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College  | Story | 4/17/2016

Hill, Michigan sweep Nebraska

Jheremy Brown
Photo: U-M Photo Services




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Michigan 6, Nebraska 1

Coming off of a bit of a rough stretch, including a two-game sweep at the hands of Minnesota and a non-conference bombing by Michigan State, Michigan came into this weekend needing to make a statement to reestablish themselves near the top of the Big Ten Conference. They got just that in the form of a sweep of Nebraska, using dominant pitching for the most part to go along with patient, timing hitting.

Evan Hill, as he has been pretty often this season for Michigan, was sterling on Sunday afternoon. The senior lefthander was very good over his seven innings, allowing only one run on four hits and one walk, striking out four. He was never really in trouble, getting lots of weak contact throughout his time on the mound and looking a lot like the anchor of the Wolverine rotation, despite pitching in the Sunday slot. He started off hot, sitting 89-91 mph and working his running fastball down in the zone consistently, before settling in around 86-89 for the majority of the game. The fastball plays up to a near average level when commanded down with good life, and he showed the ability to move it around the strike zone at will. He mixed in a solid slider that he was able to manipulate the shape of and change speeds on, as well as a quality changeup. The southpaw looks to be a pretty solid senior sign candidate in the draft with a chance to go in the top 10 rounds. 

Nebraska's Ryan Boldt looked the best he had all series today, despite going 1-for-5 he stung the ball pretty well with better consistency. It's been discussed quite a bit how his raw hitting tools and power never quite matched his numbers and in-game approach, but that is changing in 2016 and the new swing was on display Sunday. Previously, Boldt was content to employ the high-contact "inside-out" swing approach, with the intent to serve the ball the opposite way. A quality approach for the sake of contact and batting average, no doubt, but hard to do real damage with that type of swing. In 2016, Boldt is more consistently turning on baseballs on the inner third and driving them to the pull field. He just missed a monster home run by hooking it a bit foul but still getting every single bit of it, and then on the next pitch laced a line drive into the opposite gap. As he continues to grow more comfortable with the new approach and continues to allow his raw power to play in games, he'll become a more and more dangerous hitter. As it sits right now, I'd be comfortable with him in the second round of the MLB Draft, as a middle-of-the-diamond defender with good hit and power projection. 

Michigan's Cody Bruder, their senior center fielder, has some of the better barrel control you'll see in collegiate baseball. He went 4-for-4 with two huge RBI on Sunday, including a bunt-and-slash base hit up the middle that scored the go-ahead run for the Maize and Blue, a lead they would never lose. He covers ground well in center field and has some extra base pop, making him another very quality senior sign candidate for the MLB Draft. 

Nebraska's true freshman reliever Chad Luensmann was interesting out of the Cornhusker bullpen, coming in to play fireman in the later innings and doing a good job. The arm action is relatively clean with some smoothness to it, and his fastball working 90-93 with good sinking action, topping at 94 mph, leading this evaluator to wonder if there are any plans to use him as a starter down the road. 

Perhaps the most highly touted incoming freshman in Michigan's 2014 recruiting class, Drew Lugbauer had a rough freshman year at the plate last season. This year, he's becoming a legitimate middle-of-the-order threat, hitting near .300 with good power and a better approach than last season. As a matter of fact, everything about him looks better than last year, from his body and approach to his bat speed and barrel control. He went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI on Sunday, lacing a double down the right field line that scored Michigan's first run. He came in as a catcher and is still technically Michigan's backup catcher, but with Harrison Wenson locking it down behind the plate, Lugbauer has become the everyday first baseman, and he's doing a solid job over there. 

Michigan now sits second in the Big Ten at 6-2 (25-9 overall), behind only Michigan State who sits at 7-2 in conference. They'll make the trek to Iowa City next weekend after a midweek affair with Toledo to battle the Hawkeyes. Nebraska now sits at 22-14, 7-5 in conference, and will head to Kansas State in the midweek before hosting Nicholls State next weekend. 



Saint Joseph's 17, UMass 7

More or less, the sole reason for making the trip to Amherst this afternoon was to lay eyes on Saint Joseph’s sophomore catcher, Deon Stafford, who to this point in the year has proven to be a difficult out while hitting for both average and power. And though he didn’t have a day to remember at the plate today going 1-for-4 on the day with a few strike outs, he more than showed tools that you can project upon, especially with the premium position he calls home.




Recruited out of Lower Dauphin High School back in 2014, Stafford made an immediate impact with the bat as a freshman and he was recognized for his talents by receiving a spot on the Second Team All-Conference in the Atlantic 10. Rather than take the summer off or play part of the summer season Stafford used his time in the NECBL to hone his craft and he did just that, showing an increase in power as he launched six home runs with wood while receiving praise from the opposing coaches for his defensive capabilities.

Jump to this spring and more of the same praise is being dealt to Stafford as he leads his Hawks in nearly every offensive statistic possible with a triple slash of .383/.486/.733 with 11 home runs to his credit already. To prove just how good he’s been this spring, the righthanded hitting Stafford went 3-for-12 this weekend at UMass and still sports those impressive numbers across the board.

The first thing that jumps out when looking at Stafford is the physicality that oozes through his 6-foot, 202-pound frame and though he possesses plenty of strength he’s by no means muscle bound in anything he does. Watching him pregame during his work in the cages and during batting practice the looseness to his wrists and just how quick his hands are truly shines as he generates plenty of bat speed to his long and fluid swing. And while the length may inhibit some batter’s abilities in the box, it doesn’t impeded Stafford due to the barrel quickness he shows through the zone.

With natural leverage in his swing and plenty of strength at contact Stafford is able to drive the ball to all fields and has shown that it plays in game as he’s launched balls to all fields this spring. Facing a steady dose of breaking stuff which he swung over the top of in his first three at-bats, Stafford did show the ability to lay sliders that broke off the outer half of the plate and made an adjustment later in the game sending a curveball deep to left-center field for a sacrifice fly. His lone hit of the game came in the form of a double down the third base line in which he got a bit tied up on but still showed more than enough bat speed to get the barrel head in and turn on the ball.

A 6.8 60-yard runner, that type of athleticism plays well behind the plate for Stafford as he showed as showed good flexibility in his hips and bounce to his step moving in either direction. Twice challenged on the base paths this afternoon, Stafford didn’t throw out either runner, one of which was to third base from his knees at the end of the video, though he delivered the ball in plenty of time and both appeared by at least a step from my vantage point. Throwing down to second mostly from his knees in between innings, which hovered around 2.00 and in back to back innings delivered a 1.86 and a 1.87 coming out of the crouch at full speed.

The catch-and-throw skills, which are highlighted by his big arm strength and soft receiving hands were on display as he delivered accurate throw after accurate throw in between innings and twice in game. While he may not have filled up the box score in this particular look, Stafford did show a full array of tools that will have him squarely on scout’s radar next spring, especially with a strong summer in the Cape Cod League.




The team’s backup catcher, junior Brian Lau who plays a key piece to the Hawk’s offense, has recently taken up pitching and though his 10 innings this spring are all he has under his belt for his career he was highly intriguing during his one inning Sunday afternoon. Well built at 6-foot-3, 198-pounds, Lau more than projects on the mound with square shoulders and long limbs and should continue to add velocity with additional physical strength and overall repetitions on the mound.

Lau begins his delivery with a high leg lift up past his belt during which he loads up his weight on his back side before striding on line towards the plate. Though his command wasn’t pinpoint, which is to be expected given his limited experience on the mound, Lau did work throughout the zone with his fastball that sat in the 89-91 mph, popping a 92 with his first pitch of the outing. The arm action is plenty loose through the back and he did a nice job of generating downhill plane when he remained on top of the pitch, something he did frequently. The bigger takeaway from Lau’s inning of work however was his sharp and late upper-70s curveball, a pitch that he consistently got to the bottom of the zone and used to finish off all three of his strikeouts. 

Deon Stafford may have been the main purpose of my trip but when a team scores 17 runs in a game there’s bound to be other players who catch your eye and a few members of the Hawks did just that. Senior lefthanded bat John Brue got things going in a hurry for the offense as he turned on one of the first pitches he saw in the game and launched it roughly 400 feet to right field, landing on top of the build that overlooks the field for one of his three hits on the day. With every starter recording at least one base hit and scoring a run none had a more impressive day at the plate than left fielder Cal Jadacki. With four home runs entering the day, Jadacki went yard twice not only in the same game, but in the same inning, twice launching the ball over the left field fence as part of a five RBI game.

Freshman first baseman Charlie Concannon also had a nice day at the plate going 3-for-5 with a couple of doubles while swiping his fourth bag of the year. A 6-foot-2 lefthanded hitter, Concannon has filled out well since I first saw him two years ago as expected, but his swing still remains plenty loose with natural leverage at contact and sound present bat speed. A true freshman, Concannon has seen his average rise to .298 this spring, good for second best on the team behind Stafford.
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