College Baseball Daily continues our countdown to the start of the 2015 season with interviews with coaches throughout the country. Today, we feature first year Northeastern head coach Mike Glavine who takes over the Husky program from legendary New England coach Neil McPhee.
1. Northeastern is coming off a 26-29 campaign while going 9-12 in CAA play. What are your expectations for the 2015 season?
We set our expectations each year to win at least 30 games. Twelve of our losses last year were by one run, including 7 of those being in-conference games. There are so many one run games in college baseball now. Having a winning record in those games can define your season and play a huge role in conference tournament performance. Between the talent we have and work our players and staff put in, we expect to be in the CAA tournament for the third year in a row.
2. The Huskies return two out of their top three pitchers from last year’s squad in senior Nick Berger and sophomore Dustin Hunt. Who do you expect to compete for the other opening in the weekend rotation?
We have a few guys we feel can fill the role of third weekend starter. James Mulry is coming off both a strong finish with us and a very good summer with the Harwich Mariners down the Cape. We feel we have many other talented arms that will compete for the spot. The depth of our staff will give us many options for starters as well as important bullpen innings. We really like the way the staff has performed and prepared for the upcoming season.
3. Have any of the incoming freshmen impressed you during Fall workouts? Do you expect any of them to break into the starting lineup/rotation this spring?
Our coaching staff was very impressed with the freshman class this fall and we are excited about the direction our program is heading. We fully expect a few of them to be in the starting lineup this year and in the rotation. We also like the flexibility they provide us with their ability to fill different roles on the mound and in the lineup. We only lose 3 players to graduation after this season which has made it very exciting for our staff to work with so many young players.
4. Coming into your first season as the head coach of the Northeastern program, what differences are you trying to make with the squad?
I think like most new head coaches I am trying to build on things that are already in place but also add my own personality, strategies and energy to other areas. Programs all across the country are at different phases of success right now. I’m excited about our program because I believe we are in the building phase of something special. Our facilities continue to improve, highlighted by a 1.5 million dollar seating project at Friedman Diamond. We are very excited about our first recruiting class coming in next fall and look forward to building off that momentum. The CAA is a very competitive conference with very talented players and great coaches. The biggest difference we are trying to make is to build a positive mentality in our players so they believe in what we are building, and expect to win.
5. One of the stories in College Baseball has been the decrease in offense. How do you feel with the new ball going into play during the 2015 campaign?
I am glad a change was made with the baseball. I feel like the bats made an over correction to the offensive production in the game. The CWS is the college games biggest stage and run scoring is way down. I would like to see more offense in the game, and as a result, more excitement . I look forward to seeing how the new ball affects scores this year and if another change will be made to the ball in the future.
