Weather wreaks havoc on baseball weekend

The GCSU baseball team played in Lander’s Valentine’s Day Classic this past weekend, but inclement weather in the area caused several postponements and eventually cancellations of two of the three scheduled games for the Bobcats. The canceled games were against Barry and Lander, but Georgia College did compete against No. 21 Lincoln Memorial University this past Sunday and lost 8-3, despite a strong effort in the latter innings.

Senior starting pitcher Ryan Tabor allowed six runs in the first one and 2/3 innings. Junior righty Eric Pettepher came in to relieve Tabor, striking out three and allowing just two runs in the six innings he pitched.

“Eric threw the ball well. That was promising because we haven’t had too many good outings yet, so that was good to see. It was good to see him come in and contribute, coming out of the bullpen when he’s been used to being a starter,” head coach Tom Carty said.

Even though relieving is new for Pettepher, he has learned to adjust to it.

“This is my first year coming out the bullpen, so I’ve had to change it up a little bit,” Pettepher said. “I had to get warm quicker, and sort of just relax more. And just come in, let my stuff work like it usually does.”

The Bobcats’ senior infielder Matt Pitts scored the team’s first run in the sixth inning on a throwing error by Lincoln Memorial’s shortstop.

The Bobcats scored once again when junior infielder Jason Veyna got the team’s second run after a wild pitch in the seventh inning.

In the ninth inning, the Bobcats got their third and final run. Senior infielder Steve Muoio was brought in by junior outfielder Shawn Ward, the only player on the team who had an RBI.

Redshirt senior pitcher Clete Jessup closed the game, striking out the only batter he faced for the final out. The late-inning scoring from the Bobcats was not enough to catch up to Lincoln Memorial, however. The final score favored Lincoln Memorial, 8-3.

The Bobcats are playing a four-game series against Millersville University at home this weekend. Ward, who got the only RBI against Lincoln Memorial, thinks that if the Bobcats relax more during this weekend’s series, wins will be within their reach.

“I know people started pressing in the mid-innings to later innings, so if we just relax and do what we need to do, I think we’ll be alright,” Ward said.

As far as the gameplan goes, Carty intends to focus on improving the pitching and rotation.

“We’re going to try to get our pitchers situated, try to make some changes with our rotation to see if we could find the right mix, and continue doing what we do,” he said. “We think we have a really good team and we’re looking forward to getting four games in this weekend.”

Posted by Courtney Kelly on Feb 19 2010. 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