Posted: Feb 23, 2017

Four Game Weekend; three vs #7 Ranked Parkland

Baseball fans should make every attempt possible to get to Gallatin, TN for this weekend's matchups as the games will be played at a very high level. Vol State (7-1) will welcome the Parkland College Cobras from Champaign, IL (NJCAA Division II) and Schoolcraft College from Livonia, MI (NJCAA Division III) for a weekend series. Parkland College comes to town boasting a (2-0) record and is nationally ranked 7^th in the NJCAA Division II rankings. The Pioneers are off to a hot start, but the competition will only get tougher from here on out. Vol State will put up their 7 game win streak vs the nationally ranked Cobras in a double header starting at 12:00 pm Friday. Saturday will feature Parkland vs Vol State at 11:00 am and then Vol State vs Schoolcraft at 2:00 pm.

This weekend should prove a tough test before the Neers open up conference play the following weekend, and we had a chance to ask Coach Hunt about his thoughts on the hot start and what he has seen so far; "I am pleased with our pitching so far and the way we are competing."

We had a chance to catch up with sophomore Drew Hall who will make his 3^rd start of 2017 on Friday, and asked him about the hot start of the pitching staff. "I think the staff is performing extremely well; I think every pitcher is always ready to go in and do whatever it takes to give our team a chance to win." We asked if his approach changes any when facing a nationally ranked team. Hall responded, "The only way I would say my approach changes is you can't take very much for granted against good teams. You really have to pay attention to details like holding the runners close and getting ahead in counts. Better teams will make you pay for mistakes that a bad or average team may not be able to capitalize on as often."

James Hatcher will also take the hill Friday, the sophomore lefty is coming off 2 very strong outings. When asked if his mindset or approach may vary for this start he responded, "My mindset for Fridays start will be to attack the strike zone and keep the ball low. My mindset won't change due to who we play, I always take the same approach when I step on the mound."

Coach Hunt also added, "We need to work on being more consistent offensively, but overall we are playing well. We just have to keep it going, keep competing. With Parkland this weekend and conference starting next weekend things are going to start to get tougher. We need to be a mature ball club in how we respond to adversity."

A few guys that have been very consistent so far this year are sophomore Alex Lyon who is hitting .500 so far, and sophomore Eddie McDaniels who has been a force at the top of the lineup while also driving runs in when the bottom of the lineup has been able to get on. The Pioneers will certainly need some offense to compete this weekend and moving forward into conference play.