Coming off a Sun Belt Conference-worst record in 2011? 18-37? Blue Raiders' baseball coach Steve Peterson admits the expectations for his team are not high. MT finished eighth in the preseason poll of Sun Belt coaches.
"I'm surprised they didn't pick us last, to be honest with you," Peterson said.
Although that may be a salute to Peterson's realistic notion of what others think of his team, he said his team is in a better place than it was a year ago.
"There was a lot of unknown because we had so many new players, had lost so many guys to the draft, and it was a totally different team," Peterson said. "The good thing right now is, we're not 100 percent healthy, but everybody that was hurt last year is going to be back, and that's predominately on our pitching staff."
Perhaps the standout of the returning players, Nick Montgomery, will take the mound after missing the entire 2011 campaign due to injury. Montgomery, a redshirt senior, is one of the few players left who won a Sun Belt championship in 2009.
Montgomery leads a host of pitchers, many of them freshmen or transfers, who Peterson expects will pressure his returning starters and challenge them for a place in the rotation.
"The idea that you've been here, you're an upper classman, works both ways because some of those guys haven't had much success since they've been here," Peterson said. "They've had experience. They're a year older. What I've got to find out is, are they a year better?"
Two mainstays of the 2011 weekend rotation, Hunter Adkins and Daniel Palo, combined for a 4-17 record.
But it isn't all up to the starters, said reliever Paul Mittura.
"Coming in and seeing one of my buddies coming out of the game, he's counting on me to pick him up, and that's something that we work on all the time," Mittura said. "Everybody that's in the bullpen hopes that they get the chance to come in, and we're always one pitch away from getting somebody out of an inning."
As a freshman in 2011, Mittura was a bright spot for MT's pitching. In 29 appearances, two of them starts, Mittura posted a 1-1 record, but racked up six saves, good for third in the conference, and posted a team-low 4.53 ERA.
With his freshman campaign behind him, Mittura said he is confident that the team is also another year wiser.
"That first year of getting experience, you don't really know what to expect," Mittura said. "You can tell when a guy comes back for his second year or his third year. Just stuff that you pick up on, stuff that you learn, and the confidence level is a lot higher."
MT's greatest loss from a year ago came at the plate with the graduation of Will Skinner to the professional circuit.
Skinner was the true power hitter for the Raiders and led the Sun Belt with 16 homeruns in 2011.
"I don't see us having one guy who can hit 15, 16, 17 homeruns," Peterson said. "I think we can make up for Will's graduation by having [Justin] Guidry, Hank LaRue, Johnny Thomas, Ryan Stephens contribute with four, five or six home runs."
Guidry and LaRue were named to the conference preseason team, the only two Blue Raiders to receive the honor.
Guidry, a senior, led the team in hits last season with 81 and batting average .349, while scoring 39 runs and batting in 32. He returns on a mission after the major-league draft passed him over last summer.
"After last year, having such a bad season, I didn't really want to leave on a bad note," Guidry said. "I'm glad that I was able to come back, learn a lot more from this team and have a better season this year."
LaRue finished third on the team in batting average at .306 with 63 hits, and Thomas hit at the top of the order, registering 59 hits and scoring 27 runs.
A key part of MT's batting order may come from sophomore and Murfreesboro native Ryan Stephens.
As a freshman, Stephens showed good defensive poise, but his occasional offensive struggle led to Peterson taking him out of the lineup for a time. His calm reaction to the adversity earned him much praise from Peterson, and this season Stephens will have the chance to work his way back up the order.
"I see him in the lower part of the batting order right now, but before it's all over with he could find himself climbing up there, especially if he's driving in runs," Peterson said. "I feel very good about him defensively, and offensively he'll be better than he was last year."
For a team that posted a respectable .968 fielding percentage and turned a conference-best 64 double plays, perhaps Peterson's hopes for Stephens's continued good defense and improved offense should hold for the entire team.
Source: http://www.mtsusidelines.com/blue-raiders-baseball-looks-to-rebound-1.2780167
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