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Big Train College Round-Up: 2/23/2015

02/22/2015 12:27 PM

By:David Schneider

College baseball is back ladies and gentleman, and that only means one thing – The Big Train season is almost here! In the first week of games for the 2015 season, both former and new Big Train players made a splash for their respective teams. I will highlight the key statistics from this week of baseball. Remember, teams have played less than five games.

Starting in the local area, we have past and current players from the University of Maryland, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Military Institute, and Radford.

For the Terrapins, Brandon Lowe (BT ’14), the 2014 Big Train Team MVP, has continued where he left off with the Big Train, posting an On-base Percentage of .667 including two home runs, three RBI, six walks, and two hit-by-pitches. In Tayler Stiles’ (BT ’14) first start of the season he pitched five innings, allowing no runs on only four hits on the way to a Maryland victory. Zach Morris (BT ’13) earned his first win of the season, pitching two innings in relief.

Logan Farrar (BT ’13-’15) of Virginia Commonwealth had a great first week of baseball, batting .429 from the plate, while also walking twice.

Out of the Virginia Military Institute, newcomer Brandon Barbery (BT ’15) earned his first win of the season going six innings, allowing no runs on five hits.

From Radford, Michael Boyle (BT ’13), earned his first win of the season going six innings, allowing two runs, while striking out three batters.

Now, let’s move down south and see how our past and current players are doing at Florida Atlantic University, Mississippi State, and Tulane.

Florida Atlantic put a very good first week together, behind key performances from past Big Train players. Ricky Santiago (BT ’13) has two RBI on the season including a walk-off winner against UConn. In two outings, Brandon Rhodes (BT ’14) has pitched eight innings, surrendering no runs, on only six hits. Bo Logan (BT ’12, ’14), has pitched 4.1 innings, allowing one hit and one run, and earned his first win of the season in a huge upset over Florida-rival, top-15 ranked Miami (FL).

Big Wes Rea (BT ’14) has started the season hot for Mississippi State, batting .375 with a homerun, and a whopping seven RBI in just one week of baseball. Hustle award winner, Cody Brown (BT ’14-’15), is living up to the hype, already with a double, and a triple on the season.

Big Train has had some players from Tulane who are key contributors in their first week back. Stephen Alemais (BT ’14), who received the Big Train best-hitter award, is picking up where he left off this past summer. In the first week, Alemais batted .400 with six hits, two RBI, and a stolen base. Tim Yandel (BT ’13-’15) is proving to be a huge asset for the Green Wave, playing both as a pitcher and hitter, earning American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week. In his first start of the year, Yandel went 6.1 innings without giving up a hit or a run and on the offensive end, Yandel hit a two-run homerun. His versatility is a big reason why Tulane is having a good start to the season.

Now, moving out West to see how Big Train players are doing at Cal State Northridge, St. Mary’s (CA), and San Diego State.

Newcomers for the 2015 season from Cal State Northridge, Nolan Flashman (BT ’15) and Calvin Copping (BT ’15), had a solid first week. Flashman batted .333 with three RBI and Copping earned his first win of the season in six innings of work, allowing two runs on five hits, while striking out nine.

From St. Mary’s (CA), Jake Valdez (BT ’14-’15) earned his first win of the season pitching six innings, allowing no runs, on five hits.

For San Diego State, returning player Andrew Brown (BT ’14-’15) has done really well in his first week with five hits, six runs scored, three RBI, and four walks. San Diego State has two former Big Train players who are picked by many to be first team all-conference. Ty France (BT ’13) has put up gaudy numbers in his first week, batting .368 with seven hits, including a double, two triples, and three RBI. Pitcher Bubba Derby (BT ’13) had a tremendous first start of the season, pitching 5.2 innings, giving up one run on three hits, while striking out an incredible 14 batters out of 20 possible outs.

Look out next week for a review of the season for more past and current Big Train players, and seeing how they fare so far this year.

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