Baseball | 3/12/2019 10:51:00 PM

 

VIRGINIA STATE (6-5)	ST. THOMAS AQUINAS (4-7)
Wednesday | 3/13 | 1:00 PM (DH) | Petersburg, Va.	Friday | 3/15 | 12:00 PM (DH) | Colonial Heights, Va. Saturday | 3/16 | 1:00 PM | Colonial Heights, Va.
Schedule	Schedule
Roster	Roster
Statistics	Statistics

 THE STORY
• The Bloomsburg University baseball team, ranked fourth in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Atlantic Regional poll, returns to action this week with five games in the state of Virginia. The Huskies will battle Virginia State on Wednesday afternoon in a twinbill against the Trojans and then will play a three-game series against St. Thomas Aquinas in Colonial Heights on Friday and Saturday.

THE HISTORY
• The Huskies are a perfect 4-0 lifetime against Virginia State in the all-time series. Bloomsburg last played against Virginia State on March 7, 2016, sweeping a doubleheader from the Trojans by the scores of 7-2 and 9-3. Bloomsburg also has an edge on St. Thomas Aquinas, 3-2, in their all-time series. All five meetings against the Spartans have come in the last two seasons, including four last year. Each team won two games in last year's series.

THE HUSKIES AT A GLANCE
• Bloomsburg enters the week on a four-game winning streak and is 6-1 on the season which has it ranked fourth in the latest NCBWA Atlantic Regional poll. The Huskies last played on March 4, when they completed a three-game sweep at Winston-Salem State by the final of 4-1. Junior righthander JJ Spehrley (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville Area) took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and eventually combined with junior Chad Cooperman (Allentown, Pa./Salisbury) on a three-hitter to compete the sweep. The Huskies won the first two meetings on Saturday, March 2, by the finals of 10-4 and 7-5.

• Offensively, the Huskies are hitting .276 as a team and are led by junior Cole Swiger (Maple Glen, Pa./Upper Dublin) who ranks second on the team with a .407 batting average (11-of-27) with team-bests in home runs (3) and runs batted in (10). Swiger has also crossed the dish a team-high 10 times and has posted an .815 slugging percentage with a .485 on-base percentage through the first seven games of the season. Redshirt freshman Carter Chasanov (Magnolia, Del./Polytech) has provided a spark at the top of the lineup and comes in hitting at a .355 clip (11-of-31) with nine runs scored and a team-high eight stolen bases in eight attempts. Sophomore Jake Reed (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) leads the team in hitting at .421 (8-of-19) in his six games. Three of his eight hits have been doubles and he has driven in four.

• Pitching has been dominant for Bloomsburg as the staff has posted a 2.73 team earned run average while limiting opponents to a .185 batting average. Huskies' pitchers have struck out 71 batters in 56 innings of work. Of the starters, senior Ashton Raines (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) is 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA in two starts. He has allowed only eight hits in 11.2 innings while striking out 12. Cooperman is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA and has 11 strikeouts in eight innings. Spehrley is 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA in two starts, allowing only seven hits in 10 innings. Out of the pen, senior Trey Hinkle (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus), senior Zach Newmyer (New Cumberland, Pa./Red Land), and freshman Jared Marshman (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) have been superb. Marshman has allowed one hit in five innings (.059 opponent average) and has punched out eight. Newmyer has allowed two hits in four innings while striking out nine. Hinkle has five strikeouts in five scoreless innings of work.

SCOUTING VIRGINIA STATE
• Virginia State is 6-5 on the season but dropped two of three against Mercy College this past weekend. Jahleel Sewer leads the team in hitting at .364 (8-of-22) with three doubles and five runs batted in. Aaron Harris is batting .348 (8-of-23) with six RBI on the year. Kevin Russell leads the team with seven runs batted in and sports a .304 batting average on the season. As a team, the Trojans are hitting .254 on the year.

• On the mound, Virginia State has a 6.06 team earned run average. Joshua Tayman is solid out of the bullpen as he has pitched in three games and sports a 1.80 ERA, allowing only four hits in five innings of work. Rashad Stewart leads the team with eight strikeouts in eight innings and is 0-1 with a 5.63 ERA. Jason Martinez has struck out seven in 6.2 innings and has posted a 4.05 ERA on the year.

SCOUTING ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
• After starting the year 0-6, the Spartans have won four of their last five and come in with a 4-7 overall record on the season. Their most recent victory was an 8-6 win over Slippery Rock on Tuesday afternoon and they will play Franklin Pierce on Wednesday before squaring off against the Huskies.

• The Spartans are hitting just .228 on the season but Michael Morgan is certainly a player to watch. He is hitting .364 (12-of-33) with team-highs in runs scored (12), doubles (4), triples (2), runs batted in (11), walks (13), and stolen bases (9). He sports a .569 on-base percentage on the season. Brian Donnelly provides some pop for the Spartans as he has driven in 10 runs in just 21 at-bats. He is batting .421 (9-of-21) with a team-high two home runs. Angelo Baez is also above .300 as he hits .325 (13-of-40) on the year.

• St. Thomas Aquinas has a team ERA of 6.32 but is led by Chris Cepeda who has had a fine start to the season. In three starts, Cepeda is 1-2 with a 2.74 ERA and has allowed 22 hits in 23 innings. He has not walked a batter thus far and has 28 strikeouts to his credit. Thomas Gregory is a name to watch out of the bullpen. In 8.2 innings, he has allowed only three hits and boasts a 2.08 ERA on the season.

LOOKING AHEAD
• The Huskies will open Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action next Friday and Saturday, March 22 and 23, with a home-and-home series against Millersville University. The teams will meet at Danny Litwhiler Field on Friday, March 22, and the head to Millersville for a doubleheader on Saturday. First pitch of both twinbills is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.