On Feb. the Tech Baseball squad faced off against Southern Illinois in a three-game series.
On Saturday, the Golden Eagles were able to take down the Salukis 3-2 thanks to the pitching of junior right-hander Reece McDuffie. McDuffie came into the game in the seventh inning and only allowed one SIU hit while on the mound.
On Sunday, the Saluki bats were hot as Tech fell 9-1 to tie the series up at 1-1. Monday was a similar story as SIU bested the Golden Eagles 10-4, dropping Tech to 6-2 in the early season.
The season officially opened for Tech baseball on Friday, Feb. 14 against Le Moyne in a doubleheader. Tech was able to capitalize and come out on top twice on opening day.
On the mound for Tech in game one was sophomore Jack Brafa, junior Patrick Johnson and sophomore Drew Mattox. Game two saw junior Jaxson Pease and sophomore Juan Vargas as the two combined for 11 strikeouts.
Game three was a 6-3 victory for the Golden Eagles and game four was also in Tech’s favor 4-1. This put Tech at an early 4-0 start to the season and momentum that continued to gain.
Coming off the series against Le Moyne, sophomore catcher Mack Whitcomb was awarded OVC player of the week for his season-opening performance. Whitcomb was credited with six runs in the four-game series and batted at .385 throughout.
On Feb. 18, Tech hosted Belmont at home at Quillen Field and Bush Stadium and emerged victorious 10-8. The bats were hot in The Quill as Tech pulled off an amazing comeback against the Bruins.
Heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, the score was 7-4 Bruins and it was evident that the Golden Eagles needed a momentum play.
Numerous Tech batters scored in an attempt to rally at home and stay undefeated. Freshman infielder Landon Smelser finished with two RBIs off of three hits and Mack Whitcomb matched those efforts with two RBIs of his own off of one hit.
Other Golden Eagles who finished with an RBI included redshirt freshman third baseman Jackson Rooker, senior center fielder Nicho Jordan, junior right fielder Jorsixt Jimenez, junior second baseman Eddie Garza and senior first baseman Carter Vrabel.
Vrabel is the son of former Tennessee Titans and current New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel. Vrabel had his first-ever home run as a Golden Eagle in the bottom of the third inning against Belmont.
The Golden Eagles start conference play on Mar. 21 in a three-game series at Little Rock. Head Coach Matt Bragga was asked in a preseason interview video posted by the OVC Youtube account about his team heading into the year.
Bragga said “Honestly, in however many years I’ve been coaching, it’s one of the tightest groups I’ve ever seen…Great leadership, got some veterans that have done an amazing job.”
This tight-knit baseball club will look to replicate the success that was had in the 2018 season, as the Ethan Roberts-led Golden Eagles were able to reach the Super Regionals round of the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
