We’re exactly halfway through the baseball season and it’s been a turbulent one for the Coogs. Sitting at 17-11 and 114th in the RPI, we will miss the NCAA Tournament unless the team goes on a crazy roll (think 23-5 or better) or wins the league tournament again. Offensively, we’re just not very good but continue to be one of the top pitching squads in the country.
I’ve never seen a team get less from the catcher’s spot at the plate in 30 years of following college baseball. Lovelace and Redden are hitting just .114 combined this year. But it’s not just the guys behind the plate – half of our line-up is a dead-out.
Cooper Coldiron has not improved at the plate, Drew Minter hasn’t gotten going, Landon Etzel has cooled down after a fast start, and Grayson Padgett has struggled coming back from injury. Those 6 guys combine to average 4.1 starts per game but just a .189 average.
A 23-5 run is highly improbable for a good-hitting team but for this one it’s pretty laughable to entertain at this point. Gotta hope we get hot at the right time.
In the National Rankings
Out of 297 teams:
We’re 112th in hits but 200th in batting average, 218th in home runs, 228th in slugging, and 239th in scoring. This shows what we all know: the bottom of our line-up is really bad.
Thankfully, it’s a different story on the mound: UH is 3rd in WHIP, 7th in hits allowed per 9 innings, 11th in K/BB ratio, 13th in walks per 9 innings, 13th in ERA and 21st in shutouts.
Where else are we good? 24th in fielding percentage and 24th in stolen bases. So we’ve got that going for us, which is nice.
Individually, Trey Cumbie is T-4th in complete games, 5th in WHIP, 18th in strikeouts, and 20th in K:BB ratio. Aaron Fletcher is 12th in ERA and 35th in WHIP. I hate that their marvelous years have been wasted on a lackluster team.
