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Good to see us take the continuation game 18-5 over Western Carolina, to move to 2-6!

We dominated yesterday.  Nate Palace with what we think is a school record six runs scored in a single game.  Beasley with a monster grand slam and 7 RBIs.  Mahar with three shutout innings.  Walsh with a perfect ninth on the mound.  Nice win with timely hitting early.  It got ridiculous with WCU pitching late...

One of the more exciting finishes to a baseball game that I've seen last night.  After Ellis Foreman came in out of the pen to throw five innings of shutout ball, we brought him back out for the ninth with an 8-6 lead.  Ellis tired and gave up two hits and a run.  With one out and runners on first and second, we brought in Bryce Yoder, a submariner, to close it out.  Bryce got the first batter to fly out to left.  Now two outs with the top of the order up for the Catamounts.  The hitter dropped a soft ground ball into the trouble area between the mound and first base.  A second of indecision led to a race to first which the WCU batter won.  Bases loaded, two out. 

Bryce got behind 3-1 and was one pitch away from walking in the tying run.  A tap foul ran the count full.  With the WCU dugout at full volume, Yoder and the Cat hitter engaged in an epic at-bat.  Strike after strike was fouled off. Bryce threw seven straight strikes before finally getting a ground ball to the shortstop side of second base.  Freshman Chad Jacob made a tough catch and a low throw to first, which Nate Palace scooped on a mid hop to get the batter by a half step.  Valpo had its first win of 2015. 

 

For lack of anything better, you can follow Spencer Mahoney's dad on Twitter.  He is good about play by play tweets when he is at the games.  He goes to most weekend games, and will be going to Belmont this weekend.  Look up Rick Mahoney or Richard J. Mahoney.  I am taking this weekend off--most teams in the Nashville area have cancelled or rescheduled for weather.  Belmont's all turf field allows us to at least try to play there...

New transfers Clark, Delaney, Beasley and Lodden look like they can all hit.  Molitor takes huge swings as well and has power.  Obviously Coach brought these guys in specifically to remedy last year's anemic offensive performance.  Early returns say we may be sacrificing a little defense for offense, but it's really too soon to tell.

Yes, I think Mahoney will get drafted.  He has put on weight and is hitting with power.  He hit a line drive 360 feet against SDSU that hit the wall half way up.  That is a part of his game that was missing. 

Weather looks nasty for Nashville this weekend.  San Diego was of course perfect, and now comes the payback.  They got a foot of snow recently, and temps are forecast in the 30s this weekend.  They do have an all turf field at Belmont, so its possible to clean it off and maybe play if it doesn't rain/snow any more.  BRRR!!

Obviously an absolute disaster on the mound yesterday.  But I am chalking this one up to early season baseball.  Once the pitching train starts downhill in some games, it is tough to stop.  Mahar was OK--everyone else was bad.  The huge question mark you take away from yesterday's pitching--Who is our closer?  We will obviously pitch it better, so no panic over just one game.  But even the coaches don't know right now who will step up to the closer role.  That's what the spring trip will be used for.

On the plus side, we hit the ball great.  Two huge bombs from Delaney and Beasley.  Mahoney and others had some big two out hits. Something sorely lacking last year.  Let's see if we can come back and get a win today.

Hi all... thanks for starting a 2015 baseball thread, TX.  Lots of new faces on the team this year.  We arrived at the stadium (sellout) last night for the heavily publicized retiring of Tony Gwynn's #19 at SDSU.  Nice ceremony.  Bud Black spoke, as did Tony Gwynn Jr.  So nice to play in a nice stadium in perfect weather.  Nice again today, sunny and 75 baby!

Lundeen looked good I thought.  We didn't make any plays behind him.  I've seen this each of the past four years--defensively we are naturally rusty, since we can't get outside.  We had two major league infield pop UPS that our guys didn't even get a glove on.  Just hard to adapt to a nighttime game on real grass after being in the gym all winter.

The new JUCO transfers showed flashes of some much needed power.  Mahoney is far stronger at the plate and should have a big year at the leadoff spot.  We had one reliever have a bad outing last night, but we should have lots of depth in the bullpen.  Lots of K's for us last night--their ace had a nice slider in the dirt that we couldn't lay off.  Again, more outside, "live" at bats will help. 

I think that if we compete and come out of this series with a win, we can count it as a successful start.  If this team gels, I see potential for a title-contending year in the HL.

Hi all--I have moved.  Sorry for the lack of posts over the last few months.  It's tough to leave Indiana for Minnesota, but it has been done.  I will love the three weeks of summer.  As for baseball,...

Coach Schmack has re-introduced the baseball bash!  It will be held in Valpo on Jan 31.  Something like $65 per.  CJ Nitkowski is the guest speaker.  Help us out and have some fun.  Check out the Valpo Baseball website for more info...

No, this is totally legit.  Morman has one year of eligibility left, and he has graduated from Valpo.  He can go play his last year anywhere he wants.  He has other reasons for going to Virginia, but it helps that Tracy had given him two redshirts in the past.  It's just surprising that he is leaving after a successful year in the HL, but there are other people involved.

The HL is a one bid league that probably many think shouldn't even have the one bid.  No matter who is the tourney winner, none get national respect.  It could have been WSU, but no one would have expected them to win a game as we did last year.  Doesn't matter who goes from the HL.  I wish it would have been us, but if not, I'm glad it's YSU. Those kids have struggled for 4+ years, a lot of coaching changes, no support from their school, etc.  Good for them to taste the tourney.  I hope they win a game or two, but if they dont, no one will care in a week what the HL rep did.  We'll do our best to win it next year.

BTW, our best returning player and HL first teamer, Michael Morman, has announced he will transfer and play for Tracy Woodson at Richmond next year.

Youngstown just beat Wright State 7-1.  They seem to always show up and wreck the tourney bracket.  We play UIC tomorrow at 11a.  Foreman will start for us.  No idea who will start if we advance to the second game tomorrow.  We are into uncharted waters now with the pitching staff.  If we beat UIC, the second game will start at 3p.

Need to win a DH in each of the next two days, then throw Lundeen again in the championship game on Sunday.  Still a pretty tough row...

Yeah we never got the big hit.  Like the middle part of the season, we left runners on base.  Late word from one of the parents says that all the sick guys are feeling well enough to head to the park for today's game.  Not sure if they'll play. 

Sorry I haven't been more active with the information here...I've been out on the road for two weeks straight between work and baseball.  We were starting to hit the ball really well (finally) over the past couple of weeks.  Coach Schmack had found a lineup that seemed to be finding its groove, and we finally got a couple of players hitting at the .300 mark.  This past week, we have had six players come down with severe flu symptoms.  Mahoney has been to the hospital twice this week and is down ten pounds.  Mahar, Losi, Haas are others affected.  That makes our bullpen very thin. 

We lost today because we only had four hits.  We had to abandon our newly gelled lineup for one that hasn't been used all year.  No excuses--we still need to hit against the league's worst pitching staff.  It just seemed like it was the beginning of spring and we were trying out new stuff again. 

To win this thing, we have to win against Oakland tomorrow.  Lundeen will pitch.  He's fine and I like our chances there, but it's baseball and you never know.  Past that, we will have to win double headers on both Friday and Saturday.  Then win the championship game on Sunday.  Tough task with a depleted staff.  It doesn't look like the guys who are sick (quarantined in a Mequon, WI hotel) are getting better anytime soon.  For starters, we need Lundeen to go about five innings tomorrow, have a big lead for the remaining pen, and pull him to save some for another day.  For starters.  Get your rally hats on, boys.  This is gonna be a tough row to hoe.

We are stranding runners left and right.  Can't put up a crooked number.  Nobody is blaming anyone in the locker room--that's a good thing.  A player's meeting is imminent and much needed.  I still have hope.  The guys care deeply and are positive.  I see the bats coming alive in the last couple of weeks of the regular season.  We got you, tx.

When Twenge was the HC, we had to pay around $100 at the beginning of our career for the program to frame our jersey when we were done playing.  Do they still do anything like this, or do they now get them for free upon completion?

Seniors get a plaque with a picture on Senior Day.  We don't pay up front (at least for the jerseys) and they do not give the jerseys away anymore.  We keep them and reuse them.

I am amazed that our baseball uniforms seem to get worse and worse as the years pass...from caps to shirts I would think we could do better....the same goes for football

Not sure what you would like--pin strips??  I love the camo unis and the football uniforms are terrific!!

Camo unis are gone this year.  Those jerseys had to be paid for by the players last year.  $42/each.  They had the player's name on the back.  Also retired are the old gold jerseys that we pulled out last year for a few games.  Those were donated on our Dominican trip last fall.  These were old and a little beat up, but I loved the gold jersey look.  I wish we would get some new ones in that color.  The jerseys we have are several years old now.  We definitely could use something more up to date, IMO.

The grass entry area near the bleacher entry was deeply rutted during the winter with snowplows not seeing the damage they were doing.  I sent a pic of this to MLB, and am happy to report that he was there to inspect the grounds last weekend during the YSU series.  He assured me that the situation there would be rectified, as it was a possible liability.  I'll keep you all advised on the progress...

Thanks for posting, pal.  It's great to have these awesome photos and someone covering the team.  I hope the university uses your work.  Hamstring issues have risen up to plague the team this week.  Burns went out in the last game of YSU with tightness, Losi was out this week with a tight hammy, and Bynum has been bitten by the hamstring bug as well.  Losi was the big loss, as we are struggling now to find a Sunday starter.  Hopefully he will return soon, but middle relief/weekday starters will still be a question mark after he returns.  Hoping for improvement this week...

Asterisks all around...Wright State has used their turf and relative southern locale to get in six HL games, while a couple of league teams haven't played any yet.  UWM's Hank Aaron (city) Park is unplayable again this season.  UWM won the regular season last year, and I think they had one home series.  Equality in the HL in baseball is impossible this year with the weather.  I'm starting to question whether the tournament seeding can even be made fairly.  You're going to see some team have nine fewer games in conference than others.  I think they should look at midweek conference games, maybe at a neutral site with turf if fields aren't playable.  Yes, that means you'll have to start different pitchers, but this year that might have to be considered as defining the best overall team...

In an effort to try and recover some cancelled games, Valpo has added a game against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame in South Bend tomorrow, March 26th.  This is in addition to the originally scheduled game at ND on April 1st.  The game tomorrow IS NOT on campus at ND.  It will be played at Four Winds Stadium in South Bend, home of a minor league team.  The place used to be called Coveleski Stadium before undergoing some upgrades, including turf.  The address is 501 W. South Street, South Bend, IN 46601.  First pitch will be at 4:35 CDT/5:35 EDT.

The weather looks cold, but no precipitation.  Game time temp will be around 35 degrees at decrease to about 30 by the time the game ends.  Ellis Foreman will get the start.

The Oakland series this weekend looks bad for field conditions and weather.  Plan on changes.  Keep checking the Valpo site for the most up to date information.

GO SPRING!!

Webb was great on the mound yesterday.  A shaky fifth but very economical eight innings in his start to get the win.  Karch looked dominant with his velocity, and a few scouts there had the radar guns up.  Granderson Stadium is slowly taking shape.  Right now fans enter via a construction entrance, and only the third base side stands are open due to new cement being poured on the other concourses.  The press box is just framework right now, and the ground around the stadium entrance is all dug up.  It'll be mid summer before the exterior is complete.  The field itself is fine with two nice new bullpens in left field.  38 degrees here today, and we're going to play 18 innings since it's colder tomorrow...

Yes tx, I believe the rules have changed in the last decade or so.  I don't doubt you when you say it happened all the time back in the day.  Now, though, it's downright un-American how the NCAA controls these kids, even in baseball.  The kid wants to go, both coaches agree, and yet the NCAA takes away a year on the field for a kid who maybe didn't play much last season anyway.  It won't be long before one of these cases makes its way into a courtroom, IMO.  Every year, there are 2-3 high profile cases at big schools.  It can cost a kid huge in future earnings in some of these blue chip cases.  Sorry for hijacking the thread...

Since I played baseball at Valpo, and we had a few transfers that played right away, I am very well aware that it was all within the rules.  My question was more of why baseball/softball are able to play right away upon transferring, but basketball/football players have to sit out 1 year.  They also receive releases from their schools to transfer, but have to sit out?  It makes absolutely no sense for the NCAA to punish kids in a few sports, but not all, for moving on to another school.  The only reason I can think of would be relating to the fact that they (football/basketball) are revenue sports, while others are not.

Just FYI, you do have to sit out a year in baseball when transferring D1 to D1.  I'm very familiar, as my son went through this process.  In some cases, the NCAA will grant a waiver allowing a student-athlete to play right away, but the rules are specific about when this waiver is granted.  (Non-scholarship player or redshirt situations, for example)  If you got some money and played even a little, you are going to have to sit at a D1.  A waiver in baseball, like other sports, is the exception rather than the rule.  For this reason, you see a lot of baseball players go to a big D1 right out of high school, realize they bit off more than they can chew, and transfer to a JUCO or D3 school to play immediately.  You can then leave the D3 after a year there for another D1 and again play right away.  This is how Valpo has signed a lot of the California players in recent years.  I don't know if softball has the same rules.

There have been a couple of changes posted to the schedule for this weekend at UIC.  Friday's first pitch is at 5p CDT.  Saturday the series will conclude with a DH starting at 10:30a.  The Sunday forecast high is 32 degrees, so we can play Saturday in the balmy 40 degree heat.  UIC has only four wins, but have played a tough non-con schedule, including a series at Vanderbilt.  The Friday game will be telling, as we haven't had much success against Michelson, their starter.  Webb takes the hill for us...

They just showed Emory G Bauer field covered in snow from a pic on Monday,

Is there any hope the field will be ready by this weekend?

I have heard from players that in their opinion there is no chance the field will be playable by this Friday.  Snow still deep on the field.  Temps today and tomorrow get close to 50, then right back to the igloo with 25 degrees Wed and Thu.  BREAKING NEWS:  As I type this, I'm told a plan MAY be in the works to switch the UWM series on the schedule with Wright St.  We would then travel to Wright St. this weekend under this scenario.  This is NOT official yet, but I felt cool posting BREAKING NEWS.  So there you go.

We will definitely have to have a Plan B of some kind.  Our home schedule is set up to end in early May, meaning lots of home series in the early part of the year.  We'll need two weeks of weather in the mid 60s to get the field ready, IMO.  The turf field would be great, but if there's a plan to move EGB to campus in the next decade, I'm not sure that will happen short of one of you guys winning the Powerball and naming a stadium after yourselves.  Speaking of, construction has been slowed at the new Curtis Granderson Stadium at UIC due to weather.  They are close, but not sure when the new field there will be ready to go.  Granderson put $5M of his money into the project, and it will be far and away the nicest facility in the HL when it opens up.  Should be soon.

In terms of the Sports Info guy with baseball, did he go on the Texas trip, or is he working from the ARC, so he's just getting what information he can from the internet?

Brad Collignon is the SID.  He did not make the TX trip since he is spread thin with other sports...Pretty good writer, though!