College Baseball Roadtrip: San Marcos Edition

Good afternoon everyone, I would like to start with an apology for my lack of recent material. School caught up with me and I had to focus on that. Luckily there's been plenty of great stuff by everyone else. Below I have a few notes on two games at Texas State in San Marcos, TX. The first game saw the Bobcats host Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday April 27. The second was Texas State-Rice on May 14.

Coming up I will have some thoughts from this past weekend, during which I caught five games in three days in the Washington, D.C. area. Shortly thereafter, I'll have coverage of the first two days of the C-USA Tournament in Houston, TX, and possibly a look at the Southland Tournament in nearby Sugarland, TX.

Back to San Marcos. Only two real thoughts from these games. The first is that Texas State looked horrible defensively both times that I saw them, making one error against CSU Bakersfield and six (!) against Rice. The second is that it looks like Rice has a gem of a third baseman again. He's not getting the attention that Rendon did, but Shane Hoelscher is having another great season at the plate and is making web gems look easy. Since I started really following Rice around 1999-2000, they've had a string of fantastic glove/bat combinations at the hot corner: Hunter Brown (22nd Round), Craig Stansberry (5th Round), Adam Morris (47th Round), Diego Seastrunk (14th Round, as a catcher), Josh Rodriguez (2nd Round, as a shortstop), and Anthony Rendon (1st Round).

	Michael Aquino, OF (Jr)
Stat Line:	.335 BA, 7 HR, 36 RBI, .398 OBP, .528 SLG
Notes:	"Aquino is a better fit for a corner outfield spot, but it remains to be seen if he’s got the foot speed to make a position switch work. If so, his draft stock will get a nice bounce: his hit tool ranks up there among the best in the conference." - Baseball Draft Report
My Take:	2-5, 2B; Good bat that has spent most of this season as the DH.
	Cael Brockmeyer, C (Jr)
Stat Line:	.333 BA, 4 HR, 4 3B, .478 SLG, .413 OBP
Notes:	Cape Cod Video - Interview - #7 Prospect in WAC (Baseball America) - "Brockmeyer’s size (6-5, 220 pounds) may necessitate a permanent move to first at some point, but his defense at present is good enough to stick for the foreseeable future. It goes without saying that he’s a better prospect the longer he can catch, but it is also worth mentioning that his bat is interesting enough that he’d also be the top first base prospect in the conference if that’s where you think he’ll eventually wind up." - Baseball Draft Report
My Take:	2-3, BB, RBI; Huge. I first noticed his size when there was a meeting at the mound and he was a head taller than the rest of the infield. First time I can remember seeing that.
	Leon Byrd, OF (Fr)
Stat Line:	.241 BA, 1 HR, .394 OBP
Notes:	Mets 25th Round Pick in 2012 - #3 Conference USA Newcomer (Baseball America)
My Take:	1-3, 1R, 1RBI; Missed a cutoff man that allowed a Texas State runner to take second base and score on the next hit. Made up for it with an RBI single to right in the bottom half of the inning.
	Keenan Cook, OF (Jr)
Stat Line:	.308 BA, .386 OBP
Notes:
My Take:	0 - 5
	Kyle Finnegan, RHP (Jr)
Stat Line:	4-3, 4.87 ERA, 61 IP (17 app, 10 starts), 59 K, 34 BB, 71 H
Notes:	#1 Prospect in the WAC (Baseball America) - Profile by Baseball Draft Report - Draft Profile
My Take:	Vs. Rice: 2 IP, 2 K, 2 H, 1 ER, Loss; Had good velocity.
	Scott Grist, RHP (Jr)
Stat Line:	5-2, 4.70 ERA
Notes:	#10 Prospect in the WAC (Baseball America)
My Take:	Game 1: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 K, 0 R, W; Game 2: Started against Rice: 2 IP, 5 H, 1 K, 2 ER.
	Shane Hoelscher, 3B (Jr)
Stat Line:	.343 BA, .389 SLG, .398 OBP
Notes:	Broke his hand earlier this year punching the ground in anger. - On this list of top 120 college players last year
My Take:	As I mentioned earlier, this kid can play. Not much power this year (7 career HR) but good contact hitter. Team leading 11 errors, but saw nothing short of stellar defense (of the game-saving variety) in San Marcos. Perfectly executed sac bunt in the 9th. 1-4, RBI, R.
	Mylz Jones, 3B (Fr)
Stat Line:	.333 BA, .388 SLG, .396 OBP
Notes:	#3 Newcomer to the WAC (Baseball America)
My Take:	0-4; Looked very comfortable at third and at the plate. I would keep an eye on this kid over the next couple of years.
	Hunter Lemke, RHP (Jr)
Stat Line:	2-3, 46 IP (34 App), 2.35 ERA, 44 K, 13 BB
Notes:
My Take:	Pitched a scoreless ninth against both CSU-Bakersfield and Rice, allowing a total of 1 BB and 1 H. Submarine-style delivery with good movement.
	Garrett Mattlage, IF (Soph)
Stat Line:	.311 BA, .440 SLG, .404 OBP, 2 HR
Notes:	#8 Prospect in the WAC (Baseball America) - Drafted in 35th Round in 2011 by the Royals
My Take:	Switch hitter. Game 1: 0-3, K, BB; Game 2: 2-4, 2 R
	Kevin McCanna, RHP (Fr)
Stat Line:	4.54 ERA, 3-1, 39.2 IP, 18 K, 17 BB, 30 H
Notes:	#1 Newcomer to C-USA (Baseball America)
My Take:	Stated against Texas State: 4 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1K.
	Chase McDowell, RHP (JR)
Stat Line:	53 IP, 4.25 ERA, 4-2, 26 K, 20 BB
Notes:
My Take:	4 IP, Win, 2 BB, 1 K, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 WP. Hard thrower with occasional command problems.
	Morgan Mickan, OF (Sr)
Stat Line:	.243 BA, .384 OBP, 3 HR, 29 RBI
Notes:
My Take:	Game 1: 1-4, 2B, RBI, 1 BB, 2 R; Game 2: 0-3, 1 BB. 36 BB on the season.
	Michael Ratterree, OF/IF (Sr)
Stat Line:	.290 BA, 9 HR, .478 Slg, .412 OBP, 39 RBI
Notes:	Nationals 45th Round Pick in 2009 - #13 Prospect in C-USA (Baseball America)
My Take:	2-5, 2 RBI; Had a major early season slump, but rebounded nicely in the second half.
	Oscar Sanay, 2B (Jr)
Stat Line:	.352 BA, 1 HR, 5 3B, .474 Slg, .441 OBP, 42 RBI
Notes:
My Take:	2-4; Solid line drive hitter, but makes some plays in the field that make you scratch your head. Had an error, and set up behind second base to take a throwdown on an attempted steal. Has a little bit of attitude when he plays.
	Nick Smelser, SS (Sr)
Stat Line:	.259 BA, 1 HR, .331 OBP
Notes:	#22 on "College Shortstops to Know"
My Take:	Game 1: 0-4, BB; Game 2: 1-3, 2 RBI
	Christian Stringer, INF (Sr)
Stat Line:	.288 BA, 1 HR, 4 3B, .399 Slg, .398 OBP
Notes:
My Take:	1-4, R
	Andrew Stumph, C/1B (Sr)
Stat Line:	.307 BA, 2 HR, .411 SLG, .391 OBP
Notes:
My Take:	Game 1: 1-3, BB; Game 2: 1-3, R; Its never good when I can compare an athlete's body type to my own.

Just a few more notes:

• The Rice weekend rotation of Austin Kubitza, John Simms, and Jordan Stephens has been phenomenal this year. I'll write more about them after seeing them live in the C-USA Tournament.
• Cal State Bakersfield ace Jeff McKenzie hasn't been on any draft lists I've seen, but he was put on the watch list for college pitcher of the year. His line: 12-2, 1.79 ERA, 85 K, 24 BB in 105.2 IP.
• Rice Catcher Geoff Perrott is having a solid season. He's athletic with a strong arm, and is hitting .291.
• Rice Closer Zech Lemond recently picked up his 13th save of the season, moving him past David Aardsma and Tony Cingrani for the top single season save number in school history.

Just in case I don't post again before NCAA tournament selection day (May 27th), good luck everyone.