Season 2, Episode 20 feat. Jerry Meyers and Conner Smith

[00:00:07] Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Blue Raider Podcast hosted by Jake Bolden and presented by the Canseco Group General Contracting and Mighty Dog Roofing. Don't miss another Tuesday episode by subscribing to the podcast on all streaming platforms or catch our visual presentation uploaded every week on YouTube. Don't miss our next ticket giveaways by subscribing and following on all Blue Raider Podcast social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok at Blue Raider Pod.

[00:00:41] Welcome back to another episode of the Blue Raider Podcast. I'm your host, Jake Bolden. In today's episode, we're talking everything baseball. That's right. Opening day is just a week and a half away from February 13th at Reece Smith Junior Field. So I'm lucky enough to sit down with head baseball coach Jerry Meyers, talk a little ball with him about his second full season as head coach of the Blue Raiders program.

[00:01:06] And then we'll bring in Connor Smith, your go middle analyst for football as well as baseball. Talk everything about this roster breakdown, all of these new guys coming in. So a lot of great information today about the upcoming baseball season as they look to kind of right the ship this year and move closer to winning a conference USA championship.

[00:01:24] But before we get into that, I want to take just a second to thank our sponsors of today's episode, beginning with Mighty Dog Roofing Nashville East. When it comes to your home, trust Mighty Dog Roofing Nashville East for all of your needs. As a veteran and locally owned business, we're honored to be one of just 11 Owens Corning contractors nationwide to win their prestigious service award. From roofing and gutters to windows and siding, our expert team delivers top quality craftsmanship and unmatched service.

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[00:02:38] If you're ready to build your future, contact the Conseco Group today at 615-298-9907 or visit their website at ConsecoGroup.com. Again, thank you to Mighty Dog Roofing Nashville East and the Conseco Group for sponsoring today's episode. Now, before we get into our baseball talk, I want to just recap a little bit about this last weekend with Hoops Action.

[00:03:00] As you all know, the Blue Raiders men's program is currently sitting tied atop Conference USA after their road win on Thursday in Huntsville against the Sam Houston Bearcats as well. As a very close loss on Saturday in Ruston, Louisiana. A very tough location to win at regardless. But they gave their full effort losing just by six. Doesn't really hurt anything in regards to the Conference USA. As I said, they are still in first place.

[00:03:28] They're tied with Jacksonville State and UTEP, both with two losses in Conference USA. You do currently hold the tiebreaker with Jacksonville State, having defeated them in Murphy Center last week. So, things are still looking promising. And if you don't already know as where we sit right now, that means if UTEP's coming to Murphy Center on Saturday. So, again, I'm hoping to see a big media marketing blitz this whole week because there is very high potential that there will be a first place matchup for Conference USA this Saturday in Murfreesboro.

[00:03:58] So, if you're listening, you don't have plans for Saturday, you need to be there. The Blue Raiders will be facing UTEP, the Miners, a game that we have a lot of ill feelings about last year with the amount of turnover. So, hopefully, we're going to get that same effort from the Miners as they are one of the best turnover teams in the country as well as Conference USA. So, a lot to look forward to on Saturday's matchup in particular. Again, be there not only on Thursday night when they face New Mexico State, a team that has surprised a lot in Conference USA.

[00:04:27] Hopefully, we're not looking too far past that game because you've got to get the job done Thursday. But then, ultimately, on Saturday, you could potentially be playing for first place in Conference USA. So, again, be there, be loud like you were last two Saturdays ago against Bowling Green, against Western Kentucky. We need you there. And, obviously, the fans made a big difference in that matchup on Saturday. And, of course, recap the Lady Raiders as well. Good weekend for them per usual.

[00:04:56] Big showing against Sam Houston. I think we all anticipated that. Louisiana Tech game gave them a little trouble. But the defense ultimately prevailed as we all knew that they would. Anastasia Boldareva has a massive double-double as we all thought that she would. Louisiana Tech just did not have an answer for her. So, again, hats off to her. I don't – as I'm recording this, I'm not sure if she has been awarded Conference USA Player of the Week. I would have to imagine that she does given the totals that she put up this week. But big for her.

[00:05:22] A big congratulations to Jalen Gregory for breaking the all-time three-point record in MTSU history with 301 there on Saturday against Louisiana Tech. A special talent she is. It's really been something to watch her grow as a Lady Raider all these years. I don't know that one will see that record broken for some time. The thing about Jalen is that she started day one. And she was a special talent since she stepped foot in the Murphy Center from Macon County.

[00:05:51] Obviously earned that playing time from day one. And she has made every bit of her moment here. And, again, thank God for her and a lot of games in the past. She's won many games for the Blue Raiders because of her three-point threat. And so, again, she's going to be a big part of any sort of success that this team has moving forward because of not only her three-point abilities but defensively she is one of the best on-ball defenders in Conference USA, I think bar none, especially in the backcourt. So, special for her to break that three-point record.

[00:06:20] She's earned every bit of it. And I think that record is going to stand for a long time because of her efforts as well as we talked about in the summer. It's something that she takes pride in at being a shooter. And she knows that those shots are always going to come. And at some point, they'll fall and they come in bunches as they do when you score over 300 three-pointers in a four-year career. So, again, congrats to her. Congrats to also eclipsing 1,500 total points in her career. A lot to be highlighted with there. And still more games to extend on that record.

[00:06:49] So, look forward to that. This week, they will be on the West Coast Swing. So, since the boys are hosting UTEP in New Mexico State, the ladies are across the country as they will be in Las Cruces against New Mexico State on Thursday. They've got the Molly Kaiser, the leading scorer in Conference USA. They'll have their hands full, particularly Jalen Gregory for that matter, to guard Molly Kaiser over 20 points per game. She has multiple Conference USA Player of the Week honors.

[00:07:17] So, given her talent levels, it'll be a matchup of two Titans there at the shooting guard position. And then on Saturday, the ladies will go down to El Paso. A few storylines there. Always a tough place for the Lady Raiders to compete at in El Paso, given the track record there. That it's actually prior to the Western Kentucky loss two Saturdays ago. That was the last Conference USA loss was in El Paso against the Lady Miners. So, you have that history there.

[00:07:44] Of course, Alina Arike, her previous Conference USA stop before Texas Tech was El Paso. So, this is her homecoming of sorts to El Paso. So, that's another storyline to keep eyes on there. But, always a tough swing when you go across the country. You're going into different time zones. Things can get weird. Obviously, you have the atmosphere, or I would say the elevation, rather, there in El Paso. That can always cause its own problems, too.

[00:08:11] So, looking forward to the matchup for the ladies, as any win on the road is going to be equivocal to their opportunity to winning Conference USA. As they're currently also sitting tied atop Conference USA with Liberty. However, they would own the tiebreaker, given their home win in the first weekend of Conference USA over the Lady Flames. So, both basketball teams sitting first place. Who would have thought? But, I'm excited for what is to come as we're getting near to that halfway point of Conference season.

[00:08:41] So, again, I can't stress enough fans. Get out to Murphy Center this Saturday, this Thursday, and this Saturday, especially for a potential first place matchup with the Raiders and UTEP Miners. Now, won't waste any more time. Let's get into the talk with Coach Myers first. And then afterwards, stick around with Connor Smith talking everything Blue Raiders baseball. Enjoy. The BRP is proudly partnered with Rivals Network Affiliate GoMiddle.com.

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[00:09:38] Joining the Blue Raider podcast, it is the head baseball coach going into his third season. It is Jerry Myers. Coach Myers, how's it going? I'm doing well. How about you? I'm doing fantastic. Excited for baseball season right around the corner. I want to get this out of the way first, though, Coach. I'm sure this snow and this cold weather has kind of thrown a wrench in a little bit in this preseason, but the guys are back on campus this week. How are you guys settling in and battling all this snow? Yeah, we're settling in well.

[00:10:07] You know, we had snow for sure, but then I told our guys I just saw there was northwest Florida had a bunch of snow in New Orleans. And right now we don't have any snow on the field, so our snow came a week prior and melted off. It's just the cold temps right now that we're trying to be protective about what we do out there. At the same time, it's time to roll.

[00:10:32] So we're taking advantage of any time the sun comes out and we can get on the field. We're out there right now. So we'll try to scrimmage this weekend and go live. Our guys have been throwing and training over break. We couldn't officially start until classes start and started this year, and it was a little bit later on the 21st. So they had to come back ready to go and in shape, and they did a good job with that.

[00:11:00] I feel like college baseball season gets earlier all the time, and you kind of touched on it there a little bit. Guys, you go back to campus this week after MLK Day. As yourself as a coach, kind of explain to myself and the people, how does that dynamic work as far as what is practice? How much do you have involved with these kids over the winter break because the season is such a quick turnaround? Exactly.

[00:11:23] We can train all the way up until the week prior to final exams in the fall. And then once exams are finished, we can't go face-to-face and coaching them, working with them at all until the classes start in January. So that's a long break. Obviously, we give them the instructions.

[00:11:48] They know what to do in terms of their weekly routine and workload and lifting, running, the throwing that they need to do. But our guys, they're all from other places that may not have the temperatures that we have. And so they've got to do the best they can, coming back in shape, come back a little bit before classes start, get a chance to get back in the routine here a little bit before classes start on their own.

[00:12:15] And a lot of our guys were reporting in really good shape. So once classes started, now really first three days, the way the rules are, we could only go a limited number of hours until actually tomorrow is the official full team segment. A lot of hours for the week of 20 hours a week for the rest of the season.

[00:12:43] So that helps us plan out our scrimmages and everything we have in our daily training. So we're excited to get into full practice tomorrow. And a lot of these kids, and we'll dive in a little bit deeper about these new transfers, these high school signings, but a lot of them have been on campus since the fall semester. So they're not necessarily sight unseen to this point, right? Oh, exactly.

[00:13:09] I mean, we went, you're allowed to go roughly six plus weeks in the fall where you can have your team segment in there. And inter-squad, you can play two outside competition days where you can go 14, 16 innings on a Saturday against an outside opponent. They let us do that twice in the fall. We've done that some last year.

[00:13:34] We had some renovation going on in our field and we chose to, because we had a lot of new incoming new guys, we chose to try to inter-squad over trying to play any outside competition on those two dates anyway, because they don't count. And we feel like we get more at-bats, more innings for the pitchers. And so we just inter-squad it 18 to 20 times throughout the fall in that six-week period.

[00:13:59] And then outside of that, we're limited hours, but we can still work with them, work with the pitchers in the bullpen. We just don't go live and we don't spend as many hours on the field. They still lift and run and train and study hall and everything else. But so we had a good look at them this fall. We had a really productive fall.

[00:14:20] Again, when you have 23 out of 40 new players, you know, that's the meshing, the personalities, the getting to know each other. And, you know, there's some chemistry that's involved there and some culture aspects that you can't really force on anyone. They kind of have to happen organically. And I think our guys did a really good job with that.

[00:14:44] There's a good quality group of incoming guys that are both a little bit older and then also some freshmen in that new class. And, you know, that was what allowed us to have a really productive fall by those guys just, you know, hitting the ground running and going, OK, what do we do next? How do we do this? How do we do that? And everybody communicating amongst themselves as well as just waiting for coaches to give instructions.

[00:15:12] You bring up the 23 new additions on a 40 man roster. I really want to kind of touch on that for just a second, not getting too deep into the weeds here about all this. But how does the conversation with NIL and all this stuff, how does it kind of affect you? And then secondly, kind of load this question up when you're talking to these guys, obviously, you know the players you want. I'm sure you've identified that. But when you're identifying maybe the intangibles, the things that aren't necessarily on the field,

[00:15:39] how are you kind of weeding these guys out? What is what's the fit for Coach Myers and the MTSU baseball program? Well, I mean, I think we're trying to look at the character of the young man first and how they would fit into the program, how they would contribute to what we want to be all about in terms of doing things the right way. Blue collar work ethic, you know, care about their grades off the field and academic responsibilities as well.

[00:16:07] Care about each other. Just finding the right person that has then enough talent to contribute to what we're trying to do. And then hopefully above that as well, add to, you know, the overall talent that we may have, especially if we have particular needs or we lose, you know, an older guy that played well and played quite a bit. Sometimes a freshman doesn't come in right away and fill that void.

[00:16:34] So the NIL and the transfer portal and everything else, I mean, it's here to stay. Hopefully there may be some more clarity on exactly moving forward how all that works and settles in. I think there'll still continue to be some changes as far as what's, you know, a limit. Is there a limit to anything or, you know, is it one of those, those, I think, go through it,

[00:17:04] go through a cycle, maybe go through two cycles and then it kind of settles in. And if it doesn't settle in for, you know, what happens nationwide, maybe it settles in within our conference, what most, most teams are going to do in terms of NIL or the scholarship increases that we're allowed to have and the roster caps that we're going to have and, and how all that's handled. So we're first, you know, concerned with the guys in our program and bringing the right guys in.

[00:17:33] When we get, you know, hopefully in this next cycle and the cycle after that, with an idea of what we have to work with scholarship money and what can happen in NIL money in our league. And it all comes down to being as competitive as we can in that landscape and that atmosphere of really what is for a lot of coaches in a lot of programs at any level in Division I right now, still some unknowns exactly where all that's going to land.

[00:18:03] So, you know, there's a lot of schools that have a big truckload of NIL money on top of any scholarship increases that are allowed to happen now. So, you know, for some, that gap has maybe become bigger between the have and the have nots, but we're not going to waste any time worrying about that.

[00:18:24] We're going to try to achieve, you know, and put our best situation that we're handed and able to come up with and maximize it every single day. So baseball is a different game. It's hard to maybe do what you can see happen. And even, you know, the football playoffs and some of the teams that have spent the most money went the farthest, but it may not happen that way in baseball.

[00:18:52] It's a little bit of a unique game that way. So we're going to focus on bringing in the right kid. Maybe the portal will help us, but maybe we're going after the kid that in the portal, he's not there for the same reason as some other young man that's maybe looking just to see how much money he can get somewhere. We've got some guys that I feel like we're looking for the right fit that went in the portal.

[00:19:19] High character individuals that maybe we're looking for more playing time or a better opportunity or a better situation in which they could develop to play at the next level. And, you know, so far the portal has been good to us, but we're not going to get into bidding wars and try to outspend people in that aspect of it by any means, which, you know, not every kid in the portal is there for the same reason. So you've got to kind of figure that out.

[00:19:50] Yeah, I think that approach is very admirable given that, you know, you want guys that want to be a part of the program. And one thing that I was pleasantly surprised with was the level of young core guys that you were able to return. Guys specifically that I like, you know, Trace Phillips, Chandler Alderman, Brett Von Dolan, some of these guys that, Essence Snyder's one that I would be remiss to not mention here. But a lot of these guys, again, young core collectively. Tell me about these guys, the development that you've seen with them over the fall going into this year.

[00:20:19] Obviously, you need, you know, more production from these guys. They lead another group of incoming transfers and freshmen. But what are you seeing out of that group in particular? Maybe even some names that are from that core that I didn't just mention. Right, exactly. As some may want to focus on the number of newcomers we have, the core returning guys are probably the first step

[00:20:41] and the biggest piece of putting this team, this particular version of Blue Raider baseball on the field in the spring of 25. They're here because they want to be here. They're here because we wanted them to be here. They're here because they've done the right things during their time here, whether it be play well, do the right things off the field, you know, be what we're wanting to embody as a program.

[00:21:09] And then, you know, like I said, they'll rub off on the new guys. They'll help set the way outside of, you know, our locker room walls when they need to and get guys on the same page. And that is a core group that has a lot of those guys have played well and have their best baseball in front of them. But they're all high character individuals, you know, and I don't want to single any out.

[00:21:36] But all the ones that you just mentioned, you know, you know, are that's exactly where they're back. Now, if you see some guys that didn't return, it was just the nature of the way the business looks like it's going. And you have honest, upfront conversations at the end of the year. And and sometimes someone's looking for more playing time. Sometimes they're looking for a better opportunity, you know, scholarship implications and all that that plays into it.

[00:22:03] And so it was kind of our first opportunity, even though it is my third year here. I was a pitching coach. Then I was the interim head coach. And then last year, you know, was the first full year that we could that cycle make moves and roster management major moves at the end of the year.

[00:22:23] And we tried to do all that the right way and build for, you know, what we feel like is where our needs were and where some of our talent gap was. And hopefully we get to the point where we feel like we've closed that gap. I want to build off of that. You talk about identifying the talent that you that you need right now to kind of make this team more competitive. What were what were those discussions within you coaches?

[00:22:50] What was that area of need per se on the field pitching wise or the field? But I know the pitching especially was where you hit it heavily in the transfer portal. So what was kind of the needs you were looking for in that department? Well, it had to do with, you know, the phases of the game. You got your offense, your defense, your pitching and all the intangibles that go along with it. And then you also have the experience factor.

[00:23:14] So part of it was trying to get a little bit older, trying to get maybe some guys in that had some experience under their belt, had some innings on the mound. Maybe they had transferred or went to a four year school, then to a JUCO. And then now they're they were available as a four to four transfer.

[00:23:37] And really, probably at the top of the rationale in terms of what we needed to do moving forward was we needed to be older. We faced some conference opponents, say Louisiana Tech. We go on the road and they don't have a freshman that sees the first year player or freshman anyway, age wise, that sees the field all weekend.

[00:24:03] And we have two in our rotation, one in the bullpen that pitched and and five in the lineup at times over the weekend. So it's not a knock against freshman playing, but, you know, with COVID years still involved and some transfers and getting an extra year, fifth year seniors. We we were putting our best players out there, but, you know, for sure. But a lot of those were younger guys and we wanted to try to get a little bit older.

[00:24:32] You know, getting older is make you make, you know, say you're going to get better. But we wanted a combination of some talent, some experience and some guys that were a little bit older as we were able to, like I said, revamp our roster a little bit. But there's a certainly a major physical difference from a 23 year old to an 18 year old. And I mean, I'm sure you can see that not only at the plate, but definitely on the mound. Right. Right.

[00:24:56] There's a lot of talented freshmen, Trace, Trace Phillips, you know, came in as a true freshman and he had 13 home runs in the lineup every day from a mental standpoint, trying to be a two way player and through some of his best innings on the mound late in the year, especially when we needed it to that last conference weekend to be eligible to get to the conference tournament. He stepped up big time. So some good, good things happened with some of our young players.

[00:25:24] And, you know, again, we had some good leadership as well along with those guys. And, you know, hopefully we can leaders will continue to emerge as we get into, you know, having to handle some adversity as the season goes on. And that's just inevitable. That's how baseball is. It's a long season. And lastly, as we do a little roster talk here, some of these new transfers you're bringing in, a lot of them from the JUCO ranks and something that if anyone doesn't know already about Tennessee and the junior college,

[00:25:51] the conference here in National Junior College Association, a lot of talent. You got all the way out in Walters out there and the Great Smoky Mountains. And then as of recently, Southwest down in Memphis, no guys out there from Memphis on this roster in particular, but you've picked up a lot of guys from within this state. And that just speaks to the level one of the talent that's already sitting here to the amount of talent that you're able to pick up for your for your bullpen in particular. Because, again, a lot of these guys are coming up from these ranks locally.

[00:26:20] Tell me about that pipeline that's available to all these kids here in Tennessee. Yeah, absolutely. Hopefully we're an option that, you know, a lot of it has to fall into place and we have to do our part. But hopefully that the word gets around that you're going to develop if you come to Middle Tennessee. Hopefully coaching staff is going to invest in your development as a player, as a person.

[00:26:43] And it is a very good destination and may be the best option for a lot of kids that sometimes look for, you know, greener pastures or bigger budgets or more resources. There's been a lot of very quality, talented players that have played in this program. So the past has helped us. We want to try to do everything we can to attract those that are in state, whether it be high school or junior college.

[00:27:13] And you're right. There's some very talented players and competitive baseball in both of those levels that we're going to recruit as hard as we can. And when we need to, we'll go out of state. And, you know, we're going to try to continue to send that message that we're going to develop. We're going to compete for championships. We're going to do it the right way. We're going to treat you the right way. We're going to be fair up front and, you know, try to do everything we can.

[00:27:42] You may not always fit or your situation may not always play out like you had hoped they will. And we'll have open, honest conversations. And it's the ease of which guys can transfer now. You almost have to try to coach just a little bit different with that in mind because it's hard to be patient sometimes. You may think a kid's going to be really good in year two, year three, but they're not happy right now because year one they're not playing enough.

[00:28:11] So you have to maybe keep that in mind more than you used to when they wouldn't as freely transfer because they had to sit out for a year. Coach, as we close up conversation here, I want to take a step back. You mentioned about your route to year three here at MTSU. I know you stepped away from baseball there at South Carolina as an assistant AD. You took the pitching coaching position here. Then you got thrown into the interim, literally thrown into the interim.

[00:28:39] One full year under the cycle, going into year three, second full year as the head coach. Tell me as far as getting your feet back under yourself, if that's a proper way of putting it. How are you feeling going into year three? And then to back that up, how are you feeling about this roster, about getting things on the right track this season? I feel good.

[00:28:58] I feel like we've made tremendous strides from what we inherited at that point in time through those periods that you just spoke of, coming here as the pitching coach, being interim. And I think we've provided some stability. My coaching staff is responsible for a huge chunk of that. Kevin Nichols, Adam Wozniowski, and Ryan Huber.

[00:29:25] We have continuity in our staff going on the second year, which that's been maybe an issue in the past as well. And keeping your staff together and knowing what each other is doing and trusting one another is a big part from the coaching end of it. But it's the players that are going to make the difference. And if you get the right kind of guys and you continue to try to get as many as you can and those that are,

[00:29:54] you know, might need a little bit of transformation while they're here. You know, you do the right thing and you try to help them develop as a young man and mature. You know, you invest, like I said earlier. You know, you got a chance to have some continuity and stability in the program and the culture that it's going to take to win championships moving forward. You know, I've coached for a while, so I've had a few years under my belt. So, you know, I want to win.

[00:30:24] I'm as competitive as anyone. But there's also the realization that there has to be some patience in the development process. And I have a good feel for where that needs to come from. And usually it needs to they need to hear it from me. And we need to just instill it that this is the right destination for a lot of guys and that we can do everything that you want to do in your baseball career.

[00:30:53] You can do it here, whether it's be play at the next level, get your degree being a priority for sure with a quality education and a great atmosphere. And like I said, we're going to do the best we can to try to help them get better and leave here better than when they came here in a lot of ways more prepared for whatever happens next. Absolutely. Coach, two and a half weeks from the start of the season at the release of this episode, starting here in Murfreesboro on the 14th against Bowling Green.

[00:31:23] One thing I will say, too, about to the fans, whoever was in charge of your schedule this season, you've got a lot of home games. You're starting to season a ton at home. So you have plenty of opportunities to come see the Blue Raiders here at Reese Smith Junior Field. Coach, I appreciate you taking the time to join us today. And we wish you and the Raiders the best of luck. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Take care. Did you know the Blue Raider podcast has an online store?

[00:31:52] You can now support your favorite podcast by checking out our selection at our website, BlueRaiderPodcast.com. And stay tuned for new merchandise releases as we collaborate with athletes and NIL partnerships. Joining the Blue Raider podcast once again, no longer talking football, at least at the moment. It is Connor Smith. Connor, how's it going, man? Jake, I'm doing fantastic, man. How about yourself? I can't complain. Got you on finally to talk a little baseball. I know you've been eager this offseason.

[00:32:21] Just listen back to the episode there with head coach Myers. So much to kind of dive into what he had to say. I'm glad I got to bring you on as we were just talking before we came on. I'm excited to really dig deep into the roster of changes and stuff, I guess. But first and foremost, you had the chance to see some of these guys in action through their fall practices and through some of their scrimmages. Tell me a little bit about your feeling about this team and what's kind of the environment like around the clubhouse as they look to really improve this season?

[00:32:51] Yeah, I mean, from a production standpoint, the offense is there. You've got a lot of the guys that were there from last season, the Trace Phillips, Eston Snyder, you know, the guys we know. A lot of new guys. I think there's 23 is what Coach Myers said. Mostly pitchers. And the big thing with them this year is last year, you know, there was control issues. So they would walk people too many times and just a little bloop would turn to three or four runs versus just one. The command is a lot better this year.

[00:33:19] I think that was really an emphasis bringing guys in who can pitch, obviously, but also don't give out free 90s. So the pitchers, they look a lot better. And from like a team camaraderie standpoint, the guys look more like a brotherhood or more like an actual team this year. I think from my understanding, too, is to build on the whole camaraderie of the squad now. They feel like they've kept the nucleus that they liked a lot.

[00:33:46] Obviously, he touched on a lot of those younger guys that are coming for their sophomore campaigns. But when you're able to keep a nucleus like that, even in baseball, it's not like football where you have so many transfers. But 23 guys coming in is a big deal. And there is a level of expectations that I think comes with MTSU baseball that may have been lost over the last decade. Myers seems to be of the understanding that it's important that he sets a culture for these guys getting into his second full year as the head coach, less the interim tag in his first real year.

[00:34:17] But I'm excited really about all these guys. And you touched on it there a little bit with the pitching woes. And when I had put some fact sheets here, just one of the things that I like to look at where they were good and where they were bad. And when you look at where they were in regards to Conference USA, the statistical categories that they were in the bottom of Conference USA, there's a lot of pitching stats. And you touched on it. Walks was one of their, I would say, below average.

[00:34:45] But the ones really in particular that maybe I was not keen to because a lot of the walks came in the back half of games. But the hits, you know, they gave up the most hits in Conference USA last season. Obviously, the most total or their bottom three in total runs earned run. So a lot of it is just comes down to to missing barrels. And as we transition this, you know, topic into the into the roster pickups over this offseason, a lot of these guys that's kind of been their task is missing barrels. A lot of strikeout guys.

[00:35:15] And there's a few guys in particular that I like that I do think kind of fit that void of guys that are big strikeout guys. So I know jumping around a little bit. But, Connor, again, you've seen some of these guys. Some of them have impressed you. Who are these names that we should be keeping an eye on that are new that can kind of fill that pitching void? Yeah, they brought in seven new pitchers, mostly from Juco range. But there's five and there's five overall that really impressed me. That's Matt Driver, Drew Horn, Johnny Stevens, Ethan Mbembo and Landon Burst.

[00:35:45] They all look like they're legit arms. I mean, there's no one who's surefire. But these guys were all very productive at their their former schools. And they they were going up against legit competition, too. I mean, you look at Matt Driver. He played on a Juco World Series team, had a sub four ERA, good strikeout percentage. Drew Stevens and John. I'm sorry. Drew Horn and Johnny Stevens played at Walter State. I think they compiled about a three sub three ERA.

[00:36:11] And then you look at Mbembo didn't have the season that he wanted to as a starter last season. But when they brought him in as a reliever two years ago, sub three ERA, very good K to walk ratio. And then, of course, Landon Burst. I mean, he started out at Old Dominion, was was solid, was all right. Then transferred to Florida Southwestern and then ultimately was a starter and was all conference.

[00:36:35] So these are some guys that even though, like I said, no one from Juco is that surefire pitcher, these guys produced for their team. So. Yeah, the the two in particular that I really liked that stood out on paper was Matthew Driver, the Juco National Championship team from Florence Arlington Tech. Like 32 innings, 28 strikeouts, a four and oh record over 19 appearances. So obviously more of a reliever role for them.

[00:37:02] But the thing that stands out is the 32 innings pitched, eight walks. Like that's exactly the type of guy that we were just discussing. And then Landon Burch, a guy from Florida Southwestern, as you touched on there from Old Dominion, 73 innings pitched, 85 strikeouts. So we're averaging over a strikeout an inning and 31 walks over 73 innings. Again, that's the ideal type of situation. And then in Bimbo, a guy that has played Division Two talent. So not a Juco ranked guy.

[00:37:29] He's going to be one of the older guys on this team being a graduate transfer. But to to bring it back to filling the void, 60 innings pitched, 30 walks. Most guys that were on that team last year that have either transferred out were sitting around that one walk per inning pitched mark, which obviously that's not ideal. So those guys in particular fill that void. As we kind of talk about this pitching staff as a whole now, you're going to bring back Chandler Alderman, who's a great surprise. Really, I thought as young as he was and as good as he was, I didn't know.

[00:37:59] I didn't think that he'd stick around, but pleasantly surprised that he's still here. Trace Phillips being a dual threat that he is, is going to be a great part of the pitching staff. In some capacity, but you probably have a little bit more information on what the ideal rotation will look like, which of course they're going to fill themselves through this first month. But you kind of have an idea on what the rotation is going to look like and maybe the first arm or two out of the pen. Yeah, I mean, the first two guys starting wise, it's pretty much etched in stone.

[00:38:26] You're going to have Trace Phillips on Friday, Chandler on Saturday. When it comes for Sunday, I would put Drew Horn up there as a Sunday starter, just me personally. Him and Landon Burch, really close. Both were really impressive this fall, but I think Drew's just a little bit more long. Throws a little harder, which is what I like. So I think Drew will probably start out as a Sunday guy, but also don't be surprised if they flip-flop both Landon Burch and Drew Horn, just from first out of the bullpen to that starter role.

[00:38:56] Right, and Horn, a guy that I left off there too as well, not necessarily as many innings. Juco can always kind of swing those numbers a little bit just because of the sheer number of roster spots that they have at that level. But another guy that 25 innings pitched, 39 strikeouts, those are great numbers and only 13 walks. So again, half a walk per inning pitch. So yeah, I think that's it. And Bimbo is another guy that we kind of touched on. I know you and I personally off air, we talked about him because he was a starter.

[00:39:24] And his role there at Mount Olive, really in regards to longevity and innings pitched, I think he had two complete games this last season. So it's rare that kids get that long, even at Division II level. So that's a guy that I look forward to seeing where he fits into the whole puzzle of this pitching staff because there's, gosh, there's so many guys that kind of fit into what he could potentially do. And obviously we know the kind of coach that Myers is. So let's draw our attention over to the bats.

[00:39:52] I think one thing that we talked about, again, last season a lot was this team really isn't terrible at the plate. You know, the run production's there. The run production is good enough to be competitive in Conference USA. It was just the late inning heroics of other teams because of our lack of bullpen depth. But really the offense was in a great place last season, at least enough to be competitive. Because when you look at teams like Sam Houston, who fared very well in Conference USA,

[00:40:22] not a power bat team. They didn't hit a lot of home runs. They played really good small ball. They moved runners over when they needed to. And the most important thing is they hit them in when they got into scoring position. And that was the basis of their game. They had a pretty good pitching staff, which obviously helped. But if MTSU could even get an inkling of a better bullpen, they could be very well in that same conversation. So when we talk about some of these guys that are on the roster that are returning, Trace Phillips already being one.

[00:40:49] But who are these guys that you look at as needing to take that step forward this season to keep the offense where it is or make it even better? Yeah, when you talk about returning guys, Brett Von Dolan is one that comes to mind. I mean, he had a really slow start this season, but caught fire in the last month and actually was in that third base or DH role the last probably 15 games. He's a guy that I would love to see become more consistent so he can contribute to the team. Because last year it was a little flash in a bottle here or there.

[00:41:17] But in order to compete and actually be a good team in Conference USA, you have to be consistent, which is something MTSU had some trouble with last year. Another guy is Grant Snyder. Played a little bit of shortstop last year and, you know, good defender. But at the plate he needed to develop as most freshmen do. This fall he's looked a lot better. So I would not be surprised if he at some point in the year was getting some looks at shortstop. And then the third guy that I'm really looking to take the next step is Nate Brewer.

[00:41:46] Obviously dominated the high school reigns with Mr. Baseball. Has a lot of pop in his bat. Just getting ball to barrel was his issue last year. Very streaky with that. The average shows it. But he looked really good in the fall as well. Yeah, the fall as well. And then had a really good summer league. Yeah, Nate Brewer, obviously an NIL partner with the Blue Raider podcast. So obviously we'll throw a lot of interest his way. And as you put it, had a great summer. Obviously I have interest with him being from Eagleville High School just down the road.

[00:42:15] My alma mater as well. So excited to see really where, again, the steps he takes forward. Started 17 games last season. And you put it well. Really it was the barrel. Just missed it a lot. And so hopefully again, the signs turned positive in his summer league. So I do expect big things from him. And then to turn it back to that transfer portal side of things, I know some of these new guys

[00:42:39] that they've added, kind of got you excited about, again, maybe bringing back the power that you may be missing with a guy like Briggs. Where do some of these guys, do they fill those gaps? It's hard to replace a Briggs with another Briggs. But when you look at some of these new additions, what are the names that pop out to you that hopefully can kind of fill some level that Briggs had last season? Yeah, going back to Briggs, I mean, I obviously had a great year last year and then graduated.

[00:43:07] But the catcher they brought in was from Georgia Tech by the name of Tyler Minnick, one of the best defenders in the country to not have a single error in two years at GT. The bat was kind of the issue. He hit for average fairly well, 250 career guy, but not a lot of pop. So that's something that they've been working on this offseason. And he looked really good in the fall in the Blue Raider World Series. He had, I think, two home runs, several RBIs. So that's a guy where if he can finally put it all together,

[00:43:35] like they thought he was going to out of high school and he was the top 300 prospect, don't be shocked if he would be one of the better catchers in Conference USA. You look at left field. I mean, Jackson Galloway, good player. But I think the guy they brought in might be a little bit better than G-Way, Keaton Ray out of Walter State Community College. Dude's a gamer. He rakes the plate over two years at Walter State, only 212 at-bats, but he batted .350 with 18 homers, 80 RBI, and he walked at, I think, a 25% rate,

[00:44:04] which is just ridiculous. And at third base, he lost Gabe Jennings, where Brett Von Dolan's going to be. I don't think he produces like Gabe Jennings did last year, and that's not a knock on Brett's game. Brett's a good ball player, but, you know, just replacing an all-conference third baseman like that, that's really tough. Yeah, I don't know that you necessarily have to, I say, replace them, home run for home run, run for run, batting average for batting average,

[00:44:31] but I do think these guys have, like you talked about Minick and his defensive abilities, a guy that got some quality playing time at Georgia Tech and played in a pretty tough conference that is the ACC. So you kind of look forward to who he can be here in Murfreesboro. Again, if you want to relate it to football or you want to relate it to basketball, that transition from P4 to Conference USA normally pans out pretty good for those guys. Keaton Ray, great numbers as you touched on.

[00:45:00] But Cooper Clapp, you know, that's a guy that, again, from a number standpoint, eight home runs is at the shortstop position middle infielder and 38 RBIs. How does a guy like that, do you think he's going to be able to work his way into the starting lineup? Absolutely. Right now I would put him as my starting second baseman. You probably remember this guy because you've been in the area for a while, but he reminds me a lot of like a JT Mabry. He's not anything crazy, but he gets on base, has a little bit of pop in his bat, like you said, eight home runs. He gets the clutch hit when needed, plays good defense,

[00:45:30] just really everything you look for in a middle infielder. Yeah, Clapp was actually one of the first additions to this offseason. A former Notre Dame signee went to Florida Southwestern along with Landon Burch. So, again, talk about that camaraderie that we talked about at the top of the episode. It just kind of adds to a lot of these ex-teammates now kind of relinking up here in Murfreesboro. So I look forward to seeing what he brings to the table for the Raiders this season.

[00:45:54] Now, as we kind of move the topic of discussion here from the roster to what this season is as a whole, I know you recently on Twitter have been talking a little bit about this schedule. And for some reason, get a little flack for it on our GoMiddle forum pages. But the schedule, the schedule's good. I know that people may bat an eye at it and people don't realize how good Conference USA is. You had three teams that finished in the top 100 RPI.

[00:46:22] You're adding Kennesaw State, who is also a top 100 RPI. So four of your 10 teams are top 100 in the RPI. Again, that's not too shabby. Not to mention those that are just barely missing it, which is WKU and Liberty. They're just on the brink of breaking 100. So six of your 10 are essentially top 120s in the country. That's a big deal. And put that in terms of basketball, that's technically a better ranking than basketball. And we all know how good the basketball conference is. So I say all that to bring it back.

[00:46:52] It's a tough schedule. And it's an uphill battle to be competitive in Conference USA. So it's a lot to say this team has got to improve upon their conference record last year. And we'll get some opportunities here in the early going. But I think one thing I complimented Coach Myers was his ability to get a lot of these games at home. And I know the conference schedule wasn't his doing, but a lot of these non-conference schedules early are going to be played at home. And it's one thing to play these games in the comfort of your own field.

[00:47:21] You get to go lay your head in your own bed that night. So hopefully that has a level of advantage to the Raiders. But I'll turn it back to the conference conversation. I know that's kind of an area of your expertise where this conference stands. Where do the challenges lie in Conference USA again? Is it still going to be the Blue Bloods like Louisiana Tech and now Sam Houston State? What is it going to take for MTSU to really get themselves into that conversation of being title contenders?

[00:47:51] You know, in terms of the difficulty of the conference, I don't necessarily know about those Blue Blood teams like a La Tech because they lost so many players last year. But DBU, obviously, they're going to be good every year. Sam Houston popped off last year. And then you have teams like an MTSU or an FIU that can get in there and be a good ball club. I'm not sure, like, just the two, like, the heavy hitters like they were last year with La Tech and DBU, the two near 50-win teams.

[00:48:20] I don't think you have that this year. But top to bottom, this may be one of the stronger CUSA conferences that we've seen, you know, in the last decade or so just because, like I said, you had your DBUs, La Tech, Sam Houston, and then teams like MTSU, Jack State, and FIU who, if they take the next step, they could be those teams that, you know, are on the brink of the 100 RPI or teams that are, at the end of the year, you know, need a couple extra wins to try and bolster their tournament resume.

[00:48:48] And let's not forget, this is a multi-bid league last year and has been for quite some time. So, again, if you want to, you know, put apples to apples here, this is a better conference than basketball, and we know how good the basketball conference is. So, but turn it a little bit to this non-conference. They start the season off at home against Bowling Green, who really wasn't a bad team last year, top 200 in the RPI. Then they go on the road in Tuscaloosa, Fairleigh Dickinson, Austin Peay, Tennessee Martin, St. Bonaventure. But out the gate, they kind of have a chance to prove themselves and pick up, again,

[00:49:18] an easier portion of their schedule, but they have an opportunity to pick up some wins. Yeah, I mean, you look at the schedule, 19 of the first 21 games are at home, which is obviously really nice. And the teams you're playing, like you said, they're not just bottom feeders. Like there are some teams that, okay, you should sweep it, you should take two out of three, but you've got to play Old Dominion at home, UAB, Bowling Green, those kind of teams that, they're the mid-tier, but they're not bad teams.

[00:49:44] And that showed at the end of last year, Bowling Green, you know, took two out – or we took two out of three from Bowling Green. Coach Myers in the first weekend said, you know, this is a team that is a lot better than what people are giving them credit for. Or end of the year, they were in the run for their conference title. So there's definitely those games where – against middle-tier teams where, you know, you have a little bit of competition and then others where it should be an easy sweep. So I like how they're kind of mixed in there right before you get into Conference USA play.

[00:50:15] Absolutely. Well, to draw back on Conference USA, this last season, 12 MLB draft selections. The second straight year that they had a first-round selection, Walker Yannick, the catcher from Sam Houston State, went in the first round overall. So, again, just a tough schedule all around. But, again, I think that this team is significantly improved. As we kind of close up our shop here on this baseball preview episode, Connor, what is success this year?

[00:50:44] I know the obvious answer is they win every game and they win Conference USA. But, like, let's be a little realistic about expectations this season. You know, what do you expect out of these Raiders? What do you consider a successful season? I think success is a 31 season. I mean, you've not had that since 2015. This is a team that can certainly – I have been going 31 and 24. That's my expectation. But with the talent on the team and the new pitchers,

[00:51:13] I would not be surprised if they won 35, 36 games because of how the non-con shows up. But, no, I think a 31 season would be defined as success and then make somewhat of a run in the Conference USA tournament. You don't have to win it. I mean, we obviously know how tough Conference USA is, but if you get your first 30-win season since 2015-ish and you make a deep run in the tournament, that would be a really good place to start for Coach Myers,

[00:51:42] who is really only in his second year considering the interim season. They weren't his guys. So last year was really his first class that he got to work with, transfer in high school class, and now the guys are getting into their sophomore years and he's bringing more transfers. So to win 30 games would be obviously a really big improvement from last year, but success, in my opinion, in his second year. Yeah.

[00:52:06] A lot of guys, too, that you talk about his first full class, second full cycle, and he touched on it himself. Whether guys came or went for better or for worse, it's all about creating that culture that he wants. And so, you know, you hate to see guys go, but you start to feel like these are the type of players that he wants to be a part of, as I would put it, turning this program around. As you well put it, it's been nearly a decade since this team has really been competitive in Conference USA. So I look forward to this group.

[00:52:36] I'm excited about this group. Hopefully we can get a little bit of energy back at Reece Smith, the junior field this year. Connor, I know you'll be there a lot. I'll give you a chance here real quick. Kind of tell us where we can find your stuff. What can we expect this season? I know you're doing a lot of work over at Go Middle, not only with football, but obviously baseball. So what can we kind of expect coming off across your desk soon? Yeah. So my Twitter is ConnorSmith04. I've got the link to Go Middle, which is where all my articles and videos are going to be in my bio.

[00:53:05] And then obviously I post my articles on Twitter. I do game tweets throughout the game, quotes from players, previews, all that kind of stuff. So I'll be heavily involved on Twitter. Just go over there at ConnorSmith04 to find my stuff, and then go to GoMiddle.com to find my work. Connor's doing tons of stuff. I know, like he said, he's doing the game, the live tweets. Myself, not always as fortunate to be able to cover baseball as closely as Connor does.

[00:53:35] So, of course, if you want to keep tabs on it, he's the guy to follow over on x slash Twitter and GoMiddle.com. Plenty of stuff coming there throughout the season. He's the guy for us here at the Blue Raider Podcast to keep us all up to date with baseball. Connor, I appreciate you sticking around and giving us a season preview. And, of course, we'll be touching base soon with that spring football signing class coming through. And then, of course, baseball season. Absolutely, Jake. I appreciate you.

[00:54:02] Thanks for tuning in to today's episode of the Blue Raider Podcast. If you're not already, make sure you're following us on all of our social media accounts. That's at Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook. And, of course, we're on YouTube. And if you're not already listening to us on YouTube, head over to the visual presentation there at Blue Raider Pod. Give us a subscribe. We are getting closer and closer to 100 subscribers for the show, which would be a big accomplishment for the young podcast that is the Blue Raider Podcast. But I appreciate, again, everyone tuning in to Baseball Talk.

[00:54:31] Next week, we've got some softball talk. We'll be sitting down with assistant softball coach Bryce Brent's ex-baseball player, the hitting coach for the Lady Raiders softball team. So we're going to be previewing them ahead of their season start next week. And, of course, we'll have a little bit more hoops talk, too, to kind of recap the El Paso, New Mexico State swing this upcoming weekend. I appreciate everyone tuning in. And, again, if you're not already, follow us on socials. We've got a big giveaway for baseball season coming up, and I don't want you to miss out on that.

[00:55:01] So thanks again for tuning in. And until next time, Go Blue!