March 28, 2008

Game Notes: South Dakota State (Home Opener)

 

Games 25-27: South Dakota State (5-15) at Northern Colorado (7-17)

Friday, March 28 • Greeley, Colo. • Jackson Field • 2:00 p.m.

Saturday, March 29 • Greeley, Colo. • Jackson Field • 1:00 p.m.

Sunday, March 30 • Greeley, Colo. • Jackson Field • Noon

 

Finally Home

After playing the first 24 games of the season on the road, Northern Colorado will finally have its season home opener on Friday against South Dakota State, another team that has yet to play a home contest. The two teams will play a three-game set at 2:00 p.m. Friday, 1:00 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.

 

Series History

Both teams are former North Central Conference foes from Division II days and will be meeting for the 32nd time on Friday. The Jackrabbits hold the slight 17-14 edge in the series after winning all six games in 2007. The series began back in 1973 with the Bears sweeping SDSU in two games at the Midwest Regional, 10-1 and 24-4.

 

Baseball Alumni Day

The Alumni Association will sponsor "Alumni Day at the Game" Saturday, March 29, at Jackson Field. The day will start with a barbecue at 11:30 a.m., followed by baseball at 1:05 p.m. There is no cost to the barbecue. Please R.S.V.P. to 970-351-1374 or events@unco.edu.

 

Settling In

When working with a new pitching staff, a lot of times the catcher's offensive statistics take a while to catch up. Senior transfer Erik Whinery has figured out his pitchers and now has figured out the offensive side of the game as well. In the last six contests, Whinery leads the team with a .500 batting average, nailing 13 hits and tallying seven RBI during the stretch. In the two game series at Nebraska, he hit .625 (5-for-8) and had two of the team's four RBI.

 

Milestone Approaching

Northern Colorado has a storied baseball tradition, one that shows when looking at the all-time record. The Bears are now just nine wins shy of 1,400 in history, sporting a 1,391-1,027-3 record since the program began in 1924.

 

37 - Not A Great Place For Bears

Nebraska became the 37th state in the union in 1867 and 2008 proved to be a bad year for the Bears in the flatland state. The Bears went 0-6 against the Nebraska Cornhuskers and 0-2 against the Creighton Bluejays during three separate trips, the latest trip being a two-game series loss to the 15th-ranked Huskers.

 

Putting It In Play

Junior Kevin Sandberg has struck out just twice in the last 13 games. He has had 57 plate appearances during that stretch, with 47 at bats and 10 walks. Sandberg has not been fanned in six consecutive games with at least three at bats in each of the contests.

 

Earn The Right

Senior right-handed pitcher T.R. Keating doesn't walk a lot of batters, in fact he has surrendered just three base on balls in 24.2 innings to rank 30th in NCAA Division I statistics (through games played March 23) in walks allowed per nine innings at 1.09.

 

Snapped In The Best Possible Way

There's no better way to break a losing streak than by defeating the top-ranked team in the nation, and that's exactly what the Bears did late Friday. They beat previously unbeaten Arizona State in the Bob Schaefer Memorial Tournament, 6-3, to snap an 11-game losing streak. The Bears split the next two games in the tournament, falling to #5 UC Irvine 9-6 before bouncing back to defeat Florida International 13-9 in the finale.

 

Road Warriors

Northern Colorado is getting used to living on the road as the Bears started the 2008 season with 24 straight games away from home. The 2007 team also started with its first 24 on the road, posting an identical 7-17 record to start the year. The 24 games is the longest road stretch to open a season in school history.

 

Stop Thief

After recording only three stolen bases in the first 21 games of the season, the Bears almost doubled their season output swiping two bags against Florida International. Both senior Anthony Garcia and senior Adam Symons stole second base during the game.

 

Closing In

Senior right-handed pitcher Jason Banks needs to strike out just two more batters for the 50th strikeout of his career. Junior Kevin Sandberg is 18 RBI shy of 100 for his career with the Bears, while senior Adam Symons needs six more at bats for 450 and is 46 at bats shy of appearing on the school's all-time top 10 list. With four more doubles he will also tie for 10th in school history with 32 doubles.

 

Multi-Functionality

Two different "position" players have spent time on the mound for the Bears this season. Senior Chad Murray has appeared in four games, throwing 4.0 innings, allowing four runs on five hits with one strikeout. Junior Cody Henry has pitched five innings, giving up just three hits and has an ERA of 0.00. Murray has started nine games at first base, 10 as designated hitter and one in left field. Henry has started four at catcher and 13 in the outfield.

 

Can He Leadoff Every Inning?

In the six innings this season where freshman T.J. Berge has led off, he has reached base five times, leading the team with an .833 average as a leadoff hitter. Bears are hitting .366 as a team in the leadoff position. For the year Berge, the only freshman to play this season, is hitting .222 in seven games played and two of his four hits are for extra bases.

 

Going Yard

If one was going to predict what inning a Bear was going to hit a home run, the sixth would be a good bet. Three of the team's last four long balls have come in the sixth frame and junior Kevin Sandberg hit one at Nebraska on March 9, senior Chad Murray hit one at Missouri State on March 16 and junior Erik Hegstad hit one at Creighton on March 19. 

 

Inherited Runners

NC pitchers have done a fantastic job of not letting inherited runners cross the plate. Bears' hurlers have inherited 22 base runners through the first 24 games and only two have scored. Senior right-handed pitcher Dan Kazell has paced the squad, coming in with seven on base and none have scored. Twice he has taken over the game with the bases loaded and gotten out of the jam.

 

The Every Day Player

Senior shortstop Cory Morales is the only player on the Bears roster to have started and played in all 24 games this season. Morales is now hitting .231 and has 77 assists and 40 putouts on the year, more than double anyone else's assists on the team. Last season, played and started in all 51 games, bringing his career total to 75 consecutive games started.

 

Playing With The Order

Head Coach Kevin Smallcomb is still playing quite a bit with the team's batting order. Most players have hit in at least four different places in the lineup, with junior Erik Hegstad hitting in six different spots. Junior Kevin Sandberg has been the most consistent, starting 19 games batting fourth.

 

Strength of Schedule

The Bears will face some of the best teams in the nation in 2008. Six of the team's opponents played in the NCAA Regionals last year with UC Irvine and Arizona State advancing to the College World Series (Texas A&M, Nebraska, Creighton, Arkansas). Four of those teams (#1 Arizona State, #3 UC Irvine, #15 Nebraska, #26 Texas A&M) are currently ranked in the Collegiate Baseball Poll.