Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR® WKU Archives Records WKU Archives 1968 UA19/17/1/1 Baseball Guide WKU Athletic Media Relations Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlsc_ua_records Recommended Citation WKU Athletic Media Relations, "UA19/17/1/1 Baseball Guide" (1968). WKU Archives Records. Paper 1374. http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlsc_ua_records/1374 This Other is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in WKU Archives Records by an authorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1968 BASEBALL SCHEDU LE 1968 Coach JIM PICKENS 1968 OUTLOOK DATE OPPONENT SITE March 20 WlttenbUl'g B owling Green, Ky. HILLTOPPER Western Kentucky 's base ball should be readv tf) mak .. March 29 T ennessee Tech (2) Bowling Green, Ky. a definite improvement this s pring. ~ l o r e Hu:ra-n playe !"~ March 30 Bellarmine (2) B owling Green, Ky. s prink led throughout the roster and added pi tc hing de pth April 1 Campbel lsville Bowling Green, Ky. are the principa l reasons for this optimistic outlook. April 2 ·Au Btin Peay (2) ClarksvIlle, Tenn. SdlO April 3 Centre (2) B owling Green , Ky. " We have eight pitchers to call on this -"pr in g, " April 4 BASEBALL Coach Jim Picke ns, " 8S compared to only four last year. Buffalo (2) Bowling Green, Ky. Apd l 6 -Middle Tennessee (2) Bowling Green, Ky. Since five of our losses last season were by only one April 9 *Muruy (2) B owling Green, Ky. run, you have to feel th at more pitching depth could April 13 ·Austin Peay (2) Bowling Green, Ky. make a difference in our record." April 20 David Lipscomb (2) Naahville, Tenn. The pitching staff is a ble nd of proven performe r'" April 2 4 *MurTaY (2) Murray. Ky. WESTERN KENTUCKY and newcomers and will be led by crafty lefthander Star. April 27 Southern Illinois (2) Carbondale, Ill. Markham, on e of the Ohio Valley Conference 's best. April 29 *Middle Tennessee Murfreesbor o, Ky. Overall team speed and defe nse should both bE: be tter May 1 Campbe 11 sv iIle UNIVERSITY Campbe llsville , Ky . than in 1967. Frosh Phil A1len at short and establis bed May 2 David Lipscomb (2) B owling Green, Ky. glove man Don Schne ider at second base should anchor May 8 Tennessee Tech (2) Cookeville, Tenn . the infield. Bob Elliott. who led the team in hitting a ·ove Western Divis io n game year ago with a .327 mark, is the top returnee in th e O Ut. NOTE: Home d oublehe aders begin a t 1 p.m. (CST ); Wi ttenburg field. single game at 2 p.m. (CST); Campbellsville sing le game al 3 p .m. Jim Pickens is in his th ird season as head The two big questions marks appear to be in catching (CST). coach of the Hilltoppers. Hi s background and ex­ and hitting. Last season' s two top recei\·ers. All.O\,C perience fit him ably for the aSSignment. J ohnny Vance and Jim Vorhees. are gone (\·ance be-­ The Princeton. Kentucky. native was a star cause of a serious football inj ury ; Vorhees to concentr ate pitcher. as well as an outstanding football quarter­ on s pring football and his studies )' Versatile \"anous back. for Western Kentucky in his collegiate play­ Lloyd, who has pl ayed just about every pos ition fo r th e ing days. He later pitched professionally as a mem­ Hilltoppers, has been moved the plate. As for hitting, only Elliott showed consistency in '67 ber of the Detroit Tigers' Organization. but if Jim Bunne l, Lloyd, Schneider and olhers could re­ Pickens came to Western as baseball coach in 1967 RESULTS gain some of the form they had in pri or seasons . any P O$­ the fall of 1965 after a sparkling coaching career sible problem wo uld be e liminated. in the high school rank s. where he put together championship teams in both baseball aJld footbalL In six seasons at Bowling Green. High School. his baseball teams won 118 games while losing only Overall Rec ord: 13-1 6-2 OVC Record: 4-' WK OPP. WK OPP . 20. a percentage of .855. He climaxed his coaching 10 C9mpbellsville , 9 at B e llarmine , stint there by guiding the Purples to the State 10 B ellarmine , 3 -Middle Tennessee 4 Championship in 1965. 3 Tennessee Tech 12 , -Middle T e nne ssee 5 Prior to coaching at Bowling Green. Pickens UNIVERSITY INFORMATION 1 T e nne ssee Tec h 1 5 -MurT9y 7 held similar positions at Danville and Elizabeth­ 5 - at Murray 9 3 -Murray 6 town High Schools. Over a 15 - year span. hi s high 1 -at Murray 4 3 at Campbellsville 0 school diamond teams won 78 .9 per cent of their 14 at Centre 4 Southern Illino is 0 games. racking up 22 1 victories against 59 loses. 12 at Centre 6 Southern l11inoill , Pickens' first two teams at Western have been , at SI. Louis 3 1 Southe rn Illinois 2 inexperienced and beset with the lack of solid hit­ Location: Bowling Green , Kentucky 13 at St. Lo uis 12 2 at T e nnessee Tec h 14 ting punch. Nevertheless. his Hilltopper teams had Conrerence: Ohio Valley, NCAA 4 at Washington (Mo.) 13 5 at Tenne s see Tech 5 a 22-27-2 record going into the current campaign. a Nickname : Hilltoppers Colors: Red and White 4 · -at Middle Tennessee 1 4 -at Austin Peay 3 President: Dr. Kelly Thomp s on Enrollment: 10 . 197 creditable record for a beginning in a league where Clairman, Faculty Athletic Committee: Dr. John D. Minton 4 -at ~Uddle Tennessee 5 5 -at Austin Peay 6 outstanding collegiate baseball is a tradition of Athletic Director: Ted Hornback 14 - Austin Peay 6 2 a t David Lipscomb 7 long standing. Base ball Co ach: Jim Pickens 2 -Austin Peay 3 at David Lipscomb 6 In addHion to his coaching duties. Pickens is 9 at Kentuc ky Assistant to the Director of Extension and Field Athletic Office Phone : Area 502 . 74~3542 · OVC Western Division game Services. He received the B. S. and M. A. degrees --FOR INFORMATION ON ALL SPORT5-- OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS from Western in 1951 and 1962. respectively. He and hi s Wife. Ann. a former Hilltopper cheer­ Assistant Public Relations Director: Ed Gi\"l"n leader. have one son. Jimmy Jr .. 8. Phone: 74~4295 1952 1953 .