We’ve had a great past couple of weeks of playing. Last weekend we went up to Boston and completed a sweep of Boston College, ending the season on a high note. I can honestly say that last weekend was probably the coolest road trip I’ve been on for baseball. We had a lot of free time when we weren’t racking up the wins, so we all had a chance to check out downtown Boston. A lot of guys got the chance to go check out a Red Sox game while we were up there. It was my first time going to Fenway, and it definitely didn’t disappoint. A lot of us also went to the North End of Boston, where there are a ton of great Italian restaurants. The restaurant that we went to was called Catalina, and it was delicious. There were about 10 of us in our group, and there wasn’t anyone with food left on their plate at the end of the meal. The city of Boston was awesome to experience, and getting the sweep of BC made for a great weekend.

Last night we had our opening game of the ACC tournament. We took down Florida State 7-0, which was especially sweet since they beat us in the ACC Championship game last year. We had a great outing from Maz, who struck out 9 in 7 shutout innings. DJ “Young Cub” came in and shut the door, throwing 2 shoutout innings. Matty B went big fly over the Blue Monster in left. Brett, Andrew, and Matt all had 2 hits apiece. The web gem of the night definitely goes to Brett. There was a ball hit very well in the right center gap that everyone though was a sure double, except for Brett. He ran the ball down and made a great diving catch for the out. Not to mention that his play made the #1 slot on Sportscenter’s Top 10 plays this morning! You can go online to vote for his play against the reigning best play, so everyone make sure to go online to the link I post to vote for Brett!

It was a great way to start the tournament. We take on Georgia Tech tonight at 7, so everyone come out to support!

The link to vote for Brett is:

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/polls?pCat=114&sCat=2115

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks

Fenway Park

Brett Making the Catch

GO PACK!

-VW #17

"BirdMan" had a great weekend going big fly twice on Saturday!!

Sass – 42

We are on the bus headed to UVA. Guys are sleeping, watching a movie, listening to music, and believe it or not doing some school work. Finals week is approaching quick, so some work needs to be done to finish off the semester!

We are looking forward to taking a couple games from the #1 Cavs this weekend. Hopefully, some of you will be making the trip to Charlottesville, VA to cheer us on.

I’m going to try and take a couple pics tonight at our practice and post them, so until next time…
Go Pack!
# 44

The pitching was outstanding all weekend long. We got 3 great starts from Maz, Sass, and Cham. Maz threw 7 great innings on Friday, picking up the win. Grant got the call on Saturday, and threw 5 solid innings. After Grant, Ethan came in and shut the door and picked up the win. On Sunday, Rob had his best start of the year so far, throwing 5 shutout innings and getting his 5th win of the year. DJ came in and had a great outing, allowing no runs. Overman came in both Friday and Saturday, and pitched excellently getting himself 2 more saves on the year.

On Friday, Pratt and Tarran led the offense with 2 RBI’s a piece. Ciencin added to the attack with 1 RBI. Harold also had a good day at the plate, going 2 for 3 with a run scored.

On Saturday, the bats came alive to put up 8 runs for the day. Pratt, Cameron, and Diaz all had 2 hits apiece. Brett, Ciencin, Cameron, and Gianis all had an RBI on the day. Bergquist had a spectacular play in the 5th inning. A line drive was hit up the middle, and Matt took a couple steps to his right and made a huge leap and somehow ended up catching the line drive.  Harold also had a spectacular play. In the 8th inning, Carolina had a few guys on base with 1 out. A line drive was hit down the first base line over Harold’s head. He jumped up, snagging the line drive, and then flipping the ball to second base for the double play.

On Sunday, the bats stayed hot, putting up a 10 spot for the day, putting the Heels out of reach in the 6th inning. We had a hard time stringing together hits off of Carolina’s starter, but we kept battling and battling. When we finally broke through, the floodgates opened and there was no looking back from there. Gianis and Cameron both had outstanding days swinging the bat, having 4 hits and 3 hits, respectively. Tarran, Schaef, and Cameron each had 2 RBI’s on the day. Diaz, Pratt, and Ciencin also contributed to the offense, each adding 2 hits. Johnny G had a great day defensively, running down balls all over right field and making some big time plays.

As you can see, we couldn’t have scripted a better weekend. We swept Carolina for the first time since 1997, Coach Avent’s first year as head coach at NC State. Growing up in Cary and being a State fan my whole life, I can really appreciate how much this past weekend meant to all the current and former players, the fans, and the university as a whole. I think it’s safe to say that this was one of the most enjoyable weekends I’ve had as a player.

Pratt after the making the final out on Saturday

“Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character.” – John Wooden

- VW #17

This week we have practice today and UNCW at home on Wednesday. We look to bounce back and get after it at practice and come out with a victory on Wed night!

Take a look back later, I’ll post some pics from the locker room and practice.

-Cham

It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you.  ~Author unknown,

I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives.  I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.  ~Abraham Lincoln

Sass – 42

Til next time,

Cham

We have just started our trip down to Atlanta for the weekend series against Georgia Tech, so I figured it would be a good time to give you an update on the past couple of days. We’ve had a couple of good midweek games, both of which we were able to pull out a nice win.

On Tuesday, we had Josh “Texas” Easley on the mound to pitch against Buffalo. He was able to give us 4 1/3 innings before Chris “O-Man” Overman came in to shut the door and finish the game on the mound. O-Man dominated the last 4 2/3 innings only allowing 1 run on 1 hit, striking out 3 and walking no one.

Offensively, we struggled through the first part of the game, but we were able to turn it around late and pull out the win. We got down 5-0 early, but in the 6^th inning we were able to get 2 of the runs back on Harold “Big Cheese” Riggins’ double off the right field wall to score Chris Diaz and Andrew “Cin-City” Ciencin. Then, in the 8^th inning, after a couple of singles by Brett “Booby” Williams and Cin-City, and a walk by Diaz, Big Cheese mashed a grand slam over the center field wall. We ended up winning the game 7-5. It’s always nice getting a win when you come from behind.

Wednesday we had my fellow co-writer, Rob “Drama Beats” Chamra, on the bump against George Mason. He gave us a great start, going 5 1/3 innings, only giving up 1 run on 3 hits. The bullpen was dominant, not surrendering a run or even a hit, in the last 3 2/3 innings. DJ “Rookie” Thomas, Mike “Chipmunk” Clark, and Rey “En Fuego” Cotilla all had great outings in relief. The bullpen only walked one hitter, while combining to strike out 3.

The bats came alive for our hitters yesterday, as we were able to score at least 1 run in 6 different innings, for a total of 9 runs for the game. Pratt “Fatboy” Maynard led the attack with 3 RBI’s on 3 hits. Big Cheese and Chris “Schaef-Piece” Schaeffer also had 2 hits apiece, with one of Schaeffer’s hits being a missile over the left field wall. Overall we had a great couple of midweek games. We played much better on Wednesday, which hopefully can carry over into the weekend series against Georgia Tech.

Georgia Tech comes into this weekend at #22 in the nation, so it should be a competitive series. Stay posted for updates from Sass and Drama Beats over the weekend.

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is a success” –Henry Ford

-VW #17

“I’ve never known anybody to achieve anything without overcoming adversity.”
—Lou Holtz

Sass – 42

When you believe in yourself and the people you surround yourself with , you will win something really big one day. – Dick Vermeil

SASS – 42