Joe Lange is the returning ace

Posted February 27, 2009

By Paul Erickson, Sports Information Director

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville baseball team is armed for the 2009 season with one of the most experienced pitching staffs in school history. Ten returning Pioneers have thrown pitches for UWP, who is looking to improve upon last year’s 17-23 season.

"The one thing we have is experience, which you hope helps," third-year manager Eric Frese said. "We definitely had some with solid years. The rest of the staff has experience, and now we need those 10 guys to improve upon what they did last year. The statistics weren’t great, but they did a pretty good job of throwing strikes. Now with maturity, we’re hoping they can take that step up."

First-team all-WIAC selection Joe Lange anchors the rotation. The senior left-hander had a 3-4 record in 2008 with a 3.45 ERA and led the league in strikeouts during the regular season with 73 in 73 innings pitched. The workhorse had three complete games in his nine starts and also pitched the final two scoreless innings in a victory over NCAA Division I Northern Iowa.

"Obviously Joe Lange will be our number one guy, and after that we’ll see who throws well and fits into the rotation and the top spots out of the bullpen," Frese said. "They’re going to have to compete for spots in those first 10-12-14 games to see where everyone fits in by the time we open up conference play."

Experienced starters from last year’s rotation include seniors Kyle Mack , 2-2, 4.91 ERA in 11 games; and Joe Cox, 3-3; and junior Wil Osmanski, 1-4 in seven starts. Seniors Brent Cashore (0-1, 4.22 ERA in 2007), Corey Connolly (2-0), and sophomores Nick Buden (0-0 in 10 games), Justin Crotty (1-0 in nine games) and Kyle Kubatzke (2-0) are experienced relief pitchers who also have starting experience. Aaron Daniels, who had a 3-2 record with 3 saves, returns as the closer. Six newcomers will also be pushing for mound time.

The Pioneers graduated six position starters, but return senior third baseman Lee Hawkins , who hit .321 with 22 RBIs and six multiple-RBI games.

Lee Hawkins returns at third base

"Our position players are kind of like what we are going to do with our pitchers," Frese said. "Lee Hawkins returns with experience and put up some offensive numbers, but after that there will be a lot of competition. We’ll have a lineup on opening day and see how it goes. We’ll try and pick a depth chart early, and if those guys struggle, we’ll go to the next guy and see what he can do. We anticipate being quite young position wise and may start eight underclassmen. We just need to get out, get some innings played and see how it goes."

Junior Jason Jacobson (14 starts) and sophomore Brett Benesh (23 starts) are returning middle infielders, while Steve Bomkamp ( 7 starts) moves to first base. Returners in the outfield include juniors Derrick Rice ( 13 starts) and Alex Siehoff (3 starts). Senior Matt Paulus (26 starts) and junior Wade Axelson, (13 starts) split catching duties last year, with Eric Krueger (1 start) providing backup depth.

Frese said all players will be pushed by a talented group of newcomers, including a trio of junior college transfers. Catcher Brenden Watson hit .347 last spring at Danville Area Community College; outfielder Steve Nelson started 29 games for an MATC club that was 39-17; and infielder James Gallagher helped Ridgewater College to two top seven NJCAA Division III World Series finishes. Frese is also excited about the freshmen class, and several could see substantial playing time in 2009.

The Pioneers will begin sorting their rotation and lineup on March 7-8 when they travel to St. Louis to play Fontbonne and Maryville in doubleheaders.

"They will be good tests for us," Frese said. "Maryville is going NCAA Division II next year, so that program is growing tremendously. Fontbonne has had a lot of success over the year. The thing that will make it challenging for us is that by that weekend both of those teams will already have had games, and we’re just getting started. It’s baseball, though, and you just have to get that first plate appearance in or the first couple of innings played, and everything slows down again. Those first four games will be a good test to see where we’re at this time of year."

The Pioneers have not set goals in terms of wins and losses but in terms of overall play.

"Ultimately, we have one goal and that’s to get to post-season play," Frese said. "To do that, we have to be good every day. We can’t take a day off. Our biggest things we talk about are throwing strikes, making the routine play and hitting the ball hard. If we do those three things consistently, the wins and losses take care of themselves. The biggest thing we’re doing this year is trying to make sure we concentrate on 150 pitches per game or however many we have that game. Especially in this conference, when you play the same team 36 innings in a weekend, you can’t take a pitch off or a play off. We have to be ready to play each pitch."