PITTSBURG — The Pittsburg State University baseball team will open its 2017 season by playing four games over three days at Fort Smith, Ark., beginning Thursday (Feb. 2).
The Gorillas will meet the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith at 2 p.m. Thursday and Henderson State University at 3 p.m. Friday (Feb. 3). Pitt State then will play a split doubleheader against HSU and UAFS beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday (Feb. 4).
Thursday's season opener will be the debut game for first-year head coach Tom Myers.
Myers became the fourth head coach in the 37-year history of the Pitt State baseball program when he was hired on May 11, 2016. He had served the previous two years as Associate Athletic Director for Facilities at his alma mater.
Prior to joining the Pitt State administrative staff, Myers enjoyed a decorated seven-year career as head baseball coach at Central Missouri, where he compiled a 311-91 (.774) record and led the Mules to four MIAA regular season titles, four MIAA Tournament crowns and three NCAA Division II Regional championships.
Myers led the Mules to the NCAA Tournament in six of his seven seasons and played for the regional title in five of those years. His teams captured three regional championships, making three appearances in the NCAA Division II World Series, including a fourth-place national finish in his first season, 2008.
Pitt State posted a 15-33 overall record and 9-29 mark in MIAA play in 2016. The Gorillas return six position players who started 30 or more games a year ago as well as four pitchers who made 10 or more appearances.
Junior Andrew Vogelbaugh earned third-team All-MIAA honors at first base in 2016, batting .342 with 41 runs scored, 15 home runs and 54 RBIs. He is expected to see action in the outfield for the Gorillas this spring. Senior outfielder Christian Arnold garnered honorable mention All-MIAA recognition a year ago, batting .323 with 35 runs scored, nine home runs and 30 RBIs.
Redshirt sophomore Brett Macary returns after starting 47 of 48 games played a year ago. He hit .325, with 40 runs scored, a team-high 17 doubles and 19 RBIs. Macary, predominantly an outfielder a year ago, figures to see time at first base this season.
Sophomore OF/IF Chase Kilgore brings his team-leading .343 batting average back from 2016. Kilgore scored 18 runs, hit five doubles and drove in 15 runs for Pitt State last year.
Four transfers are expected to draw starting pitching assignments in the opening quartet of games. RHP Cody Whiting, a junior transfer from Texas A&M, is expected to start game one Monday, while junior RHP Nick Brown, a Missouri State transfer, will start game two Friday. Junior RHPs Ethan Vanderpool (Longview C.C.) and Trent Latta (Neosho C.C.) are slated to start games three and four Saturday.
