Baseball Season

[RottenBottom]

I don't know how many of you actually follow the baseball team but it's one of my favorite activities to go to as a student. We were worse than bad last year and I really don't see us getting that much better this year.

http://auburn.247sports.com/Article/Lofty-goals-for-Auburn-baseball-35465695

AUBURN - The goal for baseball coach Sunny Golloway’s second season at Auburn remains the same as his first: Omaha and the College World Series.


Keegan Thompson returns after a freshman All-America season
Golloway brought in veteran pitching coach Tom Holliday from North Carolina State and retooled his team with numerous junior college transfers.

“I’ve said it before, there are unrealistic expectations, like someone starting a small business and wanting to be a billionaire within a year, but Omaha truly is realistic,” Golloway said. “That’s our attitude about Omaha.”

Auburn, picked in the preseason to finish last in the 14-team Southeastern Conference, begins that quest Friday at 3 p.m. in the season-opener against Binghamton in the first of a three-game series.

The Tigers return leading hitter Jordan Ebert, who batted .355 last season. They return freshman All-America pitcher Keegan Thompson. They also welcome a recruiting class with some highly regarded transfers. Cody Nulph and Alex Polston boost an infield that was inexperienced last season.

“(Nulph) is a great defender and is going to be one of our better hitters this year,” Golloway said. “He’s a guy you feel really good about every day at shortstop.”

Nulph was named the California junior college Most Valuable Player last season after batting .414 and 31 RBI, ending the season on a 30-game hitting streak.

Polston, Golloway said, passed on a scholarship offer from Oklahoma State to sign with Auburn.

“Alex, out of high school, was recruited by almost everybody and chose to go to junior college,” Golloway said, “We are really fortunate to have him. He’s a young man that has been drafted before and will be again. He’s a big, strong third baseman with a cannon for an arm.”


Auburn was 10-20 in the SEC in Sunny Golloway's first season
Polston played the last two years at Seminole State College in Oklahoma, hitting .308 last season with 12 home runs and 48 RBI.

The addition of Nulph has allowed sophomore Damon Haecker to focus on second base after playing shortstop last season.

The Tigers also brought in Ricky Negron and Melvin Gray for added depth in the infield.

"You have guys like Ricky and Melvin, a second baseman who is a terrific electric player,” Golloway said. “We brought in four JUCO middle-infield type guys that we really feel is going to give us depth and playing experience. They are not going to be wide-eyed.”

Bo Decker, a transfer from Seminole State College of Florida, is battling for a starting spot in the outfield with Sam Gillikin and says he is ready to help the team win in any way.

“Whether it is playing first base or outfield or cheering for the bench, as long as the team wins, I will be happy,” Decker said.

Other returning starters for Auburn are first baseman/designated hitter Daniel Robert (,281, 1 HR, 12 RBI) and Damon Haecker (.259, 17 RBI) and outfielder Anfernee Grier (,255m, 1 HR). Thompson, a two-way player last season, is expected to concentrate on pitching this season.

"I talked to Keegan and said ‘you are not a big talker but it’s not OK to just come to Auburn and be a really good player and go through the motions and get drafted and leave,’” Golloway said. “Leave your mark on Auburn and bring home a championship. Our guys have bought into that, and Keegan is a big part of that. He and Anfernee are team guys first, so that bodes really well for Auburn’s baseball program.”

Grier, who will be start in centerfield after playing left field last season, said he is helping the newcomers adjust.

“I’m just encouraging them and letting them know what type of pitches they will see and how they will be pitched in certain situations,” Grier said. “They are tremendous athletes, so it won’t be hard for them to jump in and succeed. I have a lot of faith in them.”

On the mound, Thompson (5-3, 2.01 ERA) leads the way. Fourth-year junior Justin Camp (1-5, 4.01) returns, as does senior Rocky McCord, who was chosen in the major league draft despite pitching just 2 2/3 innings last season. Sophomore Kevin Davis was one of the nation's top recruits a year ago but pitched in just three games because of arm problems.

Last season, Golloway's first, Auburn was 28-28 overall and 10-20 in the SEC. The climb from there to Omaha is long.

“Our expectations are to get to 40 wins and get to the postseason,” Golloway said. “If you get to the postseason, you have a chance to get to Omaha. Why not this year?”

[chinook]

Auburn Baseball is one of the AU sports programs that I would like to see turn around, be competitive.  Like you, I always anticipated the start of the season on the Plains. 

I had high hopes with Sonny but I question is heart in the program.

Regardless, it will take a couple of years to fully get what we all want in a program. 

[chinook]

Won the opener last night but got dinged today by giving up 11 runs to BU. 

Not Baylor University

Not Boston University

Not Brown University

but Binghampton University.  Yes that BU.

I don't give a flying buttertooth yeti...a SEC baseball program does not lose to some yankees up in New York.

[Snaggletiger]

 

[RottenBottom]

Won the opener last night but got dinged today by giving up 11 runs to BU. 

Not Baylor University

Not Boston University

Not Brown University

but Binghampton University.  Yes that BU.

I don't give a flying buttertooth yeti...a SEC baseball program does not lose to some yankees up in New York.

This is BUs first time to play outside this season and we lost... It's emberassing.

[Buzz Killington]

[Snaggletiger]

Bored and curious.  A bad combination that usually leads to a Google search of midget porn.  But I digress.  Had only heard the name Binghamton and knew nothing about them. From their official...and I mean official website.  They weren't chop livah.  If I'm not mistaken, didn't Stony Brook make it to the series year before last.  Anywayz, we took 2 of 3 and don't forget, both teams were really teeing it up for the first time this season.

VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton baseball opens its 2015 season with a three-game weekend set at SEC member Auburn beginning Friday. The Bearcats, two-time reigning America East champions, play their first 24 games on the road before their home opener (April 3).

Under 23rd-year head coach Tim Sinicki, the 2015 edition has some key holdovers from the title teams of 2013 and 2014 but will have new faces in key places, particularly on the mound.

Flashback: What the 2014 team achieved•Won four consecutive elimination games to capture the program's second straight America East championship and third in six years
•Defeated Stony Brook 8-7 in 12 innings to end longest championship game in league history (highlights)
•Became the first team in the 25-year history of the America East to knock off the top seed in back-to-back tournament games to win the crown
•Played at the NCAA Stillwater Regional, losing to seventh-ranked Oklahoma State and then 19th-ranked Nebraska in a game BU led into the ninth inning
•Ranked in the nation's top-20 in fielding percentage for a second straight year (.973)