BB: USAC: USA South Athletic Conference

[A.G.]

Kisiah in now with more action in the MU pen.  Looking like Johnny whole staff.

[narch]

if the monarchs win, that's a great strategy

[A.G.]

LC wins 8 to 4 and goes 5 and 2 in hell week 2. Wins against MU and NCWC and VWC hopefully will help for an at large if needed.

[narch]

not the result i was hoping for today for the monarchs...lc goes 2-1 vs. mu on the season...ouch...a losing record against an odac team - good news...it doesn't look like any monarch pitcher was overly taxed and all should be ready to go for the weekend...just win the last one this weekend, boys, and let someone else worry about their pool c candidacy

box score

[narch]

not sure if there are any more usasac vs. odac match ups, but the usasac currently has a 47-28-1 (.625) series advantage - only ferrum has a losing record vs. the odac

au: 8-8
cnu: 6-4
gc: 11-1
mu: 8-3
ncwc: 6-2-1
su: 5-3
fc: 3-7

[A.G.]

I know of at least one match-up.  LC hosts GC next week before the ODAC tournament.

[NCWC]

I have nothing to say for myself today so I will copy and paste:

Monday, April 14, 2008
Diamond Bishops split pair, prepare for USA South Tourney

Bridgewater, VA - The Battling Bishop baseball team of North Carolina Wesleyan split a pair of non-conference road games on Sunday and Monday, downing York College by an 11-6 score and falling to Bridgewater 5-1. The two contests served as the Bishops' final tune-ups before entering this upcoming weekend's USA South Conference Tournament. Wesleyan will enter the tourney with a 24-11-1 overall record.

At York, Matt Smith gave the Bishops a quick 1-0 advantage when he led off the game with his third homerun of the season. Wesleyan managed a 4-2 lead before the Spartans put up a four-spot in the bottom of the fourth inning to go up 6-4.

The Bishops tied the score with single runs in the fifth and seventh, and NCWC went on to secure the win with five runs over the eighth and ninth stanzas. The four-run ninth was capped by a three-RBI double by junior Justin Tuck.

Freshman Andrew Webb (3-1) earned the win in relief after tossing 2.1 scoreless innings.

At Bridgewater, the Bishops managed just three hits on the day, while their single run came on a Jason Webb homer in the fifth.

Doug Roenker (2-2) took the loss on the mound.

Wesleyan will now prepare for the 2008 USA South Conference Tournament to be held in Burlington, NC. First round play begins on Thursday when the 2nd-seeded Bishops take on 7th-seeded Averett at 4:30 p.m. NCWC swept a two-game set with the Cougars earlier in the season.

Complete coverage can be found at http://www.methodist.edu/monarchs/baseball/2008usasouth.htm, and the winner will receive an automatic bid to the NCAAs

[Falcon2720]

USA South All-Conference Teams

Player of the Year
Trae Bailey - Chris. Newport

Pitcher of the Year
Kenny Moreland - Chris. Newport

Rookie of the Year
Greg Van Sickler - Shenandoah

Rookie Pitcher of the Year
J.R. Pike - Greensboro

Coach of the Year
John Harvell - Chris. Newport


The 2008 USA South All-Conference Baseball Teams follow:

First Team

1B - Dan Poindexter - Greensboro
2B - Alex Owen - Chris. Newport
3B - Seth Kivett - Methodist
SS - Trae Bailey - Chris. Newport
C - Nick Baker - Ferrum
DH - Ryan McDougal - Chris. Newport
Util - Greg Van Sickler - Shenandoah
OF - Matt Smith - N.C. Wesleyan
        Chris Pecora - N.C. Wesleyan
        Eric Cole - Chris. Newport
P - Kenny Moreland - Chris. Newport
      Ben Moore - N.C. Wesleyan
RP - Torrey Poholsky - Greensboro    

Second Team

1B - Chris Despins - Chris. Newport
2B - Travis Beausoleil - N.C. Wesleyan
3B - Eric Harrell - Ferrum
SS - Scott Russell - Methodist
C - Ted Williams - N.C. Wesleyan
Util - Justin Batts - N.C. Wesleyan
OF - Adam Higgins - Averett
        Tyler O'Neill - Greensboro
        Michael Carter - Methodist
P - Chris Toth - Methodist
      Kit Mock - Greensboro
RP - Jonathan Shearon - N.C. Wesleyan
     
Honorable Mention

1B - Ken Kellum - Averett
2B -  Eric Sibrizzi - Averett
3B -  Parker Neal - Chris. Newport
SS - Josh Simons - Shenandoah
C - Jeff Guerrie - Greensboro
Util - Kenly Locklear - Methodist
OF - Scott Lambert - Shenandoah
        Daniel Moore - N.C. Wesleyan
        Mike Giarrizzi - Chris. Newport
P - Ben Hildreth - Averett
      Jordan Dorsett - Greensboro
      Taylor DuFrene - Shenandoah
RP - Josh Simons - Shenandoah    

All-Sportsmanship Team

Justin Brown - Averett
Parker Neal - Chris. Newport
Dustin Howell - Ferrum
Alex Guerra - Greensboro
Scott Russell - Methodist
Daniel Moore - N.C. Wesleyan
Jesse Henry - Shenandoah

[NCWC]

Methodist is up on Shenandoah 5-3 in the 4th.  Monarchs have 11 hits so far.  Van Sickler is taking the beating right now for SU.

[NCWC]

Game 1 in the books:

Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Shenandoah Univ..... 102 000 000 -  3  6  0
Methodist University 311 000 00X -  5 14  4
-------------------------------------------

E - RUSSELL, S.(17); KIVETT, S.(14); PROCTOR, D.(3); HALPIN, B.(9). DP -
Shenandoah 2; Methodist 2. LOB - Shenandoah 6; Methodist 7. 2B -
VANDUSSELOR(5); RUSSELL, S.(6); PROCTOR, D.(6). 3B - RUSSELL, S.(1). HBP -
VERNON. SH - LAMBERT 2(5); DAVIS, B.(7); HALPIN, B.(7). SB - VAN SICKLER(8).
CS - EBERZ(1); TWICHELL, M.(1).


GC and Ferrum are about to kickoff.  Poholsky and Mays on the bump.  (3 of the 4 teams have elected to go with a #2 or #3)

[narch]

the two most important statistics for the monarchs from that game:

1- win
2 - landon jordan, 8.1 ip

great start for the monarchs - i imagine bisp will go on friday and toth on saturday (with geisinger available, if needed, for a second game) - kisiah would be available to go long if needed in any game - jordan, i imagine, would be unavailable for more than an inning or so on sunday, but having a starter go 8+ in a day one win is HUGE

i'd be willing to bet that cnu holds moreland back until friday, at least, maybe saturday if they win today

[narch]

ferrum has jumped on poholsky early, scoring a run on 3 hits in the top of the first - can mays hold off the gc bats?

[NCWC]

the two most important statistics for the monarchs from that game:

1- win
2 - landon jordan, 8.1 ip

great start for the monarchs - i imagine bisp will go on friday and toth on saturday (with geisinger available, if needed, for a second game) - kisiah would be available to go long if needed in any game - jordan, i imagine, would be unavailable for more than an inning or so on sunday, but having a starter go 8+ in a day one win is HUGE

i'd be willing to bet that cnu holds moreland back until friday, at least, maybe saturday if they win today

After I put that box up I realized there were no pitching stats.  GJ today by Jordan.  I think they will throw Moreland today, he can throw on short rest.

Wesleyan just pulled up at the hotel, they elected to drive to Burlington this morning.  I bet they will face Hildreth first.  I dont think AU has enough pitching to set up a strategy.

[A.G.]

Seems like the stats are hung up...stuck in the 2nd inning.  Does anyone have an update on the Ferrum-GC game?
(back working...Ferrum falls 5-1)

[narch]

gc gets an 8 inning performance out of poholsky...looks like he settled down after a rough first giving up just 2 hits over the last 7 ip and striking out 8 total

if moreland goes tonight, i hope he throws about 120 pitches