BB: USAC: USA South Athletic Conference

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Game 1 final -- Greensboro 10, Shenandoah 4.

Game 2 final -- Averett 3, NC Wesleyan 2. Wesleyan leaves the winning run at second.

Game 3 final -- Ferrum 8, Christopher Newport 7. Ferrum wins on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 9th. I would wonder how that happens, but Thomas was running so he may very well have just beat a throw or challenged the fielder. Moreland was dominant for 5 innings, K-ing 9. Sowers tripled in the first and Thomas homered. Kevin Moreland's leadoff walk in the bottom of the 9th right after CNU tied it was a killer. Ferrum survived 4 errors and more unearned runs than will be represented in the final box score. Neither Holm nor King should have an earned run.

[narch]

some serious last inning heroics for the panthers to take down cnu

i've got to be honest, gc scares the heck out of me...those bats seemed to really come alive in the su game, and there isn't a more scary offensive team in the conference than the pride - monarchs need to pull a win tonight...go monarchs!

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Shenandoah's pitching beyond Dufresne and Frelin is very suspect, so when Dufresne went out, they were in big trouble. The top of the Greensboro order looks potent though.

Are you at the tournament narch?

[narch]

Are you at the tournament narch?

no...livestats is great, though

[Spence]

Concur...

Btw, the estimated pitch count for Holm was only 73. So one would think he could come back on Day 3 or 4 if needed, or both perhaps if they're shorter stints. Bray threw around 100 and Shelton and Pearson both had EPCs of around 115.

Ferrum's got Garner to throw tomorrow against Averett, and essentially saved themselves a pitcher down the road. That went about as well as a day can go tournament-wise for them.

[SU97]

Looks like GC is on the board first, up 1-0 in the top of the first against MU.

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Final -- Methodist 6, Greensboro 5.

Walkoff hit by pitch. Exciting. Single, SAC, IBB, BB, HBP. Greensboro left them loaded in the top of 9th and left 9 on in the game, outhitting Methodist 11-6. No one to blame but themselves for letting this one get away.

And the scorekeeping continues to be very bad. Earned runs are wrong again, Mock should only have 4 earned, and it's pretty hard for Poholsky to be the losing pitcher when he didn't give up a freaking run! I can't believe someone's getting paid to do this job.

Poholsky gets a blown save, Mock gets the loss. Not that tough.

[narch]

spence - do one run wins count? 

i couldn't stay up until beyond 1 am last night, so i had to resort to getting the account of the game this morning...sounds like a great game, and certainly a great win for the monarchs and monarch fans

getting back to the 1 am thing...i know weather forced the start times back a bit, but i don't understand why the 3rd game didn't start at 4:30 or even 5:30...there was a 2+ hour gap from the end of game 2 until the start of game 3

[PrideSportBBallGuy]

I have off today.  As of right now it looks like a good day for baseball.  I will head over there today and go root for both Greensboro teams playing today.  I looks like I could see 4 greensboro games today.  Maybe I will see one of you over there.  Narch are you going to be there at all this weekend.

[NCWC]

can anyone head over to graham hs for me?  live stats doesnt cover the high school fields.  Im sure Blake is pitching.....will robertson be ready for the nightcap?

[Spence]

spence - do one run wins count? 

i couldn't stay up until beyond 1 am last night, so i had to resort to getting the account of the game this morning...sounds like a great game, and certainly a great win for the monarchs and monarch fans

getting back to the 1 am thing...i know weather forced the start times back a bit, but i don't understand why the 3rd game didn't start at 4:30 or even 5:30...there was a 2+ hour gap from the end of game 2 until the start of game 3

Of course they count...but that doesn't mean luck isn't a factor in winning them, and that a one-run record that is heavily weighted toward wins or losses won't eventually swing back the other direction. What's questionable is whether the D-III college season is long enough for that correction to fully occur.

No idea on the game times.

[narch]

Narch are you going to be there at all this weekend.

unfortunately, no

Of course they count...but that doesn't mean luck isn't a factor in winning them, and that a one-run record that is heavily weighted toward wins or losses won't eventually swing back the other direction. What's questionable is whether the D-III college season is long enough for that correction to fully occur.

is a 162 game season long enough?  i seem to remember that when the white sox won the series a few years ago, they set an mlb record for one-run wins in a season (i could be wrong, but i THINK i remember that stat being discussed at length that season)...no question there is a little luck involved in EVERY game, but at what point does a team that consistently wins close games stop being lucky?

like gc last night, ferrum saturday scares me...any team that can put up runs in big bunches like those 2 (and averett) isn't a great matchup for the monarchs - cooper has been pretty tough for the monarchs in his career, so runs might be at a premium for mu - toth is a big game pitcher, though, and i think he'll be ready...go monarchs!

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What did the White Sox do the next season in one-run games? That might partially give you an answer. But even great teams with great closers in MLB have had mediocre records in 1-run games.

There are a few external factors to one-run games...playing as the home team, as a comeback in the last at-bat can't result in a win by more than a run unless it's a HR, playing lower scoring games would seem to lend itself to more one-run games (and Emory and Methodist both fit that), but two of the one-run games yesterday were high-scoring.

Averett and Ferrum won 1-run games as well but over the season haven't been as successful in one-run games. Did they suddenly develop a talent for it? Unlikely. I think it just shows how evenly matched the teams down there are, and that either team could have won all of the last 3 games.

Is winning close games a skill? Great question. If it is, would it be a coaching skill, a function of hitters, pitchers, or some intangible factor?

Looks like someone got the memo on how to scored earned runs in Burlington, and unfortunately the best defensive team in the tournament statistically (by fielding pct., not the best I know) is victimizing their pitcher. Greensboro 4, CNU 1 with Greensboro still batting in the 7th. Well, mostly walking, now.

CNU going to Moreland with the bases loaded...no pressure.

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To piggyback on my own post, and perhaps support yours...

Marietta has stats archived on its site since 1997. In that team MC is 57-31 in one-run games, including this year. Brewer is 17-11 (8-6 last year alone!), Schaly was 37-20 (16-4 in 2001 and 2002).

Every year but 03 we've been above .500 in one-run games.

I'd be interested to see similar data from other teams. I could see talent gap being a part of the reason for MC's record (especially Schaly's, since we were playing ahem, a different type schedule, even though in 2001 we were 4-1 in the regionals and in Appleton in one-run games).

[NCWC]

charlies hell angels are still alive according to the front page on usas