Friday games so far. He has a 6.75 ERA after 8 innings of work. He threw 84 pitches in 5.2 innings of work against NC Central giving up 0 runs off of 3 hits and 1 walk and while striking out 4. Against Charlotte he struggled going just 2.1 innings while giving up 6 runs, all earned, on 7 hits with no walks and one strikeout. Oddly enough Sipowicz has kind of gone the wrong direction in his development. As a freshman and a sophomore he had an ERA that hovered around 3.50. However, last year it shot up to 5.65 in 63.2 innings of work. He gave up 83 hits while striking out 48 and walking 22. Opponents hit .307 against him. His stuff shouldn’t be overpowering and UK should be able to get to him early. However, it seems like he isn’t likely to walk a lot of hitters, so if UK is patient then we should be able to hit him.


Senior righty Andrew Kneussle is likely to take the bump on Saturday. Kneussle went 3.0 innings with 2 hits, 3 runs 8 walks and a strikeout against NC Central, but bounced back and went 5.0 innings with 2 runs on 6 hits 0 walks and a pair of strikeouts against Charlotte. Kneussle has been pretty consistent for the Golden Griffins with a 5.06 career ERA a record of 9-10 in 49 appearances and 27 starts. He has 105 career strikeouts and 50 walks in 156.2 innings of work. Opponents hit .295 against him. He seems similar to the other Andrew, not overpowering or particularly wild, and will throw some hittable pitches for UK to take advantage of.


If the starters remain the same then UK will see left-handed sophomore Jeff DeStefano on Sunday. DeStafano has had a short and relatively ugly career with the Golden Griffins. This season he has thrown 4.2 innings and given up 7 hits, 8 runs, all earned, while walking 4 and striking out 4. His ERA is currently 15.43. Last year he appeared in just 4 games and pitched 5 innings while giving up 6 runs on 7 hits with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. Poor guy has a career ERA of 13.04 and tends to give up extra base hits frequently.


As a team the Golden Griffins aren’t too bad with an ERA of 5.56. They have given up 56 hits and 35 earned runs through 56.2 innings of work with 11 doubles, 1 triple and 6 home runs. Opponents are batting .271 against them and have struck out 45 times while walking 38.

I imagine that UK will see Nolan Hunt at least once out of the bullpen this weekend. He has done pretty well coming on in relief with a 1.50 ERA after 6 innings of work. He has given up just 1 run on 3 hits while walking 5 and striking out 7, and is holding opponents to a .150 average. Hunt is a senior lefty with a career ERA of 4.34 with an 8-5 record in 42 appearances and 10 starts. He has 71 strikeouts and 62 walks in 118.1 innings of work. I doubt that he starts given that he hasn’t done that since his sophomore year, but it also wouldn’t surprise me given that UK hasn’t done extremely well against left-handed pitching. Carson Perkins is a junior right hander with a career ERA of 7.43 through 21 appearances. He started 7 games as a freshman and one a year ago and has thrown 40 innings with 52 hits, 43 runs (33 earned), 43 strikeouts and 19 walks. Opponents are hitting .310 against him. This season the ERA is 2.25 with an appearance against WVU and Charlotte. Against the Mountaineers he went 1 inning giving up just 1 hit and against Charlotte he went 3 full while giving up 4 hits and 1 run. So, opponents are hitting .333 against him, but he has done a good job of keeping them from pushing across. Kyle Warner is a left-handed junior who has also appeared twice this season for Canisius, and who owns a 2.25 ERA in 4 innings of work. He has given up 5 hits and 1 earned run while striking out 8 and walking just 1. Freshman righty David Yankowski has already appeared in 3 games this season and has given up just 1 earned run in 2.2 innings of work with a pair of hits, walks, and strikeouts. Opponents are hitting just .200 against him and the Golden Griffins may lean on him somewhat heavily.

Kind of the opposite of Kentucky, the Golden Griffin starters have struggled while the bullpen seems to be able to lock down opposing hitters. I will try to get some more numbers and talk some more about the bullpen later.

 

[sluggercatfan]

CATS will most certainly have to play better than the first two home games

 

[Big_Blue_1018]

Honest question here for discussion. Do you think maybe some of the struggles against NKU and Eastern have to do with the new stadium opening? Here me out. All summer and fall all the hype was on KPP. All the pregame stuff. I’m sure there was some pressure to get the first of everything. Hopefully this weekend all that is gone and the boys can just play ball.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Honest question here for discussion. Do you think maybe some of the struggles against NKU and Eastern have to do with the new stadium opening? Here me out. All summer and fall all the hype was on KPP. All the pregame stuff. I’m sure there was some pressure to get the first of everything. Hopefully this weekend all that is gone and the boys can just play ball.

I just don't think they have settled in and have high confidence yet. AP weekend was nasty. Tech was better weather but nasty results. So, those were settle in games and some may have pressed a bit. One thing I noticed on Tuesday was that the dugout was very quiet. Heck, most of the park was quiet.

 

[anon_q409idbs5m40a]

I didn't even know that Canisius had a baseball team.

 

[Comebakatz3]

At the plate, the Golden Griffins have a lineup that changes as much as my wife changes shoes, so I’m not going to really even fashion a guess of how their batting lineup will look this weekend. However, I will give you some highlights and will break down each position.

Overall the Golden Griffins have struggled swinging the bat, hitting just .247 as a team. This relatively poor batting average is, in my opinion, the main reason that you see the lineup being continually shaken. Canisius has scored 31 runs on 56 hits with 11 doubles, 5 triples, and 4 home runs. They have walked 29 times and struck out 73 times.

Behind the plate the Golden Griffins will have William Krull, a redshirt junior. Krull will likely hit in either the 4 or 5 hole. He has started in 6 of the 7 games and is 7 for 25 (.280) with a double and 4 RBIs. He has struck out 3 times and reached first on either a walk or a HBP 3 times. Krull isn’t likely to add a ton of pop to the lineup. He had just 4 home runs combined in his first two seasons through over 200 at bats. He is largely a guy that is going to hit singles. He is also someone that UK will be able to steal on. He is 2 for 11 on catching runners stealing and West Virginia went 6 for 6 against him on steals.

Mike Steffan, a redshirt freshman is likely to be over at the first base bag for the Golden Griffins. He is a good example of how this lineup is shaken up. On opening day he hit in the 8 hole, and he is likely to hit further down, but in the mid-week game against West Virginia he was the leadoff hitter. He has been one of the more successful Golden Griffins this young season and has started in 6 of the 7 games. He has 8 hits in 24 at bats (.333) with 2 doubles and a pair of RBIs. He has struck out 4 times while walking 5.

A couple of positions they have really struggled to fill. At second base they have played both Joseph Preziuso and Kyle Kush. Preziuso is a senior that is listed as a short stop on the roster. He has never shown much ability at the plate while playing pretty extensively over the last three years, and this year is no different. He has started in 4 of the 7 games this year and is hitting an abysmal .071. That is 1 for 14 with 8 strikeouts. He is there for his defense, so UK shouldn’t have any major issues with him at the plate, but he will look to get bunts down and advance runners, so UK has to be ready for that. Freshman Kyle Kush looks to be his successor, but he hasn’t really been that impressive so far either. Kush has 1 hit in 5 at bats (.200) with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts.

Third base is one that seems to be safe and that will fall to junior Stephen Bennett. Bennett leads the team in batting and is likely to be hitting either in the two or three hole. He is 9 for 26 (.346) on the season with a double, a triple, and a home run as well as a pair of RBIs. He has struck out 9 times and walked 3 while getting hit with a pair of pitches.

Shortstop is another position that seems relatively safe as senior Conner Morro has started all seven games there. He is also likely to hit in the top two or three of the lineup. Morro is 8 for 25 (.320) on the season and also has one double, one triple, and one home run. He has hit in a couple and has walked 7 times while striking out 4. He may be a threat to steal, but he is just 1 for 3 on the year.

Junior Andy Leader transferred to Canisius after two years at Colby Community College. He looks to be the most likely candidate to play left field, but that is up for some debate. Leader has played in 6 of 7 games and started 4 of them. However, Leader has struggled so far this season with just 2 hits in 16 plate appearances (.125). One of those hits is a double and he does have 3 RBIs, but he has struck out 7 times while walking just once and getting hit by one pitch. Leader has some ability and hit .343 with 14 home runs 15 stolen bases and 19 RBIs. So, while he has struggled against this level of pitching so far, he could be a threat once he adjusts. Another candidate is left-handed hitting redshirt freshman Cole Hollins. Hollins actually started in left field on opening day and has played in 5 of the seven games. However, he has struggled going 1 for 11 (.091) with 1 RBI and 8 strikeouts.

Jake Burlingame, a junior left-handed hitter, will get the start out in centerfield. He is 6 for 19 (.316) on the year with a double a pair of triples and a home run to go with two RBIs. He has walked 4 times, been hit by 3 pitches and struck out 8 times. When he gets on he will be a threat to steal and is 3 for 3 on the season. He started the season leading off, but I think he is doing better hitting further down in the lineup, so he may stay down there. If he does, it will probably benefit UK given that he won’t have much protection around him.

Pre-season All MAAC Team select Mark McKenna will be playing right field and hitting from the left side. He has 9 hits in 29 at bats (.310) with a pair of doubles and a triple. He has 4 RBIs with 6 strikeouts and has been hit by one pitch. Last year, McKenna hit .333 and is a career .314 hitter, so he certainly has the ability to get the bat on the ball. He is largely going to be a guy that hits for singles, but he has 19 doubles, 5 triples and a home run over the course of 417 at bats. I imagine he will hit in either the 2 hole or the three hole.

Right handed hitting junior Jacob Victor is likely to start for the Golden Griffins at designated hitter. However, Victor has also struggled this year and is 3 for 15 (.200) with 2 doubles and 2 RBIs. He has struck out 4 times and walked 4 times. Victor is basically a career .200 hitter, so I don’t think he will be a major threat. He really hasn’t been a major starter in the past and has just 53 at bats. Still, he hasn’t been overly impressive when he has played the past two years. He has just 1 RBI and 2 doubles in his career. Freshman Dylan Vincent bats from the left side and could see some time at DH. He gas started a couple of games this year and has 8 at bats without a hit (.000) and has struck out 5 times. In one of his starts I believe he hit DH while Victor played LF.

Bench:

Sophomore catcher Jake Zurat has one start this year in relief of Krull. He has just 2 at bats and is hitless with two strikeouts. Last year he had 4 plate appearances with 1 hit (.250) a pair of strikeouts and one hit by pitch.

Freshman catcher/1B Trevor Henneman has seen limited action with one start going 1 for 4 (.250). His lone hit was a solo shot home run. He struck out twice. I can imagine that he might get more looks this weekend if guys like Victor continue to struggle.

Junior Noah Thompson bats from the right side and is a utility type guy that transferred in from Niagara County Community College where he hit .330. He got the start at DH in the West Virginia game, but didn’t fair too well going 0-4 with a strikeout.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Canisius was an NCAA Tournament team in 2018 in head coach Matt Mazurek's first year. However, I don't think anyone that played a major role on that team returns for 2019. So, I believe they will struggle this year. I think UK pitching should have a bit of a field day with the Golden Griffin hitters and from what I can tell, I don't think they have to fear anyone in particular as being a long ball threat. So, the UK pitchers should be able to play relatively loose and not worry about mistake pitches as much as they might with some other teams.