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ASU Head Baseball Coach Raffo Receives Contract Extension

Baseball ArkansasState

Red Wolves Travel To ULM For Three Game Set

Game 32-34 • Louisiana-Monroe • Monroe, La.

vs. ULM (16-11, 4-5 SBC) - Friday, April 8, 6 p.m.
Sr. RHP Andy Ferguson (3-2, 3.89 ERA) vs. Sr. RHP Drew Granier (3-1, 2.20 ERA)
vs. ULM (16-11, 4-5 SBC) - Saturday, April 9, 6 p.m.
TBA vs. Soph. LHP Randy Zeigler (3-2, 3.26 ERA)
vs. ULM (16-11, 4-5 SBC) - Sunday, April 10, 1 p.m.
TBA vs. TBA

GAME TIME: Arkansas State continues action in league play by traveling to Louisiana-Monroe for a three-game Sun Belt Conference set this weekend with games beginning on Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 6 p.m. and the getaway game being contested on Sunday at 1 p.m. Audio can be heard on 970 AM KNEA in Jonesboro and on the official home of the A-State Red Wolves at www.astateredwolves.com.

THE OPPONENT: ULM stands at 16-11 and owns a 4-5 Sun Belt Conference mark. As a team they are batting .288 and own a 4.73 ERA. The Warhawks took two out of three from Louisiana-Lafayette and went 1-2 against both South Alabama and Florida International.
    Junior outfielder Les Aulds leads ULM's regular starters with a .368 batting average and 35 hits. He also ranks second on the team with 20 RBI and leads the squad with eight steals. Joey Rapp leads the Warhawks with nine doubles, five home runs and 22 RBI while ranking second with a .327 batting average and 32 hits.
    On Friday night the Red Wolves will face senior RHP Drew Granier who owns a 3-1 record a a 2.20 ERA while also leading the with 49 strikeouts and 45.0 innings pitched. He has seven appearances which were all starts and two complete games, including one shutout and is allowing opposing hitters a .221 average. Saturday, ASU faces sophomore LHP Randy Zeigler who owns a 3-2 record with an ERA of 3.26. He has made six starts and eight overall appearances ranking second in innings pitched (38.2) and strikeouts (33). He has one compete game and is holding opposing batters to .295 averages.

THE SERIES:  ASU is 23-21 against Louisiana-Monroe in the series dating back to the 1973 season. The Red Wolves swept ULM during last season's meeting in Monroe, La. by scores of 15-3, 10-6 and 8-1.

SEVEN GAME SKID: ASU picked up its last win on March 27, which moved the squad back to 12-12, but since that time the Red Wolves have been winless going on the longest losing streak of the season. Five of those seven losses have been by just one or two runs.

BATTING LEADERS: Sophomore outfielder Ryan Emery leads the team with a .356 batting average and 24 RBI while ranking second on the team with 36 hits. Senior outfielder Todd Baumgartner leads the Red Wolves with 45 hits, 29 runs scored, 61 total bases, two home runs and 10 doubles while ranking second with a .349 batting average. Senior first baseman Jordan Castaldo ranks third on the squad  with 26 hits and fourth with a .257 batting average. Faulkner leads the team with nine stolen bases, while Baumgartner is second with seven steals.  Faulkner ranks second on the team with 21 runs scored and is fifth with a .250 batting average and tied with Castaldo with 26 hits, for third on the squad.

PITCHING LEADERS: Todd Baumgartner has the lowest ERA on the team among pitchers with multiple appearances at 1.23. Baumgartner has thrown 7.1 innings while allowing only five hits and one earned run. Jacob Lee and Sam Jew have the lowest ERAs of regular starters Lee sits at 2.66 with seven starts while Jew sits at 2.35 with two starts. Lee leads the team with 41 strikeouts followed by Ferguson who has 31, Allen has 29 and Jew has 26. Lee also leads the team with 47.1nnings pitched followed by Allen who has 40.0.

FAULKNER NAMED POW: Arkansas State sophomore Michael Falkner was named the Sun Belt Conference Baseball Player of the Week for the competition week of March 20-27 announced the league office Monday.
    Faulkner went 11-17 from the plate to lead ASU with a .647 batting average and a.882 slugging percentage. He also scored six runs and drove in seven RBI while going 3-3 on stolen base attempts as he helped ASU to a 2-2 record on the week.
    Faulkner was perfect at the plate in the first half of ASU's twin bill against Louisiana-Lafayette on Sunday going 4-4 from the plate with three RBI and three runs scored. The week also saw Faulkner's return to the ASU defense after a shoulder injury kept him in a strictly offensive role for the Red Wolves for the past few weeks.
    ASU continues action on Tuesday when they travel to Edwardsville, Ill. for a two-game midweek series against SIU Edwardsville. First pitch on Tuesday against the Cougars is set for 6 p.m.

BAUMGARTNER STREAK: Senior outfielder Todd Baumgartner team-high 14-game hitting streak was snapped at SIU-Edwardsville this past week in front of his home town crowd. Baumgartner's streak was the third longest on the team this season.

FAULKNER'S TRIPLE DOUBLES: Sophomore outfielder/DH Michael Faulkner picked up his first three doubles of the season legging out a trio of extra-base hits against Lyon College in midweek action. During that game Faulkner also recorded two RBI and two runs scored while also stealing a base.

BAUMGARTNER INSIDE THE PARK: Senior outfielder Todd Baumgartner recorded a rare feat legging out an inside the park home run against Lyon College. It was Baumgartner's second home run of the season. During that contest Baumgartner went 2-4 from the plate with four RBI and two runs scored.

CONFERENCE OPENER: ASU picked up an 11-5 win in its Sun Belt Conference opener against UALR. The Trojans picked up a pair of wins on Saturday and Sunday both wins coming on walk-off singles in the ninth inning to take the series, 1-2.

CASTALDO STREAK: Senior first baseman Jordan Castaldo's hitting streak came to an end against Austin Peay but not before he extended it to 24-games which puts him alone in second-place on the all-time leader board behind Kevin Tate who had the longest hitting streak in school history with a 28-game streak in 1991.

BAUMGARTNER GOES 5-5: Senior outfielder Todd Baumgartner went 5-5 against Austin Peay in Friday night's action including picking up two doubles, four runs scored and an RBI.

SEASON SWEEP: With its 5-1 win over Murray State a couple of weeks ago, the Red Wolves completed a season-sweep of the Thoroughbreds. Earlier this season ASU picked up an 8-4 win at Tomlinson Stadium over Murray earlier this season.

LEE PRESEASON SBC PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Arkansas State junior starting pitcher Jacob Lee was named the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year announced the league last week. Lee also earned a Preseason All-Conference nod.
    Lee is the top returning pitcher for the Red Wolves from last season whose pitching staff ranked third in the Sun Belt Conference. Lee had a team-best 3.80 ERA and worked to a 8-3 record including 92.1 innings pitched. Lee struck out a team-best 83 batters and held opponents to a .246 batting average. He owned a 6-2 record in league play and helped the Red Wolves to a 12-2 victory against Troy in the 2010 Sun Belt Conference tournament for which he earned all-tournament honors.

BAUMGARTNER EARNS ALL-CONFERENCE NOD: Senior outfielder Todd Baumgartner was named to the Sun Belt Conference preseason all-conference team. Baumgartner has one of the top returning bats for the Red Wolves and was a 2010 All-Sun Belt Conference selection. Last season, Baumgartner ranked second on the team with 42 RBI and had a .336 batting average. He also had 74 hits, 49 runs scored and 10 stolen bases. In the field, he was nearly perfect committing just one error in 112 chances for a .991 fielding percentage.

BASEBALL AMERICA ALL-SBC PRESEASON: Sophomore outfielder and junior RHP Jacob Lee earned preseason all-SBC honors by Baseball America. The Red Wolves were tabbed to finish sixth in the standings while Faulkner was called the best leadoff hitter in the league by Baseball America and Lee was tabbed as the second best pro prospect in the conference.

TOP RETURNERS: Although the Red Wolves lost its top bat from last year to the Kansas City Royals organization, ASU returns three of its top four batters from last year. Senior infielder Jordan Castaldo has ASU's top returning bat with a .363 batting average from last season. Castaldo had 74 hits with 30 runs scored and 39 RBI. Castaldo led ASU with 20 doubles and two home runs.
    Todd Baumgartner was named preseason all-conference and ranks second among ASU returners with a .336 batting average with 84 hits, 49 runs scored and 10 stolen bases. He also was nearly perfect in the field with a .991 fielding percentage.
    Michael Faulkner earned all-tournament honors last season after posting a .336 batting average which ranks second among returners and was third last year as a true freshman in 2010. Faulkner has 23 stolen bases last year and 55 runs scored on 81 hits. He also had 25 RBI.
    On the hill, ASU gets a pair of hot starters back in senior Andy Ferguson and junior Jacob Lee, who was named SBC Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Ferguson started in 15 games for the Red Wolves and made 16 appearances overall as the Red Wolves usual Friday night starter, he led the Red Wolves starters with 101.1 innings pitched surrendering just 118 hits and 53 earned runs for a 4.71 ERA and is one of the Red Wolves top returning pitchers from last year. He pitched one complete game and shared a shutout. Walked just 30 batters on the year and held opposing batters to just .291 batting average while recording 74 strikeouts

DICKINSON NAMED ASSISTANT COACH: Dickinson brings 10 years of coaching experience to the Red Wolves including four years at the Division I level working as a pitching coach at the University of Washington. During his career, Dickinson has worked with numerous Major League Baseball prospects including 2010 MLB All-Stars Tim Lincecum, John Lester and Evan Meek.
    Overall, Dickinson coached 13 drafted pitchers including a first and second round pick while at Washington. Dickinson served as an assistant coach at Montesano High School in 2009-10 where he led the squad to a 21-4 first-place league finish and an appearance in the state playoffs.
    Prior to his appointment at Washington, Dickinson served as head coach at Edmonds Community College where he led the squad to a third-place finish in the NWAACC Tournament and a 75-16 record as head coach, including a 40-8 conference mark. 
    Dickinson also served as head coach at Skyline High School in Issaquah in 2003, guiding the team to a 14-7 overall mark and a 13-5 conference record. He also served as pitching coach at Edmonds CC in 2000 and 2001.
    Aside from his work at Edmonds and Skyline, Dickinson has also served as pitching coach at Taylor Baseball, a top youth summer program, since 2001. Taylor took third place in the national AAU tournament in 2001 and in 2002, finished second at the USA Baseball Federation national tournament. During the 2005 summer season, Taylor finished second at the USABF World Series and completed the season with a 59-7-1 record.
    A native of Aberdeen, Wash., Dickinson graduated from Montesano High in 1994. After one year at Green River CC, he played three seasons of college baseball as a pitcher at Alabama-Birmingham, lettering in 1996, 1997 and 1998. In 1999, he earned a bachelor's degree in secondary education from UAB.

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Players Mentioned

Jordan Castaldo

#14 Jordan Castaldo

INF
6' 1"
Junior
L/R
Jacob Lee

#37 Jacob Lee

RHP
6' 1"
Sophomore
R/R
Michael Faulkner

#10 Michael Faulkner

OF
5' 11"
Sophomore
L/L
Andy Ferguson

#34 Andy Ferguson

RHP
6' 1"
Senior
R/R
Sam Jew

#13 Sam Jew

RHP
6' 0"
Senior
R/R

Players Mentioned

Jordan Castaldo

#14 Jordan Castaldo

6' 1"
Junior
L/R
INF
Jacob Lee

#37 Jacob Lee

6' 1"
Sophomore
R/R
RHP
Michael Faulkner

#10 Michael Faulkner

5' 11"
Sophomore
L/L
OF
Andy Ferguson

#34 Andy Ferguson

6' 1"
Senior
R/R
RHP
Sam Jew

#13 Sam Jew

6' 0"
Senior
R/R
RHP