I dont know if anybody else watched the USM game today but wow what a crazy ending. Millsaps pitcher hit in the head on the bunt in the 10th inning. With a runner on first the bunt came down the first base side...the 1b came to field and the pitcher continued to first base thinking the play was to second. As the 1b turned to throw to second he threw it right into the pitchers head...from literally an arms length away. The ball bounced to third base and everybody was safe. The play ended up costing the Majors the game but luckily nobody was injured badly...the pitcher ended up coming out of the game but threw a couple of pitches before doing so.

Glad nobody was hurt and USM came away with a victory. Good luck to them as they represent New England.

Boggsy, I watched them score all 14 of their runs from the third through the sixth inning. Framingham didnt put 6 on the board until the 8th inning when they scored 3 runs (probably off backups). Either way it was nice to see some offense during a mid week game! Hopefully after taking 4 of 5 over the last 4 days will help dial this team in.

Still a lot of work to do for the top seed!

Keene beat up on Framingham yesterday in their home opener. Hopefully the tides are starting to turn for them!

Baseball is back...oh thank god

As we head into the second weekend of the LEC some interesting stories...

UMB heads to Providence for a match up against a struggling RIC squad that split with KSC last weekend. UMB (6-7 overall, 2-0 conference) swept UMD last weekend to put themselves in a good early season spot atop the conference. Both teams have played one of the top teams in New England (St. Joe's) with UMB taking one of two and RIC getting swept. I say split on Saturday as both teams come to play at least one game.

KSC (6-13 overall, 1-1 conference) will travel to UMD (4-9 overall, 0-2 conference) to take on the Corsairs. If Keene wants to think about turning their season around they need a sweep here. If there is a sweep by either team this weekend it creates a big whole for the loser to dig out of for the remainder of the year. Keene shows up to play and takes 2 from Dartmouth.

Plymouth State (10-7 overall, 1-1 conference)who split with Eastern last week, is off to a good start in 2013. They travel to Western (4-8 overall, 0-0 conference) who has yet to play an LEC game this year. The Colonials have struggled to start the campaign and I think Plymouth knows what is at stake with a sweep. Plymouth takes two and really shows they are here to compete.

The matchup of the weekend brings us to Wilimantic, CT for USM (11-3 overall, 0-0 conference) against Eastern (13-5-1 overall, 1-1 conference). The Huskies are off to a hot start and Eastern had a big win over Montclair already this week. Always an exciting day when Flaherty and Holowaty lead teams battle it out. USM looks to be for real so far and mashes their way to a sweep.

Good luck to all teams as we are finally getting into Spring!

USM and Eastern off to strong starts as usual. PSU the surprise of March! Hopefully they can keep it going into LEC play.

Biggest surprise (maybe not for everybody) is Keene at 5-11. They lost again last night to Babson 14-4 and are not off on the right foot in New England. Hopefully their first LEC doubleheader shows something different but with a tough LEC (as it looks right now) who knows where the Owls will be in 2-3 weeks! Best of luck!

First national rankings out for 2013...lots of New England teams in the polls. Eastern, USM in the top 25 with KSC receiving votes.

http://www.collegiatebaseball.com/polls/divIII/currentpolldiviii.htm?DB_OEM_ID=18900

Hope everybody had a good Christmas and enjoy their New Years!

It's November 9th...at least we are talking about baseball!!

To your point Boggsy, should be interesting to see if PSU (formerly Plywood St.) can put together another season like last year...almost .500 and 5-9 in LEC.

St. Joe's ends KSC's season with a 6-1 win. Monks had the pitching and defense today as the Owls commited some costly errors early on. Good luck to St. Joe's as they continue on tonight against WNEU.

Good season for the Owls- hopefully they can rebuild after losing 10 seniors!

Congrats to USM on their LEC title...surviving the conference tournament in and of itself is something to behold!

Should be another great tournament as 6 of the 8 teams have 30 wins or more (most out of any regional). Not sure about the other regions but I know Eastern does a hell of a job broadcasting the tournament and look forward to wasting my days watching all the games. Good luck to the Huskies and Owls in CT this week as they represent the LEC in the NCAA tournament.

Early Prediction- St. Joe's represents New England in WI.
Dark Horse- WNEU (as word mentions they are always hot at the right time, also have highest team BA. at .339)
Early Exit- USM (4.88 team ERA will not win the regionals against teams with sub 3's Wheaton,St. Joe's, Trinity)

I like the hit and run there...make something happen because apparently it hadn't been happening all game...it is tough with a lefty only becuase you are taught to go on first move (maybe not for a hit and run) but I like the call...good win for Plymouth!

WNECalum222 I hear ya about the national recognition...the running joke was that if Eastern (or USM at the time) started out 0-4 they would still be ranked because of their name. Don't get me wrong both of those programs are top notch (winning wise) but unless you are 30-2 or some ridiculous record like that it takes a little time to get the eyes looking beyond ECSU and USM (for the LEC anyways).

WNEC has put together a very solid season and apart from the CCCCCCCCC schedule they play shared 18 opponents with KSC. Of the 9 losses that both teams currently have this is how they fared with common opponents...

Both lost to Farmingdale St. at the beginning of the season.
Both lost to St. Joe's in Florida
WNEC lost to Amherst, Keene beat Amherst
WNEC swept by Wheaton, Keene lost first game and second coming up this weekend

Of course WNEC beat up on Keene when they played down in Springfield earlier this month but for the most part they seem to be pretty evenly matched teams (WNEC .348 avg vs. KSC .341 avg). Both have become very competitive programs in New England and are continuing to show it this year. Beating Eastern this week should provide the much needed "word of mouth" to get the Golden Bears into the national spotlight!

Keene has 3 big home games this weekend against USM (conference doubleheader) and Wheaton (nationally ranked). 29-9 with a firm grip on the #1 spot in the conference and beating a nationally ranked Wheaton team would be a nice way to end April!

The kid supposedly has a rubber arm and didnt have a problem bouncing back... I believe Castelton needed to win both (as well as have some help elsewhere) to host the conference tournament or something like that...either way tough to imagine throwing 14 innings over 4+ hours of baseball, plus the rest in between games etc.

Big weekend (again) for the LEC as Keene loses to Plymouth 4-1 to fall into a tie for first place in the conference. With UMB beating USM we have ourselves quite the showdown on Saturday as the end of the season rolls around and teams are vying for the #1 seed.

Upcoming games this weekend in the LEC...

RIC 17-8 (4-1 LEC) travels to KSC 19-7 (4-1 LEC) to battle for #1 in the conference. Keene has been unbeatable at home this year and should show up for the challenge..KSC will need to get to RIC ace David Hoey (3-0 1.44 ERA) who has been having quite the year down in Providence. Keene sweeps and controls #1.

Eastern 17-6 (3-2 LEC) heads up to northern NH to take on Plymouth 10-11 (1-4 LEC). Warriors overmatch the Panthers and sweep.

UMASS Boston 14-9 (3-2 LEC) takes on UMASS Dartmouth 12-12 (1-4 LEC). Boston just beat USM and Dartmouth may be on a slide. Beacons take both.

USM 12-11 (3-2 LEC) takes on Western 10-14 (1-4 LEC) and the Huskies need a sweep to stay in the picture. Western has some offense and USM lacks pitching, split in Maine.

Big game down @ECSU this weekend for Keene St. 16-5 (2-0 LEC) and Eastern 14-4 (2-0 LEC). Sweep puts the winner in the driver's seat with a big hill to climb for the loser the rest of the year. Owls have won 9 straight and have been hitting very well (league best .337). Eastern suffered a tough loss to Montclair but came back swinging against Salve. Keene needs to clean up their defense (6th at .941) to keep their pitching in the game. Eastern's pitching is a league best (3.73) so I predict a split in Mansfield.

Plymouth St. 8-8 (1-1 LEC) travels to RIC 13-8 (1-1 LEC) for a good matchup that could show that Plymouth is for "real" this year. Plymouth is second in the conference in team batting avg (.329) but second to last in team era (6.16). I take pitching over hitting (RIC is 2nd in LEC in team era at 3.80) and see a sweep by RIC.

The University of Southern Maine 9-10 (1-1 LEC) travels to the south shore to take on UMASS Dartmouth 11-8 (1-1). Looks to be mentor vs. mentee as Coach Prince gets his first crack at his former team. USM has been up and down so far this season but they look to get back on track with a sweep in MA. I say USM takes them both.

UMASS Boston 11-9 (0-2 LEC) travels to WCSU 9-12 (0-2) for the last conference doubleheader of the weekend. Hopefully Western can finally get on their field after the construction and start their tough conference schedule off right (they have UMB this weekend 4/7 then at Eastern on 4/10, at USM on 4/14, home against Eastern on 4/17, home against Long Island 4/19 and home against Dartmouth 4/21). The Beacons are looking for that winning streak that will put them in contention and winning on the road in the LEC is tough. I see a split between the Lighthouses and Mustache Men!