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SPORTS
| february 17, 2004
Baseball Preview
Sliding into Place
Coach Jeff Curtis said determining
the players’ strengths and where each will fit in to the team
is important in the start of the season
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| The Shorthorn: Awais Ikram |
Senior Mike Snapp is in his final season
with the Mavs as the school’s all-time leader in
appearances with 95. He is just two appearances shy of
becoming the Southland Conference all-time leader. |
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By Dustin
Eberhart
The Shorthorn Staff
Baseball coach Jeff Curtis doesn’t just want to beat Southland
Conference foe Lamar. His focus covers a range of issues including
bettering his team in all aspects of its game, setting and meeting
goals and not focusing on any one opponent.
“We can’t just focus on Lamar. If we do that and handle
them, then another team can sneak up and beat us,” he said.
“You can’t shoot to beat just one team, there’s
quality competition throughout the conference, and any team can
beat anyone on any given day.”
Another issue Curtis is addressing is roster management. He said
with the talent the team has, it will be a challenge finding out
who fits where.
“We have to find who is going to play for us when conference
comes around,” he said. “As far as pitching, we are
going to be pitching a lot of guys before conference to find a rotation
that works well.”
Curtis said leadership on the team is important.
“Hunter Pence, although he’s a junior, needs to step
up and be a key offensive guy as well as Darrell Preston because
he’s a senior,” he said. “Also Derek Brehm and
Kasey Baker because they’re seniors.”
Picked second in preseason conference polls behind last season’s
conference champion Lamar, UTA showcases four Preseason All-Southland
Conference team members: Preston, Baker, Pence and senior Mike Snapp.
Baker earned second team All-Southland Conference honors in his
junior campaign at designated hitter. Baker hit .386 as a leadoff
hitter and spent the majority of the season as the team’s
designated hitter. He set a school record by collecting 22 doubles
on the season, he was second on the team with 54 runs scored and
third on the team with 12 stolen bases.
In his final season with UTA, the right-handed Snapp is the school’s
all-time leader in appearances with 95 and is two appearances shy
of becoming the Southland Conference all-time leader. Snapp is also
just seven saves from becoming the all-time leader at UTA.
As a closer, Snapp ranked fourth on the team with 45.1 innings pitched
while leading the conference with 33 game appearances. He finished
the season 4-4 with a 5.76 ERA.
Pence, a junior outfielder, comes into the season after a successful
summer with a semi-professional squad. Pence was named first team
Summer All-American with the Liberal BeeJays of the Jayhawk League
of Kansas. Pence led the team with a .429 batting average, four
triples, seven home runs and 39 RBI and was named the team’s
Most Valuable Player.
Curtis said the season will be a success if the team achieves three
goals.
“Number one is to win the conference, number two is to win
the conference tournament and number three is to go to regionals
and win it,” he said.
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