IPFW Welcomes League Leading Oral Roberts This Weekend

Saturday, April 23

Fort Wayne, Ind.

12 P.M.

Purdue Fort Wayne

Oral Roberts

IPFW Welcomes League Leading Oral Roberts This Weekend

4/21/2016 2:55:00 PM | Baseball

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- IPFW will welcome defending Summit League Tournament Champion Oral Roberts University for a three-game home baseball series this weekend, April 22-24, at Mastodon Field in Fort Wayne. The Mastodons of eighth-year head coach Bobby Pierce enter the league series with a record of 18-19 overall, 4-11 in the Summit League, including five-straight wins overall. The visiting and league leading Golden Eagles are 23-12 overall, 12-3 in the Summit League, including six consecutive victories overall. UPDATED FRIDAY - 2 P.M. - The action will now get started on Saturday, April 23, at 12 p.m., and it's FREE ADMISSION!

IPFW-ORU SERIES INFORMATION
Mastodon Field, Fort Wayne
Game One: Saturday, April 23, 12 p.m. / Live Stats
Game Two: Saturday, April 23, 3 p.m. / Live Stats
Game Three: Sunday, April 24, 12 p.m. / Live Stats
Series History: ORU leads 26-4
2016 Series: ORU leads 2-1

PITCHING
Projected Rotation: Evan Miller (So., RHP), Trevor Storie (Sr., RHP), Brandon Pease (R-Sr., LHP)

IPFW will use the same starting pitching rotation that helped the Mastodons sweep last weekend's league series on the road at Western Illinois University (9-1, 11-5, 8-1) … Miller in game one, Storie in game two and Pease in game three. Miller is 4-3 with a 5.96 ERA and 47 strikeouts through nine appearances/starts and 48.1 innings pitched. Storie is 3-5 with a 5.84 ERA and 35 strikeouts through nine appearances/starts and 49.1 innings. Pease is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA and 14 strikeouts through nine appearances/three starts and 16.1 innings.

Miller, who earned the win during IPFW's 6-3 road win at ORU on March 25 with 6.0 innings and nine strikeouts, leads the team in starts, wins, strikeouts and strikeouts looking (17). Storie leads the team in starts and innings pitched.

Bullpen: Jordan Martin (Jr., RHP), Jake Weber (R-Jr., RHP), Brandon Phelps (R-So., RHP), Damian Helm (So., LHP), Tanner McAninch (Jr., RHP), Adam Neal (Fr., RHP), Mitchell Ley (Jr., LHP), Kyle Orwig (Sr., RHP)

The Mastodons have used Martin (18 appearances, 1-0, 2.28 ERA, 2 Saves, 22K, 27.2 IP), Weber (14 appearances/1 start, 3-3, 3.47 ERA, 6 saves, 18K, 23.1 IP), Phelps (14 appearances, 1-0, 11.57 ERA, 13K, 14.0 IP), Helm (13 appearances/3 starts, 2-2, 7.13 ERA, 1 Save, 24K, 35.1 IP), McAninch (12 appearances, 0-1, 2.92 ERA, 7K, 12.1 IP), Neal (11 appearances, 0-0, 3.68 ERA, 9K, 14.2 IP), Ley (10 appearances/6 starts, 1-2, 6.55 ERA, 20K, 34.1 IP) and Orwig (10 appearances/6 starts, 2-2, 4.94 ERA, 19K, 31.0 IP) most frequently this season.

Martin leads the team in appearances, ERA and opponent batting average (.231). Weber leads the team in saves and games finished (12).

HITTING
Projected Lineup: CF: Brandon Soat (Sr.), LF: Evan VanSumeren (Sr.), SS: Greg Kaiser (R-Sr.), RF: Shane Trevino (R-Sr.), 1B: Kendall Whitman (Sr.), DH: Brock Logan (R-So.), 3B: Shannon Baker (R-So.), C: Jonathan Valenzuela-Reece (Sr.), 2B: Jackson Boyce (Jr.)

IPFW is expected to open the series with a probable lineup that features Soat in center field, VanSumeren in left field, Kaiser at shortstop, Trevino in right field, Whitman at first base, Logan as the designated hitter, Baker at third base, Valenzuela-Reece at catcher and Boyce at second base. VanSumeren is hitting .305 with two home runs, 10 doubles, 25 runs and 22 RBIs, followed by Whitman (.303, 1 HR, 1 3B, 7 2Bs, 18 Runs, 17 RBIs), Logan (.283, 3 HRs, 5 2Bs, 8 Runs, 15 RBIs), Soat (.276, 3 HRs, 3 3Bs, 7 2Bs, 31 Runs, 21 RBIs), Kaiser (.275, 9 HRs, 1 3B, 11 2Bs, 24 Runs, 23 RBIs), Boyce (.262, 2 HRs, 2 3Bs, 6 2Bs, 20 Runs, 9 RBIs), Trevino (.257, 8 HRs, 5 2Bs, 24 Runs, 26 RBIs), Valenzuela-Reece (.253, 2 HRs, 2 2Bs, 6 Runs, 16 RBIs) and Baker (.191, 4 2Bs, 15 Runs, 13 RBIs).

VanSumeren leads the team in batting average, hits (46) and sacrifice flies (3). Kaiser, the reigning Summit League Player of the Week (.647, 5 HRs, 10 RBIs), leads the team in home runs, doubles, stolen bases (10), total bases (79) and slugging percentage (.556). Whitman leads the team in being hit-by-a-pitch (9) and on base percentage (.427). Soat leads the team in at bats (152), total plate appearances (179), triples and runs. Trevino leads the team in RBIs. Baker leads the team in walks (26). Boyce leads the team in sacrifice bunts (2) and steal attempts (12). Boyce, Soat, Trevino and Whitman have each played in all 37 games, while Boyce, Soat and Trevino have each started all 37 games played this season.

Depth: Sean Herberger (Sr., C), Grant Wilson (Sr., DH), Isaiah White (R-So., OF), Zak Kellogg (So. C), Alec Reuille (R-Fr., C), Brandon Yoho (Fr., IF)

Kellogg (47), Yoho (30) and Herberger (28) have seen the most at-bats among the reserves for the Mastodons this season.