Spring Break Baseball!

After a busy spring break, I am back to fill you in on the last 2 weeks.  We started off slow, losing our first game on Wednesday, March 2^nd at Pfeiffer.  We ended with a bang however, winning 7 of our next 8.

This included taking 2 out of 3 from conference rival, Wingate in a very intense series. The next week (which was our spring break) we traveled to South Carolina and won 2 games against USC Aiken followed by a weekend sweep of Newberry.

One of the most encouraging aspects of these two weeks was our defense.  We only made 4 errors in 9 games as we began to create separation between ourselves and those chasing us for a conference championship.

There are 4 players I want to recognize for the work they did throughout the 2 weeks or a moment they had during these weeks.

The first 2 guys are both pitchers out of the bullpen.  

Corey Norman is a senior from East Bend, NC and a player who works tremendously hard day in and day out.  Corey made 3 appearances these 2 weeks, pitching 3 innings, giving up only 3 hits and striking out 3 batters.  He allowed no runs and looked better than I have seen him at any point in the last 2 seasons.

The next pitcher is Clay Watson.  Clay struggled much more than he expected to start this year, after having a great sophomore season last year.  The last 2 weeks have shown that he has everything figured out and is back to the great pitcher we have seen in the past.

The junior from Lexington, NC entered game 2 against Wingate for the final 2.2 innings and did an outstanding job.  He only allowed 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 2 to earn the win.  This was a huge win and we can largely thank Clay for coming in and shutting the door on the Wingate offense.

Clay also saw action in our second game against USC Aiken, in which he picked up another win.  He pitched 1 inning and gave up 1 hit in another great outing.

This momentum carried into the weekend where Clay made 2 appearances, threw 1.1 innings, and only allowed a single hit and 0 runs.

It was a great couple of weeks for our bullpen, especially Clay Watson and Corey Norman.

The next 2 players to recognize are roommates, Kevin Parrish and Garrett Robinson.  Each got their first collegiate at-bat in game 3 of the Newberry series.

Kevin came up in the sixth inning and delivered a RBI single into centerfield.  The reaction in the dugout was awesome as everybody was really excited to see Kevin succeed like he did!

Garrett had a great first at bat as he saw a lot of pitches and fouled off several tough pitches with 2 strikes.  His at-bat eventually ended as he lined out to center field.  He hit the ball very hard however and looked very comfortable at the plate.

The last 2 weeks of baseball have been exciting and successful as we continue on our quest for a conference title.  Another midweek game against Pfeiffer, followed by a 3 game set against Anderson creates another important week and another opportunity to prove ourselves.