April 24, 2008

Game Notes: Dallas Baptist

 

Dallas Baptist (27-11) at Northern Colorado (14-26)

Friday, April 25 • Greeley, Colo. • Jackson Field • 2:00 p.m.

Saturday, April 26 • Greeley, Colo. • Jackson Field • 11:00 a.m. & 2:00 p.m.

Audio Streaming: www.1310kfka.com • Live Stats: www.uncbears.com

 

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

After playing two games at Arkansas, the Bears return to Jackson Field to host eight straight beginning with Dallas Baptist on Friday. The two teams will also square off in a doubleheader on Saturday. The Bears then turn their attention to BYU on Monday and Tuesday before hosting Texas-Pan American for three.

 

Series History

Friday begins the second series of the season against Dallas Baptist. The Patriots won all three in Dallas, 7-2, 7-3, 15-10 in the first-ever meetings between the two clubs.

 

Commonality

The Bears and Patriots have both played Missouri State this year. DBU lost its season opener to the Bears, while NC dropped a three-game series. Missouri State is the only team the two squads have in common in 2008.

 

It's Definitely A Hitter's Park

In the six games of the Northern Colorado triangular over the weekend, Jackson Field surrendered a total of 135 runs with the fewest runs being scored 15 in the opening game of the tournament between Air Force and Utah Valley (8-7). Teams averaged 11.25 runs per game over the three days.

 

Lone Freshman Shows Patience

The only freshman in the day-to-day lineup this season, T.J. Berge, has shown tremendous patience at the plate. In 68 plate appearances this season, Berge has drawn 16 base on balls, or one walk for every 4.25 times he comes to bat. He has also been hit by a pitch once.

 

In The Clutch

Three players have shined this year getting RBI with two outs. Junior Erik Hegstad leads the way with 15 RBI (27 total), while senior Erik Whinery has 14 (25) and Chad Murray has 13 (36). A total of 83 of the team's 235 RBI have come with two outs (.353).

 

The Common Turn

Northern Colorado turned five double plays in the two games against Arkansas with some weird combinations. In the first game, the Bears turned both an 8-6-3 and a 1-2-3 double play. The other three were of the "normal variety" in a 6-4-3, 6-3 and 5-4-3. The Bears have now turned 32 double plays on the season, tying the total from 2007 in 51 games.

 

Getting Closer

The Bears now have 90 doubles on the season for an average of 2.37 per game which ranks 26th in the nation. NC is now just 28 shy of the school record of 118 from the 1994 season and just two shy of last year's mark of 92 two-baggers.

 

Sacrifices

Northern Colorado has sacrifice bunted 20 times this season, as well as hitting 16 sacrifice flies. The 36 sacrifices by the 2008 team already surpasses last year's total of 32 (19 sf, 13 bunts). It also is better than the 2006 team, which tallied 34 sacrifices in 51 games (11 sf, 23 bunts).

 

Ducks On The Pond

Senior Jeff Horn sees the ball much better when there are runners in scoring position. Horn is hitting .345 (10-for-29) with runners in scoring position, compared to an overall batting average of .219. With the bases empty, Horn is hitting just .179, but load them up and Horn is hitting a blistering .667 (4-for-6).

 

Now A-Peery-Ing

Senior right-handed pitcher Sean Peery has now appeared in 19 games this season, tying for the seventh most in a single-season in school history. Peery is 2-3 with a 5.09 ERA and has thrown 35.1 innings. The record for pitching appearances in a season is 24 by Tyler Pearson in 2006.

 

Please Let The Bases Be Loaded

Junior Mike Raudenbush is a perfect 4-for-4 this season with the bases loaded and has six of his 12 RBI on the year in that situation. He has four singles, as well as a sacrifice fly with Bears on the three bags.

 

Double Down

The Northern Colorado team currently has four players that have hit double digit doubles this year. Junior Kevin Sandberg leads the way with 15, while senior Chad Murray has 14, junior Erik Hegstad has 12 and senior Cory Morales has 11. The record for doubles in a year is 27 by Patrick Perry in 2004, while Sandberg needs one more to tie for 10th on the single season charts.

 

Two More

With 14 wins on the season, Northern Colorado is just two victories shy of tying last season's total of 16 wins. The 2007 squad went 16-35 and also started with the first 24 games of the year on the road.

 

Double Or Nothing

Junior Kevin Sandberg continues his climb up the career doubles chart. He now has 37 in his two-plus seasons with the Bears, which ties for sixth in school history. Sandberg is now just 10 doubles shy of knotting the school record of 47 doubles by Chris Kirgan (1992-94). With one more two-bagger, Sandberg will move into a tie for fourth with 38.

 

It Hasn't Been Easy

With the first 24 games on the road this season, the Bears faced some of the toughest competition in Division I as four opponents and 13 of those 24 contests came against teams currently ranked in the top 20 of the Collegiate Baseball Poll as Arizona State (1-1) is ranked fourth, Texas A&M (2-2) is eighth, Nebraska (0-6) is 10th and UC Irvine (0-1) is 17th,

 

Back-to-Back Jacks

For the first time all season, two Bears hit consecutive home runs when senior Chad Murray and Kevin Sandberg hit long balls against Metro State in the second inning. The Bears tallied six home runs in the game, the most since NC smashed nine against the Roadrunners back in 2003. It was the fourth time this season the Bears notched at least two homers in the same contest.

 

Milestone Approaching

Northern Colorado has a storied baseball tradition, one that shows when looking at the all-time record. The Bears are now just two wins shy of 1,400 in history, sporting a 1,398-1,036-3 (.575) record since the program began in 1924.

 

A Win Over One

For the first time in Division I history at Northern Colorado, the Bears defeated the top-ranked team in the nation, downing Arizona State 6-3 on March 21. This season the Bears are 3-6 against teams ranked in the top 30, while they went 0-6 against ranked squads a year ago. In 2006, NC defeated #2-ranked Nebraska, 5-2 and went 2-4 against teams appearing in the national rankings.

 

Closing In

Senior Jeff Horn is just two hits shy of 50 for his career and needs eight RBI for the same milestone. With 6.1 more innings pitched, senior Dan Kazell will hit 100 for his time at NC. He is also 16 strikeouts shy of 100. Senior T.R. Keating also needs 5.0 innings for 100 while senior Jon Klausing is 10 K's shy of 50. Junior Kevin Sandberg is four runs shy of 100 and two hits shy of 150 and with three more at bats will tie for 10th on the career charts with 490, knotting Brennan Garr (2004-06) and Riley Scott (1994-97). His next double this year will also tie him for 10th on the single season charts and he is 18 RBI shy of moving in to the top 10 on the career charts. Senior Erik Whinery is nine hits shy of 50 for his short career with the Bears. The next strikeout recorded by Chris Reap will be the 100th of his career.