Baseball Central 3-6-2020

Baseball CU Athletics

Another Top 25 matchup is on tap at HIG Field between No. 25 Campbellsville and No. 11 Cumberlands

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — The Mid-South Conference baseball opener is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, March 7-8 at HIG Field as No. 25 Campbellsville hosts No. 11 University of the Cumberlands. 
 
The Tigers and Patriots are scheduled to play a doubleheader at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday and the series finale will begin at 1:00 on Sunday afternoon. 
 
CU Sports Network:
  • Both days will air on the Campbellsville University Sports Network as former Tiger Tony Fonzo will call the action. 
  • Fans can tune in on www.campbellsvilletigers.com/watch and also on Apple TV and the ROKU Streaming Apps by searching Campbellsville Sports Network.
Tiger Clawz:
  • The Tigers enter with a 12-6 record and have won nine of its last 11 games. 
  • Two of those have been via the walk off variety – 8-7 over Siena Heights and 6-5 over No. 22 Indiana University Southeast.
  • CU is in the middle of a 20-game home stand and is 8-2 midway through. 
  • The pitching staff owns the third-best opponent batting average in the NAIA (.190) and also ERA (2.52). 
  • The top two pitchers in the rotation have been Alexander Salazar and Gage O'Brien – both are top in the MSC in ERA, opponent batting average, total strikeouts, Ks/game, total hits, and hits allowed per game. 
  • Salazar owns a 1-2 record but a 1.03 ERA through 26.1 innings. He's struck out a team-high 42 batters. 
  • O'Brien is 4-0 on the year through 18 innings with 31 strikeouts and a 1.00 ERA. The four wins is also the most in the MSC. 
  • In the 12 wins for CU this season, the Tigers are averaging 7.7 runs per game. In the six loses, CU scores 2.1 runs per game.
Series Facts:
  • The last time CU and Cumberlands met in the MSC opener was March 11-12, 2016. The Patriots won two of the three games, but the Tigers won the MSC regular season and conference tournament. 
  • Campbellsville has won three of the last four tournaments, while Cumberlands won in 2017. 
  • The Tigers have three regular season titles the last five years (2015-17) and Cumberlands has won the last two (2018-2019).
  • In the Beauford Sanders era (1990-pres.), the Tigers hold a 61-30 record, including 29-13 at home, over Cumberlands. 
  • In the last 10 matchups, the record is even at 5-5. 
  • The largest margin of victory is a 17-1 win on March 28, 2015.
  • The last matchup came in the MSC Tournament semifinal as CU won 6-2 in Bowling Green en route to winning the championship. 
  • The longest win streak in the series belongs to Campbellsville as the Tigers won 10-straight from 2011 to 2014. 
Scouting Cumberlands:
  • The Patriots enter with a 17-1 record but is coming in after falling 3-2 to Huntington on Sunday, March 1 – the lone loss on the year. 
  • The Patriots were forced to rally against Huntington in the second game of the series with a 6-4 walk off win in the 15th inning by Bryan Leef. 
  • Cumberlands has a solid offense and pitching staff ranking No. 9 in home runs/game (1.3) and No. 10 in ERA (3.1) and No. 12 in opponent batting average (.223). 
  • Offensively, Cumberlands is led by Bryan Leef's .386 average, eight home runs and 20 RBI. Pedro Nazario is hitting .339 with five home runs and nine RBI. 
  • Cumberlands has outscored opponents, 107-53. 
  • On the mound, Walter Hernandez has started in four games with a 2.70 ERA through 20 innings. Nathan Geissler has three starts along with Colton Easterwood. 
  • As a team, Cumberlands has an ERA of 3.17 through 142 innings and striking out 142. 
 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Tony Fonzo

#26 Tony Fonzo

INF
6' 0"
Redshirt Senior
Ventura, Calif.
Gage O

#32 Gage O'Brien

RHP
6' 4"
Junior
Tucson, Ariz.
Alexander Salazar

#21 Alexander Salazar

RHP
6' 0"
Junior
Hyogo, Japan

Players Mentioned

Tony Fonzo

#26 Tony Fonzo

6' 0"
Redshirt Senior
Ventura, Calif.
INF
Gage O

#32 Gage O'Brien

6' 4"
Junior
Tucson, Ariz.
RHP
Alexander Salazar

#21 Alexander Salazar

6' 0"
Junior
Hyogo, Japan
RHP