What a victory for the team last night as we played, quite possibly, our most complete game of the season in a 9-2 victory over Alabama at the Hoover Met. We moved to 39-18 on the season.

In the top of the first, we scored 5, highlighted by an RBI double by RJ Schreck and a two run shot to deep left by RJ Austin. That got us going. We added some insurance later as Chris Maldo hit one out to left central and RJA had another RBI with a double double. Austin was 3 for 4 with a two run shot, an RBI double and a single. As starter Devin Futrell said, “I thought he was going to hit for the cycle.”

Little brother Maldo was 2 for 3 with 2 Ribeyes. Junior catcher Alan Espinal was 2 for 4. Davis Diaz seems to always hit the ball well and had a hit last night. J Vastine didn’t have a hit, but hit it hard 2 or 3 times. The left side of our infield has been strong towards the end of the season both at the plate and in the field. Love what Davis and Jonathan are doing at 3rd and short respectively.

And how about our freshmen? RJ is slick at second and Maldo is a weapon at the plate. Great to see our vet RJ Schreck get it going with the bat. We need that from him today and going forward. Left fielder Matthew Polk had a huge two run single as well. EBJ didn’t have a hit, but always leads the team and he WILL show up today as a force for us. Parker Noland always plays well and I love his focused intensity. You can tell Parker is laser focused out there. We have excellent leadership from Corbs, to Coach Scott Brown, to Coach Mike Baxter and the players. We really put it together last night.

And the pitching was superb. Devin said in the postgame he didn’t have his best stuff, but he battled. Dev went 5, gave up 4 hits, 2 earned with 3 walks and 2 K’s. He got out of some serious jams. I liked what he did. Devin really battled. As I said yesterday, Futrell is a warrior.

And Thomas Schultz was superb. Thomas was stellar for us last season and can now really help us after a confidence building, stellar performance last night. Thomas went 4, gave up only 1 hit, 0 runs, with a walk and 4 K’s. Awesome job by our senior.

So today it’s the Gators once again. Ryan Ginther is a little dinged up, but is expected back next week for the Regional. I’m looking at sophomore Greyson Carter, 2-1, 4.08, 28.2 innings, 28 walks, 23 K’s, 13 doubles and 4 homers allowed. Greyson is a mid to high 90’s thrower, so if he can control it and keep them off balance with some change of pace, I like what he can do. Opponents are hitting .163 against Carter.

The other option, and these guys will probably both be used today, is Grayson Moore, our junior right hander, who is 0-0 with a 3.60 ERA. In 20 innings, Moore has issued 10 walks and 30 K’s, and has given up 4 doubles, 3 homers and opponents are hitting .190 against him.

We can probably use David Horn, JD Thompson and, of course, Maldo late with a lead.

I expect them to start sophomore left hander Jac Caglianone, who is 6-2 with a 3.96 ERA. In 61.1 innings, he has issued 44 walks and K’d 71. He has given up 8 doubles, 5 homers and opponents are hitting .174 against him.

We need to keep BT Riopelle, Caglianone, Wyatt Langford and Josh Rivera from hitting it out of the park with runners aboard. Our pitching needs to be stellar, we need to play superior defense and the bats just need to replicate what we did last night.

I’m ready to beat these guys. Have had enough of them. We need to show them who we really are.

Come on guys. Anchor Down!

Men’s Golf

Our team is +10 for the tournament and in 12th place at holes 16-18.. We are +8 for the day. Hoping we can finish strong and get in better position for tomorrow. Not our best today so far. It’s hot out there, low to mid 90’s, but the wind isn’t that bad at 5-7 MPH. Illinois is at -2 and leading. The course is a tough one. If we can finish with some birdies, and get hot tomorrow, we can be right where we need to be in the top 15 going into Monday. Come on fellas. Let’s get it going.

Stack, 2023 class

Coach Stackhouse finished off an impressive recruiting class by signing 5 players and adding 3 transfers in the 2023 class.

Stack’s signees are, Isiah West, who is a 90, almost 4 star player, and would have been a 4 star had he not gotten hurt last season. Isaiah is a 6’2”, 190 combo guard from Goodpasture School in Madison, TN. Love what we’re getting with Isaiah.

2. Carter Long: Carter is a 6’9”, 220 center from St. Anne’s-Belfield in Cville, VA. Carter is another 90, high 3 star, and adds size, rebounding and scoring.

3. JaQualon Roberts, Roberts is a 6’7”, 195 power forward who is an 88, 3 star. JaQualon is from Bloomington North, Bloomington, Indiana. Another excellent addition.

Yesterday 2 more signed.

4. Jason Rivera-Torres, Jason is a 6’6”, 170 shooting guard from John Marshall in Richmond, VA. Stack likes his stroke. He’s an awesome addition as well. JRT is a 90, 3 star.

5. Malik Presley, Malik is a 6’6”, 170, 90, 3 star from San Marcos High School in San Marcos, Texas.

I think Stack loves this class. Size, shooting and defensive prowess.

Here are the transfer additions.

1.Tasos Kamateros, 6’7”, 240 Center. Not much known on Tasos, but will find out this week and tell you more. Like the Euros for sure.

2.Ven-Allen Lubin, a 97 4 star in high school, transferred from Notre Dame. Ven-Allen is a 6’8”, 220 power forward. Stack is very high on Ven-Allen.

3. Evan Taylor, an 85, 6’6”, 205 small forward, Evan came to us from Lipscomb.

Add that to 6’9”, 240 C Lee Dort, who is going to have a breakout season this year. Lee showed signs of that last year and he was a 95, 4 star out of high school.

Along with stellar Colin Smith, who’s going to be terrific for us. Colin was outstanding towards the end of this past season and is a former 94 four star. Colin is 6’8”, 200 and a power forward. Sure he’s added some weight and muscle.

And Paul Lewis, our 6’2”, 170 scrappy point guard who can really light it up.

One of the main pieces of this team will be our extraordinary point guard from this past season Ezra Manjon returning. Love what the man can accomplish this season.

And the final piece, and a really important one, is the status of Tyrin Lawrence. Two weeks ago, it looked like Tyrin might transfer to Auburn or Georgia, or even Texas Tech. But things have changed dramatically and we have a very good chance of getting Tyrin back. I’d put our chances at 75-80%. If we can keep Tyrin and our veteran players in the back and front courts can get even better, which I expect them to under Stack, as our players always do, and our transfers play well along with contributions from the freshmen, we’ve got a chance to be special. NCAA Tournament and take if from there is absoulutely attainable. With Stack’s coaching and the material, there is no reason we can’t excel in 2023-24. I’m expecting us to.

Come on T Lawrence. We need you.

Let’s Anchor Down today over those hated Gators, get golf going again, and there is a lot of excitement with our basketball program. I promise I’ll get to football in the next couple of weeks or so. Like the material Clark has assembled and is developing. See us having a strong team in 2023, Team 3.