Baseball heads to Georgia for six games
Nathan McClallen
Issue date: 3/12/09 Section: Sports
As spring breakers head south, the Charger baseball team is no exception. During the break, they play six games against two teams.
The host, Armstrong Atlantic State University, will play Hillsdale four times, leaving two games against Fairmont State University.
According to head coach Paul Noce, there are usually several more teams in attendance, but a lot of schools decided to go to Florida instead this spring. However, he restated that his priority is to get the team playing live games on a real field. The opponent does not necessarily matter as much.
Last weekend, the Chargers returned from Indianapolis with a blowout win and a blowout loss on the same day. The difference in the two games was "like night and day," according to senior captain Jesse Smith.
The first game was against Oakland City University. Junior Pat Krebs stole the show by going 3-4 with two home runs, six runs batted in and four runs scored in an 18-8 win. Sophomore Dan Rhodes pitched six strong innings to pick up his second win of the season.
After playing for almost three hours in a game which the teams combined for 26 runs, the Chargers got a 25-minute break before the second game in the double header, against Indianapolis University. This short break may have contributed to the struggles the team started having in the sixth inning.
Senior Scott Monterastelli was pitching well, only giving up three earned runs through five innings. Then, head coach Paul Noce said, "the wheels just fell off, defensively." Several errors led to nine unearned runs over the last two innings and increased the final score to 12-2. The team made seven errors in the game, whereas Indianapolis had none.
The opponent's pitching was much better the second game, said senior captain Brandon Hubbard. However, he pointed out good pitchers give batters more pitches to hit.
"We had timely hitting with guys on base in the first game but only one clutch hit against Indianapolis," Hubbard said.
Since the team is halfway through their spring games, Noce will be expecting more improvement leading up to the first conference match against Grand Valley State University.
"Right now," he said, "We are learning a lot, seeing the adjustments we need to make and learning who is going to play where."
Once they return from Georgia, the team will have one day off before they open conference play on March 21.
The host, Armstrong Atlantic State University, will play Hillsdale four times, leaving two games against Fairmont State University.
According to head coach Paul Noce, there are usually several more teams in attendance, but a lot of schools decided to go to Florida instead this spring. However, he restated that his priority is to get the team playing live games on a real field. The opponent does not necessarily matter as much.
Last weekend, the Chargers returned from Indianapolis with a blowout win and a blowout loss on the same day. The difference in the two games was "like night and day," according to senior captain Jesse Smith.
The first game was against Oakland City University. Junior Pat Krebs stole the show by going 3-4 with two home runs, six runs batted in and four runs scored in an 18-8 win. Sophomore Dan Rhodes pitched six strong innings to pick up his second win of the season.
After playing for almost three hours in a game which the teams combined for 26 runs, the Chargers got a 25-minute break before the second game in the double header, against Indianapolis University. This short break may have contributed to the struggles the team started having in the sixth inning.
Senior Scott Monterastelli was pitching well, only giving up three earned runs through five innings. Then, head coach Paul Noce said, "the wheels just fell off, defensively." Several errors led to nine unearned runs over the last two innings and increased the final score to 12-2. The team made seven errors in the game, whereas Indianapolis had none.
The opponent's pitching was much better the second game, said senior captain Brandon Hubbard. However, he pointed out good pitchers give batters more pitches to hit.
"We had timely hitting with guys on base in the first game but only one clutch hit against Indianapolis," Hubbard said.
Since the team is halfway through their spring games, Noce will be expecting more improvement leading up to the first conference match against Grand Valley State University.
"Right now," he said, "We are learning a lot, seeing the adjustments we need to make and learning who is going to play where."
Once they return from Georgia, the team will have one day off before they open conference play on March 21.
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