GCSU, Tampa battle for Division II throne

     Every athlete dreams of being No. 1 in their sport, but the GCSU Bobcats baseball team doesn’t have to dream it. They can achieve it the first weekend of the season.
     GCSU starts their season ranked No. 2 in Division II, according to the College Baseball Magazine National Poll, and will play  No. 1 University of Tampa, the defending College World Series champions, this opening weekend, Feb. 2- 3, at Tampa.
     Head baseball coach Chris Calciano and his staff didn’t know Tampa would be No. 1 when they scheduled this meeting.
     “We schedule so much in advance that (we) know Tampa’s going to be an outstanding program, we know we’re going to be an outstanding program,” Calciano said.
Now these top two programs, who are a little more than six hours away, will face off with a lot more on the line than just wins and losses.
      “I think every year you open up with Tampa, you know right away you’re going to find out what kind of team you’ve got,” Calciano said. “It’s (going to) tell you where you are (as a team).”
     Calciano mentioned that the games will be covered in several collegiate sports magazines and it was this game that defined the season for both teams last season.
     “When they came in here (Kurtz Field) last year and we beat them two out of three that was a wake-up call to them,”     Calciano said. “After (that) they played unbelievable baseball and went on and won the national championship. For us (beating them) was a springboard to our early success.”
But to get past this team and begin on the road to the College World Series, Calciano will be counting on his seniors to lead the team.
     “The 12 seniors (we have) really all were integral parts of what we did last year (and) the season we had. Day to day, they’re a great group of seniors,” Calciano said.
     Catcher Trip Burt and outfielders Casey Cullen and Justin Mills are among the seniors that will make sure the Bobcat team wins the series against Tampa this weekend.
“Not only are they leaders but they’re important players in the big picture…for us,” Calciano said.
     Among the seniors looking to make an impact is senior starting pitcher Mike Antonini, who chose to return to GCSU for his senior year after being drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies.
“Mike Antonini is our ace, our left-handed pitcher,” Calciano said. “He was second team All-American (last year) and first team All-Conference. We had a confidence about us (last year) that he was going to put us in a position to win. (I) couldn’t ask for a better guy to start the season.”
     Antonini commented on the opening game and its implications as well.
     “I don’t think there is any better way to kick off the season and I feel confident in going down there and being able to become No. 1 coming back from the weekend,” Antonini said.
Antonini even predicted the outcome.
     “I think we’re going to sweep them 3-0,” Antonini said.
Senior infielder Rich Janofsky also commented on the upcoming series.
     “Normally you wait until the end of the season for showcase games,” Calciano said. “(It) gives us a chance to show our talents and how we’re becoming one of the top Division II teams in the country.”
     Assistant coach John Carty is ready and excited about this opening weekend, but he understands the effect of playing No. 1 Tampa opening weekend when it comes to preparation for a team.
      “You’re not going to be in mid-season form, but we try to be as fundamentally sound and we try to eliminate as many mistakes that we might have come (this) week,” said Carty.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 2 2007. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry