2011 A-10 Baseball Tourney

Other 49er Sports
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Well, it all comes down to this. With a very slim to zero chance at an at-large bid, the Niners need to win the Tourney to get into the NCAA’s. The good news is that we have the number 1 seed and a 1st round bye and that means 1 less pitcher we have to use.

http://www.atlantic10.com/championships/2011-baseball-champs.html

We get the winner of the 4 Xavier/ 5 Richmond game at noon on Thursday. They will play at noon tomorrow.

Richmond took 2 of 3 from XU this year. X came to Charlotte early in the season and we swept them 3-0. Richmond came to Charlotte 3 weeks ago and we took 2 out of 3. Their pitching shut us down the first 2 games of the series but we found a way to win the second game.

Both these teams will likely throw their #1 starter at each other tomorrow so we will see their #2.

With X that looks to be Tyler Koors which would set up a rematch with Niner #1 starter Andrew Smith. The two faced off in April as the Niners won 5-0. Koors had a perfect game going through 4 innings but the Niners tagged him for 5 runs after that. Smith shut out X in 7 innings of work and scattered 5 hits with 4 Ks.

http://www.charlotte49ers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=363417&SPID=44796&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=23200&ATCLID=205128361

With Richmond, it looks to be Anthony Cafagna who pitched 9 shutout innings against the Niners just a few weeks ago, only allowing 3 hits. The Niners won off of the Spiders bullpen in extras, but Cafagna was flawless. Luckily Yermal and John Hamilton were equally flawless that day as the Niner won 1-0 in 10.

http://www.charlotte49ers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=363417&SPID=44796&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=23200&ATCLID=205148309

The Niners lost in Andrew Smith’s start against the Spiders 3-0. Smith had an excellent outing though, only allowing 1 run pitching into the 9th, striking out 10. We just could not get the bats working that night.

http://www.charlotte49ers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=363417&SPID=44796&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=23200&ATCLID=205147961

If these matchups hold true, I’m thinking we want to see X.

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Whoever it may be, we really need to win the first game. Losing the first like we did last year makes it tough to win the tournament.

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Charlotte 49ers A-10 Baseball Championship Preview

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The biggest thing is to win on Thursday. Losing Thursday will force us to win 5 games in three days including 4 in about 24 hours. I think we can beat ud and uri twice in a 3 game set.
I’d also love to see lasalle get hot and send ud and Uri to the bad side.

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[quote=“Tintin, post:4, topic:25427”]The biggest thing is to win on Thursday. Losing Thursday will force us to win 5 games in three days including 4 in about 24 hours. I think we can beat ud and uri twice in a 3 game set.
I’d also love to see lasalle get hot and send ud and Uri to the bad side.[/quote]

I agree. Getting in that losers bracket killed us last year. We have had some slow starts this year as it seems like we are always playing from behind. I hope we come out scoring some runs right off the bat.

I feel equally confident in all 4 of our starting pitchers going against anyone’s #1 starter in the league. Smith, Roberts, Barnette, and Yermal all give us a great chance to win. Our pen has been solid also.

6

Some notes on today’s XU-Richmond game.

http://www.goxavier.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/052411aad.html

As expected both will go with their ace in Game 1 so the pitching match-ups predicted for tomorrow should stand, even though we have not named a starter officially.

The battle of left-handers [url=http://www.goxavier.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/richard_jon00.html]Jon Richard[/url] (5-4) for the Musketeers and [url=http://www.goxavier.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/williams_bret00.html]Bret Williams[/url] (7-2) for the Spiders begins at Noon.
[b] Scouting The Musketeers (30-25 overall, 14-10 A-10)[/b][b] [/b] [b] With the ability to hit for power, steal bases, drive runners in, and reach base, the Musketeers have one of the most balanced offensive attacks in the league this year. They average over six runs per game and rank among the top five in all but one major A-10 offensive category. As a team the Musketeers are hitting .298, with an on-base percentage of .381 and slugging percentage of .406.

Seniors Ben Thomas and John McCambridge have been the mainstay threats in the lineup for the Musketeers. Thomas, the 2011 Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, has had one of the best season’s in Xavier history. The first baseman is hitting .355, with an on-base percentage of .422. He’s driven in a team-high 55 runs to go with 14 homers, two shy of the school record. McCambridge leads XU with a .368 average and boosts the highest on-base percentage of the team (.443). The senior, who earned first team all-conference honors this season, has swiped a team-high 28 bases and scored 55 runs.

Supporting the pitching staff will be the best defensive team in the conference.

With only 56 errors on the year, the Musketeers easily lead the league with a .974 fielding percentage. Senior catcher Ryan Bellamy has been a difference maker behind the plate tossing out 18 runners in 38 attempts.
[/b]

[b] Scouting Richmond (26-25-2 overall, 13-11 A-10)

Richmond’s early success in conference games lacked up for the 3-5 record in conference games down the stretch. The Spiders lost two of three games to Saint Joseph’s and finished tied with La Salle and St. Bonaventure at 13-11 to end of the season. Thankfully the Spiders had a 5-1 record against the Explorers and Bonnies and earned the head-to-head tie breaker for the fifth spot.

As a team the Spiders are hitting .278, with a .393 slugging percentage and on-base percentage of .360. They average 5.4 runs per game, to go along with 94 doubles, seven triples and 34 home runs in 53 games played. Mike Mergenthaler, Billy Barber, and Phil Ruzbarsky are the offensive threats for the Spiders. Mergenthaler leads the team with seven home runs, 16 doubles, 41 RBI, 38 runs scored, and 16 steals on 18 attempts. [/b]

Barber, who received first team all-conference honors as a catcher, has the second-highest batting average (.315) on the team and has five home runs and 20 RBI despite playing in just 34 games. Ruzbarsky is hitting .290 with 37 RBI, four home runs, and 31 runs.

[b]Defensively the Spiders have a fielding percentage of .962, which ranks sixth in the conference. Catcher Chris Cowell has caught nine runners stealing this season in 26 attempts.

[/b]

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XU press release was wrong about Richmond’s starter. They are going with their #2 guy to open the Tourney. We will likely face their #1 in lefty Brett Williams if the Spiders advance. He shut us out in Richmond’s only victory over the Niners in the series.

Anthony Cafagna on the mound today for UR...4-0 in A-10 play, allowing only 7 runs in 26.2 innings
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Baseball America Preview:

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/college/on-campus/2011/2611797.html

Atlantic 10

Perennial league power Charlotte went 17-7 to win the regular-season title for the second straight year, but in 2010 it was upset by fifth-seeded Saint Louis in the championship of the A-10 tourney. The 49ers are the favorites again this year, and their stellar pitching staff (which ranks fourth in the nation with a 2.48 ERA, nearly a run and a half better than any other team in the A-10) looks strong enough to avoid an upset this time around. Charlotte lacks big-time power arms, but starters Tyler Barnette (8-1, 1.98), Andrew Smith (8-4, 1.99), Corey Roberts (7-3, 3.18) and Joe Yermal (5-2, 1.92) all pound the strike zone and keep hitters off balance with varied repertoires. The pitching staff has solid depth, too, giving Charlotte a chance to run through the loser’s bracket if it stumbles. Charlotte’s offense relies on execution, athleticism and speed (it ranks 12th nationally with 105 stolen bases). Coach Loren Hibbs called his team “offensively challenged” midway through the season, but the 49ers still rank second in the A-10 in batting (.299) and scoring (6.8 runs per game).

Rhode Island, which finished just a game behind Charlotte, is constructed similarly around pitching and speed. The pitching staff is anchored by a trio of battle-tested fourth- or fifth-year players in Stephen Peterson (6-3, 2.91), Ken Graveline (6-4, 3.80) and Chris Pickering (4-3, 4.10). And URI has three players with 20 or more stolen bases; the team ranks fourth in the nation in steals per game (2.18).

For more on the Rams and 49ers, see the Under The Radar section from the March 25 Weekend Preview

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The Niners will face #5 seed Richmond tomorrow at Noon as they beat #4 seed Xavier today 5-4. We will see a rematch of the May 5th battle between Andrew Smith and Richmond’s Bret Williams. Williams shut out the Niners when he faced us earlier this month only giving up 3 hits.

http://www.charlotte49ers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=363417&SPID=44796&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=23200&ATCLID=205147961

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[quote=“Mr. Bojangles, post:9, topic:25427”]The Niners will face #5 seed Richmond tomorrow at Noon as they beat #4 seed Xavier today 5-4. We will see a rematch of the May 5th battle between Andrew Smith and Richmond’s Bret Williams. Williams shut out the Niners when he faced us earlier this month only giving up 3 hits.

http://www.charlotte49ers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=363417&SPID=44796&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=23200&ATCLID=205147961[/quote] Dammit. Just like last year, we face a pitcher who handled us well in the regular season. Thanks for nothing, Xavier!

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Screw Xavier! Screw Richmond! And screw the A-10! We should win this tournament playing blindfolded no matter who our opponent throws. Only way we lose this tournament is if we beat overselves. If we can get Wilson and Tilton on base with few outs, we will generate enough runs to win this thing easily.

12

Screw Xavier! Screw Richmond! And screw the A-10! We should win this tournament playing blindfolded no matter who our opponent throws. Only way we lose this tournament is if we beat overselves. If we can get Wilson and Tilton on base with few outs, we will generate enough runs to win this thing easily.[/quote] True that. However, look at our results last season. One league shutout all year and we face the same pitcher right off. That’s some crappy luck.

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Williams had a good game against us. Now he is due to have a bad game. He made our hitting look pretty bad that Friday night he pitched against us.

14

#5 LaSalle beats #3 Dayton in extras to move on and play the #2 seed Rhody.

Dayton beats Xavier in the first elimination game 1-0.

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Good news for today’s game. No rain is in the forecast and the temps should be in the upper 80s. It seems most of our losses have occurred when it was cold and damp.

16

Extremely true. When the weather turns bad, our unearned runs go way up.

17

Niners win 6-0 over Richmond. Andrew Smith demonstrates why he is the A10 pitcher of the year by going 7 innings, giving up only one hit, stiking out 5 while walking 1. John Hamilton then came on pitched two innings of no hit ball to finish it out. The boys will play again tomorrow at Noon. They’ll face the winner of URI/LaSalle who are set to play next.

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Hot.

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We were able to hit (and bunt, lots of good bunts today) their pitcher that gave us so much trouble a few weeks ago.

A LaSalle win over URI will be just what the doctor ordered.

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[quote=“49r9r, post:19, topic:25427”]We were able to hit (and bunt, lots of good bunts today) their pitcher that gave us so much trouble a few weeks ago.

A LaSalle win over URI will be just what the doctor ordered.[/quote]

Who will start tomorrow? Roberts?