2018 Baseball

[VULB#62]

You have a very understanding wife.

[vu72]

You have a very understanding wife.

The best kind!!

[VULB#62]

California has not been too gracious to our baseball team.  5 straight losses - two to UC Riverside and 3 to Loyola Marymount.  Only one against Riverside was close (3-4) the rest have a loss margin of 7.25 runs per game.

[valpotx]

I still think that we will do well once conference rolls around.  We have played some high level competition up to this point.

[vu72]

I still think that we will do well once conference rolls around.  We have played some high level competition up to this point.

We seem to abe able to hit but our pitching at this point has really sucked.  Is that to be expected early in a season for a northern team?

[valpotx]

Yes, as you pitch indoors off a solid mound for around 3-4 months, while the Southern teams get to feel the dirt of a mound, and not have to worry about pitching in an enclosed space.  It doesn't sound like a big deal, but pitching indoors in a cage/gym is very different than continuous reps on an actual mound .

[VULB#62]

TX, do you know any details about the upgrades to Em Bauer Field?

[valpotx]

Ben Boggs showed me some of the artwork that was intended when he was down in TX a few weeks back, and it looks like it will be a nice mid-major field and stands.  I think that it will definitely help us with Recruiting.

[VULB#62]

Ben Boggs showed me some of the artwork that was intended when he was down in TX a few weeks back, and it looks like it will be a nice mid-major field and stands.  I think that it will definitely help us with Recruiting.

Gonna be done over the summer?  Or is the schedule not really locked in?

[valpotx]

My understanding is that it would start after this season, but I might be mistaken.

[VULB#62]

Let's hope so. 

[valpo64]

The improvements  include artificial turf infield, natural grasss outfield, improved dugouts & press box, paved parking lot, weight room facilities and eventually lights

[VULB#62]

How about new grandstands?

[VULB#62]

Wouldn't it be great if the new changes gave us a look like the latest baseball post on the AD web site.  Not saying it has to have 5,000 seasts, but the brick facade and maybe 500 seat backs would be impressive in conjunction with the new press box.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/home/main/#.WTam58aZMo8

I really believe that a truly dedicated and updated facility will influence good baseball players to come to cold, damp, snowy northern Indiana.  The artificial turf infield will definitiely result in fewer cancellations.  The dedicated weight room is key!  Is there a locker room there ?

Stupid Question:  Why can we upgrade the BB field facilities but not simply replace the lower lower bowl ARC seating with a color-coordinated chairback seating configuration?

Possible Answer:  They found a lead donor for Em Bauer Field?

[valpo64]

I understand that VU was under a little pressure, not sure from where, to up-grade the baseball  facility.  Next to basketball, the Valley has a great baseball reputation and I believe our situation was at the bottom in comparison to other facilities in the MVC.

[valpotx]

Yes, it would have a 500 seat grandstand, and I believe that most are chairbacks. 

[VULB#62]

 

[vu72]

Wouldn't it be great if the new changes gave us a look like the latest baseball post on the AD web site.  Not saying it has to have 5,000 seasts, but the brick facade and maybe 500 seat backs would be impressive in conjunction with the new press box.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/home/main/#.WTam58aZMo8

I really believe that a truly dedicated and updated facility will influence good baseball players to come to cold, damp, snowy northern Indiana.  The artificial turf infield will definitiely result in fewer cancellations.  The dedicated weight room is key! Is there a locker room there ?

Stupid Question:  Why can we upgrade the BB field facilities but not simply replace the lower lower bowl ARC seating with a color-coordinated chairback seating configuration?

Possible Answer:  They found a lead donor for Em Bauer Field?

Here is a "tour" of the baseball facilities done four years ago.  As for the funding, yes, it was a baseball alum who put up the lead money.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYAvx9k6Vkg

[FWalum]

I understand that VU was under a little pressure, not sure from where, to up-grade the baseball  facility.  Next to basketball, the Valley has a great baseball reputation and I believe our situation was at the bottom in comparison to other facilities in the MVC.

Baseball facility did not meet the minimum conference requirements and therefore was the first thing to be upgraded.

[valpotx]

Just so everyone is aware, I owned my teammates on that ping pong table, though I rarely beat Tom Starck and Elliott Gibbs .  Getting that clubhouse was one of the coolest things that happened during my time at Valpo.

[FieldGoodie05]

Just so everyone is aware, I owned my teammates on that ping pong table, though I rarely beat Tom Starck and Elliott Gibbs .  Getting that clubhouse was one of the coolest things that happened during my time at Valpo.

The Tom Starck that was a big fisherman and hunter?  The one that cut open a giant pregnant salmon in Alumni hall and tried to flush the eggs down the insufficient toilets?  The same toilets that had salmon eggs pop up for weeks after the fact...

[valpotx]

Just so everyone is aware, I owned my teammates on that ping pong table, though I rarely beat Tom Starck and Elliott Gibbs .  Getting that clubhouse was one of the coolest things that happened during my time at Valpo.

The Tom Starck that was a big fisherman and hunter?  The one that cut open a giant pregnant salmon in Alumni hall and tried to flush the eggs down the insufficient toilets?  The same toilets that had salmon eggs pop up for weeks after the fact...

It wouldn't surprise me if he did such a thing, but I don't remember him telling me about those things.  He was one of my best friends in college, and this kind of sounds like something he would do.  If your Tom Starck was one of our top pitchers, it is the same guy.  He was the Mid-Con co-Pitcher of the Year our Junior year of 2002-2003.

[FieldGoodie05]

Just so everyone is aware, I owned my teammates on that ping pong table, though I rarely beat Tom Starck and Elliott Gibbs .  Getting that clubhouse was one of the coolest things that happened during my time at Valpo.

The Tom Starck that was a big fisherman and hunter?  The one that cut open a giant pregnant salmon in Alumni hall and tried to flush the eggs down the insufficient toilets?  The same toilets that had salmon eggs pop up for weeks after the fact...

It wouldn't surprise me if he did such a thing, but I don't remember him telling me about those things.  He was one of my best friends in college, and this kind of sounds like something he would do.  If your Tom Starck was one of our top pitchers, it is the same guy.  He was the Mid-Con co-Pitcher of the Year our Junior year of 2002-2003.

Haha, I've mistaken him for Tom Zimmer! 

[valpotx]

Yeah, Tom Zimmer was a taller pitcher who was a hunter/fisher.  I believe that he was a FR when I was a SR, but he was a good guy, as well.

[valpotx]

I will just leave this here:

Series Notes: The Crusaders have the upper hand in the all-time set with their rivals from Indianapolis, holding a 78-54-1 all-time record against Butler. The 78 wins are the most Valpo has racked up against any one opponent in program history. The Bulldogs won the most recent game 5-3 on March 30, 2014. The Crusaders swept the Bulldogs at Emory G. Bauer Field in 2012, the last series between the two teams before Butler left the Horizon League. Current seniors were not yet in college in 2014, so this will mark the first taste of a Valpo-Butler matchup for everyone on the Crusader roster.

Buck Futler forever!  Let's get these games this weekend!