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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