(AP) -- One more weekend of conference road action is in store for Truman baseball, with the Bulldogs taking on 23rd-ranked Nebraska-Omaha this weekend in a pair of doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.
The Bulldogs (4-12, 1-7 MIAA) will try to close out what’s become a 20-game stretch away from Kirksville to start the 2010 season with some positive results against the UNO Mavericks (11-5, 7-1 MIAA). The Mavs are playing at home for the first time this season this weekend and just finished a four-game trip in Florida.
Truman managed just one win last weekend against Washburn University, getting a complete game victory from sophomore standout Ryan Trimble in the third game of the set. Trimble, who moved to 3-0 on the season and boasts an ERA hovering around the 2.00 mark, pitched a complete-game five-hitter in the Bulldogs’ 10-2 win to kick of Monday’s doubleheader.
A walk-off single in the series opener, followed by a single crooked inning in both games two and four allowed WU to take three of four over the weekend. Two Bulldogs made their first starts of the season in Topeka, with Michael Staihr getting a hard-luck loss in game two after giving up no earned runs over five innings and Jarrett Eiskina getting a no-decision after striking out ten batters in six innings of work.
At the plate, sophomore C/DH Devon Myers connected for a blistering 7-for-13 (.538) average with two doubles and five RBI. He also drew three walks and was hit by a pitch to post an on-base percentage of
.647. Fellow sophomore, SS Steven Rose, hit .400 on 6-for-15 hitting and added two doubles of his own, while junior 2B Mike Reese hit .333, punched a pair of doubles and stole a base.
SERIES INFO:
Truman and Nebraska-Omaha will be meeting for the 7th-10th times in the all-time series this weekend, with the Mavericks holding a 4-2 lead in the abbreviated history.
Last season, UNO took three of four from the Bulldogs in an early-April showdown in Kirksville. After Michael Staihr held UNO to just two runs and eight hits in a 7-2 Bulldog series-opening win, the Maverick bats heated up, scoring 45 runs over the next three games while holding Truman’s offense to just 10.
This is the first time Truman has played UNO in Omaha, with the previous six meetings coming in Kirksville.
A LOOK AT NEBRASKA-OMAHA:
UNO (11-5, 7-1 MIAA), due to similar weather issues the Bulldogs have faced this spring, returns to Omaha for its first home games of the season this weekend after playing its first 16 games of the 2010 season on the road.
The Mavericks have played both Pittsburg State (3-1) and Missouri Southern (4-0) so far in conference play, reaching double-figures offensively in five of the eight games. Hitting .355 as a team with 34 doubles and nine homeruns through 14 games, UNO is paced by four players above .390 in batting average.
Tyler Spichal, holding the top average of all regulars, is hitting .429 (21-for-49) with five doubles and 11 runs scored. Another Tyler, Tyler Lundi, boasts a slugging percentage of .667 behind a pair of doubles, a pair of triples and a team-high three homers.
On the hill, Joe Holtmeyer is the squad ace, starting a team-high five games so far and accumulating a 2-1 record and a 2.70 ERA. He has struck out 45 batters in just 26.2 innings pitched and walked just nine. Five other pitchers have started for UNO this year, with three going 1-0 so far.
EISKINA IMPRESSES IN STARTING DEBUT:
Starting for the first time after coming out of the bullpen in his first four appearances, freshman Jarrett Eiskina struck out ten batters in six innings of work. He left with the score tied at 1-1, before the Ichabod hitters exploded against Truman’s ‘pen in the bottom half of the seventh to propel WU to the win.
Eiskina gave up just four hits and walked only one in lowering his season-long ERA to 4.61 and moving into the team-lead with 24 strikeouts in 2010. He is averaging nearly 16 strikeouts per nine innings of work and has walked only five total.
He’ll get another chance this weekend as a member of the rotation, as Bulldog skipper Dan Davis has Eiskina penciled in to pitch the fourth game of the Truman/UNO series.
‘DOGS GOTTA SCORE EARLY:
This season, Truman hasn’t won a game when trailing after the second inning. In addition, the ’Dogs have picked up just one victory when tied with their opposition through two frames.
However, early leads have stood up so far for the purple and white, as the Bulldogs haven’t dropped a game this year when leading after the sixth inning.
UP NEXT:
The Bulldogs are scheduled to finally play in front of their home fans next weekend, hosting Pittsburg State on March 27-28 in Kirksville. Saturday’s doubleheader will start at 1:00 p.m., with Sunday’s twinbill getting underway at noon.
The series with Pitt kick-starts a stretch of 12-straight games at home and continues with showdowns with Maryville (Mo.), Missouri Southern and Northwest Missouri.
Courtesy Truman State University
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