Baseball | 1/26/2015 6:31:00 PM
SAN FRANCISCO – The SF State Gator baseball team will have their 2015 regular season home opener this Sunday, February 1 at 11am, when they host Holy Names University in a non-conference doubleheader at Maloney Field. The Gators return 15 letter-winners from last year's team including 9 starters (pitchers and positional players) that went 22-28 including 17-23 in the CCAA.
Senior catcher
Mark Lindsay is back after earning All-CCAA honors for the second time in his career last season. Lindsay batted .282 with a team leading 51 hits while driving in a team high 22 runs. He also threw out 19 base runners last year.
Back in the Gators' infield is
Fernando Escobar,
Matt Vera and
Garrett Heisinger. Escobar started in 38 of the Gators' 40 games he played in last season while scoring 11 times. He posted a .936 fielding percentage last year for the Gators primarily at shortstop. Vera started in 43 of the 45 games he played in with a .316 on-base percentage. He also had 7 doubles in his first season as a Gator. Heisinger started in 48 of the 49 games he played in with a .996 fielding percentage at first base. He had 42 hits of which 8 were doubles and one was a triple.
In the Gator outfield,
Nick Jackson is back after starting in 21 of the 38 games he played in for SF State in either center or left field. The sophomore outfielder scored 13 runs last season and was 9-for-11 in stolen base attempts. He also had a 1.000 fielding percentage with 52 putouts and one assist. Moving from the infield to the outfielder this season is
Danny Souza and
Bryce Cherry. Souza batted .286 last season in the 32 games he played in. He also started 21 games with a .348 on-base percentage. Cherry played in 34 games while starting in 27 of those games while hitting four doubles.
On the mound, the Gators welcome back starters
Preston Tarter,
Nolan Sheridan,
Ryan Romero and
Ryan Bohnet along with reliever
Cory Davis. Tarter picked up four wins last season and tied for the team lead with Sheridan each with 37 strikeouts. Davis was 4-2 last season with a 3.51 earned run average in 25 appearances. He also recorded 13 saves, which was 7th best in the nation and second in the CCAA. The senior reliever was named to the All-West Region Team.
Joseph Chedid is back for his junior season after being a utility player for the Gators last season. He recorded two saves and was 1-0 on the mound for SF State while scoring 8 times and posting a .957 fielding percentage.
Dalton Pizzuti was the Gators' back-up to Lindsay last season. He played in 12 games and posted a .278 batting average and a .316 on-base percentage.
Will Hein saw action in 15 games in 2014 and started in 7 of them in the outfield for SF State.
Two Gators are back after redshirting last season in pitcher
Peter Reyes, first baseman
Tyler Hall, and catcher/infielder
Chad Thurston. Reyes posted a 2.97 earned run average with 5 saves during the 2013 season in 33.1 innings.
SF State welcomes 10 newcomers (five freshman and five junior college transfers) to this year's team. This year's junior college transfers are:
Jacob Lopez,
Nazareth Thibodeaux,
Connor Fraser,
Ryan Burke and
Shane Martin while the freshmen are
Andrew Breen,
Carter Gambrell,
Zack Zevenbergen,
Matthew Hernandez and
Grant Vogenthaler.
SF State finished tied for seventh in the CCAA last season with Cal State Dominguez Hills. The Gators, under the direction of head coach
Mike Cummins, either won or split six four-game series last year. They had two All-CCAA selections in Lindsay and graduating senior
Dillon Meyer and one All-Region selection in
Cory Davis. Five Gators were named to the CCAA All-Academic Team in Cherry, Cobb, Davis, Hein and Souza.
Holy Names went 19-31 last year including 9-23 in the Pac West Conference. The Hawks return Dominic Morbidelli who batted .330 last year with 36 hits along with Zach Verlaan who had 12 doubles. Senior pitcher Micah Ashburn went 5-3 last year with a 3.42 earned run average and 30 strikeouts for the Hawks.
After their doubleheader on Super Bowl Sunday, the two teams will play a single game under the lights on Tuesday, February 3 at Laney College in Oakland with first pitch scheduled for 6pm.
SF State will then play a four-game series with Central Washington in two doubleheaders on February 6 and 7 with starting times of 11am both days at Maloney Field.
2015 schedule2015 roster------
Gator Athletics has a proud tradition of competitive success within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The department offers 12 intercollegiate sports programs: Baseball, Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Men's and Women's Soccer, Softball, Women's Track & Field, Women's Volleyball and Men's Wrestling.
Gator Athletics places great emphasis on academic performance as well as athletic achievement. The program offers student athletes the opportunity to reach their educational goals, as well pursue meaningful athletic accomplishments. For more information, visit SF State Athletics' website, Twitter and Facebook pages.
