Golden Eagle baseball team primed for meeting with No. 2 Vanderbilt
April 15, 2013

Golden Eagle baseball team primed for meeting with No. 2 Vanderbilt

Defense wins championships. While this saying commonly is associated with the sport of football, it may be better put to use in reference to the 2013 Tennessee Tech baseball team which is in the hunt for an Ohio Valley Conference title due to stellar defensive play.

Recap Box Score

 

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - It's easy to get lost in the offensive numbers the Tennessee Tech baseball team puts up every week. It's easy to be mesmorized by the pitching staff's ability to strike out opposing batters. What most people don't realize is that perhaps the most important factor to the Golden Eagles' impressive start is a relentless defense that is on pace for its best numbers in program history.

Through 36 games this season, the Golden Eagles own a .977 fielding percentage, on pace to shatter the current program single-season record of .969 set in 2008. All eight of Tech's regular positional starters own fielding percentages of .958 or better. 

The defense will be relied on heavily in Tuesday's contest as the Golden Eagles will travel to Nashville to take on No. 2 Vanderbilt, one of the most complete teams in the nation. The Commodores have lost just twice at home all season, a February contest against a respectable Long Beach State team and a conference match-up with Florida.

Pitching for the Golden Eagles in Tuesday's 6:30 p.m. CDT contest will be junior Garrett Baugh (3-1). On the hill for Vanderbilt will be Tyler Ferguson (3-0).

Fans can follow this Tuesday's game via live stats here. The game can also be followed via webstream on vucommodores.com here.

SCOUTING THE VANDERBILT COMMODORES

LAST FIVE GAMES FOR
VANDERBILT
Date H/A/N Opponent Result Score
April 7
 Away
 No. 17 Ole Miss* W (11)
 7-6
April 9
 Home
 UT Martin
 W
 10-3
April 12
 Home Missouri*
 W
 11-5
April 13
 Home
 Missouri*
 W
 12-1
April 14
 Home Missouri*
 W 16-4

There's good reason that Vanderbilt has been ranked in the top three in the nation all season. They hit for average, they score a ton of runs, and they boast one of the top pitching staffs in the country. Put all of that together and you get a team that is 33-4 on the year with a program record 14-1 start in the SEC.

The Commodores ride a 14-game winning streak heading into Tuesday night's match-up, using a high-octane offense to gather a majority of those wins. Vandy has scored at least 10 runs in each of its previous four outings, combining to outscore its opponents 49-13.

Vanderbilt bats an incredible .312 as a team, collecting 380 hits already this season. The squad has driven in 248 of its 276 runs scored and have popped 19 dingers and 72 doubles. The team is very quick on the basepaths, having already swept 86 bases in 2013. The defense is also quite good, posting a .976 fielding percentage.

A look at the top seven offensive weapons for the Commodores:

Player Avg. Runs Hits 2B 3B HR RBI SLG% OB% SB-SA
Tony Kemp
 .401 40
 57
 9
 4
 0
 24
 .521 .494 17-26
Xavier Turner
 .333 22
 33
 4
 0
 0
 17
 .374 .429 9-12
Vince Conde .328 27 42 11 0 4 27 .508 .420 1-2
Spencer Navin
 .326 22
 29
 4
 0
 1
 21
 .404
 .462 7-7
Connor Harrell .314 36 43 7 3 7 50 .562 .418 5-5
Mike Yastrzemski
 .313 28
 41
 10
 2
 2
 22
 .466 .407 13-16
Jack Lupo .292 17 31 2 0 0 17 .311 .376 13-15

The pitching staff for Vanderbilt has been one of the best in the nation all season long, posting a top 10 ERA (2.46). The pitchers have combined to strike out nearly a batter per innings, setting down 308 on strikes in 325 innings.

A look at this week's likely starter for Vanderbilt:

Day Player ERA W-L G-GS IP Hits Runs ER BB SO Avg.
TUE Tyler Ferguson
 3.33
 3-0
 7-3
 24.1
 19
 9
 9
 10
 19
 .216

CATCHING UP WITH TECH

LAST FIVE GAMES FOR
THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Date H/A/N Opponent Result Score
April 7 Away
 Austin Peay*
 W 12-4
April 9 Away Middle Tennessee L 12-9
April 12 Home Eastern Illinois* W 20-5
April 13 Home Eastern Illinois* W 5-2
April 14 Home Eastern Illinois* W 6-5

The Golden Eagles will hit the road after a brief, three-game stint at home that included a three-game sweep of Ohio Valley Conference opponent Eastern Illinois. The Tech club now sits at 26-10 overall and is off to its best league start in school history, achieving a 15-3 mark in OVC play.

Tech has proven to be the cream of the crop of the OVC in terms of offensive output, ranking in the top three in nearly every offensive category. The Golden Eagles are batting .298 as a team, scoring 252 runs and driving in 238 of them. They have collected 363 hits, including 77 doubles and 35 home runs.

A look at the top seven offensive weapons for the Golden Eagles:

Player Avg. Runs Hits 2B 3B HR RBI SLG% OB% SB-SA
Daniel Miles
 .362 26
 42
 9
 2
 7
 33
 .655 .445 1-1
Brandon Thomasson
 .336
 35
 48
 12
 3
 10
 42
 .671 .425 0-0
Zach Stephens
 .319 42
 43
 9
 1
 8
 44
 .578 .457 0-0
James Abraham
 .315 21
 41
 4
 1
 0
 17
 .362 .409 12-14
Zach Zarzour .311 37
 42
 8
 1
 1
 13
 .407 .410 10-11
Austin Wulf .305 32 43 9 1 1 22 .404 .430 9-11
Dylan Bosheers .293 19 39 13 1 5 31 .519 .364 5-5

The Tech pitching staff has played its fair share into the hot start for the Golden Eagles, combining for a 4.53 ERA. In 314 innings of work, Tech pitchers have allowed 158 earned runs, 187 total runs and 145 walks while striking out 321 batters.

A look at this week's likely starter for Tennessee Tech:

Day Player ERA W-L G-GS IP Hits Runs ER BB SO Avg.
TUE Garrett Baugh
 6.75
 3-1
 12-4
 30.2
 44
 29
 23
 16
 20
 .352