BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The WKU baseball team wrapped up its fall practice season with a one-game, winner-take-all intrasquad scrimmage on Saturday at Nick Denes Field. The red team edged out the black team 7-3 with a couple big innings early on in the game.
The scrimmage signaled the end of fall team practice and sends the WKU baseball team into their late fall and early winter workouts.
Hilltopper coach Matt Myers was pleased with the growth and progress his team showed as whole during the fall workouts.
"I set out to do two things in the fall from a team standpoint," Myers said. "One was to get one locker room, one united front. For all the guys to really buy into this team concept of playing for each other and I feel like it is the strongest locker room we've had. That is a credit to our older guys doing a very good job of keeping it like that.
"And then the second one was how we're going to play. I want to play with energy, I want to play with speed, I want to play fast but also at the same point in time when you do that you're going to be professional in how you do it."
Myers came away from the fall feeling good about what the offense showed him and the number of options WKU could have in terms of a lineup.
"I think we could put a starting lineup out there but at the same point in time I was our kids competing every day for their jobs," Myers said. "What I think we came out of the fall with more, not so much, ok this is our starting nine, but we've got 15 really good offensive options and we can mix and match, like we haven't been able to do here for a while. Since I've been here the '09 team and this one probably have the most options."
Individuals such as seniors Casey Dykes and Ryan Hutchison, along with junior Ryan Huck and sophomores Justin Hageman and Scott Wilcox stood out to Myers during the fall. Newcomers Steve Hodgins and Matthew Paculan along with Adam Lavelle and Devin Kelly turned in impressive falls.
Sophomore outfielder David Simmons also made an impression on the coaching staff.
"David Simmons was probably the most improved guy from last year which was really neat because David has an element that you just can't teach," Myers said. "He's got the speed factor. He is the fastest guy on our team and can really put some pressure on some other people.
In terms of what fans can expect on the mound, Myers says a lack of depth will require contributions from the entire pitching staff.
"From the pitching side, we're not as deep as we've been, so there is really not a lot to figured out, just make sure everyone knows they're going to have to contribute," Myers said. "I think the more that some of these kids get to throw, the more confidence they are going to get and the better it will be for us in the long run. We're going to have to use 11, 12 guys to get the job done every week but that's ok because I think they are all capable of contributing and getting guys out and being effective."
Since arriving on campus at the start of the school year at the end of August, the Hilltoppers have worked through pervious of individual instruction and team practices to prepare for the 2012 season.
"Our guys really came out of the fall with a very good work ethic, understanding the passion and energy we want to play with and yet doing it in a professional manner," Myers said.
The Hilltoppers open the 2012 season at home on February17 against Toledo.
