BB: USAC: USA South Athletic Conference

[averetthomer]

Thanks for the input Falcon. I just don't really understand why Methodist is a lock to get in before GC. Methodist is now 26-15-1 overall while GC is 25-14. MC is scheduled to play two games with Piedmont while GC is supposedly playing 2 or 3 against Rhodes. If MC gets swept and GC sweeps, do things change a little bit or not? I'm just a fan of the game who is trying to learn more about the playoffs. Plus, my Cougars are waiting until next year.

[narch]

Thanks for the input Falcon. I just don't really understand why Methodist is a lock to get in before GC. Methodist is now 26-15-1 overall while GC is 25-14.

both teams have similar regional records (mu is 21-13-1 in region), but there is a pretty pronounced disparity in schedule strength - some of that is no fault of gc's...york went into a huge downward spiral this year, but roanoke and ehc have been terrible for a long time - it's ok to schedule those games, but when a team does this, they know that it will bite them come time to make a case for regionals - since i've been following mu baseball, they've always played a very strong regional schedule, and more often than not, the committee has rewarded them

to see what i'm talking about in action, take the 6 games that gc played against roanoke (15-21), ehc (7-32) and york (12-26) (combined winning % is .301) and replace them with these 6 games: 2 x lynchburg (30-11), 2 x cnu (28-12), vwc (26-14-1) and emory (25-11-1) (combined winning % is .696) - the rest of the schedule is very similar (in fact, almost identical) - mu is also playing a piedmont team that is currently 33-10 while gc is apparently playing a rhodes team that is currently 27-13

frankly, i don't think EITHER team has much of a shot, regardless of outcome in the remaining games

[Falcon2720]

If GC sweeps and MU gets swept of course Greensboro will have a better shot to get in (still a long-shot).

MU has solid wins over Bridgewater, Lynchburg, VWC, 2 against ODAC Champs RM-C, LaGrange, Huntington, 2 against CNU and SU.

I think the tie to Emory will come back to haunt them.  If they swept Piedmont, maybe their in.  I think they will be the last team left out.

CNU is in, NCWC is in the driver's seat.  Sweep Mary Washington and their in.

[A.G.]

MU also has two losses against Lynchburg....and even though I feel pretty good about LC's chances, if it came down to LC or MU, one would think the head-to-head record would be the tie breaker.

[narch]

MU also has two losses against Lynchburg....and even though I feel pretty good about LC's chances, if it came down to LC or MU, one would think the head-to-head record would be the tie breaker.

i don't think you have to worry about that...the hornets have a much stronger resume at this point than the monarchs do

[A.G.]

I agree, Narch, but I wanted to rebut the witness.  What I find interesting is all these "bubble" teams (Rhodes comes to mind) who all of a sudden are finding games after their seasons have technically ended.

[narch]

I agree, Narch, but I wanted to rebut the witness.  What I find interesting is all these "bubble" teams (Rhodes comes to mind) who all of a sudden are finding games after their seasons have technically ended.

technically their season hasn't ended until they've played the maximum number of games allowed by the ncaa - this is a fairly common practice in my experience

[A.G.]

Well, heck...if that's the way the rules allow...I can certainly understand it.

[A.G.]

Good luck to NCWC today...
...I would love for them to sneak in to Danville.

[Catfishncwc]

NCWC spilt with Mary Wash.  Leaves us with a record of 28-14-1.  Hope that is enough to get in regionals. 

[narch]

the monarchs brought their sticks tonight, pounding out 12 hits and scoring 7 runs in a 7-3 win over piedmont - toth struck out 11 in 6.2 ip - mu improves to 27-15-1...one more game on tuesday...any faint hope the monarchs have at a regional bid hinges on a win

box score

[narch]

here is a good piece from the fayetteville observer on tom austin and his career...i'm hoping he can end the regular season at 902 wins - go monarchs!

[WHEELIN WES]

Really nice article on Coach Austin. Super nice guy from the times I've spoken with him and obviously an outstanding coach who's got a lot more wins left in him. I just hope they don't come against the Bishops.

[narch]

the monarchs are up 7-6 after 7...bisp got knocked around pretty good and mu was down 6-0 after 2.5...geisinger came on to shut piedmont down and mu scored 2 in the bottom of the third and then put up a 5 spot in the bottom of the sixth - hopefully the monarchs can hold on for 2 more innings

[narch]

mu powered their way to a 16-6 victory today with 9 runs in the bottom of the 8th (led by a 3 run shot by proctor) - geisinger really pitched well in relief, giving up just 3 hits, 2 walks and 0 runs in 6.1 ip - mu finishes the season at 28-15-1 and gives the committee something to think about with a convincing sweep of the #2 ranked team in the region - the birmingham southern loss may come back to bite the monarchs, but that loss and the extra innings loss to guilford early are the only two "bad" losses this team had (i don't consider any loss to a conference foe a "bad" loss)

consider this about the monarchs...they were 6-7-1 vs. regionally ranked teams this season and they were 7-5-1 against teams that most consider a "lock" for the south regional (rmc, piedmont, lynchburg, emory and cnu)...that's a lot of games against top notch competition, not to mention the rigors of going through the usasac

the monarchs final regional record is 23-13-1 (.635) vs. opponents that had a .558 winning percentage...not bad, but i'm afraid, not good enough - great season boys...and i hope you play a few more

mu/pc box score