Column: Standouts from the diamond in 2020

Adam Tumino, Editor-in-Chief

Before their 2020 seasons were cut short, the Eastern baseball and softball teams were both holding records above .500 and were riding win streaks.

Several players stood out for each team, both in the batters box and on the pitchers mound.

 

Baseball- Trey Sweeney

The Eastern baseball team may have ranked last in the OVC in team batting average last season, but sophomore infielder Trey Sweeney’s .351 batting average ranked 19th in the conference among batters with at least 30 at  bats.

Sweeney also led the team with 57 at bats, 20 hits and 13 RBI. Sweeney was on a 13-game hitting streak when the season was canceled.

 

Baseball- Blake Malatestinic

After last season, pitcher Will Klein was drafted in the 5th round of the MLB draft by the Kansas City Royals. But the player who actually led the Panthers in ERA and innings pitched last season was Blake Malatestinic.

Malatestinic was 3-0 for Eastern and ranked sixth in the OVC with an ERA of 1.69, seventh with a .194 opponents batting average and tied for second with 26.2 innings pitched.

 

Softball- Mia Davis

Like the baseball team, the softball team finished near the bottom of the conference in batting average. Mia Davis helped bolster that number by leading the team with a .375 batting average, which ranked 12th in the OVC. She also tied for sixth in the conference with 24 hits.

Davis finished the season eighth on Eastern’s all-time doubles list and seventh on the all-time RBI list. She has a chance to climb those leaderboards in her redshirt-senior season in 2021.

 

Softball-Jade Montgomery

2020 was a bounceback season of sorts for pitcher Jade Montgomery. She had a 5.82 ERA in 2019, but was holding a 2020 ERA of 3.57 when the season was canceled.

Montgomery ranked third in the OVC with 68.2 innings pitched and ninth with 49 strikeouts. Her seven wins ranked third in the conference and led the team. Like Davis, Montgomery will also be back for a redshirt-senior season in 2021. 

Adam Tumino can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].