Tuskegee baseballers open 2016 season Wednesday in Selma
A summer of preparation and fall drills have ended, and it is time for Opening Day for the 2016 version of the Tuskegee University baseball team.
Tuskegee (17-22 last season) hits the road for their season opener to take on Concordia in a doubleheader beginning at 12 noon (cst) in Selma.
Sophomore Trey Nelson will likely get the ball in the season opener. He appeared in 10 games last season, starting five of those and recording a 3-1 record. He finished with a 5.29 earned run average with 25 strikeouts in 47.2 innings pitched.
Sophomore Jordyn Thomas takes the mound in game two of the doubleheader for the Golden Tigers, coming off a year in which he finished 3-3 on the year.
The 2016 Tuskegee University roster is packed with young players as they will carry 31 total players heading into the year, with 12 of those never seeing action in a collegiate game. The Golden Tigers have eight true freshmen, four redshirt freshmen and eight sophomores to go along with their eight upperclassmen.
Heading into the opening series, the Golden Tigers could start as many as three freshmen and two sophomores. Meanwhile, they do return some solid depth and experience around the young players.
Senior outfielder Alexander Henderson, recently named Second Team Preseason All-SIAC returns; as does his fellow outfielders Travais Hylton (who led the team in stolen bases) and Evan Kearse.
Since 2013, the Golden Tigers are 6-0 in opening day games – all doubleheaders. They started the streak by sweeping Paine in 2013 and Morehouse in 2014, before sweeping Concordia (Selma) last season.
The two teams have met four times since 2013, with all those meetings taking place last season. The Golden Tigers own a 3-1 record against Concordia in those games, averaging 9.3 runs per game. They won both games at Paterson Field in the season-opener, before dropping a game in Selma (4-2). In the three wins, Tuskegee outscored Concordia by an average of 10.3 runs per game; and including the loss last season, the Golden Tigers have outscored Concordia 37-8 with a shutout in the second game of the season-opening doubleheader.
In the event of inclement weather, please check with GoldenTigerSports.com for updates.
