Entry #22 - 3/15/04

Once again we played well and won on Friday night, but could not seem to find a way to win one more on Saturday or Sunday. Thus for the second consecutive weekend we lost a road series. We still have twenty four more conference games, so there is no need to panic, but we need to start putting some wins together. The Southern Conference is stronger than ever as you have to play well every game if you want to win. Every program has at least three good arms that can beat you on any given day. So if you show up to the park not ready to play you will get whipped. That is precisely what happened to us this past weekend in Statesboro.

Friday night was a great atmosphere for college baseball and Jeremy Hall was on center stage. He did not disappoint as he had as dominant performance as we have had here in a long time. After surrendering an unearned run in the first inning, he only allowed three hitters to go beyond first base the rest of the evening. He finished with a complete game victory, striking out six and not walking one batter. As the game went on he just seemed to get stronger and stronger. Jeremy is living up to his billing, as out of high school he probably could have gone to any school in the country. Jeremy was the number one prospect in the Team One Showcase at Notre Dame prior to his senior year and was very heavily recruited. We were very fortunate he decided to come to ETSU. Our offense was lead by Blake Church, Josiah Glafenhein and Caleb Moore as they each had two hits apiece. Late in the game, Greg Roberts added some insurance by hitting a deep shot to left, his second homer of the year.

After a good nights sleep we came to the park Saturday ready to win the series. Shane Byrne got us on the board early as he hit his third homer of the year in the first to give us an early lead. That was our game plan as we wanted to get ahead early and go for the jugular. Georgia Southern had other thoughts though, as we hit a batter and walked another in the first, allowing them to take a 2 – 1 lead. Our starter, Steven Calicutt has struggled in his last two outings throwing strikes. Anybody who knows baseball will tell you that if you throw strikes you at least are going to give your team a chance to win. If you don’t throw strikes you chances of being successful are reduced drastically. “Cutt” is the most polished pitcher on our staff and I am amazed at his struggles the last two weeks. It is funny, because if I had to pick one guy on our staff to hit a target in order to save my life, I would call and make a tee time for tomorrow and then flip him the ball. Saturday he was not missing by much, but whenever he gave them a free pass, Georgia Southern capitalized as five of the seven runs he allowed were on base due to walks. “Cutt” is a great worker and has a strong desire to succeed, so I know he will turn it around soon.

After holding Georgia Southern to a .212 batting average on Friday evening. Their hitters exploded to hit .443 for the next two games to put us away. On Sunday, our inability to handle a couple of bunts and our own failure to drive runs in led to our demise. I would be willing to bet that there is not a team in the country who practices bunt defense and pitcher fielding practice more than we do. But for some reason we just didn’t execute on Sunday. Early in the game we had runners on second and third with no outs and could not scratch across a run. For the series we only hit .233 with runners in scoring position, while Georgia Southern hit .385. That pretty much tells the story.

Once again there is no time to pout as Ball State rolls into Johnson City for a two game series on Tuesday and Wednesday. It is going to be another great challenge as they won 36 games last year and are the pre-season favorite to win the Mid American Conference this season. Our record currently stands at 10 and 10 and even though we have had some lapses of poor play at times, I still think our best baseball is ahead of us. Out of those ten losses, there are maybe three of those that I would like to have back, because I thought we should have won. The other seven we simply played poorly or our opponents were just better on that particular day. So best case scenario we could be 13 and 7. Going into this weekend our opponents had a combined record of about 15 – 20 games over .500, so I’m not too concerned because we have played some good people. As we continue through this difficult stretch of our schedule, I expect our club to play some very good baseball. We usually are pretty good at home and 10 of our next 14 will be played in our backyard. I hope we are up to the challenge.

On Thursday before we left to go on our trip to Statesboro, our university received some devastating news. Our compliance officer, Tim Mullins had suddenly passed away in his home on Thursday morning. Tim was an integral part of our athletic department and very good at his job. He wore many hats and did so many things for the entire university and athletic department. Tim was a very dear friend and colleague. He was a big fan of our baseball program and a big fan of our players. He probably did more behind the scenes for every athlete at ETSU than any other individual on campus. I can’t even begin to say how helpful he has been to my players. Before we boarded the bus on Thursday, I gave the news to our team. It was a very emotional and difficult few minutes in our clubhouse. I always enjoyed Tim’s company whether it was at work, at lunch, on the golf course or sharing a cold drink. He was a great sports fan and had a tremendous love and passion for ETSU. When I interviewed for this job, Tim was on the search committee. He showed me around campus and Johnson City and really sold me on ETSU and this area. For that I will forever be indebted to him. Tim was always great to my wife and kids, as he always went out of his way to make them feel welcome and comfortable.

His funeral was this past Saturday and I hate that our team and I missed the service. Jody and the boys attended the service and she said it was beautiful. Tomorrow I plan on visiting his grave site. It is hard for me to believe he is gone. The day before his passing he was at our game and everything seemed perfectly fine. Prior to the game he was in our office at the field and he was giving me a hard time because I did not have his number in my cell phone. As I plugged the number in I told him I was now going to call and bother him all the time. I sure wish I would have called him that night. Today I kept waiting for him to come into my office and bust my chops about some compliance issue. I couldn’t force myself to walk down to his office. When you lose someone you are close with, it is never easy. There are never enough answers or reasons. Our players have decided in his honor to place his initials on our hats. It seems like such a small gesture for someone who has done so much. Our prayers are with his mother and all his family and friends. I know he is now looking down and rooting for the Bucs, just as hard as always. I’m going to miss you Tim. Thanks for being a great friend.

Until Next Time…

Coach Skole