Entry #29 - 5/04/04

Exams are officially over and summer is rapidly approaching. The majority of our players did well this semester while a few still need to get on the ball. But for the most part I was pleased with their performance in the classroom. Monday evening I had the team over for a cookout at my house and you could tell they were relieved that school was out. Like I’ve mentioned before this time of year is the best for college baseball players. Especially if you are playing well and you are in contention for the post season. The month of May in college baseball is what the month of March is for college basketball. The best programs and the best players turn it up a notch and take it to the next level.

This past weekend was huge for our baseball program. Besides a few years in the late seventies and early eighties, there has not been a lot of team history made by the ETSU baseball program. In the last sixty years only four times have teams at ETSU won thirty or more games. On the other hand if you look at The Citadel, this year will be the 17th season in a row in which they have won 30 or more games. ETSU has had only one 30 win season during that time period. In the last few decades there have been some tremendous players come through this program. I mean guys that could flat out play. But the overall success of some of those teams has not been very good. So as our club begins to have some success, there are a lot of firsts. An example was this past weekend was the first time in history that ETSU has swept The Citadel in a three game series.

When you play big games and have big wins, coaches always tell their guys to act like you have done it before, don’t get too excited. But in reality and all honesty, we haven’t ever done it before. So it is exciting for everyone involved in our program. We have had our share of tough losses and difficult seasons. These occasions, although difficult have been a great learning experience for me, my staff and our program. We are not even close to having the big wins equal out the losses, but I think we are beginning to turn the corner. I have a great memory and we have suffered some tough defeats over the last five years. So as we begin to rack up some big wins, it makes it even more gratifying when you see how far we have come.

All three games were fantastic college baseball games this weekend. And all three games could have gone either way. In our scouting report meeting prior to the series we challenged our guys. We told them we needed all of them to have outstanding individual performances this weekend. And that is basically what we got.

Game One was a great game that reminded me of a heavyweight boxing match. The Citadel jumped out to an early 4 to 0 lead, only to see us come back to tie it up at 4 to 4. In the fourth inning Caleb Moore got us going with a leadoff single. He would later score on Blake Church’s double. Andy Howdeshell and Steven Calicutt would then hit “back to back” homers to tie the game. It was the first time all year we had gone “back to back”. When your team gets back in the game you want to make sure you hold your opponent and don’t let them answer. But The Citadel responded with four more runs in the 5th to take the lead 8 to 4. I was definitely concerned at that point because we went from an emotional high to an immediate low. I was not sure if we could respond. In the bottom of the sixth we loaded the bases with 0 outs and could only scratch one run across on Steven Douglas’s fielder’s choice making the score 8 to 5. I thought that may have been our last and best opportunity to get back in the game. But Tim Turner and Josh Kite quieted their bats to keep us in the game. In the 7th Shane Byrne coaxed a leadoff walk, followed by another single by C. Moore. Andy Howdeshell then delivered a double to bring us within one. Then with two outs Josiah Glafenhein delivered a huge rbi single to tie the game. In the top of the 8th The Citadel would threaten again as they scored a run to take the lead. With runners at 2nd and third a routine groundball was hit to our third baseman, Greg Roberts. It looked as if Greg would easily field the “high chopper” and throw the runner out at the plate, but at the last minute the ball glanced off his glove. Now we were behind again (9-8) with six outs remaining. “Kiter” induced an inning ending double play to prevent any further damage.

Baseball can be a cruel game, but I firmly believe that if you play the game the way you are supposed to play it, and you work extremely hard at it, that in the long run the “Baseball Gods” will take care of you. Well guess who was to lead off the next inning? You guessed it, Greg Roberts. The “Baseball Gods” were watching over Greg as he hit the second pitch he saw over the left field wall to tie the game. That was the most excited and loud I had seen our dugout all season. Suddenly we were back in the game. Josh pitched out of an unbelievable jam in the ninth, making an unbelievable play, fielding a high chopper and flipping to Caleb to get the third out of the inning. Throughout the season I know our pitchers get tired of doing so much PFP (pitcher’s fielding practice), but boy did it pay off in that inning. So now the stage was set for the ninth. Andy Howdeshell led off with a walk in a great at bat in which he was down in the count 0 and 2. Josiah then worked a one out walk bringing freshman Stephen Douglas to the plate with the winning run in scoring position. Stephen has been struggling recently and really pressing at the plate. Stephen has a chance to be a real special player and how he works his way through this tough stretch will be a good test for him. But on this day he busted out as he came through with a huge hit to give us the first game of the series. It was a great come from behind win and our first win in our last at bat of the year.

Game Two was just an unbelievable college baseball game. The Citadel scored a run in the top of the first and led 1 - 0 until the bottom of the fourth when we scored three runs. Caleb Moore and Blake Church led off the inning with base hits. Then with one out Stephen Douglas delivered a double to left field and would later come around to score on a wild pitch. The Citadel, as they did all weekend would answer back with three runs of their own in the top of the 5th. In our half of the 5th we scored two to retake the lead 5 – 4. Matt Traylor walked and moved to second on Shane Byrne’s sacrifice bunt. Caleb Moore then drove in Matt with a double to right field. Andy Howdeshell would follow with a big two out double to score Caleb. Both teams exchanged runs in the sixth and in the top of the seventh, The Citadel would score two more runs to take a 7 – 6 lead. The score remained that way until the bottom of the ninth. That is when the Caleb Moore show that had been going on all weekend, really began to take place. Caleb led off the ninth by hitting a 1 and 0 breaking ball over the left field wall to tie the game. What a clutch hit. In the tenth, Caleb then came into pitch and was marvelous throwing four scoreless innings. The score remained tied until the bottom of the 13th. I told the guys in the dugout before that inning that we were not going to sacrifice bunt anymore. Shane Byrne would lead off the inning with a clutch, two-strike single to left. Caleb would then follow with a single up the middle. This set the stage for Blake Church as he ripped a 1 and 0 fast ball just inside the foul pole for the game winner. It was one of the longest balls I’ve seen hit to left field in our park. Brandon Summey and Caleb were phenomenal coming out of the bullpen as they combined to throw seven scoreless innings of baseball.

Game Three was a marathon as the game was delayed almost three hours due to rain. Jeremy Hall hung in there and battled to earn his 8th win of the season and give us the sweep. Josh Kite was again effective out of the pen as he pitched 2 and two thirds of scoreless relief. Caleb, had another big day with three hits and three rbi. Shane Byrne and Tim Turner each had two hits apiece. Caleb was unbelievable all weekend going 9 for 15 with 5 rbi. I also thought this was Shane Byrne’s best weekend of his career as he produced big hits all weekend. Our two, three, four and five hitters (Byrne, Moore, Church and Howdeshell) combined to go 24 for 52 (.461) with 16 rbi’s for the weekend. It was a great effort by everyone associated with our program.

This series sweep puts us closer to earning a bid to the conference tournament. I believe our magic number is now one. But more importantly it speaks volumes of where our program has come from and the direction we are heading. It is going to be tough but we have a legitimate chance to win 30 games this year. We want to be playing our best baseball come tournament time. Hopefully we will be that “dangerous team” that nobody wants to play. The next two weeks should be interesting. Until next time…

Coach Skole