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Preview: Baseball Hawks open 2012 season Saturday
By Matt Green
Jan. 28: Hawks (0-0) at Southeastern (0-0), 12 (DH)
Jan. 30: Hawks at Edward Waters, 12
LAKELAND, Fla. -- The Shorter University baseball opens the 2012 season today in Lakeland, Fla., with a doubleheader beginning at 12 pm against Southeastern University.
The Hawks, who are receiving votes in the NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Preseason Poll, take to the diamond just eight months removed from a 40-18 campaign in 2011 -- the program's first 40-win season in three decades.
The momentum of Shorter's historic 2011 season is bolstered by the return of a majority of the team's position players and a starting pitcher that has the potential to emerge as one of the best in a stacked Southern States Athletic Conference -- a league that sent seven teams to the national tournament last year and one that features five teams in the preseason Top 25 for 2012.
Shorter will also rely heavily on 11 transfers, many of which are expected to contribute immediately and add some crucial depth to an already talented group.
The Hawks were one of the SSAC's top offensive teams in 2011, and bring bat many of those same bats that helped Shorter post a .315 team batting average and nearly seven runs per game.
Shorter returns three of its four infielders, its All-SSAC catcher and its anchor in the outfield for another run at an NAIA Tournament berth.
Seniors Kurtis Robinson, Dadynoel Lorenzo and Blake McCullers are back to assume duties at second, short and third, respectively.
Robinson, a switch hitter out of Norcross, hit .303 with 32 RBI and 45 runs scored in 2011. He is a career .328 hitter and has eight homers in two seasons with the Hawks, including the three he hit last season.
Lorenzo burst onto the scene in his first season with the Hawks in 2011, leading Shorter in hits with 65 and in stolen bases with 17. Lorenzo hit .305 in a leadoff role while hitting two home runs, driving in 30 runs and stroking 13 doubles.
McCullers recorded 43 RBI, 10 doubles, two triples and a homer for Shorter last year to go along with a respectable .283 batting average. He played in all 58 games for Shorter and will once again be counted upon to handle duties at the hot corner.
Senior Jordan Hollis returns behind the plate for Shorter after earning SSAC All-Division honors a year ago. Hollis was not only solid with a bat in his hands -- the Jacksonville, Fla., native hit .297 with four homers and 21 RBI -- but also in a defensive role, where he threw out 14 potential base stealers and boasted a .975 fielding percentage.
Junior Willie Lewis will navigate a relatively young group of outfielders from his centerfield position. The Gainesville, Fla., product transferred to Shorter last season and made an immediate difference, leading Shorter in batting average (.356) and triples (6). Defensively, Lewis makes a difference with his speed and his arm, evidenced by his three outfield assists last season.
If there is one area of uncertainty with the Hawks in 2012, it would have to be pitching, where talent may not be an issue, but experience will be.
Gone is the tandem of Brick Carter and Tim Day, who ranked 1-2 on the team in strikeouts and innings pitched a year ago. Those departures mean that Shorter will rely heavily on the strong right arm of senior Stephen Adkins, who went 3-5 with a 5.40 ERA in 2011 while playing the entire season with an abdominal injury.
Healed, Adkins is poised for a big year. The hard-throwing righty is nearly unhittable when he locates his fastball -- as proven by two games in 2011 when he racked up eight strikeouts -- and his starts will be key once Shorter reaches SSAC play.
Senior Matt Kirksey also returns to provide Shorter some depth in the bullpen. Kirksey was 3-1 with a 1.46 ERA through five appearances last year before shutting it down for the season with an injury. A closer for much of his career, Kirksey will provide that veteran presence in the clubhouse that can help bring along several young, but promising arms.
As previously mentioned, Shorter opens the season today at 12 pm in a doubleheader with Southeastern in Lakeland. The Hawks will then travel north to Jacksonville for a matchup with Edward Waters College on Monday, Jan. 30.
Shorter's home opener is set for Saturday, Feb. 4 in a twin bill with the Universty of Pikeville. That doubleheader is set to begin at 1 pm from the Robert H. Ledbetter Baseball Complex.
