Wright State University CORE Scholar Athletics Publications Athletics 3-1-1990 Wright State Baseball Media Guide 1990 Wright State University Athletics Follow this and additional works at: https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/athletics_publications Part of the Public Relations and Advertising Commons Repository Citation Wright State University Athletics (1990). Wright State Baseball Media Guide 1990. : Wright State University. This Media Guide is brought to you for free and open access by the Athletics at CORE Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Athletics Publications by an authorized administrator of CORE Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1 9 9 0 1990 SCHEDULE March 10 Sa111rday Kent State Noon 11 Sunday Ashland (2} 1 pm 17 Saturday at Murray Slale 1 pm 18 Sunday at Murray State 1:30 pm 20 Tuesday at Arizona 7pm 21 Wedn9Sday at Arizona 2:30 pm 23 Friday at Hawaii Pa,ciflc Noon 24 Salurday at Hawaii Rainbow Tournamenr Wright Slate vs. Creighton 9am at Hawaii Pacific 2pm 25 Sunday at Hawai1 Rainbow Tournament' Wright State vs_ Georgia Tech Nooo 26 Monda'.I' al Hawaii Rainbow Tournament• Oldalloma State vs. Wright State 3pm 27 Tuesday at Hawaii Rainbow Tournament• Jona vs. Wright Stale 9am Wriglit State vs. Hawaii 6:30pm 28 Wednesday at Hawaii Rainbow Tournament' Wright State vs. Oklahoma State 3pm 29 Thursday at Hawaii Rainbow Toumamenr Creighton vs. Wright Stale Noon 30 Friday at Hawaii Rainbow Tournament• Georgia Tech vs. Wrighl State Noon 31 Saturday al Hawaii Rainbow Tournament' Wriyht Slate vs. 1ona 3pm Wright Stale vs. Hawatl 6:30 pm April 4 Wednesday Ohio state (2) 1 pm 5 Th1Jrsday at Xavier (2) 1 pm 6 Friday a1 M1am1 4pm 7 Saturday at Akron (2) 1 pm 8 Sunday Chicago State Nocn 10 Tue.sday at Cincinnati 3pm 12 Thursday at Detroit (2) 2pm 13 Friday Dayton 4pm 14 Saturday at Loulsvllle (2) 1 pm 18 Wednesday at Kentuck'.I' 7pm 19 Thursday at Dayton 4pm 21 Saturday al Austin Peay (2) 2pm 22 Sunday a• Austin Peay Nooo 24 Tuesday at Morehead State (21 1 pm 25 Wednesday Cincinnati 3pm 27 Friday Wright State Classic TBA (Bowling Green, llllnoi:S-Chicago, C,leveland Sta1e) 28 Saturday Wright State Classic TBA 29 Sunday Wright State Classic TBA May 1 Tuesday X..Wier (2) 2pm 3 Thursday Dayton 4pm 5 Sa1urday at Eastern Michigan (21 1 pm 6 Sunday Eastern Kentucky (2) 1 pm a Tuesday al Cleveland Sfate 3pm 9 Wednesday Ken'll.lcky 4pm 10 Thursday al Dayloo 4pm 11 Friday at Eastern Kenlucky (2) 4pm 14 Monday Anderson 2pm 16 Wednesday Ohio University 3pm Home games are in bold type. AH starting l•mes are local bme. OUTLOOK After an injury-plagued season that limited him to 35 games, senior Roger Spaulding returns as the front­ runner at second base. Junior Kevin Klingenbeck should again see action at both second and third base. Behind the plate, Dan Young will likely platoon with Thompson for a third straight year. Senior Mike Alley also returns and could win a starting job in right field. Veterans Brent Bernard and Dan Bassler both saw some starting time last year and will contribute again. A pair of transfers will also see plenty of playing time. Senior Mike Wolters, an Ohio native who played at Illinois, is a first baseman/outfielder. Junior Bob Jesperson offers good speed and defense in center field. On the mound, senior Leonard Griffen and junior Mike Mathile, both right-handers, are back to anchor the starting rotation. Mathile fashioned a 10-2 record and 1.91 ERA in 1989. He completed nine of his 12 starts and struck out 68 batters in 84.2 innings. Griffen also started 12 games and posted a 7-2 mark with a 4.50 ERA. He is a career 18-game winner. Senior Mike McCall, junior Todd Pittman and sophomore John Smith all started at least five games last year and should make strong bids to complete the "We've got some mashers, don't we?" mused third starting corps. Pittman saw the most action of the trio baseman Brian Spears during one of the Wright State and finished with a 5-2 record and 3.35 ERA. McCall, University baseball tea'm's lopsided wins last year. He the only left-handed candidate, was a perfect 4-0 in posed the question but knew the obvious answer. 1989 and hurled the most innings (33.1) of his career. The sentiment was borne from an offense that batted Smith was the only rookie starter on the squad and .316 and averaged 7.7 runs per game to power the finished 3-2 . Raiders to a school-record 45-12 mark. Fortunately for In relief, sophomore Scott Huntsman is expected to Wright State, the same statement should hold true for be the stopper. The "Load" took to that role last season the 1990 edition with six everyday positions expected to with a 3-0 record, two saves and a 1.88 ERA in 11 be filled by returning letterwinners. That experienced appearances. Another trio of second-year players­ crew will be seeking an NCAA tournament berth this Scott Peffley, Pat Drazga and Kevin Walke-will also season in just the third year of Division I competition. help out of the bullpen. Eric Nation and Roger Barnes "I thought we accomplished everything we set out to could both start and rel ieve. do last season , except earn an NCAA bid," said 16th­ Among the freshmen on the 1990 team are a pair of year head coach Ron Nischwitz. "I truly believe that the starting pitcher candidates from New York, Tony team deserved to go. This year we've set up the toughest Ramsdell and Brian Kingdeski. Also, infielders John schedule in our history in order to really turn some heads. Sbrocco and Jeff Ashton and outfi elders Brian Buck I feel like we can compete with anyone in the country, and Gabe Canary will add quality depth to the roster. and now we'll have a chance to prove it." Highlighting the schedule is an early-season journey The returning arsenal features five players who to Hawaii for the six-team Rainbow Classic on March boasted .330-plus batting averages in 1988-89. First 24-31 , hosted by the University of Hawaii. Four teams baseman Mark Frankenberg made an immediate in the field are nationally ranked in the preseason by impact after transferring from Air Force and led the team Collegiate Baseball-Oklahoma State (No. 4), Georgia with a .380 batting average and school-record totals of Tech (No. 12), Creighton (No. 26) and Hawaii (No. 28). 21 doubles and 74 RBI. Spears finished with a .361 Wright State will stop at Arizona en route to the average, and outfielder Brent Fruhwirth was right tournament for a pair of games with the No. 24 Wi ldcats. behind at .359 along with a team-best 66 runs, also a The remainder of the schedule features Ohio State, new school mark. Shortstop Keith Gordon and catcher Miami, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Austin Peay and Eastern Scott Thompson made it a potent WSU infield with .335 Kentucky. and .330 averages, respectively. COACHING STAFF Ron Nischwitz Head Coach 16th Year ( 432-313) Like a fine wine, Wright State head baseball coach Ron Nischwitz continues to get better with age. Nischwitz, in his 16th season at the helm of the Raider baseball program, is charged with the duty of building it to the prominence in Division I that it enjoyed in Division II. In 1987, Nischwitz led Wright State to a 41-14 record and a tie for second place at the NCAA Division II national championships. It resulted in the team's first trip to the College World Series. Last season's 45-12 record marked the seventh-straight winning season for Wright State baseball. Nischwitz has coached Wright State to eight appearances in the NCAA regional tournament and has sent 12 of his players to the professional level: Nischwitz also serves on the AABC summer baseball committee, which oversees and facilitates all NCAA-sanctioned summer baseball leagues. Nischwitz spent four seasons, from 1961 to 1966, as a pitcher with the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians and the New York Mets. As a relief pitcher, his finest season was in 1962 with the Tigers when he posted a 3.90 earned run average. Following a forced retirement from professional play due to arm problems, Nischwitz spent one season as a pitching coach in the Mets' farm system, where one of his players was Tom Seaver. A native of Dayton, Ohio, and a graduate of Fairview High School, Nischwitz pitched for two years at The Ohio State University where his record was 11-1 as a junior, and he received All-America honors. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree from Ohio State in 1961 and earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Dayton in 1969. While playing professional baseball, Nischwitz worked as a computer designer at NCR during the off season. After several years with NCR, he joined ACB Advantage Financial Services, the professional collection agency he purchased three years later. He still owns and manages the agency in addition to performing his coaching duties. Ron and his wife, Sandy, have three children, Jeff, Brad and Lisa. NISCHWITZ'S RECORD AS HEAD COACH Year Won Lost Ties Pct. 1975 23 16 0 .590 1976 27 22 0 .551 1977 25 21 0 .543 1978 17 16 2 .515 1979 17 28 1 .378 1980 35 15 1 .700 1981 19 32 0 .372 1982 21 28 1 .428 1983 29 17 0 .630 1984 29 22 0 .569 1985 33 24 2 .576 1986 37 20 0 .649 1987 41 14 0 .745 1988 34 26 0 .533 1989 45 12 0 .789 Totals 432 313 7 .574 Mark "Bo" Bilinski Assistant Coach 16th Vear Very few college programs have been blessed with a head coach who has been with the program for 16 seasons, not to mention an assistant coach with the same credentials.