Dallas Baptist Patriots
Overall Rank: #30
Conference Rank: #1 Missouri Valley
Following an opening loss to New Mexico in the Lubbock Regional, Dallas Baptist made a superb push to reach the super regionals. They beat Fairfield, New Mexico and Texas Tech before falling to Texas Tech in the deciding game. The Patriots will hope to have another solid performance in the NCAA Tournament, but that will be tough without Darick Hall. Hall went 9-3 in 16 starts on the mound and belted 20 homeruns at the plate. He had an amazing season and Dallas Baptist is never going to be able to replace a player like Hall.
2016: 44-19, 21-21
2016 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Dan Heefner
Key Departed Players:
Darick Hall, P, 3.43 ERA, 97.0 IP, 94 SO, .302 BA, 20 HR, 72 RBI
Colin Poche, P, 2.38 ERA, 98.1 IP, 83 SO
David Martinelli, .301 BA, 6 HR, 37 RBI
Daniel Sweet, .308 BA, 2 HR, 25 RBI
Trooper Reynolds, .312 BA, 2 HR, 34 RBI
Key Returning Players:
Jordan Martinson, P, 3.68 ERA, 71.0 IP, 59 SO
MD Johnson, P, 5.60 ERA, 53.0 IP, 31 SO
Dalton Higgins, P, 3.79 ERA, 71.1 IP, 45 SO
Seth Elledge, P, 1.61 ERA, 28.0 IP, 31 SO, 14 SV
Jameson Hannah, OF, .332 BA, 4 HR, 37 RBI
Austin Listi, OF, .292 BA, 10 HR, 38 RBI
Camden Duzenack, IF, .287 BA, 6 HR, 35 RBI
Matt Duce, C/IF, .321 BA, 4 HR, 30 RBI
Projection:
Despite the absence of Hall, the Patriots have plenty of talent on the roster. On the mound, Seth Elledge has emerged as one of the best closers in the game. Last season he gave up just five earned runs in 28.0 innings of work and tallied 14 saves. Jordan Martinson and MD Johnson are proven starters and Dalton Higgins can be utilized in a variety of roles. At the plate, Austin Listi will pick up the slack left behind by Hall. Listi hit 10 homeruns and tallied 38 RBIs. Jameson Hannah, Camden Duzenack and Matt Duce are more than capable of helping out too. This team may not belt 62 homeruns or score nearly seven runs per game again this season, but they will not be too far off that mark in 2017 and that should get Dallas Baptist back to the NCAA Tournament.
Projected Postseason: NCAA Baseball Tournament
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