College Round Up: March 6

With another week gone by in the college baseball season, it’s time for another look at how our former Big Train players are doing this spring.

A pair of right-handers that pitched for Big Train two summers ago dominated over the weekend. Kyle Marman (BT 2016) celebrated his 21st birthday by striking out 11 hitters over seven shutout innings in Florida Atlantic’s win over Oregon Saturday. The Owls’ right-hander has been spectacular through three starts this year, pitching to a 0.46 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 19.2 innings.

Similarly, Stetson ace right-hander Logan Gilbert (BT 2016) shut down Virginia Tech Friday night, allowing just one run on two hits over eight innings while whiffing 13 Hokies. Jacob Koos (BT 2017) hit a two-run homer to provide all the offense the Hatters would need in the 2-1 victory. Austin Hale (BT 2016) has been central to the Hatters’ 9-1 start as well, leading the team with a .320 average and .469 on-base percentage.

At Kentucky, Luke Heyer (BT 2017) is the leading hitter for an 11-1 Wildcats team. In 11 games (10 starts) the third baseman is slashing .462/.543/1.077 with a team-best seven home runs. He was virtually unstoppable over the weekend, going 8-for-11 with three homers, two doubles and six RBIs earning himself SEC Player of the Week Honors.

Fellow SEC infielder Tanner Allen (BT 2017) has started his college career off with a bang. A freshman at Mississippi State, Allen leads the Bulldogs in average (.368), on-base percentage (.478), triples (2) and RBIs (8). He’s hit safely in four straight, collecting multiple hits in three of those contests. Jacob Billingsley (BT 2014) picked up his first win of the year with six shutout innings against Sam Houston State on Sunday, and the right-hander owns a 3.29 ERA through three starts.

Out west, Ken Waldichuk (BT 2017) and Kevin Milam (BT 2017) both pitched well over the weekend in the St. Mary’s Gaels’ sweep of Xavier. Waldichuk struck out ten and allowed just one unearned run in six innings of work Monday. The left-hander leads St. Mary’s starters with a 1.45 ERA and 23 strikeouts. Milam also struck out ten in 7.1 shutout frames against Xavier, and the two-way sophomore also went 3-for-7 with four walks at the plate in the three-game series. Through three starts on the mound, he is 2-0 with a 3.26 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 19.1 innings, while leading the team with a .344 average, .543 on-base percentage and 11 walks as the regular DH.

Cal State Northridge’s Albee Weiss (BT 2014) earned Big West Player of the Week honors after hitting .364 with three doubles, two homers and ten RBIs in five games last week. He’s hitting .360 for the year, and leads the Matadors in homers (7), RBIs (24) and slugging percentage (.860).

James Outman (BT 2017) leads Sacramento State with 13 hits, four doubles and nine RBIs. He hit safely in three out of four contests over the weekend, including a 2-for-4, two RBI, four stolen base performance against Milwaukee on Saturday. Vinny Esposito (BT 2016-17) leads the Hornets with eight walks, and is second in doubles (3) and OBP (.370).

Michael Emodi (BT 2016-17) is off to a nice start in 2018 for Creighton, hitting .368 with a team-high 15 RBIs. The catcher went deep twice in Sunday’s contest, a 7-6 loss to Central Arkansas.

After a scorching hot start to the season, Logan Driscoll (BT 2017) had his eight-game hitting streak snapped over the weekend, but the sophomore is still slashing .444/.463/.526 through ten games for George Mason.

In nearby College Park, John Murphy (BT 2016-17) leads Maryland with two saves so far, and has a 2.84 ERA through five relief appearances. Zach Jancarski (BT 2017) has cooled off after a hot start, hitting .262, but is tied for the team lead with three stolen bases, and ranks second with a .476 slugging percentage. Justin Morris (BT 2014-17) had a 2-for-4 performance in Friday’s victory over Radford.

Right-hander Stephen Schoch (BT 2016-17) is second on UMBC with 9.1 innings pitched, despite only appearing out of the bullpen, and has a 1.93 ERA so far this spring. Mitchell Wilson (BT 2017) leads the Retrievers with 9.2 innings, but has a lofty 5.59 ERA.

Fox Semones (BT 2016-18) homered twice in the last week for James Madison, and is second on the team with eight runs scored.

Garrett Kueber (BT 2016-17) drove in three runs and doubled in a 2-for-5 performance Sunday for Austin Peay, and is slashing .359/.490/.641 this spring.

In five starts for State College of Florida, AJ Jones (BT 2017) is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 28 innings of work.