Baseball Preview 2009
The baseball team is filled with new faces this season.
Five freshmen have started more than 10 games for CMU, which has 14 total freshmen and just four seniors on its roster.
"This is our team and these are the cards that we were dealt," said coach Steve Jaksa. "We have to get the guys we have ready to play on a daily basis. That is our goal."
Redshirt freshmen Nate Theunissen is one of the youngsters stepping up early for Central. He leads the team with 19 RBIs and has supplied much of CMU's power. He has a .629 slugging percentage and has three home runs and two triples.
Freshman second baseman Rhett Goodmiller replaced sophomore Brendan Emmett, who is sidelined with an elbow injury. Goodmiller has a .294 batting average, 17 walks and a team-leading .478 on-base percentage.
"Some of the guys have some talent and some of the guys still need to get used to playing every day," Jaksa said. "Heading into our second conference series, we are going to continue to educate the team on how to play every game and doing what needs to be done."
But CMU also needs pitching from its newcomers.
Zach Cooper is taking a part of that role.The freshman right-hander has pitched 20 1/3 innings, compiling a 3-2 record and 19 strikeouts.
Cooper excelled Feb. 20 in his first collegiate game against Florida Gulf Coast. He came in for two innings of relief, struck out four batters and allowed no earned runs.
"I just want to be able to contribute as much as I can to the team," Cooper said. "That is the goal for pretty much all of us. We want to do as much as we can to help the team get a win."
Two other players with double-digit starts are underclassmen as well. Sophomore Matt Faiman leads the team with a .407 batting average.
"We have been swinging the bat pretty well," Jaksa said. "We need to start playing a complete game. The pitchers take care of what they need to, the defense plays up to what they are capable of and we're scoring runs like we have been doing."
The team's youth has led to some inefficiencies on defense, however. The five key freshmen have committed 19 of CMU's 46 errors.
Cooper said the age of the team is not a factor because of the experience everyone gained before college. The freshmen also realize their inexperience is not an excuse, Cooper said.
"Age doesn't really matter. All of us have been playing baseball for over 10 years or so." he said. "We want to win the MAC. No matter who is on the team, that goal never really changes."
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