Sandlapper Spike

Things I like: BLTs, peaches, and all sports, including gardening. Especially gardening. Also a biased fan of a certain S.C. military college's varsity teams.

[Sandlapper Spike @SandlapperSpike]

@sportsmatters Hey, it worked for Tim McCarver.

[Sandlapper Spike @SandlapperSpike]

@sportsmatters Not a coincidence that the Texas coach advocated for three weeks of best-of-three series to replace the current pre-CWS postseason format.

[Sandlapper Spike @SandlapperSpike]

Tomorrow, The Citadel will attempt to win a second game in a regional for the fourth time in program history. The last time that happened was in 1990. You might remember how that turned out.

The lesson, as always: don't let the Bulldogs get hot.

[Sandlapper Spike @SandlapperSpike]

The Citadel just won its first regional game since a 7-2 victory over Virginia Tech in 2010. The Bulldogs scored their most runs in a regional game since a 10-1 win over Coastal Carolina in 2004.

[Sandlapper Spike @SandlapperSpike]

(yawn) Never a doubt.

[Sandlapper Spike @SandlapperSpike]

The upcoming regionals reminded me again of my favorite media guide quote. From 1990, concluding a long, very serious team preview:

"We need to stay out of the way of line drives and recover foul balls so that we can stay within our budget."

Chal Port, still making me laugh...

[Sandlapper Spike @SandlapperSpike]

@Lucasjay16 I just got lost in my memories. Growing up, we got cable in the early 1980s; for some reason I always remember UIC played DePaul in hoops on WGN in UIC's 1st season as a D1 school. The coach was Ray Meyer's "other" son, Tom. That's how I knew it was called 'Chicago Circle' then.

[Sandlapper Spike @SandlapperSpike]

Looking ahead to potential winner's bracket matchups, The Citadel has surprisingly only played Georgia Tech twice, and not since 2013. The Bulldogs have never faced UIC in baseball (or hoops), not even when the school was called the University of Illinois-Chicago Circle.

[Sandlapper Spike @SandlapperSpike]

Correction (thanks @Lucasjay16): The Citadel played UIC twice just last season! The Bulldogs won both games at Riley Park. My apologies to all for the error.

[Sandlapper Spike @SandlapperSpike]

Looking ahead to potential winner's bracket matchups, The Citadel has surprisingly only played Georgia Tech twice, and not since 2013. The Bulldogs have never faced UIC in baseball (or hoops), not even when the school was called the University of Illinois-Chicago Circle.

[Sandlapper Spike @SandlapperSpike]

@Lucasjay16 They did! How did I miss that...

Thanks. Correction to come.

[Sandlapper Spike @SandlapperSpike]

Larry Cochell's last game coaching Cal State Fullerton was a loss to The Citadel at the College World Series in 1990. He left for Oklahoma and led the Sooners to the 1994 CWS title.

OU should thank The Citadel for its win. Ignore the fact Cochell was making only $63K at CSF...

[Sandlapper Spike @SandlapperSpike]

Oklahoma and The Citadel have met once on the diamond, with the Sooners winning 9-7 on February 21, 2014, in a game played at an early-season tournament in Orlando. I believe it is widely acknowledged that suspect umpiring was a factor in the result of the contest.

[Sandlapper Spike @SandlapperSpike]

@RoccoMiller8 Those are in alphabetical order, not LIFO.

[Sandlapper Spike @SandlapperSpike]

With the way the committee has historically valued RPI, surprising that Mercer is left out in the cold. 44 wins, conference regular-season title...doesn't matter. All meaningless.

[Aaron Fitt @aaronfitt]

So bubble teams that did not get in: Mercer (that's the one we missed—we thought a regular-season conference champ in the No. 6 RPI league, with a No. 28 RPI, would be enough to get the Bears in despite just a 1-4 Q1 mark, an obvious black eye there); TCU; Pitt; UTSA; Michigan.

[Sandlapper Spike @SandlapperSpike]

At least without two teams in the field, the SoCon commissioner won't have to make additional travel plans and will thus have more time to advocate for his league to be relegated to the play-in rounds of the basketball tournaments.

[Sandlapper Spike @SandlapperSpike]

Mercer does not get in. Bad day for the SoCon. Tough look for the commissioner.

[Sandlapper Spike @SandlapperSpike]

The Citadel does have recent success in sporting events hosted by Georgia Tech.

Just sayin'.

https://t.co/pqoaM1uu9d

[Sandlapper Spike @SandlapperSpike]

@IWCorriher Regionalism by another route, basically.

[Sandlapper Spike @SandlapperSpike]

In the SoCon tourney (5 games), The Citadel offensive stats --
Batting average: .405
OBP: .477
SLG: .579
OPS: 1.056 (!)
Steals: 8 (11 attempts)
Walks: 20
HBP: 7

Also: .972 fielding %

[Sandlapper Spike @SandlapperSpike]

The Citadel baseball, offensive stats comparison from first 39 games to last 20:
OPS: 742 (first 39); 850 (last 20)
Runs: 5.90 (first 39); 7.75 (last 20)
SLG: .372 (first 39); .451 (last 20)
Steals per game: 2.05, 80% success rate (first 39); 2.95, 83% success rate (last 20)