Bullpen Banter: Forging On to Fargo
Apr 8, 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.
Hi there,
Well, it was a pretty disappointing weekend for the Mavs. Coming into the weekend, both Fort Wayne and Western Illinois were tied with us atop the Summit League standings. Now, they sit No. 1 and No. 2 in the standings respectively; we dropped to third in standings, two games out of the top spot.
This past weekend was a great opportunity for us to put some distance between the rest of the pack in the league standings.
I wouldn't say we are a cocky team at all -- in fact, we are actually quite humble -- but we certainly expect to win, especially in league play. It reflects the winning mentality our team has. That mindset dates all the way back to last year when we were out to prove people wrong after being picked to finish last in a conference preseason poll.
Our 1-3 showing at Boys Town this weekend was rare. In our championship season last year, we were just about unbeatable in the confines of Boys Town, going 11-3 against league opponents at home. We lost our third home conference game on May 17 last year. It's been quite the contrary this season so far, as we have already tied our loss mark at home for last year and it's only April 6.
With all that being said, there's no need for panic. I'm just over-analyzing to try to put it into perspective.
This weekend we head up north to Fargo, N.D., to play North Dakota State for four games. Two will be conference games (the Saturday games) and two will count as non-conference games (the Sunday games). If the weather cooporates, it will be the first time Omaha has played in Fargo since 2004 when both UNO and NDSU were members of the North Central Conference (NCC).
As it stands right now, NDSU is fifth in the conference with a 0-4 record in Summit League play, and we are two spots ahead of them in third with a 3-3 record. Regardless of records, this weekend will be huge for both programs. It goes without saying, but every weekend from here on out will be crucial for us as we try dig ourselves out of the early hole we are in.
Big props to Dan Jewett for garnering player of the week honors from the Summit League after destroying opponents' pitching this past weekend. He joins Caleb Palensky, Alex Schultz and pitcher Tyler Fox on the list of Mavs' who have received the award this season up to this point.
I've also had some requests from readers to do Q&A sessions with different players every week, so be on the look for that in the coming posts.
As always, if you have any feedback, I'd love to hear it – you can shoot me a tweet @SamMurphy_17. Thanks for reading, and I'll be back with you much sooner than last time.
God Bless and Go Mavs,
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
