October 13, 2009

by Mike Hirschman, UNCG Sports Information Director

The Southern Conference - where every game counts

The Southern Conference might want to borrow ESPN/ABC Sports' slogan they use for their college football telecasts - Every Game Matters.

It is amazing how slim the margin of error will be for teams in the SoCon this season in some of the sports, due in large part to the reduction in size for some of the conference championships. Last February, the league's athletic directors agreed on a cost-containment plan due to the economic conditions in the country, in which several championship fields were reduced.

Baseball, which had been reduced to an eight-team tournament prior to 2009 when the league moved to 11 baseball teams, was saved. However, softball, men's and women's soccer, volleyball and men's and women's tennis each had their tournament fields reduced to the top four teams.

Each sport brings its own dynamic to the equation. For example, in men's soccer, with eight league teams, only seven games are played. Then, factor in the three points for a win and one point for a tie formula and suddenly you can't play for a tie very often. Some nights, you might be happy to get out with a tie if you didn't get breaks or just weren't playing well. Teams won't be afforded that luxury this year. More than one tie in league play could prove to be very costly. Last night's match was nearly a must win for College of Charleston. Could the Cougars have had made the Top 4 after an 0-3 start?

One thing is for certain - there won't be the repeat of last year. In 2008, UNCG was the Cinderella seed, coming from No. 7 to pull three upsets and win the tournament. The Spartans beat No. 5 College of Charleston in the final, which also wouldn't make a tournament this season.

Women's soccer is not quite the same, but can you imagine a team with seven league wins staying home from the conference tournament? It could happen. Take a look at the fourth, fifth and sometimes sixth place teams the last few years:

- 2008 (12 teams): Davidson 8-3-0=24 pts // Furman 7-4-0=21 pts // College of Charleston 5-4-2=17 pts.
- 2007 (11 teams): College of Charleston 6-2-2=20 pts // Western Carolina 4-4-2=14 pts // Appalachian St. 4-5-1=13 pts
- 2006: College of Charleston 6-4-0=18 pts // Western Carolina 5-3-2=17 pts // Appalachian State 5-4-1=16 pts (NOTE: Furman was in third place with 19 pts and Georgia Southern was seventh with 15 pts)
- 2005: Western Carolina 6-4-0=18 pts // College of Charleston 5-3-2=17 pts // Chattanooga 5-5-0=15 pts (NOTE: UNCG was third with 19 pts, while Wofford was seventh with 14 pts)

Volleyball has its own dynamic as well because it plays in divisions. So the top two teams from the North and the top two from the South will advance to the tournament. Last year, Chattanooga was 12-6 in conference play - good for third-place in the North. Furman went 11-7 and finished second in the South. Turning the tables a little, Furman won the league tournament last year - in an eight-team field (four from each division).

Softball may have its own dynamic as well... if it's a rainy spring. Hmmm....

Moehler to return to Houston in 2010

UNCG alumnus Brian Moehler had his 2010 option picked up this past week by the Houston Astros. There was a mutual option clause in his contract for next season. Nothing will be finalized for the 37-year-old Moehler until he signs on the dotted line officially, but it was reported this week to be waiting for him when he returns to his Atlanta home. He underwent surgery last week in Houston to repair a torn tendon and remove some other "loose bodies" - a new, seemingly popular term in baseball circles these days - from his right knee.

"He's given us a solid, workmanlike effort both seasons I've been here," Astros GM Ed Wade told MLB.com. "If you take away the bullpen appearances he had last year, his ERA was in the low fours. This year, take away the two starts before he went on the DL with a knee, everything since then -- although it might have gone up at the end -- was in the low four[s] as well.

"He goes out there and keeps you in games. He's one of those guys you have to see every five days and see what he does for the club. He has a tremendous work ethic and attitude, and that work ethic rubs off on other guys. It was a fairly apparent decision to make, and we wanted to wait until after he had the knee cleaned up to make sure everything went all right with that."

In picking up the option, it is indicated that Moehler will likely be a part of the Astros rotation next season.

Here is a quick look at how former Spartans faired this season (compiled by assistant SID David Percival).

Brian Moehler - Houston Astros

Notes:  Despite pitching hurt for a good portion of the season, he finished the season with an 8-12 record and a 5.47 ERA in 154 2/3 innings pitches. His best stretch of the season came in June and July where he had six "quality starts" in nine consecutive starts. He went 5-2 over that stretch with a 3.54 ERA.

	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	SVO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	HB	BB	SO	AVG	WHIP	GO/AO
SEASON	8	12	5.47	29	29	1	0	0	0	154.2	187	101	94	21	4	51	91	.298	1.54	1.24

Jarrett Santos - AA/AAA

Notes: He started the season by going 3-0 with a miniscule 0.69 ERA in 10 games for the Jacksonville Suns (Double-A) before being promoted to the New Orleans Zephyrs (Triple-A). He went 3-5 with a 4.50 ERA for the Zephyrs in 23 games before being reassigned to Jacksonville on Aug. 9. He finished the season on the temporary inactive list due to the birth of his child.

Team	League	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	GO/AO	AVG
NEW	PCL	3	5	4.50	23	6	0	0	0	62.0	77	39	31	6	6	24	1.22	.296
JAX	SOU	5	3	3.11	17	9	0	0	0	55.0	55	29	19	2	11	31	1.47	.261
Total		8	8	3.85	40	15	0	0	0	117.0	132	68	50	8	17	55	1.33	.280

Chris Mason - A+/AA/AAA

NOTES: Played most of the year with the Montgomery Biscuits (Double-A) where he went 3-5 with a 6.24 ERA before being cut on July 17. He was picked up right after he was cut by the New York Mets and optioned to the St. Lucie Mets (Single-A High). He appeared in just three games for them before being promoted to the Binghamton Mets (Double-A). He played in only four games for Binghamton before being promoted once again, this time to the Buffalo Bisons (Triple-A) where he pitched in three games. He is now currently playing for Tiburones de la Guaira of the Venezuelan Winter Baseball League.

Team	League	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	GO/AO	AVG
DUR	INT	0	0	9.00	1	1	0	0	0	4.0	8	4	4	1	1	3	3.00	.421
MTG	SOU	3	5	6.24	24	3	0	0	0	53.1	72	44	37	4	22	34	1.38	.326
STL	FSL	0	0	4.50	3	2	0	0	0	10.0	11	5	5	0	3	6	6.33	.314
BIN	EAS	1	1	2.87	4	3	0	0	0	15.2	15	6	5	0	7	9	1.71	.246
BUF	INT	1	1	5.09	3	3	0	0	0	17.2	20	10	10	2	4	13	2.08	.286
Total		5	7	5.45	35	12	0	0	0	100.2	126	69	61	7	37	65	1.77	.310

Patrick Currin - A+

NOTES: Patrick Currin went 2-3 with a 4.93 ERA in 21 games with the Stockton Ports (Single-A High) before being released on June 24. He was immediately picked up by the Atlanta Braves organization and assigned to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Single-A High) where he went 1-0 with a 3.28 ERA in 20 games with the Pelicans.

Team	League	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	GO/AO	AVG
STK	CAL	2	3	4.93	21	0	0	0	0	38.1	42	26	21	3	11	30	1.50	.276
MB	CAR	1	0	3.28	20	0	0	0	1	24.2	28	10	9	3	11	20	1.65	.272
Total		3	3	4.29	41	0	0	0	1	63.0	70	36	30	6	22	50	1.56	.275

Ryan Falcon - A+

NOTES: Ryan Falcon finished the year with the Bakersfield Blaze (Single-A High), going 2-2 with a 2.44 ERA. He made 34 appearances out of the bullpen and one start over the year. He pitched 66 1/3 innings and allowed just 18 earned runs while striking out 70 and walking only 13.

Team	League	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	GO/AO	AVG
BAK	CAL	2	2	2.44	35	1	0	0	1	66.1	56	20	18	5	13	70	0.39	.230

Jermaine Mitchell - A+

Notes: He played in 124 of the 140 games for the Stockton Ports (Single-A High) as a centerfielder this past year. He hit .247 for the season with 34 RBI and 63 runs scored from the leadoff spot in the lineup.

Team	League	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
STK	CAL	.247	124	450	63	111	15	6	3	34	147	73	128	17	10	.350	.327	.676

Guy Welsh - A+/Short-season A

Notes: Played in just one game for the High Desert Mavericks (Single-A High) before being moved to the Everett AquaSox (Short-Season A). Welsh hit .271 in 16 games for the AquaSox this season with eight RBI and six doubles.

Team	League	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
HD	CAL	.250	1	4	1	1	0	0	1	2	4	0	0	0	0	.250	1.000	1.250
EVE	NOR	.271	16	48	5	13	6	0	1	8	22	9	10	0	0	.390	.458	.848
Total		.269	17	52	6	14	6	0	2	10	26	9	10	0	0	.381	.500	.881

Matt Gaski - Short-season A

NOTES: Wrapped up the season with the Brooklyn Cyclones (short-season A) and hit .291 in 24 games. He hit a blistering .467 and had a .996 OPS over the final 10 games of the year for the Cyclones. Gaski had a .389 batting average with the Savannah Sand Gnats (Single A) before being moved to the Brooklyn Cyclones later in the year.

Team	League	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
SAV	SAL	.389	10	36	7	14	2	0	0	3	16	2	5	1	0	.421	.444	.865
BRK	NYP	.291	24	79	7	23	0	1	0	4	25	10	10	2	0	.371	.316	.687
Total		.322	34	115	14	37	2	1	0	7	41	12	15	3	0	.386	.357	.742

Ricky Orton - Short-season A

NOTES: Ricky Orton played 43 games in an injury-plagued season for the Jamestown Jammers (short-season A). Despite his injuries, Orton led the team in RBI (28) and tied for the team lead in doubles (11). He finished the season on the 60-day disabled list.

Team	League	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
JAM	NYP	.235	43	162	22	38	11	1	3	28	60	21	48	0	0	.333	.370	.704

Spartan All Access a hit this season

Spartan All Access has been a hit thus far in the 2009-10 season. We had over 100 subscribers for various packages in the first month of the season - double where we were two years ago.

Personally, I would like to take a second and thank our new student crew that has worked so hard on Spartan All Access thus far this season. Seven students make a lot of what you see happen. Of course, you all hear Kris Ostrowka calling the play-by-play for soccer. But the folks bringing the pictures to you - Ashley Haga, Steve Piatkowski, Lauren Martin, Lindsay Reed, Tyler Sally and Michael Roberts - have been phenomenal in for most of them what is their first venture into video services. Once in a while, yeah, a camera might slip and miss a play. (I'm the one who clips the highlights the next morning, so I know when we slip up!) But, for a group of mostly underclassmen, they've had a great start to the year and I hope we can keep them around for some time.

Hoops starting up

Basketball practice gets underway this coming Friday for both Spartan teams. But some of the alumni playing overseas are already lacing them up. Here is a quick look at where some former Spartans are:

Men's Basketball
Ronnie Burrell - Asseco Prokom (Poland)
Courtney Eldridge - A.B. Latina (Italy)
Davor Galic - Darda (Croatia)
Josh Gross - Aishin (Japan)
Kyle Hines - Prima Veroli (Italy)
Ronnie Taylor - Le Portel (France)
Bart Tooms - Upstairs Weert (Netherlands)

Women's Basketball
Gini Grimsley - Herner TC (Germany)

Just because someone isn't on this list, however, doesn't mean they've hung it up. Some leagues start later than others and guys are just getting ready to begin their training camps.

Note that, yes, Kyle Hines and Courtney Eldridge are both in Italy and, yes, they will be playing against each other this year in Lega Due. The first meeting between the two is on November 8 at A.B. Latina, 6:15 pm Italian time (which is six hours difference from Eastern). The league looks like it has launched a form of LiveStats on its site at www.legaduebasket.it.

Season tickets still on sale

Don't forget to get your season tickets for Spartan men's basketball ASAP. Packages start at $99 and when you consider the savings against single-game prices, it will be an amazing discount! Call 336-334-3250 for information today or click here.

Twitter list

Here is the growing list of Twitter accounts for UNCG athletics (they can all be found in our followers list on the main account)

Uncgsports - UNCG Athletics
UNCGXC - UNCG Track and Cross Country
coachmikedement - Mike Dement and the UNCG men's basketball team
UNCG_SpartanVB - UNCG Women's Volleyball
UNCG_WBK - UNCG Women's Basketball

There is also UNCG and UNCGNEWS for university related information and SoConSports for Southern Conference news. Thanks to all of our 400-plus followers, our Twitter endeavor has gotten off to a good start this fall.

Buzzer beaters

Don't forget to vote for Lauren Lopez for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. (http://www.seniorclassaward.com/athletes/lauren_lopez) She is expected to be featured locally on WGHP Fox-8 later this week. You can vote once a day and we've been Tweeting the link twice a day to remind folks to vote every day. The fan vote is 1/3 of the process in selecting the winner. Voting is through Nov. 13 and the winner is announced at the College Cup the first weekend of December... The men's basketball team will have its alumni reunion centered around the home opener on November 20 against Clemson. We'll have more details in our next blog soon... UNCG alumn Alejandro Moreno's next MLS match will be the 200th of his career. Columbus was the first team to clinch a playoff spot this season. Moreno is fourth on the team in scoring with nine points (4g, 1a). He wasn't playing with the Crew this weekend, however, as he has returned to play for Venezuela in their final two World Cup qualifying matches. Venezuela faces Paraguay on Oct. 10 and Brazil on Oct. 14.

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