Page 76 - DBU Baseball 20-21 Media Guide

2021 POSITION OUTLOOK
DBU ENTERS THE 2021 SEASON AS ONE OF ONLY NINE TEAMS IN COLLEGE BASEBALL TO ADVANCE TO THE NCAA POSTSEASON IN EACH OF THE LAST SIX YEARS
The Patriots will feature a wealth of veteran talent in 2021 with the return of 24 lettermen from a team that went 12-4 last year before the season was halted in mid-March due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Among the 24 Patriots back in uniform this season are five seniors that decided to return for a fifth-year of eligibility with was granted by the NCAA including Austin Bell, Christian Boulware, Jackson Glenn, Kragen Kechely, and Andres Sosa.
The Patriots’ 2021 schedule includes 35 games at home where DBU boast the nation’s 14th-best home win percentage since Horner Ballpark opened its gates in 2013. DBU will also compete in the Frisco College Baseball Classic (March 4-7) where they will face the likes of Arizona, Missouri, and Oklahoma.
PITCHING
While DBU must replace the vacancy left by closer Burl Carraway, who was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the second round of the Major League Draft, the Patriots’ weekend rotation returns entirely intact from last year in the form of Ray Gaither, Dominic Hamel, and Chandler Arnold.
Gaither, who started all four games in the Friday night role, is back for his fourth season on the mound. A hard-throwing right-hander that features a four-pitch mix, Gaither burst onto the scene four years ago to become the team’s Friday night ace as a freshman in 2017. After a redshirt season in 2018, Gaither returned in the stretch run of the 2019 season to play a key role out of the bullpen. Last year, Gaither struck out 26 batters over 20.1 innings and has averaged a strikeout per inning during his career, fanning 104 batters over 104.1 innings.
Hamel, who transferred to DBU in 2020 from Yavapai College, made a splash in his first season as a Patriot in 2020, earning National Pitcher of the Week honors for his performance at then- ranked No. 13 North Carolina. Hamel carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning in Chapel Hill and finished the game with 7.0 shutout innings to go along with a season-high 10 strikeouts. A flame-throwing righty with elite level spin rate on his fastball, Hamel went 2-0 in four starts last year and fanned a team-high 27 batters in 19.2 innings.
Arnold, also a transfer from the junior college ranks, earned a spot in the weekend rotation in his first year at DBU as a sophomore. In four starts, Arnold also put up impressive strikeout numbers, striking out 19 batters in 18.2 innings. Following a strong outing at North Carolina in which he earned his first career win, Arnold capped off his year against Oral Roberts with a season-high nine strikeout performance and surrendered just one run in 5.1 innings.
Along with the likes of Gaither, Hamel, and Arnold, DBU also welcomes back Zach Heaton and Luke Eldred, who have each played key roles as starters during their careers. Heaton was the team’s midweek starter last year and also worked his way into the weekend rotation as a redshirt freshman in 2019. Eldred could also play a significant role this year after returning from injury. As a redshirt freshman in 2018, Eldred earned Freshman All-American honors after going 7-3 on the season with a 3.28 ERA.
The Patriots also added two transfers to the roster in Jared Pettitte and Rhett Kouba who performed well during the fall season in starting roles. Pettitte, a left-hander and the son of 18-year Major League veteran Andy Pettitte, transferred to DBU from the University of Houston where he made three starts in 2020. Kouba joins the Patriots from North Central Texas College, where he was a Second Team All-Conference selection two years ago.
The Patriot bullpen also showcases a bevy of arms headlined by senior right-hander Kragen Kechely, who is on track to become the all-time leader in appearances in school history in 2021. Kechely’s go-to pitch is a devastating slider that has helped produce an average of 9.61 strikeouts per nine innings, a mark that ranks fourth-best in the program’s Division I era dating back to 2004.
Peyton Sherlin is another veteran arm that returns. In three seasons, the left-hander from Deer Park, Texas, has made 44 appearances and fanned 59 batters over 57.0 innings of work.
Ross Carver, Cole Reeves, Kyle Rich, and
Chas Sagedahl were also reliable options
out of the pen in 2020. Carver was a 23rd
round pick of the Texas Rangers in 2019
and held opponents to a .154 batting
average in eight relief appearance last
year. Reeves is another power arm in the
Patriots’ pitching stable and is coming
off a shortened-season in which he did
not allow a run in his five outings last
year. Rich showed promise as a redshirt-
freshman in 2020 and earned the win in
relief over Baylor in the final game of the season, while Sagedahl, a crafty-lefty arrived at DBU last year after striking out 219 batters in two seasons at Southeastern Community College. Both Rich and Sagedahl could also vie for time in the rotation.
Luke Trahan auditioned for the role as the team’s closer during the fall and features the type of stuff that Patriot fans have grown accustomed to through the years from a program that has produced some of the top closers in college baseball. Trahan fashions a fastball that touched 98 during the fall and offsets that with a slider that has proven to be a plus-pitch.
Young rising talent such as Zane Russell and Alec Baker could also play an emerging role in 2020. Russell, who was a true freshman last year, throws a fastball that reaches the mid-90s, while Baker, who made his collegiate debut at North Carolina last season, also has a live arm that can live in the mid-90s.
In addition to the slew of returning arms for DBU in 2021, the Patriots also welcome to campus a stellar recruiting class of junior college and freshman talent that will be called on to make an impact this year. Joey Martin, who pitched at Kansas State as a freshman in 2019 and spent last year at one of the top junior college program in the country in McLennan Community College, is expected to be a strong left-handed option out of the pen. Kyle Amendt is another JUCO arm from Southeastern Community College that arrived on campus last fall. Amendt was a First Team All-Region pick in 2019 after leading the nation in saves (14).
True freshmen Reid Robertson, Tyler Talbert, and Jacob Young were each big-time talents at the high school level last year and could factor into the Patriots’ pitching plans in their first year on campus.
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