BASEBALL PREVIEW
Opponent: Elon
Phoenix (3-0)
When: Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 4 p.m.
Where: Latham Park on the
campus of Elon University
Probable Starters
(Elon vs. A&T):
Tuesday:
RHP Jim Stokes vs. LHP Ruben Torrellas
Must See: The Aggies (1-2) are
looking to collect their second win of the season on Tuesday against Elon. The Aggies lost the last meeting 14-0 on Feb.
21, 2010. The Aggies will be starting Ruben Torrellas on Tuesday against the
Phoenix. Torrellas returns to A&T
for his second season after transferring back from Guilford Technical
College. As a freshman in 2009 for the
Aggies, he made seven starts in seven appearances. He did not allow a run in three consecutive
appearances in 2009. He went 2-3 with a 5.59 ERA in 12 games at GTCC in
2010. Two Aggies-outfielder Dairio
Little and second baseman Marquis Riley-have each posted a three-game hitting
streaks to start the season. Little is
hitting .444, while Riley is batting .357 to start the season. Aggies starting pitchers have been strong as
well. A&T's starters have combined
for a 2.61 ERA to start the 2012 season, with 13 hits, six earned runs, six
walks and 14 strikeouts. Torrellas will
look to follow that with a strong starting performance on Tuesday.
Elon: The Phoenix is the
reigning regular-season Southern Conference champions. They began the season 3-0, defeating Akron on
Opening Day and then sweeping a doubleheader against George Mason on Saturday
in the Elon Invitational. Elon was
picked to finish fourth in the SoCon.
Junior catcher Alex Swim and sophomore second baseman Sebastian Gomez
were named to the preseason second-team All-SoCon team. Swim hit .280 with 12 doubles, three triples and
33 RBI in 2011. Gomez earned Louisville
Slugger Freshman All-America honors with a 3.05 average, six doubles, one
triple, two home runs and 28 RBI. Elon
has won three of the last four regular-season titles. Right-hander Jim Stokes will be making his
first start of the season on Tuesday. He
took a medical redshirt last season. In
2010, he finished 2-0 with a 4.45 ERA with one start in 21 games. He struck out 22 batters in 30.1
innings. Gomez is leading the team with
a .455 average with a double, a home run and five RBI. Jake Luce is batting
.417 with a double and an RBI, while Niko Fraser is batting .400 with a double
and three RBI.
Little Starts off
Strong:
Dairio Little has started the season off strong, hitting safely in all three
games for A&T. He is batting .444
(4-for-9) with two RBI and a pair of walks to start the season. He finished 2011 with a .274 average (51-for-186)
with eight doubles, a triple, three home runs and 33 RBI. His longest hitting streak last season was
seven games. His longest career hitting
streak is 13 games, from April 10-27, 2010.
Weekend Starters Perform
Well:
The Aggies have collected strong performances from their starters in their
opening series against Navy. Their
starters have allowed 10 runs (six earned) in 20.2 innings for a 2.61 ERA. Starters Esterlin Paulino, Tyler Boone and
Brent Moore have combined for 13 hits, six walks and 14 strikeouts in the first
three games, and have held opposing hitters to a .183 average. Tyler Boone leads the Aggies with a
season-best 8.0 innings in a single game.
Esterlin Paulino struck out a season-best six batters in his appearance
on Opening Day.
