Blake Evans Mike Tettamble Ricky Meinhold Justin Skinner

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30 Drury Panther Baseball 2008 So ... after an inaugural baseball season in which they won 33 games, captured a Great Lakes Valley Conference championship despite being picked for last in the preseason and even made the NCAA-II Tournament, what do the Drury Panthers do for an encore? It’s really quite simple, says coach Mark Stratton. More of the same ... and then some. “Last time I checked, we didn’t get to the College World Series last year,” Stratton said. “Our goal is to qualify for the conference tournament, and when we get there, to try to get into the NCAA Tournament. That’s not any different this year.” Drury, which opens the season Friday against Arkansas Tech in Russellville, Ark., returns all but two players - the graduated pair of first baseman Tony Lewis and reserve outfielder Michael York - from last season’s 33-24 finisher in the program’s first season of intercollegiate play in more than three decades. That includes a pitching staff that truly rose to the challenge down the stretch and carried the Panthers first into the GLVC Tournament field in Sauget, Ill., then to a most unlikely league championship when DU beat Bellarmine 2-1 in the title game to earn the automatic NCAA-II bid. The staff, guided by pitching coach Byron Hagler, is headed by senior left-hander Ricky Meinhold, who went 7-3 with a 3.54 earned run average last season but came up especially big late in the season, finishing off his junior campaign with a streak of 32 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run. Included were outstanding starts in his final three outings against Southern Indiana, Bellarmine and Grand Valley State in which he allowed a total of two runs (both unearned), struck out 17 and walked seven against three of the top progams in the region. Meinhold is backed by senior right-hander Blake Evans (7-3, team-low 2.37 ERA) and sophomore lefty Harrison Waters (6-3, 3.10), who is also one of the nation’s top defensive centerfielders when he’s not on the mound. “You know you’re going to get all Ricky has every time he goes out there ... that’s the way Ricky SEASON PREVIEW PANTHERS BACK FOR MORE AFTER HISTORIC FIRST SEASON is,” Stratton said. “I don’t look for that to change. Blake had about the same ERA as Ricky, and it’s his senior year as well, so I look for him to get out and compete just like he always does. And Harry (Waters) is just Harry ... I don’t anticipate him hitting this year when he’s pitching, so he can just work on pitching on those days, and that will be a plus for us.” Likely completing the rotation are the likes of sophomore right-handers Chris Marston (1-3, 4.19), who has bounced back from an elbow injury at the midway point of last season, and Blake Wixson (1-3, 4.81) and sophomore Stephen Bloss ( 2-0, 3.86 ERA). Highly-touted freshman Ryan Anderson from Venice, Fla., could also get a rotation look at some point this season. The bullpen is solid as well, anchored by the return of sophomore set-up man Sam Pirtle - one of the GLVC’s top firemen last year with his 4-2 record, 2.29 ERA and six saves - as well as senior closer Justin Skinner (2-4, 4.91, seven saves), who capped DU’s memorable GLVC Tournament title game victory over Bellarmine by striking out three straight Knights in a 2-1 victory after entering the game with runners at second and third and no one out in the ninth. “Pirtle and Skinner both have the great temperament for closers ... you don’t know if they are ahead or behind,” Stratton said. “Those kids give it all they’ve got, and both can reset the pump as quick as anybody I’ve seen. Normally we bring Skinner in as the last option, but we’re fine with bringing Sam in to close as well. As long as we’re winning, that’s what those two kids are all about. We’re fortunate to have two kids that have that skill level and that attitude ... it rubs off on everybody else.” Sophomores Beau Beattie, Blake Setzer and Carl Teghtmyer join freshmen Corey Peterson, Josh Hall, Dan Baner and Justin Wright to provide bullpen depth for the Panthers. The everyday lineup for Drury returns virtually
Drury Panther Baseball 2008 intact from a squad that batted .289 as a team (second in the GLVC) last season, especially up the middle. Sophomore catcher Tyler Wright (.293, 27 RBIs), second baseman Skinner (.282, 42 RBIs), sophomore shortstop Joe Rohlfing - the GLVC’s Freshman of the Year and an All-Region choice after hitting .330 with 22 RBIs and 10 stolen bases - and Waters (.269, 29 RBIs) give Stratton and his staff a solid base. Rohlfing, in particular, has drawn much acclaim after just one season, and was named a “Player To Watch” in the North Central Region by Collegiate Baseball Magazine. He scored a team-high 43 runs and struck out just 16 times in 227 at-bats while playing every inning of all 57 games. “There’s a reason we call him ‘Joe Baseball,’ “ Stratton says. “You know what you’re going to get from Joe every time he runs out on that field.” Also returning are sophomore third baseman Tyler Goss (.292, 39 RBIs), sophomore left-fielder Jason Hall (.312, 16 RBIs) and sophomore outfielders John Tollenaar (.258, 3 HRs, 14 RBIs), Ben York and Dane Hughes (.271, 12 RBIs), who earned part-time starts last season. Sophomore Aaron Burcham could also figure into the mix. “We’ve got more flexibility not only in the lineup, but the whole team,” Stratton said. “No question, we’ll have great competition for jobs all season. We’re two-deep at every infield position and well-stocked in the outfield as well.” Infield depth is provided by sophomore Brett Gallion and freshmen Evan Jones and Joel Potts, while freshman R.J. Knese will see time at catcher and in the outfield for the Panthers. Junior college transfer Tino Robbins, who hit .398 with 41 RBIs and 12 steals at Independence (Kan.) Community College last season, is expected to see plenty of time in right field as well as leading off in the batting order for DU. Robbins, too, was cited by Collegiate Baseball as a regional “Newcomer To Watch.” “Tino’s going to be a unique leadoff man, I can tell you that,” Stratton said. “He’s very athletic and really has a baseball mentality. He’s an exceptional baserunner and he’s got a little pop. He’ll be a real asset for us at the top of the order.” Attempting to fill the big shoes at first base of Lewis, the team Most Valuable Player and an All-Region selection after batting .367 with 36 RBIs, will be senior Mike Tettamble and newcomer Daniel Mullis, who hit .373 with 39 RBIs at Three Rivers Community College last season. Improving upon last season’s 33 victories will be an extreme challenge for the Panthers when you consider how much they’ve beefed up the schedule in their second season. Among the regular season additions to the slate are perennial national powerhouses Grand Valley State, which will visit Springfield for a March 5 double-header, and Central Missouri, which will face DU on April 15 at Hammons Field, in addition to its own tournament in early March. “The one thing I learned last year that if you don’t win the league tournament, you’re not in it unless your schedule helps you get in,” Stratton said. “We needed to beef it up as far as strength of schedule in our non-conference, and we’ve done that. We’re playing eight teams that were in the top six of their respective regions at the end last May ... it may be too much, too soon, but we’ll find out. If we want to play at that level, we need to show we can.” The GLVC has switched its regular season play format to divisional play, with the Panthers preseason picks to finish third in the West behind Southern Indiana - a College World Series qualifier last season despite finishing second in the league during the regular season - and perennial power Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, which is in its last season as a D-II member before making the jump to Division I. The conference season will consist of 32 games, include 24 within the division; Drury finished 22-14 in league play last season, good for a third-place finish during the regular season. This season, the top two finishers in each division, plus the next two best teams, will qualify for the league tourney. And, in addition to a tougher schedule, there’s another unknown - the GLVC’s move away from wood bats for league play to a return to aluminum, which could mean an extreme challenge for the DU pitching staff in the cozy confines of Meador Park. “I think it’s going to be a challenge for everybody’s pitching staff, playing at Meador with metal,” Stratton said. “We’ve already found out where we played last year, we’ve backed up 15 feet. We hit three balls out of the park in the first hour and a half practice we had at Meador this year. It makes everybody at least a doubles hitter. But hey, that’s the rules. That’s the way we’ll play.” 31
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Blake Evans Mike Tettamble Ricky Meinhold Justin Skinner

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