Sports

Baseball hopes dominant pitching anchors the upcoming season

Tommy Birch
March 26, 2008

Tyler Strub isn’t planning on just trimming down opponents. He’s looking to spruce up his hairstyle.

The freshman southpaw from Indianola plans to cut his hair into a Mohawk after his first win of the season.

“My girlfriend, she thought it was kind of embarrassing,” Strub said. “At first, it took her a while to get over it.”

He’ll get his first chance to break her heart when the Iowa State Baseball Club opens the 2008 season Saturday with a doubleheader against Minnesota State at Cap Timm Field.

The 6-foot-2-inch, 175-pound freshman joins a pitching staff that retains senior left-hander Bryan Junge and senior right-hander Andrew Schmid. The trio, along with senior Alex Murman, will form one of the best rotations the team has ever seen. Strub is scheduled to take the hill for the first time in game one on Sunday.

“It’s going to be exciting to see what happens,” said junior catcher Trevor Ennenga. “There’s a lot of talent there.”

And also in the batting order, which returns leadoff hitter Elliott Fifer. The senior, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury only six games into the 2007 season, returns to the lineup at second base – a shift from his old position of shortstop. The addition of Fifer and the return of Ennenga and junior Drew Thorson shape out an ISU lineup full of experience.

“Really, up and down the order, one through nine – I’m pretty confident that anyone we put out there will be pretty good,” said club president and designated hitter Bryan Scholar.

While he’s happy with the lineup, Scholar said it’s the pitching that could keep the Cyclones in most games this season. After finishing the 2007 season second to last in the Central Plains Athletic Conference with a 4-8 record (4-9 overall), Scholar has high expectations for his staff – something he spent most of the off-season addressing.

“I think we’ll be able to change speeds and keep teams off balance,” said Scholar. “I think we’re deep.”

Scholar said the team’s improvements and experience should make the Cyclones contenders with returning conference champion South Dakota. Iowa State gets its first crack at South Dakota when they host the team on April 5.

“I think with more consistent play we’ll be right up there,” Scholar said.

And Strub hopes to see the team with a bit less hair. After watching Schmid add a Mohawk this season, Strub would like to see the rest of the pitching staff join him in adopting the hairstyle.

“I think that would be awesome,” said Strub. “Especially after everyone got a win.”

The ISU club baseball team’s home schedule.

All home games played at Cap Timm Field, admission to all home games is free

March 29 vs. Minnesota State:

1 p.m., 3:30 p.m.

March 30 vs. Minnesota State:

11 a.m., 1:30 p.m.

April 5 vs. South Dakota:

1 p.m., 3:30 p.m.

April 6 vs. South Dakota:

11 a.m., 3:30 p.m.

April 12 vs. Iowa: