Pratt Rallies Bucs Past Rider; Basketball Was Played Somewhere

Tonight, Pratt the Trickster had a rather unimpressive hat trick: a K, a walk, and an HBP, but then went and pulled off a really great trick: he scored the winning run on a two-run blast (2) in the bottom of the 8th.

After Mike Thomas struck out ten batters in six innings, things looked pretty bleak for ETSU. Their only offense came on a solo shot from Paul Hoilman (2), who finished a triple shy of the cycle. I would make a snarky remark about how unlikely this is due to Hoilman's speed on the base paths, but it's midnight and I'm getting ready for Craig Ferguson.

Long turned in six respectable innings, but his stuff lacked something. It was likely the weather, which is understandable (nobody likes to pitch in the mid-40s at night), but he was able to keep the damage down with just two earned runs. His arm will feel the burn though, after throwing 166 pitches to the Broncs tonight. I wouldn't be shocked if he didn't play at all today in the field.

Unfortunately, Rider scored four runs, helped along by a pair of outfield errors from Betterson (1), Scruggs (1), and yet another defensive blooper Kerry Doane (4), which is giving him the benefit of the doubt - I would have scored him with two, even considering the rough (to put it mildly) infield conditions after the heavy rains last night.

Rider looked like they would run away with this game until McNally took the hill in the 7th and completely shut them down, with 4 Ks in two innings of work. He gave up his last two hits in the top of the ninth, but Reeder came in and got the save (1) to give McNally the win (2-0).

In addition to his error on a routine fly to left, Betterson also struck out swinging twice, as did Niesman. Green also went down twice, once looking, and went 0/4.

Speaking of players with struggles, Scruggs is hitting .167, and Derek Trent also went 0/3 and has one hit in the first four games. I really shouldn't have to tell you where this is going.







Now, in brief, basketball:

The Lady Bucs were flat in Buies Creek. Shawn Randall took the opening tip and immediately ran full-speed into her own back court, and things just went downhill from there. Granted, they played this game without Latisha Belcher, but it seemed like players wanted to take the game off. Pickwell was 3/10 from the field; Davis was 3/13 with six turnovers. The team needed offense from Tosha Austin in the post, and she went 1/5, although she at least partially made up for it with nine boards.

It was a meaningless game in the standings, but this is still a really disappointing loss, and the first ever against Campbell for this program. Hopefully they come out against Lipscomb a little more motivated, or we might have an upset on our hands.


For the men, the game started in a similar fashion when Curtis Wilkinson won the opening tip and threw it to Sollazzo in the back court; however, they went in the opposite direction for a very important win. The guys that needed to step up were the ones that stepped up. Zeke with another 21 points, Tubbs with a quiet 14 and solid shooting day (4/9), and Sollazzo's strong outside drive nets him more than a few trips to the line, where he makes the Camels pay and drops a career-best 22 on them. The best part of this win, though, wasn't the strong individual performances from the three starters - it's that they might play this team AGAIN in the tournament, with Smith and Williams in the lineup. Bartow must be licking his chops at the thought of having his two best scorers back and playing what would likely be the same team on the floor in the tournament.

If they don't play this team again, then it could be an even better matchup, as they'll play Kennesaw State, but that would also require KSU to beat Belmont, so I would strongly advise them to prep for Campbell.

Since I'm not one for clever transitions, let's move on to softball.

... you know, on second thought, the less said about softball's 6-3 loss to Northwestern (three fielding errors) and 11-1 mercy rule loss to Chattanooga, the better.

Finally, I do have to give some props to the ETSU tennis teams. I went out for a shoot at one of their practices, and I don't think I've ever seen a more gracious host than Yaser Zaatini. The men open up conference against Upstate today. Best of luck, guys!