Baseballers Ready to Open 2007 Season
February 12, 2007
Weatherford, OK - The Southwestern Oklahoma State University baseball team opens its 2007 baseball season Tuesday (weather permitting) against Southern Nazarene University in Bethany. The Bulldogs play a single game beginning at 2 p.m.
Head coach Charles Teasley and his staff return four full-time starters from last year’s 21-31 team finished sixth in the Lone Star Conference North Division. The Bulldogs also return three pitchers who saw time on the mound last season.
Leading the returners are pair of the team’s top hitters from a year ago sophomore outfielder Ryan Pease and senior outfielder Sean Rogers. Pease hit .322 with four home runs and 29 RBI’s last season. He was even better with runners on base finishing with a .354 average. Rogers hit .308, in his first year with the Bulldogs, and drove in 20 runs while belting three home runs from the left side. He will likely switch outfield positions with Pease and take over right field duties while Pease moves to left.
SWOSU also returns junior shortstop Lance Scales, who batted .295 and was one of only four players to play and start every game; senior outfielder Mark Cole, who hit .252 and owns seven career home runs; and sophomore first baseman Blain Perkins, who hit .245 in part-time duty last year.
Leading the returning pitchers is senior right-hander Jeff Keller, who went 3-2with an 6.32 ERA in 37 innings pitched last season. Keller will begin the year as the team’s number one starter after an impressive fall campaign. He and sophomore Gabe Winn, who went 1-4 with a 9.898 ERA as a freshman, and Kole Kennedy, who went 3-2 with a 9.99 ERA, are the lone returnees from last year’s regular rotation.
SWOSU’s first home game is Wednesday, Feb. 21 against the University of Science and Arts. Gametime is at 2 p.m.
Head coach Charles Teasley and his staff return four full-time starters from last year’s 21-31 team finished sixth in the Lone Star Conference North Division. The Bulldogs also return three pitchers who saw time on the mound last season.
Leading the returners are pair of the team’s top hitters from a year ago sophomore outfielder Ryan Pease and senior outfielder Sean Rogers. Pease hit .322 with four home runs and 29 RBI’s last season. He was even better with runners on base finishing with a .354 average. Rogers hit .308, in his first year with the Bulldogs, and drove in 20 runs while belting three home runs from the left side. He will likely switch outfield positions with Pease and take over right field duties while Pease moves to left.
SWOSU also returns junior shortstop Lance Scales, who batted .295 and was one of only four players to play and start every game; senior outfielder Mark Cole, who hit .252 and owns seven career home runs; and sophomore first baseman Blain Perkins, who hit .245 in part-time duty last year.
Leading the returning pitchers is senior right-hander Jeff Keller, who went 3-2with an 6.32 ERA in 37 innings pitched last season. Keller will begin the year as the team’s number one starter after an impressive fall campaign. He and sophomore Gabe Winn, who went 1-4 with a 9.898 ERA as a freshman, and Kole Kennedy, who went 3-2 with a 9.99 ERA, are the lone returnees from last year’s regular rotation.
SWOSU’s first home game is Wednesday, Feb. 21 against the University of Science and Arts. Gametime is at 2 p.m.