Series Preview: No. 10 Texas A&M vs. Cornell
Who: Cornell (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League)
Where: Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park — College Station, TX
When:
- Friday 3:00 p.m. CT (SEC+)
- Friday 6:30 p.m. CT (SEC+)
- Saturday 2:00 p.m. CT (SEC+)
Pitching matchups
- Friday: Stephen Kolek (RHP, 1-0, 0.00) vs. Tim Willette (RHP, 5-4, 6.12)
- Saturday: Chandler Joswiak (LHP, 0-0, 9.00) vs. Tyler Fernandez (LHP, 0-0, 0.00)
- Sunday: Mitchell Kilkenny (RHP, 1-0, 2.84) vs. Tommy Morris (RHP, 2-2, 4.60)
Scouting Cornell
By Cornell standards, the Big Red had a significant turnaround season in 2017 under second-year head coach Dan Peppicelli, finishing the season with a winning record at 21-17. On the surface that doesn't sound all that special, but considering it was only the third winning season in 20 years, that's definitely a step in the right direction.
Most of that improvement has occurred on the offensive side where the Big Red finished first in hitting in the Ivy League with a .295 team average, fifty points higher than their .240 team batting average in 2016. Even bigger news is that six of the top nine hitters are returning in 2018.
So Cornell's calling card this season looks to be an offensive lineup loaded with veteran hitters backed by a lot of success last season.
Senior outfielder Dale Wickham returns to the lineup after leading the team in hitting with a red-hot .406 average. Infielder Ryan Krainz returns for his senior campaign after hitting .369 a year ago with an impressive on-base percenage of .478. Junior catcher Will Simoneit returns the most power, hitting five home runs (during a 38-game schedule) with a dangerous .610 slugging percentage. Infielder Trey Baur and Houston native Ellis Bitar round out the six returning starters, who all hit above .284 in 2017. The Big Red did graduate its best power hitter from 2017, and overall this core group of hitters doesn't bring back much power, but it will battle and force A&M pitchers to work hard all weekend.
But while Cornell looks to be salty at the plate, there are a lot of question marks and unknowns on the mound after it lost its top three pitchers to graduation and the MLB Draft after last season. In a strange twist, Coach Peppicelli plans to start three seniors in this weekend's series, but ironically, those seniors lack a lot of experience. Game one starter Tim Willette has the most returning experience, having started nine games last season. He finished 5-4 with a healthy 6.12 ERA. Game two starter and lefty Tyler Fernandez will be making his first career start for Cornell after several injuries that have kept him sidelined for his career. Saturday's game three starter Tommy Morris is making only his third career start in his senior year at Cornell. He concluded 2017 with a 2-2 record and a 4.60 ERA.
In the bullpen, the designated closer appears to be sophomore Jeb Bemiss who had two saves as a freshman in 2017 and a 4.76 ERA. Opposing baters hit .324 against him. Another reliever mentioned as a likey contributor is sophomore Colby Wyatt, who was roughed up in limited acion last season with a 13.00 ERA.
So there are plenty of quesion marks for Cornell on the hill. Added to the Big Red's concerns is that this will be their season opener while the Aggies have already played four games. The one thing going for Cornell is that there are so many newcomers and question marks on the mound, Texas A&M won't have much to work with in terms of scouting reports.
Texas A&M storylines to watch
Overall, the Aggies look to continue the good early start to the 2018 season. The big storyline from last week was the immediate emergence of freshman center fielder Zach Deloach, who not only led the team in batting average (.579), but also put up the top slugging percentage (1.211). The most amazing stat was his 23 total bases, which accounted for over 25% of the team's bases last week. That is a truly incredible figure for a true freshman hitting in the lead-off spot. Now, nobody expects Deloach to continue at that pace, but the key moving forward is that he continues to make contact and put in good at-bats. Logan Foster had a similar start last year as a freshman, and not only did he not extend that pace, but he quickly slumped and struggled the rest of the year. Deloach's numbers will come down as the season progresses, but the key will be consistency at the plate and staying above the .300 mark all season. It will be interesting to see what the freshman can do in week two now that there are expectations of him. As a freshman, can he handle it?
Though Hunter Coleman continues to mend his ailing hamstring, his bat in the middle of the order and behind the blazing-hot trio of Deloach, Helman and Shewmake could be a huge key to the 2018 season. In limited action last week, he had a couple of hits, and his bat looked cat-quick. When he's fully healthy, a confident, swinging Coleman has the chance to put up huge RBI numbers for this team. We found out early that the top third of the order WILL get on-base. Now, A&M has to find that trusted four-hole hitter to drive in "those ducks on the pond." Coleman is probably that hitter, so his progression from this injury is significant. He's slated to see more playing time this weekend.
Last weekend, Rhode Island was a perfect 5-for-5 in stolen bases against Cole Bedford behind the plate. If there was one concern from this weekend, that was it. Cornell didn't run a lot last year, so it will be interesting to see if they decide to test Bedford early. If Bedford doesn't start slowing down opposing runners in the next few weeks, you can rest assured SEC teams will take notice and force the issue until Bedford proves he can throw runners out trying to swipe bases against him.
On the mound, the biggest storyline will be the performance of freshman Chandler Jozwiak as he gets his second start after a shaky collegiate debut last Saturday. John Doxakis was expected to be in the weekend rotation when spring workouts started in January, but Jozwiak won the competition and earned the opening weekend assignment. But after Jozwiak faltered last week, Doxakis came in, looked in control, dominated the Ram hitters and got the win. If Jozwiak struggles again this weekend and Doxakis delivers another quality outing out of the pen, expect to see the veteran lefty back in the starting rotation next weekend. It will be interesting to see if the freshman can turn it around and fight off the hard-charging veteran.
What's at stake this weekend
More of the same this weekend. The team wants to keep getting better. This time of year Coach Childess is still trying to figure out who will be the guys he'll go to battle with when SEC play starts next month, so we'll still see a lot of newcomers in action this weekend. The key is to stay focused and not take a series sweep for granted. While these games won't look important in late May, these early home games serve as building blocks for the rest of the season and help build confidence and momentum. Plus, while it's not a killer to lose one of these games, you don't need a home loss to a low-RPI team on your resume going forward.
