Going into the 2013 campaign, the App Baseball team found themselves with a lot of unknowns. Previous coach (and Davidson grad) Chris Pollard took the job at Duke, leaving a team in transition to first-time college coach Billy Jones. Expectations were tepid as the team was picked to finish 4th and 6th in the SoCon by the coaches and media, respectively. Fans wondered who would step up for the loss of Arrowood, Grant, Kassouf, Hyatt, Dowdy and more. Add on a usual Boone winter, many people expected the Apps to struggle against #8-ranked and ACC favorites NC State, especially on Friday against top-pitching prospect Carlos Rodan.
In a shock similar to the one delivered in Baton Rouge the previous year, the Apps upset the Wolfpack 6-3 in what turned out to be the only game played all weekend. A rare snow came in Friday night and wiped out the action Sunday. With a game on Monday, the decision was made to only play once on Sunday. However in a complete chicken move, the NC State coaches didn't want to play in cold weather despite the field being ready for play.
Below is the field on Saturday. Understandably not playable.
But here's the field on Sunday right around game time after it was cancelled.
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Bunch of wusses down in Raleigh.
The game Friday looked to be a coming out party for several App newcomers. True freshman Jaylin Davis took his first-ever college pitch from Rodon and blasted it clear of the stadium in left field. Noah Holmes and Preston Troutman got into the long-ball act as well, taking pitches out of the park due right field. For some perspective, Rodon only gave up two home-runs all last season. Yes, two home-runs in 114.2 innings pitched. He also didn't lose last season. In fact, he hasn't lost since his sophomore year....in high school.
The Davis HR made the score 3-0 in the first, then Holmes' bomb made it 4-0 in the second and Troutman's long-ball pushed it to 5-0 in the fourth. The Mountaineers then suffered some self-inflicted wounds as NCSU pushed across two runs off three App errors in the fourth. The other App run came in the ninth on a wild pitch with runners on second and third.
New Friday starter Jamie Nunn only allowed three hits and one earned run in 6+ innings of work. Taylor Thurber and Tyler Moore handled the seventh and eights with only one more run allowed and then Sunday-starter-turned-closer Rob Marcello closed the ninth in order to record his first save. Davis was the only Mountaineer with multiple hits as he lead the team, going 2-4 with 3 RBI's.
After this win and the subsequent cancellations, the team returns Monday for a potential trap game against the MAAC's Canisius (pronounced "Can-Knee-Suss"). New Saturday starter Jeffrey Springs got the start for the Apps and had some trouble, throwing 75 pitches in three innings. His relief was new Sunday starter Sam Agnew-Wieland, who was able to go four innings and got the win.
The Golden Griffins took a 2-1 lead in the second, but then the bats awoke again. Troutman, Josh Zumbrook and Dillon Dobson all homered in the inning to retake the lead 5-2. The Apps tacked on two more in both the third and fourth to extend the lead out to 9-3. From there it was cruise control as the team took home a 13-6 victory.
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Dear God Those Hats Are Beautiful (Agnew-Wieland is your new wildman hero)[/caption]Troutman went 3-5 with 2 RBI's, Dobson went 2-4 with 2 RBI's, Zumbrook went 2-4 with 3 RBI's Brandon Burris went 2-5 with an RBI and Alex Leach went 2-4 with an RBI.
The Apps are now 2-0 on the young season and received votes in the NCBWA poll this week. One would think if App State had the chance to knock off NC State one more time, they would have gotten more recognition in the national polls. For now though, it might be best to be under the radar with a young team. Despite the six home-runs in two games (in contrast, the team go their sixth home-run in the 11th game last year), the team has also recorded five errors in those games. This is seemingly a by-product of a lack of outdoor practice time due to the winter weather and would improve as the year goes along.
The Diamond Apps return to action this weekend as they will host Butler. Saturday will have a double-header starting at 1 pm and then the third game will also be at 1 pm on Sunday. The Bulldogs started their season dropping the first two of a three-game series at Georgia State.
This Week In Men's Hoops - The Bermuda Triad
It was the final road trip of the season before Asheville. The Apps looked to get a leg up in the race for the final SoCon Tourney bye with a road trip to the small Alumni Gym and the large Greensboro Coliseum.
First up was Elon on Thursday. A win for the Phoenix would give them a commanding lead in the North Division. The game started slow and stayed that way most of the way. Without leading scorer Lucas Troutman, the pace was more deliberate and neither team showed a true advantage. App St jumped out to a 21-14 lead, but as all good Mountaineer leads this year, it evaporated quickly. Elon took a 31-26 lead into the break.
The second half saw the Apps go on another run and with 5:34 left in the game, the team had a 53-45 lead, their biggest yet. Again though, it wasn't meant to be as Elon pulled it in close and used some timely free-throw shooting to close it in. Then with five seconds left, Isenbarger made two free throws for the 59-58 Phoenix lead. A long chest-pass by Healy missed the target and Elon went on to take a 61-58 win.
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Anyone else notice how Tab doesn't like contact?[/caption]Jay Canty led the Apps with 17 points and nine rebounds. Nate Healy got 12 points and seven rebounds while Mike Neal got nine points, four blocks and three blocks (!).
With Western Carolina's win over UNCG on Thursday and Samford's sweep of Wofford and Furman, this next game became a must-win for both teams to stay in bye contention. The team got a bigger rest than usual due to the Winter Jam Concert before heading to Greensboro to play UNCG on a Sunday afternoon. The Apps seized an early advantage, jumping out to a 10-0 lead. Again, this team can't have nice things as Gee made their run, making the score 32-30 Apps at the break. The half ended with Healy getting a technical due to back-to-back bad calls and the short fuse of a rogue referee. Then as the half ended with a flurry of put-back misses by the Spartans, a kerfuffle broke out between the teams. Somehow, the refs decided to do nothing and that was that.
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Not Pictured: Kerfuffling[/caption]The score remained close for the next 12 minutes as both teams dealt with foul trouble. Then with no other options due to Obacha and Healy having foul trouble and Okam being unavailable, Capel subbed in Tommy Spagnolo. He immediately got a tip-in and App never relinquished the lead. Spag got an assist on the next possession. UNG went cold from downtown and App got some good looks and built on the lead. Such words have been foreign to App fans on the road, but it happened here. Gee tried to press and foul, but the team managed to do what clutch teams do and finished strong to claim a 76-68 win.
Once again, Canty led App State with 17 points and nine rebounds. Nate Healy got 16 points and six rebounds, Michael Obacha got 11 points and eight rebounds and Neal had 10 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals.
So now the Apps face a one-game week that seems manageable, but again nothing is easy. El Citadel makes the trek up to Boone being one of the worst teams in Division I. They are currently 3-12 in the SoCon (last place) and 6-19 overall. Despite finishing in last place a season ago, one of El Citadel's highlights was a 62-51 win over App in Chuck Town. With a bye race this tight, nothing can be taken for granted. Western hosts CofC on Wednesday while Samford hosts Elon on Thursday so there's a good chance many things could go right this week, but nothing is final until it's final.
Speaking of the race for the final bye.
Wrath of the Bracket - Blokes' Hoops Edition: Chasing Byes
Right now here's the SoCon standings (18-game SoCon schedule)
1. Davidson 14-1 (clinched South Division)
2. Elon 11-3 (leading North Division)
3. Charleston 11-4
4. Samford 8-6
5. App State 8-7 (App currently has tiebreaker over WCU)
6. Western Carolina 8-7
7. Chattanooga 6-8
8. Georgia Southern 5-9 (GSU currently has tiebreaker over UNCG)
9. Greensboro 5-9
10. Wofford 5-10
11. Furman 3-11
12. The Citadel 3-12
So right now, the brackets would look like this.
Friday, March 8th
#8 GSU vs #9 UNCG - 11:30 am
#5 App St vs #12 El Cit - 2:30 pm
#7 UTC vs #10 Wofford - 6:00 pm
#6 WCU vs #11 Furman - 8:30 pm
Saturday, March 9th
#1 Davidson vs GSU/UNCG - Noon
#4 Samford vs ASU/El Cit - 2:30 pm
#2 Elon vs UTC/Wof - 6:00 pm
#3 CofC vs WCU/FU - 8:30 pm
Saturday, March 10th
Dav/GSU/UNCG vs Sam/ASU/El Cit - 6:00 pm
Elon/UTC/Wof vs CofC/WCU/FU - 8:30 pm
Monday, March 11th
Semifinal 1 winner vs Semifinal 2 winner - 7:00 pm
With Davidson as the likely semifinal, the 4 and 5 seeds aren't looking so hot. With three home games remaining, it appears the Mountaineers will finish in the 4-6 range. Looking at the brackets, it appears that being the 6-seed is actually a better draw than the other two. it might not be the best to win as no team has ever won four games in four days in the SoCon tournament, but it could be the higher percentage chance of getting to the finals.
If App and Western finish 4-5, then that sets up a colossal quarterfinal between two evenly-matched teams , the winner of which would likely have to turn around and face Davidson. Being the #6 would mean a quarterfinal against Charleston, which historically App has a good record against in the SoCon Tourney. It's a much better match-up than Davidson and the semifinal would possible be Elon, another favorable match-up compared to the Wildcats.
This Week In Women's Hoops - We Do What We Do
After getting back to winning ways with an ugly win over Furman on Monday, the team got a break before their next game on Saturday against Wofford at home. It was a special day as it was the annual Play 4Kay game. For Darcie, she was wanting to see results after calling out the team in the press for a lack of toughness. Saturday had little doubt as the Apps jumped out early 8-0 and never looked back in a 77-50 victory.
Anna Freeman led the team with 19 points, 15 rebounds, four blocks and four steals. Maryah Sydnor had 14 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, Courtney Freeman had 11 points and three rebounds and Raven Gary got 10 points, five assists and tw rebounds. The team got a season-high 51 rebounds on the night and held the Terriers to 17-60 shooting.
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London Bridge Didn't Fall Down In Time[/caption]The team stayed hungry on Monday night as they took a trip to the Whee. The Cats were constantly fighting a battle to not be doubled up and succeed as the Mountaineers only won 63-32. Despite this domination, Darcie was still not completely happy, saying the team could have scored 100 points if they made their layups. Regardless of that idea, the team is now 11-4 in the SoCon with a firm hold of 3rd place.
Sydnor led all scorers with 16 points and added five rebounds and four steals. At the half, Western had made three shots while Maryah had five. Anna Freeman tallied her seventh double-double of the season with 12 points, 10 rebounds, six steals and four blocks. Courtney Freeman added 11 points and seven rebounds and Kelsey Sharkey got 8 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and three blocks.
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A Different Class[/caption]The team returns to action this weekend as just like the men, they end their SoCon road schedule in the Triad. The Apps take on UNCG Saturday afternoon at Fleming Gym, then head down the road on Monday for a 7 pm game against 4th-place Elon.
Wrath of the Bracket - Sheilas' Hoops Edition: Pick Your Poison
Right now here's how the ladies' bracket looks (20-game SoCon schedule).
#1 Chattanooga 16-1
#2 Davidson 13-2
#3 App State 11-4
#4 Elon 10-5
#5 Samford 9-8
#6 Charleston 8-8
#7 Furman 6-10
#8 Western Carolina 5-11
#9 Georgia Southern 4-12
#10 Greensboro 3-13
#11 Wofford 2-13
Friday, March 8th
#8 WCU vs #9 GSU - 11:30 am
#7 Furman vs #10 UNCG - 1:45 pm
#6 CofC vs #11 Wofford - 4:00 pm
Saturday, March 9th
#1 UTC vs WCU/GSU - Noon
#4 Elon vs #5 Samford - 2:15 pm
#2 Davidson vs FU/UNCG - 4:30 pm
#3 App St vs CofC/Wof - 6:45 pm
Sunday, March 10th
UTC/WCU/GSU vs Elon/Sam - Noon
Dav/FU/UNCG vs App/CofC/Wof - 2:30 pm
Monday, March 11th
Semifinal 1 winner vs Semifinal 2 winner - 3:00 pm
It looks like with a win over Elon, App would be set up for a semifinal with the accursed Davidson Wildcats. Again, this might be a case of a lower seed being a better advantage. The Mountaineers seem to match-up better with Chattanooga and would seem to have a better shot at making the finals as a #4 than a #3. However with UTC still to play App and Davidson again, things could change very quickly.
Softball Played a Mess of Games This Weekend and Here's a Recap
Opening their season at the FGCU Tournament in Fort Myers, Florida, the Lady Diamond Apps kicked off their 2013 season with a bang. The team rallied from a 9-6 deficit in the seventh and final inning to force another inning where Sarah Warnock singled down the left-field line to scoring Cynthia Gomez from third to claim a 10-9 win.
There would be no time to celebrate as the team found themselves squared off later in the evening with the defending national champion #1 Alabama. Despite a three-run homer from Allie Cashion, the Apps fell 9-3.
The next afternoon the team came back and played against the hosts Florida-Gulf Coast. A four-run fifth inning proved to be the difference in a 6-3 loss. That evening, the Apps played their first of two games against Wichita State. The Lady Diamond Apps took a 3-1 lead into the sixth, but the Shockers tied the game in the sixth, then walked off the game in the seventh off an error to win 4-3. The two teams met again Sunday morning in the final tournament game. Wichita grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first and held on all the way to the seventh here a Gomez single saved the game and took it to extras. The Shockers scored in the eight and despite getting the bases loaded, the Apps couldn't get a run across and fell 2-1 in extras.
The team, now 1-4 on the year, returns to action on Tuesday the 26th as they travel to tkae on USC-Upstate at 4 pm. Then the team travels down to Tallahassee that weekend to take part in the Florida Stat Renegade Classic. The team will play five games, but only the first three (Troy, Southern Miss and FSU) have known opponents.
This Week In Everything Else
-In the final indoor home meet of the year, the Track Apps fared well in preparation for the SoCon Indoor Championships. Men's winners included Stanley Broaden (55m hurdles, 200m), Trey Edgerton (400m), Kenley Joseph (300m), Andrew Vandenburg (3,000m). Ladies winners were Kayla Schneider (mile), Shelby Howell (800m), Ana DeLoan (weight throw), Mary Theresa Montgomery (high jump), Cassie Crawford (pole vault) and Jasmine Suydam (shot put).
-Men's Tennis returned to action in Greenville, NC as they took on ECU on Saturday afternoon. After dropping the doubles point, the Apps could only manage two singles points and fell 5-2. #5 Andrew McKinnin and #6 Malt Saltsgaver picked up straight-set wins. The team returns to action on March 10 to start their season proper in Orlando against Army.
-Women's Tennis returned to their winning ways on Sunday with a 6-1 decision over NC Central. The Apps won all three doubles matches before winning five of six singles matches. #1 Ellie Linsell, #2 Clare Cox, #3 Jennifer Ansari, #5 Jessica Thaggard and #6 Carson Shell picked up the wins, dropping a combined total of 13 games between the five.
The ladies continued their hot streak on Monday as they picked up a 4-3 win at Charlotte. The Apps used wins at #2 and #3 to gain the double point and then split the six singles matches to move to 6-1 on the year. #1 Linsell, #4 Brianna Armellino and #6 Celi picked up the singles' points on the afternoon.
The team returns to action this upcoming weekend as the team hosts ETSU on Saturday at 2 pm, then travels to the Upstate to play Presbyterian Sunday at 2:30 pm.
T-Notes
-Big props to App State for the success of the Play 4Kay day on Saturday. Last year there were two or three treadmills and this year there was six, one of each was manned by App State women's soccer, App State ROTC and Girls on the Run. I'll always remember at my App graduation in the hallway of the Holmes Center before Pomp and Circumstance played the girl in front of me had a message written on her cap of "Thanks mom for helping me with my battle, now we fight yours" with a pink ribbon beside it. We should always fight the good fight.
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Pic Credit to @patmeiburg[/caption]-Switching gears, App State students try to keep up with the times and the trends, potentially to eradicate tip the scales of internet balance after such calamities as Hot Hot Hot and the Okam free-throw. As a result, sometimes we get videos like this that was filmed on Saturday.
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The Harlem Shake is a trend that in no way accurately reflects what the previously-known idea of the Harlem Shake. This is a prime example of what happens when white people get their hands on African-American culture. Regardless, seeing a crowd-surfing kayak, Gumby with a horse in a headlock and a gorilla with a giant banana in a tree together in the name of potential internet fame is at least worth a chuckle. Might as well embrace it as it's seemingly not going away for a while.
Now only if the athletic department can figure out how a sole student got more people to show up to a viral video shoot than they got people to some men's basketball games this year and harness that type of power, maybe we can get rid of the tarps at the Holmes Center.
-Here's the known 2013 football schedule so far. 10 games known, 2 more to go.
August 31: @ Montana
September 7:
September 14:
September 21: @ Elon
September 28:
October 5: @ The Citadel
October 12: vs. Samford
October 19: @ Furman
October 26: vs. Georgia Southern
November 2: vs. Chattanooga
November 9: @ Georgia
November 16: @ Wofford
November 23: vs. Western Carolina
Due to the calendar, this is a year where FBS teams can play 13 regular season games and FCS teams 12 so there will be six homes games and six road games. Obviously this means that there will be two non-conference home games in September. There have been rumors, but nothing substantial. Two-time defending National Champions North Dakota State recently had Montana State cancel on them and Bison fans started calling Cobb to set up a game. NDSU AD Gene Taylor said on Monday that he talked with Cobb, but "the dates didn't work out" so it's not happening. The dates in question were either September 7th or 14th so it appears that the schedule is just about done. Expect it very soon and all the of the opponents to be D1.