What an up and down week this past week turned out to be. Coming off victories against North Carolina Central in our two previous games, we hosted cross-town rival Old Dominion University on Tuesday. Behind great pitching, timely hits, and the ability to capitalize on some ODU mistakes, we were able to pull out a great 12-5 win leading into our opening conference weekend at North Carolina A&T. But the Aggies ended our three-game winning streak by sweeping three games from us by scores of 8-4, 3-2, and 8-4. We out-hit our opponents in two of the three games and had as many hits in the third, but we were just unable to put back-to-back hits together to plate runs in key situations. It was a tough weekend following our big win against ODU, but the great thing about baseball is you don’t have to wait very long to play again and try to get back in the win column. 

We will play Campbell University on Tuesday, a pretty good 16 – 9 team that is new to the Spartan schedule. The school has about 3,900 students on the main campus located in Buies Creek, N.C., between Durham and Fayetteville. Campbell has competed very well against schools that we face. They swept and outscored MEAC opponent Maryland Eastern Shore in a 33 – 3 lopsided three-game series. They took two of three from Savannah State, scoring 30 runs, and then outscored A & T in two of three games by scoring 32 runs and giving up 15.  They have a 13 – 4 home record.   

We should expect an aggressive offensive game plan from them. To slow them down, we must keep their lead-off hitter and left fielder Chris Bangi off the bases. He is a patient hitter with 24 walks and a very good base runner with 20 stolen bases out of 23 attempts. We must also slow down their leading offensive player in first baseman and number three hitter Alan Denman, who can boast a .452 batting average, .712 slugging percentage and .549 on-base average.  This is good notice for our pitchers and hitters to prepare to bring their “A” game.  

We get to play Coppin State at Marty L. Miller Field for a three-game series this coming weekend.  We hope to get our first conference win after a disappointing start against the A & T Aggies. We out-hit and out-fielded the Aggies, but could not put good back-to-back plays together to get any momentum.  

Coppin has a 7 – 11 record with wins over Virginia State, North Carolina Central and Maryland Eastern Shore. They will look to pick up additional wins starting on Friday at 1:00 pm behind their leaders in pitcher Jim Vagnier and Harry Williams, their senior first baseman who has a .455 batting average.  

I am still looking for a three-game home sweep. Will this be our weekend?  

Thanks for reading.

#7 Brandon Hairston

Hello again everyone,

Maaan it seems like forever since we have played, and it’s killing everyone.

Because of the rain that Virginia has received in the last week, we have missed five consective games (yes five). We were supposed to face Fairleigh Dickinson for a four-game set over the weekend, then travel to Richmond to face a VCU team on Tuesday for a mid-week game.

I was looking forward to playing in the Diamond, a Triple-A park where the Richmond Braves used to play. It would have been exciting because players like Chipper Jones, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Javy Lopez, Brett Butler and Ryan Klesko got to play there. It was also tough not playing the VCU game because they had just played Bethune-Cookman in a weekend tournament.  VCU lost both head-to-head games. A match-up against them would have helped us understand the strength of the number one seed among Black College teams, the BCU Wildcats. We are ranked number 3. Plus, this upcoming weekend is open so we are not scheduled to play again until Tuesday of next week. 

Ever since beating North Carolina Central University in a doubleheader last Wednesday, we have not gotten to face another team. It kind of feels like our season has completely stopped. This 13-day lay-off makes the anticipation of facing our cross-town rival, Old Dominion, that much more exciting.

After the Old Dominion game, we get to travel to Greensboro for a three game MEAC match-up against N.C. A&T. The 6-8 Aggies are always a challenge for us, but we are feeling good about our chances. Recently, they have been hitting the ball like crazy, scoring in double figures in four of the last five games. They have scored 71 runs in their last three games thanks to 65 hits.  Sounds like we are going to have some fun in North Carolina next weekend.

Sounds like a good week for baseball.

Thanks for reading,
#7 Brandon Hairston

Yesterday we picked up another great win against Georgetown, our third win in four games. It was a very ugly day in Norfolk, cold and rainy, but behind a great pitching performance from lefty Chase Davenport and some timely hitting in key situations, we were able to pull out the victory, 7-4. The win moves us to 3-3-1 on the season, and with that we have built some very good momentum going into our three-game series this weekend against Mount St. Mary’s.  Doubleheader on Saturday and one game on Sunday, starting at 1 p.m. both days. Hopefully we will keep this good play going throughout the weekend and have three wins to kick off spring break!

Thanks for reading.

#7 Brandon Hairston

Hello again everyone, after three good outings this weekend in Savannah, Georgia at the Savannah State Classic. Two wins and a tie because of darkness was a great turnaround from our opening weekend series against Villanova. With scores of 5-3, 12-12, and 13-5, we finally started hitting as a team and everyone built their confidence at the plate heading into this week’s games. Our hitting will be key as we face tough opponents in Georgetown and Mount St. Mary’s.

Georgetown will bring a 5-1 record to the Marty L. Miller Field on Tuesday.   The Hoyas swept the Spartans 10–4 and 15-4 last year. The key to controlling our fate and learning from history is to eliminate innings whereby multiple runs are unearned. In the first game there were 23 hits, of which the Spartans had 10. This does not explain the difference in a 10-4 game. Knowing that we need to eliminate mistakes to win against an opponent such as the Hoyas is as much about the team’s mental approach to the game.  Focusing on stepping up our team game in key situations is the needed reality to winning on Tuesday. It is also the reality to reaching our goal of winning the MEAC regular season and tournament play.  Consist team play in each inning is where we want to be. My high school coach Mark Mace would make the point for us to win every inning. Coach Mace would greet us with, “win this inning” in key situations. Winning key innings on Tuesday will allow us to go into the match up against Mount St. Mary’s with a .500 record (3-3-1).   

To my knowledge, this will be our first match up against Mount St. Mary’s.  The Mount is a small University with about 1,600 students in Maryland.  Don’t let the size of the Mount fool you; they are lead by the Northeast Conference (NEC) Player of the Year Shane Eyler, an outfielder who hit .380 with 11 doubles, 15 home runs and 46 RBI last season. They are looking to challenge for a top spot in the NEC this season after narrowly missing out on the playoffs last year.  Our common opponents are Villanova and Maryland Eastern Shore. They lost to Villanova last year 7-5 and beat Maryland Eastern Shore 15-5 and 6-3. They have struggled to begin this season losing twice to Davidson and winning at Presbyterian.

We can expect clutch play from this well-coached team. Recently against Presbyterian, Kyle Kane, their clean up hitter belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to break a 3-3 tie and lift Mount St. Mary’s to a 6-5 win.  We will get to evaluate their play further when they play Old Dominion on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.

We can expect the weather for the 1:00 games on Saturday (DH) and Sunday to be mostly sunny in the mid-to-upper 50s. Come out to cheer on the hot bats of Chris Joyce (.500), Shane Hoggard (.381) and John Rasberry (.308). Good fan support will be a motivational factor for a much-needed weekend sweep. That will be our goal as well the intent of our opponent.  Hope to hear your loud cheering voices, sharing in the cheer from our number one fan, Mr. Clark, “You can doooo it!”Congratulations to freshman pitcher Jordan Egan for picking up his first college win and freshman Ryan Montgomery for his first collegiate home run, both in the 13-5 win over Savannah State. 

March 2, 6 and 7 will be three good days for baseball.

Thanks for reading!

#7 Brandon Hairston 

“You always get a special kick on opening day, no matter how many you go through. You look forward to it like a birthday party when you’re a kid. You think something wonderful is going to happen.” -Joe DiMaggio

Hello again everyone! We are now finally inside a week until the season opener and everyone is extra amped up. This weather has been so crazy here…we were kind of skeptical about if the games would be a go. There are clear skies for the rest of the week so that means three ball games this weekend. Friday at 1 p.m., we will open up our 2010 season at home against Villanova University.

Coach Clark has prepared a good early-season schedule to allow us to come out with an aggressive attitude to test our mental and physical approach to the 2010 season. Our Big East opponent has gotten the best of the Spartans over the past seasons. In the last two series, the match up has them winning four of the six games. In 2009, their overall record was 22-28, however they struggled in away competition with a 4 -16 record. They are a solid defensive team, with five returning players, all in the infield, with 11 returning pitchers. We will be tested by their junior right hander, Chris Pack, senior left hander Kevin Crimmel, senior right hander Brian Streilein, junior reliever, left hander Mike Francisco, and sophomore left hander Kyle Helisek. 

The two teams match up very well. The Spartans have returning players in 8 of 9 positions, including four players who hit over .300 (Juan Herrera, John Lynch, Drew Suttmiller and me).  The difference will rest in pitching, mistake free baseball, key hits, heart, desire and attitude.

Because of the mix of rain and snow that the Norfolk area received during January and February, we have not been able to practice on the field very much. But we are really kind of lucky because I know that at Villanova, there are a couple feet of snow on the ground, and they probably haven’t been outside to practice at all! But I know that none of that even matters because come Friday, they will be just as ready to play as we are.

February 19, 20, and 21 will be three good days for baseball. I am encouraging our student body, parents and alumni to support our kick-off to the season as the Spartans prepare to capitalize on home field advantage against Villanova. Go Spartans.

P.S. Shout out to Assistant Coach A.J. Corbin. A Spartan from 2001-2004, Corbin ranks in the top 10 in school history in five offensive categories.

–Brandon Hairston, #7