University of Minnesota Athletics
Offseason Outlook: BC, Chicago State, Mount St. Mary's
12/13/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
MINNEAPOLIS - Heading into the 2018 season, GopherSports.com will take a look at each of the Gopher Baseball program's 2018 foes. This week, we look at the trio of foes from the Snowbird Classic from Friday-Sunday, Feb. 23-25 in Port Charlotte, Florida - Boston College, Chicago State, and Mount St. Mary's.
Scouting the Eagles Website | @BCBirdBall
Boston College tallied a 25-28 record in 2017, finishing sixth in the ACC Atlantic Division at 11-19 … head coach Mike Gambino is entering his eighth season at the helm of the Eagles … junior Jake Alu returns after leading the Eagles offensively a season ago, batting .331 while getting on-base at a .384 clip. He also swiped 12 bases in 16 attempts … junior catcher Gian Martellini slugged .474, nearly 100 points higher than the next highest player as he ripped 14 doubles, two triples, and five home runs while driving in 35 runs a season ago … junior righty Jack Nelson returns after posting a 4-1 record and 2.41 ERA in 15 appearances including six starts … BC saw a pair of players leave early for the MLB draft in right-handers Donovan Casey and Jacob Stevens, each led the team with five victories on the mound. Stevens had a team-leading 16 starts while Donovan made a team-high 23 appearances out of the bullpen, earning five saves … the Gophers and Eagles have yet to meet on the diamond in the history of the two programs.
Scouting the Cougars Website | @CSUBaseball
Chicago State finished 11-41 a season ago, landing ninth in the WAC at 7-17 in league play … head coach Steve Joslyn returns for a sixth year with the Cougars … the coaching staff revamped the roster by adding eight junior college transfers and five rookies ahead of the 2018 campaign … senior outfielder Zach Thomas returns after earning All-WAC Second Team honors last season, finishing with a .287 batting average in 46 games, getting on-base at a .438 clip and scoring 30 runs … senior outfielder Jacob Vanitvelt slugged 14 doubles and three home runs four CSU a season ago … junior right-hander Joe Baier returns after making 13 appearances out of the bullpen for the Cougars last year, posting a 4.44 ERA in 18.1 innings … senior southpaw Grant Trower returns the majority of the team's innings, with 16 appearances including 10 starts a year ago but a 6.79 ERA … Minnesota owns a 4-1 record against Chicago State, but the teams have not met since a 13-5 Gopher victory in Minneapolis on March 29, 2000.
Scouting the Mountaineers Website | @MountAthletics
Mount St. Mary's ended its season at 8-39 and 5-23 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) … Scott Thompson returns for his 21st season leading the Mountaineers … junior shortstop Patrick Causa had a team-leading 50 hits for the Mount a season ago, batting .287 while getting on-base at a .376 clip … junior third baseman Vaughan Parker II batted .298 and drove in 22 runs … senior right-hander Michael Collins tossed the bulk of the returning innings for the Mountaineers, making 12 starts with a 6.59 ERA in 57.1 innings … sophomore Sean Flynn made eight relief appearances for MSM during his debut season, posting a 6.55 ERA in 11 innings out of the bullpen … this will be the first ever outing between the Gophers and Mountaineers.
Minnesota and BC will open up tournament action for the Gophers at 2 p.m. ET on Friday, Feb. 23. The Maroon & Gold open their season officially at Georgia Tech on Friday, Feb. 16 at 4 p.m. ET.
Check out previous Offseason Outlook previews in the news archive:
Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State, Georgia State (Dec. 6)
Boston College, Chicago State, Mount St. Mary's (Dec. 13)
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