BB: USAC: USA South Athletic Conference

[hokieone]

CNU struggled a bit last spring, and seemed to be peaking at tournament time, but fell a bit short. They feel they're stronger this year and will compete for the crown. It should be a pretty well-balanced year in USA South.

[narch]

Regular season Champion needs to be rewarded with an automatic bid, the Regular season Champ proves they are the best team over the long haul.

in many ways i agree, although until the last few years the usasac sent multiple teams to the tourney almost every year anyway

of course, i would agree...the monarchs have won 17 regular season championships and only 2 usasac tournament championships

[NCWC]

The CAC plays their tournament a week later than the usas they also commence a week later than a majority of the teams in the usas.
The WIAC begins conference tournament on may 11th their exams start up right after their tournament and they commence on may 20th.
Chapman commences on the 19th of May.  Their tourney is the second week of may I believe.

A lot of teams whether it be start of spring semesters or the date of commencement schedule their tournaments based on this.  All the teams in the USAS can start on the same date and there are a ton of schools they can play.  The tournament is fine where it is.  If the team loses out they dont have to stay into the summer. I do believe that many of the baseball teams in the USAS dont have the money to keep the kids at school two weeks after graduation to play the tournament.  The only solution to playing a later tourney would be to make all the teams in the USAS to start their spring semesters later.  Or raise a whole lot of money to keep those kids on campus til after graduation.

CNU is always a good team even when their record might not show it.

[BigPoppa]

Chapman commences on the 19th of May.  Their tourney is the second week of may I believe.

Chapman is independent and has no tourney.  They usually take a 2-3 week break before the NCAAs as it is tough to find teams to play locally with everyone heading to conference tourneys.

[Bostonian]

I just want to say how great it is to play some of the top USA South teams on our Spring trip. Playing at Methodist, Greensboro, and NCWC is one of the highlights of the season. Great programs...great coaches...great facilities.

I think part of the overall success the Jumbos have is due to the great early competitition they get from the NC and VA teams they play in March....

[PrideFan1986]

So its bout that time again to start another sport I think the Pride are going to be really strong this season. What about the rest of the USA South?

[PrideFan1986]

The thing that I will be most concerend with is going to be the pitching staff

[narch]

I just want to say how great it is to play some of the top USA South teams on our Spring trip. Playing at Methodist, Greensboro, and NCWC is one of the highlights of the season. Great programs...great coaches...great facilities.

I think part of the overall success the Jumbos have is due to the great early competitition they get from the NC and VA teams they play in March....

i always enjoy watching the jumbos play...even when they steal a game from the monarchs - a school like tufts is the epitome of what d3 is all about, and i hope the monarchs never stop playing them

plus, they might have the single greatest mascot in college sports with one of the best back-stories

[Bostonian]

Narch,
Methodist is always one of the big games for the trip, so you always get our #1. The past 2 years, it's been my brother, who has really had his A game when he's faced you guys...if your guy hadn't laced one of his shin last year, it might have been his best effort of the year.

Unfortunately, you won't be facing him this year, as he is currently rehabbing from a broken arm...

[Catfishncwc]

I am going to be quite biased on this being a NCWC baseball alum but I think we are going back to the series this year.  Coach long has put together a tough team.   Barring injuries we should take it this year. 

[A.G.]

Any Ferrum fans out here...
...they've been slow updating the web site.  What's the outlook for the Panthers?

[A.G.]

Since I do not have editing privileges, yet...
...here is the preseason info on Ferrum.  Just posted today:
http://www.ferrum.edu/athletics/Baseball/Ferrum-BB-CoSIDA-07.pdf

[narch]

Narch,
Methodist is always one of the big games for the trip, so you always get our #1. The past 2 years, it's been my brother, who has really had his A game when he's faced you guys...if your guy hadn't laced one of his shin last year, it might have been his best effort of the year.

Unfortunately, you won't be facing him this year, as he is currently rehabbing from a broken arm...

hope that rehab goest well for your brother

the situation you point out with pitching matchups is one that i lamented quite frequently last year - when the usasac went to 3 game conference weekends it meant that usasac teams were frequently pitching their 4th and 5th starters against other teams 3rd and 4th (and, obviously, sometimes the number 1) - tufts played mu sandwiched between 2 regional games and a 3 game set to open conference play with cnu, and the monarchs countered your #1 (who was cruising, by the way...he looked very good) with a guy who made 2 starts and pitched a total of 10.2 innings with a 7+ era and was making his first collegiate appearance

i'm hoping that going back to 2 game weekends will allow the usasac to be better equipped in this type of matchup

[Bostonian]

I'd say it evens out with us...we never hit much down South as it is our first week outside. So, your fifth guy looks like a 1 or 2.

Thanks for the compliment about Ben looking good against you guys. For some reason, he's just had it for the last 2 years against Methodist. I think he elevates hs game because he knows he's going against top players and taht he won't get much offensive support...pretty sure the scores have been 2-1, 2-0, and 3-1 over Ben's career at Tufts.

I'm sure you'll be happy to see somebody else on the hill this year.

[PrideSportBBallGuy]

How about this game GC 36-0 over La Sierra.
Then a 4-3 win over La Verne

2-0 start.  They have Cal Luteran on Sat.  Then Whittier on Sun