Season Opener coming up vs. St. Louis

[theeagleman5]

Hard to believe it but we are just two weeks away from the season opener at JLJ vs. St. Louis....TheEagleman is stoked for some baseball and this means that Spring is just around the corner....anybody know if Bowen or Gonzalez will be the starter on opening day?.....

[EaglesFan]

With Sam Houston State and Southeaster Louisiana both picked ahead of ORU in the pre-season Southland Conference poll of the coaches and SID's ... It ought to give ORU something to prove when they get into conference play.   Unfortunately, Sam Houston State is a road series for us, so we won't get to see them locally, to see what is so special about them (besides that they did win the conference last year!).   Extending the streak beyond 15 consecuitve title years could be a challenge ... if you believe the "experts".

[Bogus Smith]

Bowen should be the #1 pitcher in the rotation.  He is getting the pub as an All-American, he's promoted on the marketing literature and he's a senior.  Regardless of who opens on opening day, we have three (count them - three!) excellent starting pitchers in Bowen, Gonzalez and Giller.  With the Southland only doing three-game weekend series, our starting pitchers should be able to save some of our bullpen pitchers for the higher profile, mid-week games.

 

With Jose anchoring the hitting, I think that we have a chance to hold our own on the offensive side of the ledger.  The real key is going to be our defense.  We MUST have better fielding out of the middle of the infield - and especially out of the shortstop position.  Goro had off-season shoulder surgery and didn't do any throwing during fall ball, but hopefully whatever ailed him last season will be healed and his team-first attitude will come to the ballpark.

 

I can't wait to see how we compete in a couple of weeks....and don't forget the intrasquad game this Saturday at 1:00 for those that are on campus for homecoming.

[theeagleman5]

So you guys think that ORU can compete favorably in the Southland this season?....and if we have a decent non-conference schedule...it sounds like it's not unlikely that the Southland Conference could get two bids to the NCAA tournament this year?.....

[Bogus Smith]

I think that we'll do fine in the Southland.  It won't be a runaway like the Summit where we tended to play to our level of competition rather than asserting our dominence.  Playing with the likes of Sam Houston State and other southern-tier schools during conference play will sharpen our skills and better prepare us for the post-season - hopefully the NCAA post-season.  I do believe that 2 - 3 bids for NCAA post-season play could come out of the Southland, but probably only the champion will get a bid higher than #4 (IMHO).

[TrueBlue82]

I had the pleasure of spending an hour Saturday afternoon basking in the sunshine at JLJ.  While an intra-squad scrimmage is no place on which to gauge a season, I must admit that I was pleased with what I saw.

 

I knew that we had a solid starting rotation with Bowen, Gonzalez, Giller (none of which played at all during my time at the stadium on Saturday) - but the two guys who started the scrimmage (Pepe Gomez and Brad Fisher) were both impressive.  Gomez is a junior college transfer from Arizona with a lot of movement on the ball - and Fisher an imposing 6-6, 240 redshirt sophomore from Jenks.  Don't know whether these guys will come out of the bullpen or be our mid-week game starters in those important RPI-building non-conference games, but it appears that our pitching staff will be as strong as it has been in a long time.

 

Logan Domenico was solid at the plate, big Chris Williams rapped a line-drive home run, and Kevin Cho made a nice running catch in CF.  But the guy who caught my eye was newcomer Joey Migliaccio, a juco transfer from Florida.  He was robbed of a double on a drive that was snared on the warning track his first time up - and then roped a two RBI single to center in his second plate appearance.  Once again, it's hard to make an assessment in only two at-bats, but Joey made an impression.

 

Jose Trevino did not play (don't know if he's nursing an injury or not), but if he has a successful sophomore season, it looks like we'll have enough talent around him to contend for another conference title.  First pitch only ten days away - can't wait!

[tmh8286]

Pepe Gomez - the name alone will make him a star.     

[theeagleman5]

_{How is the field looking after that storm on Tuesday?....TheEagleman is hoping that this opening series can be played...the weather looks good....upper 40's on friday and 50's over the weekend with clear skies......Go Blue....ORU!!!....}  

[Bogus Smith]

Game on....tomorrow at 3:00 starts the Folmar era of ORU Baseball.  Been waiting since June 3 for this year's opening day! 

 

The word is that Cheech gets the start on Friday.  The Billikens are ranked 29th in some polls - a very respectable team.  The good guys will have their hands full this weekend as SLU is not your normal, run-of-the-mill northern-tier baseball club. 

 

If you're in Tulsa, the weather should be cool (warm for this time of the year) for Friday and Saturday and great (mid- to upper-60's) for the finale on Sunday.  Hopefully we can steal a game or two this weekend and be prepared for a very good Wichita State ballclub at JLJ on Tuesday.