Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
MISSOURI STATE PAIR
FAYETTEVILLE — The first game of today’s NCAA Fayetteville Regional at Baum Stadium will feature the top home run duo in college baseball.
Missouri State third baseman Jake Burger and shortstop Jeremy Eierman have combined to hit 41 home runs this season for the Bears (4017), who open the regional against Oklahoma State (3025) at 2 p.m.
Burger ranks No. 4 nationally with 22 home runs, while Eierman has 19, which is tied with University of Arkansas, Fayetteville first baseman Chad Spanberger for 10th nationally.
“It’s fun to watch I can tell you that,” Missouri State Coach Keith Guttin said. “Hopefully we can keep some of that up. Both of those guys have had really nice years for us.”
Burger, a junior from Chesterfield, Mo., is arguably the most dangerous hitter in the regional field. He is batting .341 this season with 63 RBI, 12 doubles, 41 walks and has been hit by 11 pitches.
He was named Tuesday as one of the 25 semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award, given annually to the best collegiate baseball player. Baseball America rates him the No. 19 prospect in the MLB Draft which begins June 12, and he stands a good chance of becoming the program’s sixth first-round draft pick, and second in three seasons.
“He’s very powerful physically and then he has a great approach,” said Guttin, who is in his 35th year with the Bears. “He’s analytical, but he’s not overanalytical. He has a good plan at the plate, but he doesn’t outthink himself. If he has a bad day, he lets it go and moves on.
“I think of the guys that have been in our program and gone on and had a lot of success in professional baseball, at the same stage when they were in college, he’s in that group of guys that have gone and had good careers.”
Burger set a Missouri State freshman record with 22 doubles in 2015, but became more of a power hitter last year when he hit 21 home runs and was a consensus All-American. He credits his expanded power numbers to Bears assistant coach Nate Thompson, who taught him “to put more balls in the air and hit the bottom half of the ball.”
“As a freshman he hit some balls extremely hard, but they weren’t in the air,” Guttin said. “He made some adjustments before his sophomore year. … We knew if he ever started getting those balls in the air he was going to hit a lot of home runs.”
Burger bats third in the Missouri State order and is backed up by Eierman. That has provided good security for both hitters.
“It’s pretty cool following up Jake and watching him do his thing,” said Eierman, a sophomore from Warsaw, Mo. “… Teams aren’t really pitching around Jake anymore. They’re really coming at him and he’s making them pay for it.”
Burger and Eierman both have homered at Baum Stadium. Burger hit a solo home run in Game 1 of the 2015 super regional, and Eierman went 4-for-5 with two home runs in his first game at the stadium during a regular-season game last May.
“If the wind’s blowing out, it’s a good hitter’s park,” Burger said.
“The familiarity is huge. I’d rather play in this ballpark than go out to Oregon State or somewhere out there that we’re not used to.”