Feb. 15, 2010

Jake Boss Jr. Weekly Press Conference

EAST LANSING, Mich. - A year after posting its highest Big Ten finish and first conference tournament appearance since 2004, the Michigan State baseball team is looking to continue pushing the program forward in 2010. The Spartans return 19 letterwinners, including six starters and two starting pitchers.

"We certainly have momentum to build off from last year," said second-year head coach Jake Boss Jr. "At the same time, we realize we finished in the middle of the pack, and at the end of the day, the goal is to finish higher than that. We accomplished some good things last year but that's over and we'll use that as a stepping stone now and hopefully take another step forward in moving toward a championship."

Outfield
With all three starters returning, the outfield should prove to be one of the most reliable in the conference. Leftfielder and co-captain Eli Boike is the team's leading returning hitter and expects to be one of the Spartans' main offensive sources again this season. Boike led MSU in runs (47), home runs (8) and walks (36) last season and this past summer, was named MVP of the Cal Ripken, Sr. summer league while playing for the Bethesda (Md.) Big Train.

"Eli is one of our best returning players and we're excited to have him out there," said Boss.

Centerfielder Brandon Eckerle started all 54 games a season ago. The speedy junior hit .270 from various spots in the lineup and racked up 13 stolen bases. Senior rightfielder Bo Felt had 40 starts last season and hit .287 with 34 RBIs. Freshman Jordan Keur figures to be the Spartans' fourth outfielder.

"Brandon is an outstanding defensive centerfielder, hopefully he can hit at the top of our lineup as he runs extremely well," said Boss. "Bo is another outstanding defensive outfielder who, we hope, will come into his own offensively this season. Having those three guys back certainly makes us more comfortable with the outfield."

Infield
The Spartans return two starters to a less-experienced infield in 2010. Junior Jonathan Roof has started every game (107) at shortstop the past two seasons and along with first baseman Jeff Holm, will provide some much-needed familiarity around the horn. Roof hit .279 last season and his 204 at-bats were the second most on the team. Holm, who set the MSU single-season record with 425 putouts in 2009, started 47 games at first base and ranked third on the team with a .296 batting average. His 16 stolen bases led the team.

"Jeff is very good defensively and should hit in the middle of our lineup," said Boss. "Jonathan Roof is one of the best defensive shortstops in the league and has an outstanding throwing arm."

To round out the infield, the Green and White will count on a trio of underclassmen in redshirt freshmen Andrew Carpenter and Ryan Jones and true freshman Torsten Boss.

Carpenter, a redshirt freshman, boasts the most experience as he appeared in 11 games and made eight starts at third base before a shoulder injury sidelined him for the remainder of the season. Boss, perhaps the most heralded newcomer, was an all-state performer last season and can play either second or third base.

"All three of those guys will get a lot of playing time early and we'll see how that competition goes and how everything shakes out before Big Ten play starts," said Boss.

Behind the plate, junior Seth Williams and freshman John Martinez will get the balance of the starts. Williams, a power hitter, started behind the plate 12 times last season and appeared in 22 games. Martinez, who the coaching staff has helped mold into a catcher this fall, will push Williams for playing time.

"Seth is as talented of a player as there is in the conference - he has a strong arm and all kinds of power," Boss said. "Johnny had an outstanding fall, offensively and defensively and I can see both players splitting time early on and expect both to get significant playing time in the conference season."

Pitching
As with any team, pitching will be the key to the Spartans' success this season. With just two seniors - Kyle Corcoran and Kurtis Frymier - on the staff, MSU will rely on a host of younger pitchers to get the job done. Junior A.J. Achter and sophomore Tony Bucciferro are the team's top returning starters. Achter had a 3.76 ERA and tied for the team lead with 14 starts. Bucciferro ended his rookie campaign with the most strikeouts (61) and lowest ERA on the staff (3.55). After beginning the year out of the bullpen, he went on to make 11 starts and was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team.

"A.J. had a great fall and we expect him to have an outstanding year," Boss said. "Tony had a very good freshman year and we expect him to take another step forward in his career. We have a number of guys in Kurt Wunderlich, Frymier, Corcoran and freshman Andrew Waszak that can step up into a starting role and we'll see how it all shakes out."

Frymier led MSU with 22 appearances last season while the versatile Corcoran started eight games in 13 appearances. Most of Wunderlich's work came in the middle innings as he had 19 appearances and went 5-5.

The Spartans begin the 2010 campaign this weekend (Feb. 19-21) in Greenville, S.C. MSU opens with Furman on Friday at 4 p.m., will face No. 14 Clemson on Saturday at 1 p.m. and then close with Miami (Ohio) on Sunday at 12 p.m. All games will be played at Fluor Field, home of the Class A Greenville Drive.