Well, it's that time of year where teams start to put together plans for next spring and, for everyone except Jim Calhoun's UConn squad and Gary Blair's Texas A&M side, figure out where they went wrong in 2010-11. With that in mind, I think this is the best time to put out my evaluations of this year's ETSU squads. We'll start with the women, who were unceremoniously bounced from the conference tournament in the semifinals this year, ending a dream of four straight championships.
Personally, I think this was a team capable of much more than it achieved this year. This team could have won the conference title with ease; granted, they would have gone nowhere in the NCAA tournament, but they could have at least gotten one last title ring for Davis and Belcher. Their dependence on streaky outside shooting, lackluster defense in key situations and propensity for high volumes of turnovers proved to be their undoing. But were the parts greater than the whole? Have a look:
Tara Davis
33.7 MPG, .330 FG%, .299 3FG%, .818 FT%, 15.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 4.7 APG, 5.2 TOPG, 0.5 BPG, 2.3 SPG
10.64 EFF, -9.80 VAA, 3.69 VAR, .480 TSP, .382 EFG, .284 AST%, .198 TO%, .047 TRB%
When it was first announced that Tarita Gordon would miss the 2010-11 season with a knee injury, the weight fell on TD's shoulders to run the point. If you looked at the basic statistics, you'd say that she did just that; however, the more advanced numbers tell a much different story. Davis gave the ball away at nearly a 20% clip, which is an absurd number, even for a point guard (who is expected to get more touches and, thus, turn the ball over more frequently). Her .382 Effective Field Goal Percentage is deplorable, ahead of only Iesha Robinson among the players that qualified for this evaluation. Not unlike Allen Iverson (or Briana Williams, if you want a more relevant comparison), she scored so many points because she took so many shots; she had 108 more field goal attempts than her shooting guard, Natalie Pickwell.
It's funny that I say that now, because Davis would have made for a very effective shooting guard with Gordon at the point, and with all of her raw productivity, maybe that's where she should have been anyway. C
Destiny Mitchell
30.4 MPG, .518 FG%, .736 FT%, 14.5 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 1.6 APG, 2.5 TOPG, 2.2 SPG
21.42 EFF, 13.03 VAA, 25.19 VAR, .550 TSP, .518 EFG, .126 AST%, .145 TO%, .164 ORB%, .118 DRB%, .135 TRB%
I picked Destiny Mitchell over Briana Williams as my freshman of the year for more than a few reasons, none of which were related to our chosen university. Mitchell had the ability to completely take over a game in the way that very few other players in this conference can. She held on to the ball well, had active hands in the back court, and had the speed to take the ball back down the floor in transition. She also crashed the glass constantly in the offensive end; any player grabbing 16.4% of available offensive rebounds is an enormous boost to an offense, and that was something they missed when she got hurt. She missed the last seven games of the season with a dislocated knee cap, but that's something that should be fairly easy to recover from (although certainly painful), and if this year was any indication, she is ready to terrorize the Atlantic Sun for the next three years. I thought she was the best player on this team this year, and the numbers back me up on that. A+
Natalie Pickwell
29.5 MPG, .393 FG%, .398 3FG%, .852 FT%, 4.4 RPG, 0.8 APG, 1.3 TOPG, 0.7 SPG
12.50 EFF, -4.91 VAA, 6.89 VAR, .544 TSP, .506 EFG, .053 AST%, .109 TO%, .069 TRB%
The expectations for Pickwell this season were fairly low coming in to this season. After two quiet years a good ways down the bench, the Kingsport product finally found her stride this year, and went on a massive scoring tear in January. The three on her jersey definitely reflects her biggest strength, as her shooting statistics will clearly point out. Really, how many players at ANY level of basketball have a three-point percentage that's higher than their base shooting percentage? It's completely counter-intuitive, but I'm not going to complain. Having a player like that at the two spot is certainly not a bad thing, and after a very strong season this year, Pickwell still has an outside shot at 1,000 points for her career, and although she won't catch Michele DeVault's school record for career threes made, she could very easily have a DeVault-style closing to her tennure at ETSU.
The other big note on Pickwell is how well she values the basketball. Turnovers were a huge issue for the team this year, but Pickwell turned the ball over on just 11% of her touches, the best number on the team and one of the best in the conference (Kelsey Jacobson of FGCU leads the A-Sun in this stat, with a .089 Turnover Percentage). The big problem with pure scorers, though, is that they tend to run hot-and-cold. After a very solid swing against the Nashville schools, Pickwell went quiet, with her best total in the last three games of the year being 11 points in a narrow victory over Lipscomb in the first round of the tournament. Still, she exceeded my expectations this year, and if she continues to develop, she should be a major factor in her senior year. B
Latisha Belcher
26.3 MPG, .448 FG%, .693 FT%, 8.6 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 1.6 APG, 2.1 TOPG, 0.9 BPG, 1.9 SPG
17.56 EFF, 4.49 VAA, 15.00 VAR, .516 TSP, .448 EFG, .121 AST%, .173 TO%, .152 ORB%, .114 DRB%, .128 TRB%
Anyone who expected Tish to come back and dominate as a senior after two knee injuries had their hopes dashed. Frankly, I don't know why anyone would expect that. Those are probably the same people who expect ETSU to go to the second round of the NCAA tournament every year. Despite playing on two bad knees, Tish was still very solid in her final year. While hardly the pinnacle of senior productivity, she gave the team a strong presence on the glass that they very much needed in the absence of Mitchell, and she elevated her game at the right times to keep this team's title hopes alive. Case in point: in the Jacksonville game, Belcher picked up four fouls in the first half, and then came back and played 19 minutes without taking that last foul, going 4/6 from the field and 4/6 from the free throw line, grabbing five boards and FOUR steals to keep the team alive. She didn't have much left to give, but when the team needed her, she was able to rise to the occasion. It's a darn shame that she didn't get one last ring, but she certainly left the fans with some lasting memories, even in losing efforts. B+
Gwen Washington
25.4 MPG, .370 FG%, .157 3FG%, .847 FT%, 9.3 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 2.1 APG, 2.1 TOPG, 0.8 SPG
12.88 EFF, -3.59 VAA, 6.55 VAR, .452 TSP, .384 EFG, .165 AST%, .145 TO%, .104 ORB%, .089 TRB%
If you're looking for a player to give your team a lift off the bench, look no further than Gwen Washington. After losing her starting spot early in the campaign, Gwen found her form from the bench and really provided a big lift as the sixth man. Her shooting numbers are really poor, but she still managed to produce 9+5 per game off the bench, and was the best free throw shooter on the team. She got in the mix and fought for offensive boards, kept the turnovers down, and her efficiency numbers were better than Davis'. She'll be back in a starting role next fall, so she has to find her form on a more consistent basis, but I think this year was important for Washington's development. B-
Shawn Randall
17.4 MPG, .370 FG%, .262 3FG%, .724 FT%, 5.8 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 0.8 APG, 3.0 TOPG
4.29 EFF, -12.42 VAA, -5.46 VAR, .459 TSP, .403 EFG, .090 AST%, .300 TO%
I have a tendency to cut freshmen some slack, especially when they're pressed into early service due to injuries, which Shawn was. Randall showed flashes of real brilliance this year, particularly on Senior Day against JU, which gives hope for the future. What's really important for most freshman, though, is establishing what needs to be worked on going forward. Randall has to make smarter decisions with the basketball. That may mean taking fewer shots, passing the ball more and not trying to beat defenders one-on-one like most D1 players can in high school. It's tough to change a player's habits and instincts, and Randall picked up on some of it, but not all of it. She didn't have a great season, just an average one, but she did well enough to give hope for the future. C+
Tosha Austin
16.7 MPG, .447 FG%, .500 FT%, 2.8 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 0.4 APG, 1.4 TOPG, 0.7 BPG, 0.6 SPG
12.77 EFF, -2.48 VAA, 4.19 VAR, .459 TSP, .447 EFG, .042 AST%, .282 TO%, .094 ORB%, .149 DRB%, .129 TRB%
I would imagine that more than a few folks are disappointed in Austin's play this season. Certainly, the base numbers aren't great, even for a bench player, but Austin is very much a defensive specialist. Sure, she's not a great shooter or ball-handler by any stretch, but she was second on the team in blocks, pulled in a respectable 19 steals, and averaged nearly 5 boards a game off the bench. Tosha is not going to be a star, but she will be a solid role player for this team over the next two years. Her ability to shut down opposing post players will make her invaluable going forward. She's not quite there, but she's moving in the right direction. B-
Jasmine McIntosh
10.8 MPG, .404 FG%, .308 3FG%, .750 FT%, 3.6 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 0.3 APG, 0.8 TOPG,
11.00 EFF, -2.88 VAA, 1.43 VAR, .500 TSP, .472 EFG, .062 AST%, .192 TO%
A lot of what I've said for other players applies to J-Mac. Take smarter shots and value the basketball. 25 turnovers in her limited playing time is just ridiculous, and her 3.6 PPG does nothing to offset that. I'll cut her some slack because, like Randall, she's a freshman pressed into extended duty by injuries, but if she's going to take that many threes, she needs to be more accurate. C+
Iesha Robinson
10.2 MPG, .264 FG%, .200 3FG%, .593 FT%, 2.8 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 0.5 APG, 1.0 TOPG
6.11 EFF, -4.01 VAA, -1.30 VAR, .403 TSP, .367 EFG, .052 AST%, .325 TO%
Iesha didn't go on several key road trips late in the season. Personally, I think that's pretty indicative of how well she performed this year, as if the numbers aren't. The rebounding numbers are fine, but her shooting stats are poor by any standard. She averaged a turnover per game in ten minutes of playing time, and made an average of one possession's difference in a given contest on the offensive end, which wouldn't have mattered one way or the other in most of ETSU's games this year. D
Incompletes (>10 MPG)
Ashley Benedict
Ashley Miles
Akaycha Robinson
So there you have it: the ETSU women's basketball team in review in 2010-11. Tomorrow, it's time for the boys to come out to play one more time. And when I say "tomorrow," I really do mean tomorrow this time. No, seriously.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Back Up To Speed
Well, the Blog has been rather quiet the last couple of weeks, although not much has been missed:
ETSU basketball mismanaged its way into a defeat at the hands of Iona in the CIT semifinals. Granted, this was an excellent Iona team, but I will never stop pointing out the six seconds that ticked off the clock while ETSU's front court sat on its hands. That situation right there cost that team the game. I hate the fact that fouling is utilized as a defensive strategy, but it's a fact of life, and they need to utilize it in a situation like that. Nobody on the floor was in foul trouble at the time, and you're only down by a point. If you have enough time after the free throws, you can get the ball in Mike Smith's hands and let your best player win you the game. I guess we'll never know what he could have done, and he'll fall just 18 points short of Tom Chilton at 6th on the all-time scoring list.
At the very least, Zeke broke the single-season record set by Zakee Wadood for blocks. He's chasing the all-time mark now, and it's well within his reach if he stays healthy his senior year.
In baseball, the Bucs exploded for a 10-run eighth inning in the opener against Florida Gulf Coast. Bo Burton actually picked up a save in that game, coming in with the tying run aboard in the top of the eighth after a great start from John Long. The Eagles then bounced back with a blowout win thanks to five errors yesterday. They're just under way as I type this. Bo Reeder has exploded in this series and reached 200 hits. He's hitting a sensational .356 and slugging a sensational .723. He leads the team in homers with TEN, and is second in RBIs with 32 (Pratt has 34). With the team hitting .310 and scoring 163 runs, the offense is great, and despite the enormous ERA numbers from the pitching staff, the staff has been okay. The issue has been defense. ETSU's .949 defense is the worst in the Atlantic Sun. Kerry Doane has 13 errors already, and is fielding a very poor .888. Reeder, for all his offensive prowess and mound dominance, is fielding an atrocious .830 with nine errors. Niesman is fielding .899 with nine bloopers of his own. Those numbers simply have to get better if this team wants to be better than a game above .500 in conference play. The A-Sun is simply too good not to exploit that kind of defense. We saw it on full display yesterday.
Softball has... well, it hasn't been pretty. Whitney Kiihnl was expected to dominate this team, and she did. And so did JJ Nelson. And Sarah Sigrest. And Olivia Kline, who threw the first complete game no-hitter in the history of Betty Basler Field (Shelby Morris and Marissa Hardy had combined for a perfect game previously). With the exception of two big wins against a very bad Belmont team and a promising start against a poor Appalachian State squad that got washed out before being made official, the squad has really struggled. The big sore spot hasn't been the offense, which is actually pretty average relative to other A-Sun teams (the bats are actually better than Lipscomb's on paper), but rather the defense. All of it.
The fielding defense is tenth in the conference in errors (56, ahead of Campbell) and fielding percentage (.941, ahead of Belmont). The pitching staff is last in A-Sun in runs allowed (206), earned runs (151), walks (121), doubles allowed (45), and homers allowed (39). They're also 10th in batting average against (.284, ahead of Belmont), and hit batters (23, ahead of Jacksonville).
The pitching struggles could not have been put on display any better than they were yesterday in the second game of the North Florida series. With two outs in her pocket in the top of the seventh and looking to close out a fantastic performance in which she had given up only one run on three hits, Morris came unraveled. I could spend hours trying to find the eloquence to describe this sequence of pitches, but I think I'll just do it this way and let you imagine how this went down:
Fielders Choice P to 3B (2 outs)
Wild pitch (Runners at second and third)
Wild pitch (R, 2-2)
Walk
Duncan to P for Morris
HBP (Bases Loaded)
Walk (R, 3-2 UNF)
Morris to P for Duncan
Walk (R, 4-2 UNF)
Walk (R, 5-2 UNF)
Wolff to P for Morris
Ground out to SS
Four runs on no hits, no errors, three left on base.
This reminds me of something Keanu Reeves said in The Replacements. To paraphrase:
Something goes wrong. And you try to fight against it, but then another thing goes wrong. And another. And another. And the harder you fight against it, the faster you sink, until you're in over your head, just like quicksand.
There's a lot of truth in that (not just in sports, but in life, although that's beyond our context on BB:BE). It happened to Jean Van de Velde in the 1999 British Open, and this collapse by Morris was every bit as painful to watch. I recognize that pitchers are competitive and want to win games on their own, but if you're having a hard time hitting your spots down low, you have to throw the batters something they can put in play and put some trust in your defense. Even if you have to throw it right down the middle, you're pitching to the bottom of the order and it's not prudent to try to dance around them.
There are moments that define your season, for better or worse. This is one of those moments for Brad Irwin's squad. When they put themselves in a great position to win games, clicking on all cylinders, Murphy's Law kicks in and they get saddled with a loss when they should have had a win. Still, this team can't give up on their season just yet. They still have a chance for a sweep against Stetson next weekend, and then again when they take on Mercer later. If they can play .500 in conference the rest of the way, they have a good shot at making the conference tournament, and anything can happen once you get there.
Men's soccer is in action today. They took on Lincoln Memorial earlier, and will play Milligan at 6:30 tonight in the final home game of their spring season.
And before I forget (because they deserve far more coverage than I have given them this year), big congratulations are in order t
o the men's and women's tennis squads. The men wrapped up at least a share of the regular season title yet again with UNF (it's an outright title if Jacksonville beats UNF on April 10). The women wrapped up the outright regular season crown with their win over Mercer yesterday. Both teams finished 9-1 in regular season play and will gear up for the Atlantic Sun tournaments in sunny DeLand, Florida. After my recent clashes with the weather out at Basler Field, I don't blame them for heading south.
ETSU basketball mismanaged its way into a defeat at the hands of Iona in the CIT semifinals. Granted, this was an excellent Iona team, but I will never stop pointing out the six seconds that ticked off the clock while ETSU's front court sat on its hands. That situation right there cost that team the game. I hate the fact that fouling is utilized as a defensive strategy, but it's a fact of life, and they need to utilize it in a situation like that. Nobody on the floor was in foul trouble at the time, and you're only down by a point. If you have enough time after the free throws, you can get the ball in Mike Smith's hands and let your best player win you the game. I guess we'll never know what he could have done, and he'll fall just 18 points short of Tom Chilton at 6th on the all-time scoring list.
At the very least, Zeke broke the single-season record set by Zakee Wadood for blocks. He's chasing the all-time mark now, and it's well within his reach if he stays healthy his senior year.
In baseball, the Bucs exploded for a 10-run eighth inning in the opener against Florida Gulf Coast. Bo Burton actually picked up a save in that game, coming in with the tying run aboard in the top of the eighth after a great start from John Long. The Eagles then bounced back with a blowout win thanks to five errors yesterday. They're just under way as I type this. Bo Reeder has exploded in this series and reached 200 hits. He's hitting a sensational .356 and slugging a sensational .723. He leads the team in homers with TEN, and is second in RBIs with 32 (Pratt has 34). With the team hitting .310 and scoring 163 runs, the offense is great, and despite the enormous ERA numbers from the pitching staff, the staff has been okay. The issue has been defense. ETSU's .949 defense is the worst in the Atlantic Sun. Kerry Doane has 13 errors already, and is fielding a very poor .888. Reeder, for all his offensive prowess and mound dominance, is fielding an atrocious .830 with nine errors. Niesman is fielding .899 with nine bloopers of his own. Those numbers simply have to get better if this team wants to be better than a game above .500 in conference play. The A-Sun is simply too good not to exploit that kind of defense. We saw it on full display yesterday.
Softball has... well, it hasn't been pretty. Whitney Kiihnl was expected to dominate this team, and she did. And so did JJ Nelson. And Sarah Sigrest. And Olivia Kline, who threw the first complete game no-hitter in the history of Betty Basler Field (Shelby Morris and Marissa Hardy had combined for a perfect game previously). With the exception of two big wins against a very bad Belmont team and a promising start against a poor Appalachian State squad that got washed out before being made official, the squad has really struggled. The big sore spot hasn't been the offense, which is actually pretty average relative to other A-Sun teams (the bats are actually better than Lipscomb's on paper), but rather the defense. All of it.
The fielding defense is tenth in the conference in errors (56, ahead of Campbell) and fielding percentage (.941, ahead of Belmont). The pitching staff is last in A-Sun in runs allowed (206), earned runs (151), walks (121), doubles allowed (45), and homers allowed (39). They're also 10th in batting average against (.284, ahead of Belmont), and hit batters (23, ahead of Jacksonville).
The pitching struggles could not have been put on display any better than they were yesterday in the second game of the North Florida series. With two outs in her pocket in the top of the seventh and looking to close out a fantastic performance in which she had given up only one run on three hits, Morris came unraveled. I could spend hours trying to find the eloquence to describe this sequence of pitches, but I think I'll just do it this way and let you imagine how this went down:
Fielders Choice P to 3B (2 outs)
Wild pitch (Runners at second and third)
Wild pitch (R, 2-2)
Walk
Duncan to P for Morris
HBP (Bases Loaded)
Walk (R, 3-2 UNF)
Morris to P for Duncan
Walk (R, 4-2 UNF)
Walk (R, 5-2 UNF)
Wolff to P for Morris
Ground out to SS
Four runs on no hits, no errors, three left on base.
This reminds me of something Keanu Reeves said in The Replacements. To paraphrase:
Something goes wrong. And you try to fight against it, but then another thing goes wrong. And another. And another. And the harder you fight against it, the faster you sink, until you're in over your head, just like quicksand.
There's a lot of truth in that (not just in sports, but in life, although that's beyond our context on BB:BE). It happened to Jean Van de Velde in the 1999 British Open, and this collapse by Morris was every bit as painful to watch. I recognize that pitchers are competitive and want to win games on their own, but if you're having a hard time hitting your spots down low, you have to throw the batters something they can put in play and put some trust in your defense. Even if you have to throw it right down the middle, you're pitching to the bottom of the order and it's not prudent to try to dance around them.
There are moments that define your season, for better or worse. This is one of those moments for Brad Irwin's squad. When they put themselves in a great position to win games, clicking on all cylinders, Murphy's Law kicks in and they get saddled with a loss when they should have had a win. Still, this team can't give up on their season just yet. They still have a chance for a sweep against Stetson next weekend, and then again when they take on Mercer later. If they can play .500 in conference the rest of the way, they have a good shot at making the conference tournament, and anything can happen once you get there.
Men's soccer is in action today. They took on Lincoln Memorial earlier, and will play Milligan at 6:30 tonight in the final home game of their spring season.
And before I forget (because they deserve far more coverage than I have given them this year), big congratulations are in order t
o the men's and women's tennis squads. The men wrapped up at least a share of the regular season title yet again with UNF (it's an outright title if Jacksonville beats UNF on April 10). The women wrapped up the outright regular season crown with their win over Mercer yesterday. Both teams finished 9-1 in regular season play and will gear up for the Atlantic Sun tournaments in sunny DeLand, Florida. After my recent clashes with the weather out at Basler Field, I don't blame them for heading south.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Bucs Advance; Baseball Hits Wall, Drops Ball; Softball News
Say what you will about Justin Tubbs' consistency (and believe me, I will when postseason grades come out), the guy is really motivated to keep playing basketball, putting up 27 points on an unsuspecting Ohio team as ETSU rolled to an 82-73 win.
Nine points may not seem like a lopsided victory, but it certainly was on Tuesday night. Even though the Bucs got out-rebounded, there's a very clear reason for it: they were hitting their shots. When your team is shooting 53% from the field, 47% from beyond the arc, and 72% from the free throw line, you're firing on all cylinders.
There's also the matter (not a small one by any stretch) of Mike Smith's tremendous second half performance, as he shot 60% from the field and scored 24 points (with ten boards) without hitting a single three. The squad got a very strong bench performance (?!) from Sollazzo (12+7), and Isiah was okay up front. Heck, if they can keep winning on the backs of Tubbs and Smith, why not?
I love to complain. Finding weaknesses and exposing them is something I take pride in (because weaknesses cannot be mended until they are exposed), but there is not a single thing to complain about from Tuesday's performance. The squad put on a show, hit some clutch shots (especially Smith with two sets of huge free throws and the dunk to send the Bobcats away), and ran Ohio out of their own building.
So now it's on to Iona, who is perhaps most memorable for beating Richmond in double overtime earlier this season, a squad that will take on Kansas in the Sweet Sixteen tomorrow night. Quite a step up there, although Iona is still a 20-win program, but if someone can shut down Mike Glover (no easy task - no one in the MAAC could do it this year), then we're looking at the possibility of something the Bucs wouldn't have even dreamed of coming into this year: a postseason championship.
Baseball's pitching staff finally ran out of juice last weekend, and then again in the doubleheader against Radford. John Long had two disastrous starts, first on Friday (2.1 IP, 5 ER), and again on Tuesday (0.1 IP, 3 ER), and the Bucs never really were able to recover from either. There's also the matter of Bo Burton four innings (8 ER, 4 BB), and Bushey looked mortal back on Sunday (5 ER in 4 IP). In fact, the only solid start of the week belongs to... Clinton Freeman?
That's right! All the promise that Skole talked about with Freeman finally came through on the mound this week. After a solid relief effort in a failed comeback, the Davy Crockett product fanned six and gave up four in four innings on Tuesday. He has now retired eleven batters at the plate in his last 6.2 innings, and seems to have found himself a nice rhythm after struggling at the start of the year. Dak Rissman also had a very impressive relief effort in the Sunday win over the Dolphins, and deservedly got that decision.
At the plate, the squad has been carried by, of all people, Bo Reeder. Big Bo hit .364 on the week with FOUR homers and a dozen RBIs. Meanwhile, Green and Scruggs have gone .176 and .143 respectively, with Scruggs getting rung up seven times. Paul Hoilman hasn't been much better, hitting just .278 with six Ks, but after taking one yard on Tuesday in the second tilt with Radford, maybe he's starting to come out of his funk and will be strong this weekend. They'll need him to be if they want a shot at beating Stetson in DeLand.
Softball had a wild and crazy Monday in a split with King College, which really showed just how perfect Buccaneer pitching has to be in order to pick up wins: Shelby Morris made one mistake, got burned, and when the team went belly-up on offense, she got a loss she probably didn't deserve.
In fairness to the bats, Christy Kooch made a fantastic game-ending catch, showing shades of Willie Mays, as she charged into the outfield fence and held on to the ball. Still, the fact that ETSU could only muster two runs against a Division II seems a little ominous right on the edge of conference season.
Tonight, they'll gear up to face Lipscomb and Whitney Kiihnl, who is 18th in the nation in ERA and 8th in the nation in strikeouts. While that could be a tough match-up, this is still a very winnable pair of games. If the wind kicks up at Basler like it has in the past, I wouldn't be shocked to see ETSU come away with at least a split today.
Nine points may not seem like a lopsided victory, but it certainly was on Tuesday night. Even though the Bucs got out-rebounded, there's a very clear reason for it: they were hitting their shots. When your team is shooting 53% from the field, 47% from beyond the arc, and 72% from the free throw line, you're firing on all cylinders.
There's also the matter (not a small one by any stretch) of Mike Smith's tremendous second half performance, as he shot 60% from the field and scored 24 points (with ten boards) without hitting a single three. The squad got a very strong bench performance (?!) from Sollazzo (12+7), and Isiah was okay up front. Heck, if they can keep winning on the backs of Tubbs and Smith, why not?
I love to complain. Finding weaknesses and exposing them is something I take pride in (because weaknesses cannot be mended until they are exposed), but there is not a single thing to complain about from Tuesday's performance. The squad put on a show, hit some clutch shots (especially Smith with two sets of huge free throws and the dunk to send the Bobcats away), and ran Ohio out of their own building.
So now it's on to Iona, who is perhaps most memorable for beating Richmond in double overtime earlier this season, a squad that will take on Kansas in the Sweet Sixteen tomorrow night. Quite a step up there, although Iona is still a 20-win program, but if someone can shut down Mike Glover (no easy task - no one in the MAAC could do it this year), then we're looking at the possibility of something the Bucs wouldn't have even dreamed of coming into this year: a postseason championship.
Baseball's pitching staff finally ran out of juice last weekend, and then again in the doubleheader against Radford. John Long had two disastrous starts, first on Friday (2.1 IP, 5 ER), and again on Tuesday (0.1 IP, 3 ER), and the Bucs never really were able to recover from either. There's also the matter of Bo Burton four innings (8 ER, 4 BB), and Bushey looked mortal back on Sunday (5 ER in 4 IP). In fact, the only solid start of the week belongs to... Clinton Freeman?
That's right! All the promise that Skole talked about with Freeman finally came through on the mound this week. After a solid relief effort in a failed comeback, the Davy Crockett product fanned six and gave up four in four innings on Tuesday. He has now retired eleven batters at the plate in his last 6.2 innings, and seems to have found himself a nice rhythm after struggling at the start of the year. Dak Rissman also had a very impressive relief effort in the Sunday win over the Dolphins, and deservedly got that decision.
At the plate, the squad has been carried by, of all people, Bo Reeder. Big Bo hit .364 on the week with FOUR homers and a dozen RBIs. Meanwhile, Green and Scruggs have gone .176 and .143 respectively, with Scruggs getting rung up seven times. Paul Hoilman hasn't been much better, hitting just .278 with six Ks, but after taking one yard on Tuesday in the second tilt with Radford, maybe he's starting to come out of his funk and will be strong this weekend. They'll need him to be if they want a shot at beating Stetson in DeLand.
Softball had a wild and crazy Monday in a split with King College, which really showed just how perfect Buccaneer pitching has to be in order to pick up wins: Shelby Morris made one mistake, got burned, and when the team went belly-up on offense, she got a loss she probably didn't deserve.
In fairness to the bats, Christy Kooch made a fantastic game-ending catch, showing shades of Willie Mays, as she charged into the outfield fence and held on to the ball. Still, the fact that ETSU could only muster two runs against a Division II seems a little ominous right on the edge of conference season.
Tonight, they'll gear up to face Lipscomb and Whitney Kiihnl, who is 18th in the nation in ERA and 8th in the nation in strikeouts. While that could be a tough match-up, this is still a very winnable pair of games. If the wind kicks up at Basler like it has in the past, I wouldn't be shocked to see ETSU come away with at least a split today.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Sweeeeeep for Softball; Bucs Draw Ohio in Quarters
It took extra innings to do it, but softball took both games of their doubleheader with Presbyterian yesterday. Pitching won ETSU those two games, as Jessica Duncan pitched yet another complete game, and Wolff and Morris combined for another strong effort against Presbyterian.
In the first game, Duncan was very solid. After a shaky fourth inning where she blew the shutout on back-to-back hits, then had the eventual second run reach on an error by Baird at third base, which was eventually walked home. Duncan dug deep to keep the team ahead, though, getting six of her seven strikeouts after the second run scored and earning a well-deserved victory - and rest.
In the second game, Wolff pitched a solid five innings, and had ETSU in a position to win another tight game. Shelby Morris came on in relief in the bottom of the sixth and gave up two hits and the tying run despite getting all three outs at the plate. The game went two extra innings, but she didn't yield another hit to the Blue Hose, but a run scored in the eighth on an error by Marlina Delisa to keep the game going. It's somewhat fitting, then, that Amy Campbell would score the winning run on a throwing error herself, with Baird's unassisted double play at third closing out the game.
Pitching is the reason ETSU won this game, unquestionably, but the bats seem to have found a rhythm, collecting 22 hits over these two contests. The catch? Only one of those hits went for extra bases. That lack of power is what's really hurting this squad. The table-setters are doing their jobs, though: Nicole Fox went 3/8 across the two contests, and Marlina Delisa seems to have found a new home in the two hole, going 4/7 with 2 RBIs. It's just a matter of finishing the job, and that won't get any easier in a conference that features more than a few quality programs, specifically Upstate, Stetson, Lipscomb, Jacksonville, and Mercer.
Speaking of tough jobs, ETSU will face Ohio in the quarterfinals of the CIT, despite the fact that Ohio got a bye through the second round. I have given up trying to figure out how this tournament works and am just going to go with it. Scouting report on Ohio to come later.
In the first game, Duncan was very solid. After a shaky fourth inning where she blew the shutout on back-to-back hits, then had the eventual second run reach on an error by Baird at third base, which was eventually walked home. Duncan dug deep to keep the team ahead, though, getting six of her seven strikeouts after the second run scored and earning a well-deserved victory - and rest.
In the second game, Wolff pitched a solid five innings, and had ETSU in a position to win another tight game. Shelby Morris came on in relief in the bottom of the sixth and gave up two hits and the tying run despite getting all three outs at the plate. The game went two extra innings, but she didn't yield another hit to the Blue Hose, but a run scored in the eighth on an error by Marlina Delisa to keep the game going. It's somewhat fitting, then, that Amy Campbell would score the winning run on a throwing error herself, with Baird's unassisted double play at third closing out the game.
Pitching is the reason ETSU won this game, unquestionably, but the bats seem to have found a rhythm, collecting 22 hits over these two contests. The catch? Only one of those hits went for extra bases. That lack of power is what's really hurting this squad. The table-setters are doing their jobs, though: Nicole Fox went 3/8 across the two contests, and Marlina Delisa seems to have found a new home in the two hole, going 4/7 with 2 RBIs. It's just a matter of finishing the job, and that won't get any easier in a conference that features more than a few quality programs, specifically Upstate, Stetson, Lipscomb, Jacksonville, and Mercer.
Speaking of tough jobs, ETSU will face Ohio in the quarterfinals of the CIT, despite the fact that Ohio got a bye through the second round. I have given up trying to figure out how this tournament works and am just going to go with it. Scouting report on Ohio to come later.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Reeder Makes Good on Homecoming, Makes History at TTU
Well, if you weren't a fan of Journey before tonight, you probably should be now.
Dylan Pratt's three-run homer into right-center capped a surreal five-run comeback in Cookeville, but it was Reeder who slammed the door on his hometown team by striking out the side for his nation-leading eighth save of the year.
Reeder was doing everything right tonight. He hit a solo shot to opening the scoring, recovered from a bobbled ball at third to go around the horn for a double play, and then legged out a two-out infield single to keep the game going.
Speaking of that ninth inning rally, how about Hoilman coming through with a clutch hit? After going 1/14 since the start of the UNF series, The Only Guy on the Planet who Likes Advanced Combinatorics hit a crucial RBI single into center field to set the stage for a man who is likely to get much less pitching once this team gets deep into conference play.
On the pitching side, everything went pretty well. A solid start from Booker followed up by two solid innings of work from Bo Burton (I still have nightmares about his massive collapse against Mercer last year) set things up for - as Skyler Barnett evidently referred to him - Scott McWinStealer, who shockingly couldn't deliver and got the hook after a third of an
I think this is a really important win for this team, psychologically. Having not won in Cookeville in fifteen years, to be able to do it in such a dramatic fashion almost gives one the impression that they might be destined for something special. Is this the Team of Destiny?
The answer is, of course, no: Destiny plays women's basketball.
Dylan Pratt's three-run homer into right-center capped a surreal five-run comeback in Cookeville, but it was Reeder who slammed the door on his hometown team by striking out the side for his nation-leading eighth save of the year.
Reeder was doing everything right tonight. He hit a solo shot to opening the scoring, recovered from a bobbled ball at third to go around the horn for a double play, and then legged out a two-out infield single to keep the game going.
Speaking of that ninth inning rally, how about Hoilman coming through with a clutch hit? After going 1/14 since the start of the UNF series, The Only Guy on the Planet who Likes Advanced Combinatorics hit a crucial RBI single into center field to set the stage for a man who is likely to get much less pitching once this team gets deep into conference play.
On the pitching side, everything went pretty well. A solid start from Booker followed up by two solid innings of work from Bo Burton (I still have nightmares about his massive collapse against Mercer last year) set things up for - as Skyler Barnett evidently referred to him - Scott McWinStealer, who shockingly couldn't deliver and got the hook after a third of an
I think this is a really important win for this team, psychologically. Having not won in Cookeville in fifteen years, to be able to do it in such a dramatic fashion almost gives one the impression that they might be destined for something special. Is this the Team of Destiny?
The answer is, of course, no: Destiny plays women's basketball.
Smith Spontaneously Combusts, Bucs Rout Paladins
Ka-BOOM!
This was the sound that rang out in front of a shockingly sparse crowd when Mike Smith went up for a two-handed dunk that brought Mike Smith to 30 points in a game for the first time in his career. Smith was all over the floor in the first half, with 21 of ETSU's 43 first-half points, at one point outscoring the entire Furman team. JT stepped in during the second half, found his feet and had one of his best games as a Buccaneer, scoring 20 points despite just hitting two threes the whole night. Smith's 32 points and 100% effort from the stripe both tied tournament records, as did Tubbs' five steals. The defense was there for these two as well, especially Smith, as Amu Saaka, an all-conference selection in the SoCon, had more fouls (4) than he did points (3). That's no small feat, and a big part of why this game turned out the way it did.
As impressive as their performances were, and as great as it was to blow Furman out (largest lead was 22 with 11:45 to go), this was hardly a perfectly played game for Bartow's crew. Zeke was invisible. Micah had five points and four turnovers, and fouled out on top of that. We're not exactly playing world-beaters the rest of the way, but this team can't afford to have one or two of its starters messing on the linens in every game. Not when we're getting eight bench points, with half of those coming from Sollazzo, who was swapped in favor of De'Shaud Johnson at the point. This was a move made more for sentimental reasons than tactical ones, but honestly, Johnson looked like he could have played the point more often. He only had five points, but also dished out four helpers and did not turn the basketball over. What a novel concept.
As enjoyable as it was to watch the "Mike Smith & Friends Show" last night, the "Friends" of that equation need to figure out how much more basketball they want to be playing. They've got just under a week to do it, but they have to realize that even though this is essentially the Meineke Car Care Bowl of college basketball, it's still the postseason. Maybe they should all eat breakfast with Justin Tubbs, since he has it figured out. Or maybe they could sleep in their extremely awesome gold uniforms. Have I ever mentioned that I love gold uniforms?
I. Love. Gold. Uniforms.
This was the sound that rang out in front of a shockingly sparse crowd when Mike Smith went up for a two-handed dunk that brought Mike Smith to 30 points in a game for the first time in his career. Smith was all over the floor in the first half, with 21 of ETSU's 43 first-half points, at one point outscoring the entire Furman team. JT stepped in during the second half, found his feet and had one of his best games as a Buccaneer, scoring 20 points despite just hitting two threes the whole night. Smith's 32 points and 100% effort from the stripe both tied tournament records, as did Tubbs' five steals. The defense was there for these two as well, especially Smith, as Amu Saaka, an all-conference selection in the SoCon, had more fouls (4) than he did points (3). That's no small feat, and a big part of why this game turned out the way it did.
As impressive as their performances were, and as great as it was to blow Furman out (largest lead was 22 with 11:45 to go), this was hardly a perfectly played game for Bartow's crew. Zeke was invisible. Micah had five points and four turnovers, and fouled out on top of that. We're not exactly playing world-beaters the rest of the way, but this team can't afford to have one or two of its starters messing on the linens in every game. Not when we're getting eight bench points, with half of those coming from Sollazzo, who was swapped in favor of De'Shaud Johnson at the point. This was a move made more for sentimental reasons than tactical ones, but honestly, Johnson looked like he could have played the point more often. He only had five points, but also dished out four helpers and did not turn the basketball over. What a novel concept.
As enjoyable as it was to watch the "Mike Smith & Friends Show" last night, the "Friends" of that equation need to figure out how much more basketball they want to be playing. They've got just under a week to do it, but they have to realize that even though this is essentially the Meineke Car Care Bowl of college basketball, it's still the postseason. Maybe they should all eat breakfast with Justin Tubbs, since he has it figured out. Or maybe they could sleep in their extremely awesome gold uniforms. Have I ever mentioned that I love gold uniforms?
I. Love. Gold. Uniforms.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Upstate (WBK) to Postseason; Bucs to CBI; Bat & Ball News
So, as I had unfortunately expected, the Lady Bucs didn't land a spot in the WNIT; however, to add insult to injury, USC Upstate got an invite to the WBI, despite being a (statistically) far lower-caliber team than ETSU. The Lady Bucs have a significantly higher RPI, stronger schedule, and better scoring offense and defense. In fact, let's see how they stack up with the WBI field in RPI:
ETSU - 103
Cleveland State (151)
Wright State (157)
Idaho (165)
UAB (174)
Cal State Bakersfield (196)
Elon (154)
Eastern Illinois (201)
Sacred Heart (110)
Chicago State (192)
Manhattan (169)
Northern Colorado (214)
USC Upstate (289)
South Dakota (209)
Central Arkansas (182)
Buffalo (163)
IPFW (158)
As you can see, only one of those teams is on par with ETSU, and the rest are far below. This is a competition that ETSU could easily enter and win, giving their three healthy freshmen with any semblance of significant floor time (McIntosh, Miles, and Randall) some development time and postseason experience. This is a young team that could really use the experience, even in a smaller postseason tournament like this one. With the expansion of the WNIT to 64 teams, ETSU still not getting in is a bit disheartening, but with such a young team, I don't think that Kemp would decline an opportunity to keep them playing. Whether she did or not, we'll probably never know.
On the men's front, the Bucs are in the CBI tonight against [deep gritty voice] The Furman
Paladins [/deep gritty voice]. These two teams are built in very similar ways. Both emphasize good defense, as ETSU and Furman allow 63.7 and 64.0 points per game, respectively, while both score exactly 69.0 points per game.
The two teams are also dependent on a single star. Mike Smith on one side, and Amu Saaka on the other. Guiding the Paladins to their first 20-win season in two decades, Saaka averaged 16 points and 6.6 boards per game, took 100 more field goals than any other Paladin, and was the only player on the team to hit 1000 minutes played. He's a threat from anywhere on the floor, leading the team in made and attempted three pointers, as well, and is an 87% free throw shooter. Logic would dictate that he'll be Smith's assignment on the night, and that will be a key match-up to watch. Actually, it will be THE key match-up. Jordan Miller and Noah States are certainly threats to score, but Tubbs should be more than able to handle Miller, and States' measurements are identical to Zeke's, meaning Zeke has the advantage.
ETSU SHOULD win this game. They've lost once on their home floor this year, and the team they faced was far, far better than Furman. Granted, the only teams of consequence that they played at home this year were Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville (the latter of whom, by the way, is also in this tournament, traveling to East Carolina), but this is the first postseason game the school has ever hosted, meaning there is a lot of significance and should be a lot of energy in the building. Hopefully, having an old SoCon team in the building will also help attendance, but the Paladins weren't really a huge draw back in the day, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.
On the baseball front, the Cardiac Bucs came away with a pair of ninth-inning rallies to sweep North Florida. Matthew Scruggs hit a rare game-winning triple in the top of the fourth on Friday that drove in what would prove to be the winning run, and then turned around and hit a two-run shot to give ETSU the lead in the top of the ninth on Saturday. Dylan Pratt (have I mentioned that this guy is awesome?) brought the house down with a three-run dinger on Sunday that gave the Bucs the sweep.
Scruggs went 5/12 with six RBIs and five runs scored, with a pair of homers - a solo shot and the aforementioned game-winning two-run shot - on Saturday. Pratt went just 2/8, but drove in five and scored two. There's also the matter of Derek Trent, who went 5/12 with 3 RBIs and a run scored, including a solo shot on Saturday and two doubles, one each on Saturday and Sunday.
On the hill, Bo Reeder earned that A-Sun Pitcher of the Week award, giving up just one hit in three innings, striking out two and picking up his fifth, sixth, and seventh saves in the sweep. I once joked that there was nothing long about John Long (standing at 5'10", and to that point having not lasted more than five innings), but he shut me up this weekend with a great performance on the hill, going 6.2 innings with just two earned runs allowed and 8 strikeouts. Bushey gave up four earned runs in 4.2 innings on Sunday, but continues to pad his strikeout numbers, adding five in his start for a team-leading 21 total on the season in just five appearances.
Overall, you have to like where the team is going. The squad has six wins in a row, offense coming from everywhere, and solid, consistent pitching (especially from the bullpen, which is very much needed), but there are a couple of sore spots.
Kerry Doane made an error in every game this weekend. His field percentage is at .873, the worst on the team. What is it with this program and shortstops? Justin Tramble, Nick Belcher, Garrett May, and now Doane. Kerry was not this bad last year - he committed 19 errors the entire season. At this rate, he'll be halfway to that by the end of the Jacksonville series.
He's not the only one, either. Through 12 games, the team has committed a total of 23 errors. Niesman has five; Reeder has three. The team is fielding at a .951 clip, which isn't particularly good. This is not sustainable and will have to change before the team gets to the squads with the bats to make them pay, like, say, Jacksonville next weekend.
There's also the not-so-small matter of Paul Hoilman's struggles in this series. Paul Bunyan went 1/10 and struck out six times. I've struck out less than that with women (no, seriously). His timing might be off, or he could be trying to force things since no one wants to pitch to him - he was walked four times by the UNF staff and has gotten a free pass 16 times this year, which is more than double the next-highest Buc (Pratt has 6). Whatever the case may be, Paul has to get it together. There's no pressure yet, as we're still a long way away from the tournament, but we won't be dancing unless he's firing on all cylinders.
In other news, softball hosted the inaugural Buccaneer Challenge (which I erroneously called the Buccaneer Classic more times than I care to count) this weekend. They went 4-2 with a couple of unpleasant losses against Pittsburgh, but they've finally managed to find their offense.
Over all six games:
Henderson - .526 (7/19), 8 RBIs, 3 2B, HR
Baird - .476 (7/21), 13 RBIs, 2 2B, 3 HR
Lower - .389 (7/18), 3 RBIs, 2 HR
Campbell - .316, 7 RBIs, 2 2B, HR
The pitching numbers were a bit inflated by the losses to Pitt, but Duncan fanned 20 batters total and pitched two complete games, while Wolff had a one-hit shutout that was nearly a no-no against SC State, and both hurlers had ERAs under four, which is really good considering they were the two starters against Pitt and faced the brunt of the attack. Morris had the wost weekend statistically, mainly because she had mop-up duty against Pitt in both games, and they ate her alive.
Ultimately, though, I think this team is headed in the right direction. After losing four in a row, they've bounced back to win four of their last six, and the schedule should get a little easier now that they're moving into conference play, although a schedule with Lipscomb and Upstate as bookends may prove difficult.
ETSU - 103
Cleveland State (151)
Wright State (157)
Idaho (165)
UAB (174)
Cal State Bakersfield (196)
Elon (154)
Eastern Illinois (201)
Sacred Heart (110)
Chicago State (192)
Manhattan (169)
Northern Colorado (214)
USC Upstate (289)
South Dakota (209)
Central Arkansas (182)
Buffalo (163)
IPFW (158)
As you can see, only one of those teams is on par with ETSU, and the rest are far below. This is a competition that ETSU could easily enter and win, giving their three healthy freshmen with any semblance of significant floor time (McIntosh, Miles, and Randall) some development time and postseason experience. This is a young team that could really use the experience, even in a smaller postseason tournament like this one. With the expansion of the WNIT to 64 teams, ETSU still not getting in is a bit disheartening, but with such a young team, I don't think that Kemp would decline an opportunity to keep them playing. Whether she did or not, we'll probably never know.
On the men's front, the Bucs are in the CBI tonight against [deep gritty voice] The Furman
Paladins [/deep gritty voice]. These two teams are built in very similar ways. Both emphasize good defense, as ETSU and Furman allow 63.7 and 64.0 points per game, respectively, while both score exactly 69.0 points per game.The two teams are also dependent on a single star. Mike Smith on one side, and Amu Saaka on the other. Guiding the Paladins to their first 20-win season in two decades, Saaka averaged 16 points and 6.6 boards per game, took 100 more field goals than any other Paladin, and was the only player on the team to hit 1000 minutes played. He's a threat from anywhere on the floor, leading the team in made and attempted three pointers, as well, and is an 87% free throw shooter. Logic would dictate that he'll be Smith's assignment on the night, and that will be a key match-up to watch. Actually, it will be THE key match-up. Jordan Miller and Noah States are certainly threats to score, but Tubbs should be more than able to handle Miller, and States' measurements are identical to Zeke's, meaning Zeke has the advantage.
ETSU SHOULD win this game. They've lost once on their home floor this year, and the team they faced was far, far better than Furman. Granted, the only teams of consequence that they played at home this year were Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville (the latter of whom, by the way, is also in this tournament, traveling to East Carolina), but this is the first postseason game the school has ever hosted, meaning there is a lot of significance and should be a lot of energy in the building. Hopefully, having an old SoCon team in the building will also help attendance, but the Paladins weren't really a huge draw back in the day, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.
On the baseball front, the Cardiac Bucs came away with a pair of ninth-inning rallies to sweep North Florida. Matthew Scruggs hit a rare game-winning triple in the top of the fourth on Friday that drove in what would prove to be the winning run, and then turned around and hit a two-run shot to give ETSU the lead in the top of the ninth on Saturday. Dylan Pratt (have I mentioned that this guy is awesome?) brought the house down with a three-run dinger on Sunday that gave the Bucs the sweep.
Scruggs went 5/12 with six RBIs and five runs scored, with a pair of homers - a solo shot and the aforementioned game-winning two-run shot - on Saturday. Pratt went just 2/8, but drove in five and scored two. There's also the matter of Derek Trent, who went 5/12 with 3 RBIs and a run scored, including a solo shot on Saturday and two doubles, one each on Saturday and Sunday.
On the hill, Bo Reeder earned that A-Sun Pitcher of the Week award, giving up just one hit in three innings, striking out two and picking up his fifth, sixth, and seventh saves in the sweep. I once joked that there was nothing long about John Long (standing at 5'10", and to that point having not lasted more than five innings), but he shut me up this weekend with a great performance on the hill, going 6.2 innings with just two earned runs allowed and 8 strikeouts. Bushey gave up four earned runs in 4.2 innings on Sunday, but continues to pad his strikeout numbers, adding five in his start for a team-leading 21 total on the season in just five appearances.
Overall, you have to like where the team is going. The squad has six wins in a row, offense coming from everywhere, and solid, consistent pitching (especially from the bullpen, which is very much needed), but there are a couple of sore spots.
Kerry Doane made an error in every game this weekend. His field percentage is at .873, the worst on the team. What is it with this program and shortstops? Justin Tramble, Nick Belcher, Garrett May, and now Doane. Kerry was not this bad last year - he committed 19 errors the entire season. At this rate, he'll be halfway to that by the end of the Jacksonville series.He's not the only one, either. Through 12 games, the team has committed a total of 23 errors. Niesman has five; Reeder has three. The team is fielding at a .951 clip, which isn't particularly good. This is not sustainable and will have to change before the team gets to the squads with the bats to make them pay, like, say, Jacksonville next weekend.
There's also the not-so-small matter of Paul Hoilman's struggles in this series. Paul Bunyan went 1/10 and struck out six times. I've struck out less than that with women (no, seriously). His timing might be off, or he could be trying to force things since no one wants to pitch to him - he was walked four times by the UNF staff and has gotten a free pass 16 times this year, which is more than double the next-highest Buc (Pratt has 6). Whatever the case may be, Paul has to get it together. There's no pressure yet, as we're still a long way away from the tournament, but we won't be dancing unless he's firing on all cylinders.
In other news, softball hosted the inaugural Buccaneer Challenge (which I erroneously called the Buccaneer Classic more times than I care to count) this weekend. They went 4-2 with a couple of unpleasant losses against Pittsburgh, but they've finally managed to find their offense.
Over all six games:
Henderson - .526 (7/19), 8 RBIs, 3 2B, HR
Baird - .476 (7/21), 13 RBIs, 2 2B, 3 HR
Lower - .389 (7/18), 3 RBIs, 2 HR
Campbell - .316, 7 RBIs, 2 2B, HR
The pitching numbers were a bit inflated by the losses to Pitt, but Duncan fanned 20 batters total and pitched two complete games, while Wolff had a one-hit shutout that was nearly a no-no against SC State, and both hurlers had ERAs under four, which is really good considering they were the two starters against Pitt and faced the brunt of the attack. Morris had the wost weekend statistically, mainly because she had mop-up duty against Pitt in both games, and they ate her alive.
Ultimately, though, I think this team is headed in the right direction. After losing four in a row, they've bounced back to win four of their last six, and the schedule should get a little easier now that they're moving into conference play, although a schedule with Lipscomb and Upstate as bookends may prove difficult.
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