Short Hops
Mar 10, 2004 | Baseball
March 8, 2004
NEW ORLEANS, La. - This week's contests that kicked off the most important stretch of games on our schedule did not start off like we all hoped. First, we failed to show any offense in a 6-0 loss to LSU. Then, we fell behind 6-0 early to Pepperdine on Friday night at our home field. The average team would have folded in that type of situation but I'm proud of the way our guys handled it. Although, we lost Friday night's game 12-11, we sent Pepperdine a message that we are a team that won't lie down. In times like this weekend when we didn't have our best game, we'll find any way to win. Saturday and Sunday's wins weren't exactly pretty at times but that's exactly what we did.
I saw two encouraging things that I liked about this weekend's games. First, the offense came alive. I know everyone was happy to see that. We had 38 hits on the weekend and scored 25 runs against a solid Pepperdine staff. The thing that we emphasized after the LSU game was that we needed to stop going through the motions and carry ourselves like we know that we can beat anyone on any day. I felt like we started to tap into that this weekend. Second, we never died down. We were down in each of the three ballgames, and came back to win two of them. One thing I noticed about the team in 2001 when I was a senior in high school coming to games, is that they came from behind to win in so many games that I can't even count. The last two years I sometimes felt that we didn't have that mindset. This year, though, I think the team is realizing that we need to play with the attitude that we can beat anyone, no matter how much we're down or how many innings are left.
Well, this week is a great opportunity for us to make a statement about our team. Tomorrow night we'll be able to avenge our first loss of the season against UNO. There are a lot of players who are eager to get back on the field against those guys. Then, we fly out at 6 a.m. on Thursday morning for Tempe, Ariz., to square off against a hot Arizona State team. Why we're flying out at 6 in the morning is beyond me. Some people don't mind it to much because they'll just sleep on the plane, but not me. I don't fly that much (the first flight I ever took was my freshman year when we went to California to play Pepperdine), and I'm not exactly a model of poise on the airplane. So sleeping is out of the question for me.
As much as we love playing at Turchin, we're all excited to do a little bit of traveling. As much as you want to play every game at home, it's not always going to be like that, especially in postseason games. So, we need to get some practice playing well on the road. You learn a lot about your team when you see how well you can play away from home. So, in that sense, we're excited. It's also fun to visit different cities once and while too. Some are better than others. I know I really enjoyed Memphis when we went there my freshman year. Cincinnati would have to be another city I liked a lot. I guess since I grew up around New Orleans, every other city is a different kind of experience.
Well, I've got class to attend. Ricky Fairchild and I are about to head up to our wonderful Monday night MCOM class. I tell you, nothing tops my Monday off right like a solid management communications class. So, I hope to see you guys at the park tomorrow night against UNO at 6:30 p.m., and see us off to ASU. I have a feeling this could be a really good week for us. Thanks for reading.
Roll Wave,
Tommy
