Early power surge
Tied for the national HR lead, Ticer comes from same JUCO as Coutney
NORFOLK — It may be early in the 2023 season, but Bud Metheny Baseball Complex is currently home to one of the hottest power hitters in college baseball.
Old Dominion’s Jake Ticer is on a tear to start the season, hitting .471 with five home runs heading into a weekend series that began Friday with a 10-6 victory against
Fordham. Three of those home runs came in Sunday’s game against St. John’s, the other two came against VMI on Tuesday.
The hot start helped him land a National Player of the Week nod from Collegiate Baseball, something he joked he didn’t realize he had earned at first.
“I walked into the office before practice. … [Coach Chris] Finwood comes up to me like, ‘National Player of the Week!’ and smacked me on the shoulder,” Ticer said. “I was like ‘Hey, thanks,’ and then I was like what is he talking about, I just hit three home runs ... that’s it.”
The junior designated hitter’s home run total is the best in the Sun Belt Conference and tied for best in the country.
“You would think it’d be really overwhelming, which it was a little bit at first just because my phone blew up and all that kind of stuff,” Ticer said. “But now I realized that I started off pretty hot and the biggest thing for me right now is to take all of that pressure out of my head and just stick to my approach and it’s pretty simple.”
Ticer almost wasn’t hitting those home runs in an Old Dominion uniform.
The Arizona native was initially committed to play at Charleston Southern after a stint at Colby Community College — a Kansas junior college that produced ODU’s 2022 Conference USA Player of the Year, Matt Coutney.
Finwood and the ODU coaching staff reached out about Ticer a few times while he was at Colby, Ticer said. Once he was free from his letter of intent with Charleston Southern, Finwood locked him in.
“Their coach kind of told us, ‘Hey, I think this guy’s got way more power than Coutney does,’ ” Finwood said. “We looked at some video and liked it, and we trust their coach, and so we were able to get Jake here.”
At Colby, Ticer hit .374 across two seasons with 43 home runs. His path from JUCO made the Collegiate Baseball honor that much sweeter.
“It was kind of a surreal moment for me, especially because [in] JUCO you don’t get much recognition for what you do there,” Ticer said. “But I finally got some recognition for what I do and I’m proud of it.”
Replicating Coutney’s record-setting success with Old Dominion will be difficult for anyone to do, but Ticer is enjoying following in his footsteps.
“At first, it would seem a little intimidating just because of how good he was here,” Ticer said. “But also, it gives me a challenge. It gives me something to look forward to every day to come out and grind and have these big expectations of myself. It kind of just gives me a gear to compete and work as hard as I possibly can.”
Being a power bat comes easy for Ticer, who is every bit of his 6-foot-7, 245-pound frame. He prides himself on being more than just a power bat.
“I don’t like to think of myself so much as a power hitter because I’m already 6-foot-7, 250 pounds — like it doesn’t really take much for me to hit the ball out of the park,” Ticer said. “The biggest thing for me really is making contact and if I make contact, I’ll do the most damage there. That’s why I trust my eyes so much and my plate discipline.”
Ticer’s five home runs make up almost half of the team’s total. Old Dominion (5-1) was fourth in the country with 12 home runs after one game of the home series against Fordham.
“We’ve been hitting home runs, we hit a bunch in the fall and in the preseason,” Finwood said. “We don’t ever talk about it. We just talk about getting good pitches to hit and being ready when you do, and trying to hit the middle of the baseball. We got some big, strong guys in there.”
While the entire Monarchs lineup is off to a good start, Ticer thinks it’s just the beginning.
“Honestly, I don’t even think we’ve even started to get hot yet,” Ticer said. “We’re tied for fourth in the nation for home runs already, and I promise you our lineup hasn’t even got hot yet.”
Old Dominion is scheduled to play Fordham today and Sunday. Ticer expects a display of power from the plate this weekend and the rest of the season.
“Just keep watching because there’s gonna be a lot more balls hit 500 feet,” Ticer said.