[PAmedic]

there were NO scores available anywhere- and if it was tape delayed, it would have been about 1 hr. so who knows. "Guest" indicated it was 4-2 in the 10th, I tuned in and so it was less than a minute later.

[Hold My Own]

It was a bad game to watch to watch we just couldnt get it done

3rd base seems to be a concern yet again which it seems to have been the last 3 years...honestly what lost the game for us is 3rd not blocking the throw from the catcher...from the box score perspective it's an error on the catcher, but everyone in that dugout understands who takes the majority of the blame for that

I wish we could have landed Bolten (sp?) who closed out the game for them not to mention he was playing 1st base until he got the call....he went to E.C. Glass which is just minutes away, that's something you dont see as much in College baseball (someone who can play a position as well as go in and throw bb's)

[thesportscritic]

Too many errors. It didn't cost us until the 9th inning and eventually in the 10th inning too.

[givemethemic]

It's Jared Bolden and yes he was one whale of a pitcher at E.C Glass, the game was live today... check out are website and that has all the games posted that we are doing www.thelightonline.com click on sports... We will have tomorrow's game with Pregame at 2:25 and first pitch at 2:30 vs. Longwood... I will try to get the game up in the next day or two...

[A.G.]

Bolden is a heck of a player and would have been a great sign for LU. But again, there are players in the area right under their noses that they don't have interest in. It would certainly solve at least some of their perceived problem spots.

[Hold My Own]

honetly the Bullpen is my main concern right now...anytime you have to try and get your #1 starter to go 7 innings this early and in this weather, you have a problem

3rd concerns me too, he needs to relax and watch 2nd base to see what it's like to do whatever it takes to get the job done...Mike Just is by NO MEANS the most atlhletic person ever to come through here but he makes all the plays he should...who wouldnt want somene to bat .350 for you with 3 errors a year

it just worries me, when i see his stiff throw (3rd base), & not dropping to his knee or what ever it took to block the throw in such an important point in the game, it worries me...but I dont want it to make it seem like those are the only holes at this point

[Sly Fox]

Guys, its Mid-February and ridiculously cold to boot. Give them some time and they'll come into form defensively.

[Hold My Own]

hey and I understand there's nothing worse than having to play in this crap...but this (3rd) has been a problem for 4 years now, we'll take guys from the OF or SS or where ever and try to fill that hole

But Sly that's what bothers me more than anything, if at this time of the year we have to depend on our Starting Pitching this much then we may be in trouble come tourny time when these arms are tired and that 93 is now 88....I think VCU would have been a great chance to try some other guys out that there are still questions about....we know what Phillip can do

[givemethemic]

Coach Royer said it in the post game that the plan was for him to go 5 or 6 innings but since his pitch count was low that they where gonna let him work the 7th..it had nothing to do with the bullpen..

[Hold My Own]

the bullpen is still a very big concern....ask him

[givemethemic]

O trust me we have had the conversation several times over the last month... Concern #1 was his young pitching.. I am just saying that, that was not the reason why Mike pitched 7 innings today that was like the first thing he brought up in postgame

[Hold My Own]

yeh, I guess it's just a matter of philosophy...but I'm a huge believer in, his first few outings let him get credit for his outing...let him get through the 5th then his job for the day is complete, that's when the count is needed to make sure he's not getting close just to get through the 5th...then we get to see the set up man and then big Phil

this weather is just so grueling on the arm, thats why I dont like to see them even get close to it YET...but it's coming

[givemethemic]

I believe that the pitch count was in the low 60's going into the 7th and I think he finished in the mid 70's don't have the final numbers in front of me... I know he pitched last Friday...

[SuperJon]

Throwing 7 innings wasn't bad today because it was 60 degrees. If the kid takes care of his arm and throws in the off season and everything, then 7 innings with a low pitch count today isn't that big of a deal.

[PAmedic]

I just appreciate the fact that the game was carried LIVE.

[PAmedic]

Flames Fall To Rams In Extra Innings

February 15, 2006 · Lynchburg, Va.

VCU first baseman Tim St. Clair hit a two-run home run in the 10th to lead the Rams past the Liberty Flames, 4-2, Wednesday afternoon in the Flames’ home opener at Worthington Stadium.

Liberty jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning. With one out, P.K. Keller (So., CF, St. Petersburg, Fla.) double to the right center field gap for the Flames’ first hit of the afternoon. After moving to third base on a passed ball, he would score on a sacrifice fly by David Giammaresi (r-So., DH, Coral Springs, Fla.).

VCU knotted the score at 1-1 in the seventh inning, plating a run with two outs. Jared Bolden singled up the middle, advanced to second on single by Barrett Ripley and scored on a RBI single by Brad Stephenson.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Flames went on top, 2-1. Pinch hitter Abe Yeakel (Jr., C, Kutztown, Pa.) singled to center field and advanced to second base on single by Errol Hollinger (Fr., C, Upland, Calif.). After a pitching change, Patrick Gaillard (Jr., SS, Taylors, S.C.) flied out to right field on which Yeakel tagged to advance to third base and came around to score when the Ram’s right fielder dropped the ball for an error.

In the top of the ninth, VCU would rally to send the game to extra innings with two outs. Stephenson singled and was replaced by pinch runner Chris Jackson. Justin Wright then singled to move Jackson to second base. Jackson then attempted to steal third base and scored on an overthrow of the base by the Liberty catcher to tie the game at 2-2.

The Rams then took the lead in the 10th inning. Sergio Miranda opened the inning with a double and after an out, scored in front of St. Clair’s home run, his first of the season, for a 4-2 advantage.

The Flames threatened in the bottom of the inning getting two men on, but could not push a run across.

Liberty starter Michael Solbach (r-So., RHP, Woodbridge, Va.) went seven innings, allowing one run on six hits, striking out seven and walking none. Phillip Thompson (Sr., RHP, Ringgold, Va.) followed in relief of Solbach and picked up his first loss of the season. The reliever pitched three innings of relief allowing three runs, two earned on four hit and striking out two. VCU right hander Jared Bolden picked up the win in relief allowing no runs on one hit in 1 2/3 innings, striking out three and walking one.

The loss evens the Flames record at 2-2 on the young season, while the Rams move to 2-0.

Liberty is back in action again tomorrow afternoon as they host Longwood at Worthington Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

[PAmedic]

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

VCU spoils LU's home opener

By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
February 15, 2006



It was a bang-bang play, as they say, and VCU was on the right end of it. As a result, Liberty went from being one strike away from a win over the CAA power to taking a stunning 4-2 extra-inning loss Wednesday afternoon in the Flames' home opener.
Liberty set a school record by recording only 62 errors last season. The Flames committed five against VCU, none bigger than catcher Errol Hollinger's bad throw to third base with two outs in the ninth and Liberty leading 2-1.

Kwan Evans was down in the count 0-2 when VCU pinch runner Chris Jackson got a huge lead off second base and took off, forcing an awkward throw from behind the plate. Liberty third baseman Chad Miller was playing deep on the line and had to charge to field the throw, which was low and wide. The ball skipped under his glove and Jackson made it home to tie the game at 2.

"We probably should have just ate that ball, but I can't blame him for that," Liberty coach Matt Royer said. "That play was in front of him and he sees it. We'll talk to him and learn from that. We were basically one strike away from winning the game."

The Rams (2-0) wasted little time in making Liberty pay for the mistake. With one out in the 10th and a runner at first, Tim St. Clair hammered a Phillip Thompson pitch to dead center field. Liberty's P.K. Keller made a play on the ball and thought he had made the catch at the wall. But when he looked in his glove, the ball was nowhere to be found. Players leapt off the VCU bench to celebrate as the Rams took the 4-2 lead.

Jared Bolden, the former E.C. Glass standout, made his first start of the season at first base for the Rams. In the ninth, he became the Rams' fifth pitcher and didn't disappoint a gathering of family and friends. He struck out three of the six batters he faced and blew a fastball by Liberty's Michael Just for the final out in the 10th.

"I was struggling to throw my curveball for strikes," said Bolden, who recorded his first collegiate win. "The fastball is always the best pitch in baseball. You've got to stay with it."

Bolden looked uncomfortable in his first two at-bats before settling down and collecting a single in the seventh inning and scoring the Rams' first run.

"I've got to admit, I was absolutely nervous the whole game," Bolden said. "The key for me was to calm down and try to realize that this is something I've done before. It was nothing new. My teammates helped me out a lot. They knew I had some extra incentive to want to do well."

The Flames took a 2-1 lead in the eighth on Patrick Gaillard's deep fly ball to right field. Abe Yeakel, who singled and moved to second on a Hollinger single, scored to put LU (2-2) up 2-1 when VCU right fielder Trai Harris dropped the ball while trying to throw it back to the infield.

That was the extent of the offense for the Flames, though.

Starter Michael Solbach allowed six hits and one run in seven innings.