Baseball season preview

Spring has yet to arrive, but the college baseball season is now underway.
The VCU Rams have big expectations following this past season’s CAA title and
NCAA tournament appearance. The Rams were picked to finish second in the
CAA behind Old Dominion. Here is an introduction to this year’s team.

Quotables

“Over the past 15 years, our expectations
have always been the same – we’re going to
be a regional team . . . Our guys expectations
are always to win.” – Head coach Paul Keyes
on the team’s expectations.

“One of the goals we have for ourselves
every year is 40 wins . in my two years
here, we haven’t been able to get 40 wins but
we’ve done well in the tournament . so 40
wins would be nice.” – Junior 3rd baseman
Chris Jackson on his hopes for the season.

“I think we have a good crop of returners
mixed with a good crop of new guys. Our
freshmen have come in this year eyes wide
open and have been like sponges. They are
ready to learn.” – Senior outfielder Kwan
Evans on this year’s roster.

“We’ve these two hitting behind me; I’ve
got no choice but to have a good swing.”
– Kwan Evans on seeing a lot of fastballs,
because he hits in front of Jared Bolden and
Chris Jackson.

“Our number one strength we’ve got is
our offense, depth wise. I don’t see a lot of
holes in our lineup on a day-to-day basis
. I feel pretty good with our 1 through 9
order, which in the past we’ve had a problem
with.” – Coach Keyes on the depth of this
year’s team.

—

Players to watch

Jared Bolden, 1B/OF: The powerhitting
junior from Lynchburg batted
.383 last season, hitting 18 doubles,
five triples and five home runs.
Bolden was named first-team
all-CAA for his efforts along
with first team ABCA allregion.
He also has an
outstanding glove and
committed only two
errors in 55 games.
Bolden was named to
the Brooks Wallace
player of the year
watch list during the
pre season.

Chris Jackson, 3B: The junior
from Midlothian set career highs last
season in batting average (.341), hits
(84), doubles (18), RBI (57) and stolen
bases (15). His 57 RBI was a team high.
Jackson earned all-CAA honors last
season and was the only player to start
in all 60 of the season’s games.

Kwan Evans, OF: The fifth-year
senior from Hampton stole a
career-best 18 bases in 22
attempts last season. He
batted .284 on 57 hits,
including 10 doubles,
three triples and three
home runs. Evans is expected
to use his speed to
steal bases and will benefit
greatly from hitting in front
of Bolden and Jackson.

Cody Eppley, P: The senior righthander
from Dillsburg, Pa., is expected
to be the Saturday starter in this year’s
rotation. He appeared in 18 games last
season, started 16 and finished with a
7-5 record and a 4.66 ERA. His seven
wins were a team high, as were his 68
strikeouts. Eppley averaged 0.8 strikeouts
per inning while allowing only
0.15 walks per inning last season.
Key losses

Sergio Miranda, SS: The sure-hitter
and fielder from Puerto Rico was a
Rawlings Gold Glove winner and was
drafted for the Chicago White Sox. His
shortstop position is one of the question
marks on this year’s team.

Trai Harris, OF: Like Miranda, Harris
is a sure-hitter whose position (right
field) is up in the air at this point.

—

Key non-conference games

Feb. 22-24, @ Texas

(lost 6-2, 17-4, 10-2)

March 5, vs. East Carolina

March 11, @ East Carolina

March 12, @ North Carolina

March 25, @ Virginia

Key conference games

March 28-30, vs. UNC
Wilmington

April 4-6, @ Old Dominion

May 15-17, vs. Delaware