[Coastal89]

that was me SJ.

[krh44]

I blame Jerry Edwards. Shortly after Thompson was brought in he said " Thompson has been known for giving up the long ball" KISS OF DEATH a few seconds later Grand Slam

[BJWilliams]

With all the problems with the schedule (looks at Stevev), and knowing that this is not how we wanted this season to end, I still gotta give these boys some major props for what they did this year. They won more games this year than anytime in the D1 era of the program. In a perfect world we would not have lost those games to Winthrop earlier in the year, we would not have lost that 10 run lead tonight, we would have played the hardest schedule in the nation and we would have finished with at least 40 wins...but you know what?

This isn't a perfect world. I know the guys made some real costly mistakes, and the pitching at times was not at its best (looks at AG) but these guys gave it their all. I don't know about the rest of you but Im definitely staying on the wagon for next year because we have some great guys staying around both defensively and among the pitchers. I applaud UNCA for their win but we WILL get you next year...count on it

[Hold My Own]

unreal

[givemethemic]

I don't blame Jerry Edwars... I blame FSN32 he called in the Top of the 5th to ask what was the start date for the regionals!!!!

[Flamesfanva]

I remember Jerry Edwards saying those prophetic words and being shocked when it came true.

[krh44]

Well said BJ.

[Flamesfanva]

I'm proud of our guys for getting as far as they did, just sad it had to end on this note.

[krh44]

I just hate it for the seniors. Hopefully some of them will get drafted.

[SuperJon]

I edited this. I twas mean.

[Hold My Own]

How about that huh??????????


Now this is a lead we can hold baby!

from here on out nobody ever listent to anything I have to say....for those of you who never have, your smarter than I gave you credit for

[A.G.]

HMO--yes, I think this is a lead we can be secure with.
(for you English majors, I appologize for dangling my participle in public)

That's what South Carolina thought yesterday. Up 9-0 after 2 and lost 16-10 to UGA

HMO, I said the same thing--and got called out on it by our esteemed guest. I was RIGHT though, about bringing a 19 year-old back on short rest after 137 pitches.

[SuperJon]

Had he thrown around 90-100, I think it'd be ok to expect somewhere in the 70-85 range today. It would be a bullpen day for him anyways. However, with 137 pitches, it'd be crazy to expect much out of him.


With that being said, he wasn't the one that gave up the runs, right?

[Hold My Own]

With that being said, he wasn't the one that gave up the runs, right?

I'm pretty sure AG isnt concerned with that but rather his health for the next 3 years....but AG can speak for AG

[SuperJon]

With that being said, he wasn't the one that gave up the runs, right?

I'm pretty sure AG isnt concerned with that but rather his health for the next 3 years....but AG can speak for AG

I agree completely on the health issue. Baseball's my sport. I was just asking the runs question for myself.

[SuperJon]

I posted this on Coastal's board. What do you guys think:

"This is just me thinking, and I mentioned this to someone earlier in the day. Explain to me why LU (or any team that was in this situation, i.e. being undefeated going into Friday) would have to play two games on Saturday. If the undefeated team loses on Friday night, I think they should get the benefit of the doubt on Saturday. The team that beat them (in this case, UNCA) should have to play the early game with the winner of that going against the team that was undefeated for the championship.

Hopefully I explained that decent. It'd be a way of rewarding a team for winning the first half of the tournament."

[WinthropEagleFan]

I posted this on Coastal's board. What do you guys think:

"This is just me thinking, and I mentioned this to someone earlier in the day. Explain to me why LU (or any team that was in this situation, i.e. being undefeated going into Friday) would have to play two games on Saturday. If the undefeated team loses on Friday night, I think they should get the benefit of the doubt on Saturday. The team that beat them (in this case, UNCA) should have to play the early game with the winner of that going against the team that was undefeated for the championship.

Hopefully I explained that decent. It'd be a way of rewarding a team for winning the first half of the tournament."

In a way, it doesn't seem right, but remember that UNCA had to play 2 games on Friday and they were 4-1 after beating LU while LU was 3-1 after that game...So if UNCA would've had to play 2 games on Saturday, they would've been forced to win 6 games in the tourney to win it all while LU would've only had to have won 4 total...It would seem a bit weird to 'punish' the team that had just beaten the unbeaten team by forcing them to play 2 games again the next day...

[SuperJon]

I see your point, WEF. I guess that's the down side of playing a 6 team double elimination tourney instead of a 4 team or 8 team.

[PAmedic]

#5 Seed Flames Fall to #6 Seed Bulldogs in Big South Title Game; Just Breaks LU Season Hit Mark

May 27, 2006
Conway,S.C.

The #6 seed UNC Asheville Bulldogs erased a 10-run deficit to defeat the #5 Liberty Flames, 15-11, in Game 11 of the 2006 Bojangles Big South Baseball Championship, Saturday night, at Watson Stadium, to claim its first-ever Big South Baseball Championship. Flames second baseman Michael Just finished his career with four hits to break the Liberty single season hit record in the contest.

With the win, the #6 seed Bulldogs claim the conference’s automatic berth to next week’s NCAA Tournament and run their record to 28-33 overall. The #5 seed Flames end their season at 39-21. Liberty ’s 39 wins are the most ever by a Flames’ club at the Division I level of competition.

The Flames seemed to take control of the contest early by posting nine runs on eight hits in the second inning. With one out, Patrick Gaillard began the offensive outburst by beating out an infield single to the shortstop. Abe Yeakel followed with a bunt single down the third base line by Abe Yeakel. Phil John then sent a grounder to second which the shortstop dropped on an attempted putout to load the bases. Liberty took a 1-0 lead on a single by Derek Bennion. Chad Miller doubled chasing home Yeakel and John to make it, 3-0. An infield single by Michael Just scored Bennion.

Up 4-0, Aaron Grijalva’s sacrifice fly plated Miller with Liberty ’s fifth run and added another on a single to center by Phillip Laurent. Gaillard, batting for the second time in the inning, reached on an error by the Bulldog pitcher, allowing Laurent and Keller to score for an 8-0 advantage. He then scored on a double by Yeakel.

In the third, Liberty added another run to push its advantage to 10-0. Second baseman Just singled to center with two out and score as the center fielder dropped a fly ball allowing him to score. Just’s hit was his 93rd of the season breaking the single season school mark held by former Liberty infielder Jason Benham, who had 92 hits, in 1992. He later added another hit to set the new mark at 94 hits in a season.

UNC Asheville got on the board in the fifth. The Bulldogs strung together three consecutive hits with one out to push two runs across. Both J.K. Whited and Kyle Smith singled and scored on a double by Steve Burnich. He later scored on a ground out by Matt Henson. Elliot Arrington then delivered a RBI single to cut the Flames’ advantage to 10-4.

The Bulldogs closed it to 10-6 with single runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Burnich would drive in Charles Pippit, who had walked in the sixth, while Arrington scored on a sacrifice fly by Pippit in the seventh inning.

In the eighth inning, UNC Asheville completed their comeback. The Bulldogs loaded the bases with one out and scored on a ground out by Arrington. Eugene Locklear followed with a walk to once again load the bases. Left fielder Rob Vernon then cleared the bases with his eighth home run of the season, a grand slam over the right center field wall, to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the game at 11-10.

The Bulldogs followed its five-run eighth with five more in the ninth. Arrington had a base clearing double to stretch the UNC Asheville advantage to 13-10, while Vernon and Whited had RBI singles to push the lead to 16-10.

The Flames added a run on a two-out bases loaded single in the ninth by Phil John.

Liberty reliever Phillip Thompson, the third of five Liberty pitchers, took the loss to fall to 6-7 on the season as he allowed five runs on three hits. Alan DeRatt, the third of three pitchers for UNC Asheville, picked up the win to move to 8-4. He allowed a run on three hits over the last four innings.

After the game, three Flames were named to the all-tournament team:


All Tournament Team
OF – Rob Vernon, UNC Asheville (MVP)
OF – Phillip Laurent, Liberty
OF – Elliott Arrington, UNC Asheville
INF – Aaron Grijalva, Liberty
INF – Jeff Cowan, High Point
INF – Matt Repec, Winthrop
INF – Matt Henson, UNC Asheville
C – Billy Aguiar, High Point
P – Phillip Thompson, Liberty
P – Alan DeRatt, UNC Asheville
DH – Brant Peacher, Coastal Carolina
UTL – Phil Carey, Winthrop

[PAmedic]

http://newsadvance.com/servlet/Satellit ... th=!sports

Liberty blows big lead, loses title game

By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
May 28, 2006

CONWAY, S.C. - The wind that had alternately pushed in and out of Coastal Carolina's Charles Watson Stadium suddenly went still Saturday night.
Mosquitoes congregated happily around stadium lights in the thick, dewy air. There was nothing to hold balls in, nothing to push them out. Any home run, it seemed, would be earned.

It was hard to imagine a scenario in which Rob Vernon's eighth-inning shot would have stayed inside the teal walls at Vrooman Field. It was struck so crisp, so cleanly, that it created its own wind, slicing a line through the humid air, sailing deep, the hopes of UNC-Asheville's comeback bid riding on it.

Ten runs down. Eleven runs gained, the capper being Vernon's grand slam, which gave the Bulldogs a one-run lead and a stunning comeback from a 10-run deficit. Six outs later, Asheville completed the ultimate underdog run through the six-team Big South tournament, claiming a 16-11 victory against Liberty and its first tournament championship.

"I didn't see it coming, to be honest with you," Liberty outfielder Phillip Laurent said.

The end was stunning for Liberty, which took a 10-0 lead after three innings and just tried to hold on.

Both teams worked with a patchwork pitching staff. LU (39-21) was already working with a depleted staff, with top starter Michael Solbach on the shelf with a sore arm. UNCA (28-33) wasn't in much better shape. Both teams were playing for the third time in two days. UNCA beat LU 4-1 early Saturday in the completion of a game suspended by Friday rain. The Flames then took a 7-1 lead against Winthrop in its first elimination game of the tournament before holding off a furious Eagles rally in an 11-7 victory.

"One more," Laurent said between games as his teammates chowed down on bananas, energy bars, anything to give the team some energy for the championship game.

Riding that momentum, Liberty scored nine times in the second and once in the third against UNCA.

A 10-0 lead. Game over. Right?

Dustin Umberger, pitching on two days rest after throwing 7 1/3 innings in the tournament opener Wednesday, unraveled in the fifth, allowing four runs as the Bulldogs scraped back within 10-4.

"We could definitely sense that they were getting a little uptight," Vernon said.

Liberty's offense lost steam and finally disappeared, much like it did the first time it played UNCA in the tournament. The Bulldogs scored once each in the sixth and seventh, pulled within 10-7 on an RBI groundout in the eighth and then ? bang! ? Vernon's shot sucked all the life out of the Liberty bench.

"A couple of my earlier at-bats, I was trying to hit 10-run home runs, and it just wasn't working," said Vernon, the tournament MVP.

The fun didn't stop for UNCA. The Bulldogs put five more runs on the board in the ninth to take a 16-10 lead, and the smattering of Bulldog fans that made the trip from Asheville danced in the stands and pounded against the aluminum bleachers.

In the Liberty dugout, the silence was stunning.

The Flames' fourth Big South tournament title, seemingly a certainty as the sun faded in shades of soft red in the early evening, had slipped away.

After playing 20 innings, half played in sticky, mid-90s heat with players teetering on the brink of exhaustion, Liberty's players and coaches were left to quietly ponder what had transpired.

"I'm almost to the point of falling over right now," Laurent said. "It's pushed us to limits that I never thought I had to play through."

"To have that lead ? I mean, we've been here since 11 o'clock this morning," Liberty coach Matt Royer said. "We've played late last night and we come in and basically play three different games. To have that lead, and ?"

Royer paused.

"It's hard to explain."