BB: USAC: USA South Athletic Conference

[Spence]

D-III doesn't have a run rule...the Dixie Conference might, I guess...

[narch]

could have been a time deal...the game didn't start until 7 pm

[narch]

the  monarchs salvage the split today, winning 6-5...looks like au was their own worst enemy, with 5 errors and 4 unearned runs - toth went the distance, saving the staff for the vwc match-up on tuesday

3 way tie at the top of the usasac with fc, cnu and mu all at 6-4

box score

[Spence]

could have been a time deal...the game didn't start until 7 pm

Don't they have lights? If they started at 7 with no lights, they couldn't have played as long as they did.

[George Foster]

15-3, thats a beating. Both teams might have agreed to cut it to save pitching or something.

[narch]

i found out that the usasac does have a "mercy rule"...it's 12 runs after 7 innings - apparently the monarchs were doing everything possible to score a run in the bottom of the 7th to extend the game...

[narch]

the monarchs improve to 22-8 with a 6-2 win over vwc - bisplinghoff goes 7 giving up 1 er - game story and box score - in vwc's defense, they threw a kid making just his 2nd start of the season since they have a conference game vs. rmc on wednesday then 2 against piedmont following that game...see what happens when you throw your #5 vs. another team's #3

[VW-16]

the monarchs improve to 22-8 with a 6-2 win over vwc - bisplinghoff goes 7 giving up 1 er - game story and box score - in vwc's defense, they threw a kid making just his 2nd start of the season since they have a conference game vs. rmc on wednesday then 2 against piedmont following that game...see what happens when you throw your #5 vs. another team's #3

The pitching match up does not lend any excuse for losing the game. First off, I think the young kid for VWC threw a decent game. Defensive mistakes cannot happen with a young guy on the mound. After the error in the second...walk, single, walk, double which ended up being the game. One bright spot is David Imperato had another good outing. If his stamina builds up the whole outlook can change for VWC down the stretch. Congrats to Methodist for taking care of business on the road.

[narch]

The pitching match up does not lend any excuse for losing the game. First off, I think the young kid for VWC threw a decent game. Defensive mistakes cannot happen with a young guy on the mound. After the error in the second...walk, single, walk, double which ended up being the game.

6 ip, 5 hits, 5 r, 4 er, 4 bb, 2k...not terrible, but not a very good line, either, especially the walks - were the walks in the 2nd inning intentional?

reading the play-by-play, i'm not sure why any of the runs were unearned, though...it's feasible to think that the runner who advanced to 3rd on the error by the catcher could have scored from second on a single, and if he didn't he could have scored on the walk to the next batter (you can't assume an out if the batter was walked intentionally) - unless the scorer determined that russell would have been out without the error...in which case the last run should have been unearned, as well, since the kivett ground out would have ended the inning - am i right or am i missing something?

[SU97]

Narch - looking forward to catching the SU-MU game friday night up here.

I think you've made a great point a couple of times on here that with the elimination of the 3 game series for the USASAC schools it allows them to compete better in out-of-conference play.  With every USASAC team above .500, I would say it seems to be playing out as expected.  

However, I think that the by-product is now a crazy mad dash to the conf. tournament...  with the 3 game series you had enough games to really distinguish/seperate the schools.  Now we are looking at 3 teams tied for first while 2 others are a game back.  It really makes every series important, there's no longer a third game to "recover" after a single loss.  

[narch]

Narch - looking forward to catching the SU-MU game friday night up here.

I think you've made a great point a couple of times on here that with the elimination of the 3 game series for the USASAC schools it allows them to compete better in out-of-conference play.  With every USASAC team above .500, I would say it seems to be playing out as expected. 

However, I think that the by-product is now a crazy mad dash to the conf. tournament...  with the 3 game series you had enough games to really distinguish/seperate the schools.  Now we are looking at 3 teams tied for first while 2 others are a game back.  It really makes every series important, there's no longer a third game to "recover" after a single loss.   

great point re: the crazy mad dash - this weekend is big for all teams involved, with only gc and su eliminated from the fight for the #1 seed

if the monarchs can take 2 (easier said than done), they get the #1 seed regardless of what happens with cnu, fc, ncwc or au...i'll be rooting for at least 3 splits this weekend (i'd prefer 2 splits and a monarch sweep, but i'm not greedy) since the monarchs own the tie-breaker against the captains and panthers

if i'm calculating correctly, the only way the monarchs can NOT be the #1 seed with a split this weekend is if cnu and/or fc sweep or if averett sweeps ferrum, and ncwc sweeps cnu...this would make all three teams (au, ncwc and mu) 7-5 and give au the tie-breaker by virtue of their 3-1 record vs. ncwc and mu - if averett sweeps and ncwc/cnu split along with a mu split, au and mu would be tied, and mu would win the tie-break by virtue of their sweep over cnu

either way, i think the monarchs are the only team that controls their own destiny...

i could be wrong, though

[Catfishncwc]

NCWC beat #15 Divsion 2 team Mount Olive yesterday 10-9 in 10 innings.  Good win for the Bishops hopefully this will carry over to the weekend series against CNU. 

[narch]

Good win for the Bishops

i'd say that's a good win, too...great job bishops...now let that carry over to a split vs. cnu

[WHEELIN WES]

Great job NCWC.  Keep the bats hot this weekend and thru to turney.  Big weekend for the USAS...

[redbird5]

the monarchs improve to 22-8 with a 6-2 win over vwc - bisplinghoff goes 7 giving up 1 er - game story and box score - in vwc's defense, they threw a kid making just his 2nd start of the season since they have a conference game vs. rmc on wednesday then 2 against piedmont following that game...see what happens when you throw your #5 vs. another team's #3

Methodist got the timely hits and VWC did not.  Congrats to Methodist.