Bullpen Banter: Putting UNO on the Map
Apr 24, 2014 | Baseball
Sam Murphy is a sophomore left-handed pitcher for the Omaha baseball team. A broadcast journalism major from Lake Worth, Fla., Sam will write posts throughout the season for his blog, "Bullpen Banter," available exclusively on OMavs.com.
Howdy!
The spring semester is rapidly coming to an end, and schoolwork is starting to pick up. I'm the ultimate procrastinator too, so I end up putting everything off till the last minute, leaving no time to focus on things like "Bullpen Banter."
The last time I wrote, we had just come off an ugly weekend at home against Summit League foes. Since then, though, we have picked it up in a big way.
In Fargo we swept the Bison in two league games, and Tyler Fox and Steven Schoonover pitched gems again. We then came back to "The Good Life" in Nebraska to play the Huskers in a midweek matchup at their place. After that, it was off to Peoria, Ill., to face the Bradley Braves out of the Missouri Valley Conference. We handed the Braves their first non-conference shutout loss at home since 2006 in Saturday's contest.
That same shutout victory was historic for the Omaha Baseball program and in particular Coach Herold. With the win over Bradley, Coach Herold won his 465th game at UNO and became the all-time winningest coach in program history!
As well as the weekend at Bradley went, we knew we had our work cut out for us with a midweek game versus cross-town rival Creighton looming.
Against CU, we played possibly one of our most complete games to this point. "Big Z" – better known as Zach Williamsen – threw a gem, and Brett Bass had a three-RBI night at the plate to lead us to a 4-1 victory in the Battle of Omaha in front of nearly 3,000 fans at TD Ameritrade Park.
We head back to Summit League action this weekend with four games against North Dakota State at Boys Town. We sure hope to see you out there!
As always, if you have any feedback, I'd love to hear it – you can shoot me a tweet @SamMurphy_17. Thanks for reading.
God Bless and Go Mavs, ?
Sam
*As promised, this past week I sat down with senior lefty Anthony "T-Rex" Falcone for a Q&A. Below is our conversation…Enjoy!
BULLPEN BANTER Q&A: ANTHONY FALCONE
(Sam Murphy): "So Anthony, how did your get your nicknames of 'Bonesaw' and 'The Violator?'"
(Anthony Falcone): "Well, "Bonesaw" came about my freshman year during fall practices. I was pitching in a scrimmage and two of my teammates at the time were talking about how I was just 'skin and bones' out there. One thing led to another, and 'Bonesaw' came out. 'The Violator' came about this past year. Brett Bass came up with this one because he said, 'You are just violating people out there today,' and it just stuck."
(SM): "You registered the save against Creighton the other day. As an Omaha native, how did that feel?"
(AF): "I mean, as much as you try to treat those types of games against Creighton and Nebraska the same, there is a little different feel to it. You want to go out there and prove to people that UNO can compete with those in-state teams and can beat them. So obviously, it felt great to get the save, but ultimately it felt better for the team to get the win."
(SM): "Some people might not know that you and Zach Williamsen grew up together and played high school ball together at Millard West. How is playing Division I ball with your best friend?"
(AF): "We use the term 'best friend' pretty lightly around here. We're hardly even friends any more. But no, seriously, it's been a great experience to get to keep playing baseball with Zach. He and I have been around each other so much we aren't afraid to tell each other what to change or if we see something wrong."
(SM): "Being a senior, what has been your favorite memory from your playing days so far?"
(AF): "Without a doubt, it has to be winning the conference last year. That was an unreal memory that I will never forget. Obviously, there are a lot of favorite things such as the traveling to cool places, bus rides and hanging out with the team, but nothing will top that."
(SM): "Who is the worst teammate on the team?"
(AF): "Without a doubt it's our very own 'Bullpen Banter' writer, Sam Murphy. The kid has it out for me. Ripping my bag, hitting me in the head with storage bins. You name it, he's done it. Just kidding, Sam!"
Check out previous entries from "Bullpen Banter" below:
#1 -- Let's Get Started (Feb. 7)
#2 -- A Delayed Start (Feb. 16)
#3 -- A Week in Florida (March 3)
#4 -- A Weekend in the Valley of the Sun
#5 -- Spring Break Edition
#6 -- Forging On to Fargo
