Saturday is great day to be a Cardinal with DH sweep of Rams
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Nick SMU baseball coach Nick Whaley is writing a daily postcard, giving fans a closer look at the Cardinals' spring trip to Tampa, Fla. |
It was nice to finally get out of the hotel rooms and take it to the field. We swept the double header vs. Framingham State.
The key to the victories today was solid pitching and outstanding defense. Despite a slow start to game one (the first four batters struck out) the Cardinals pulled out a thrilling come from behind, nine-inning victory.
Junior Mike Mitchell had another solid start paving the way for Brett Ferschweiler’s first college victory. Brandon Haugh had an outstanding day in both the field and at the plate.
Brandon Haugh had a clutch single in the seventh only to be thrown out by several feet at home plate after an outstanding at-bat from Kyle Ryan. It was a POOR decision on my part. I should have held up Brandon and forced them to play the infield in and allow our guys to deliver a big hit.
Boy was I glad when Brandon drove in Nick Winecke in the bottom of the 9th.
It would have been a tough loss and I would have taken full responsibility.
In Game 2, David Baker gave us a solid start in recording his first college victory. He even had a no-no going through the 4th The team jumped out to an early lead and kept the other team from gathering any momentum by playing great defense. Kyle Ryan was outstanding at second base making some tough plays and keeping runners off base. Finishing off the final two innings in style was David Dahlstrom making his first official college appearance. Zach Olberding also made his first official start behind the dish collecting two hits in the process.
Our second game was played in historic Miller-Huggins Park. Legend has it that Babe Ruth once hit a ball 656 feet deep into the lake beyond the field. Miller-Huggins, also known as Casey Stengel Park was also the winter home for Tom Schmidt, sophomore Alex Schmidt’s father when he was just rookie for the Twins minor league system.
Sunday will be a long day but a good one. We take on a tough team in Centenary College and then fly home on a red eye arriving just in time for classes on Monday morning.
I'm signing off as I need to get down to the beach and buy some souvenirs for Kelsey, Shane and Mac Whaley.