NCAA baseball tournament: Getting to know WVU’s Morgantown Regional opponents
May 31, 2019 by Tom BraggBefore action gets rolling at the NCAA baseball tournament Morgantown Regional here in a few hours, let’s take a few minutes to look at the teams visiting West Virginia this weekend. We know plenty about the host and regional top-seed Mountaineers, but have not jumped into much with the other three teams. Let’s fix that with some quick capsules:
NO. 2 TEXAS A&M (37-21-1, 4th-place SEC East)
Top hitters:
- Braden Shewmake – junior infielder: .315 batting average, 6 home runs, 46 RBIs
- Bryce Blaum – junior, infielder: .275 batting average, 7 home runs, 27 RBIs
- Mikey Hoehner – junior catcher: .286 batting average, 3 home runs, 30 RBIs
Top pitchers:
- John Doxakis – junior LHP: 7-3, 1.84 ERA, 106 strikeouts, 97.2 innings pitched
- Asa Lacy – sophomore LHP: 7-3, 2.20 ERA, 123 strikeouts, 81.2 innings pitched
- Chris Weber – freshman LHP: 4-1, 2.95 ERA, 77 strikeouts, 64.0 innings pitched
Head coach: Rob Childress – 14th season
- College World Series: 2 (2011, 2017)
- Super Regional: 6 (2007, 2008, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017)
- Regional: 12 (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
NO. 3 DUKE (31-25, 4th-place ACC Coastal)
Top hitters:
- Michael Rothenberg – sophomore catcher: .260 batting average, 10 home runs, 49 RBIs
- Kennie Taylor – senior outfielder: .333 batting average, 6 home runs, 39 RBIs
- Ethan Murray – freshman infielder: .316 batting average, 5 home runs, 37 RBIs
Top pitchers:
- Bryce Jarvis – sophomore RHP: 4-1, 4.60 ERA, 74 strikeouts, 60.2 innings pitched
- Ben Gross – graduate RHP: 6-4, 4.41 ERA, 64 strikeouts, 63.1 innings pitched
- Matt Dockman – sophomore LHP: 6-1, 3.75 ERA, 33 strikeouts, 36.0 innings pitched
Head coach: Chris Pollard – 7th season
- College World Series: 0
- Super Regional: 1 (2018)
- Regional: 2 (2016, 2018)
NO. 4 FORDHAM (38-22, 4th Atlantic 10;
A-10 tournament champion)
Top hitters:
- Jake MacKenzie – sophomore infielder: .313 batting average, 3 home runs, 28 RBIs
- Alvin Melendez – junior outfielder: .275 batting average, 5 home runs, 29 RBIs
- Jake Baker – junior outfielder: .305 batting average, 1 home run, 25 RBIs
Top pitchers:
- John Stankiewicz – sophomore RHP: 8-3, 1.21 ERA, 102 strikeouts, 89.1 innings pitched
- Anthony DiMeglio – senior RHP: 6-3, 2.61 ERA, 63 strikeouts, 62.0 innings pitched
- Kyle Martin – junior RHP: 6-2, 2.30 ERA, 64 strikeouts, 43.0 innings pitched
Head coach: Kyle Leighton – 8th season
- College World Series: 0
- Super Regional: 0
- Regional: 0