March 26, 2007

Well Wave fans, it looks like we have some catching up to do! Let me first apologize for taking so long to update Captain's Corner. Between some traveling, family visits, school and a computer crash (yes, my laptop of almost five years finally bit the dust - R.I.P.), I have neglected my duty to all of you fans out there. Having said that, I am hereby re-committed to getting these articles out more frequently - please forgive me! Now, on to the good stuff...

I write to you today having just returned from a weekend series in Charleston, W.Va., with Conference USA foe Marshall University. The Thundering Herd gave us a run for our money but we were able to come away from the weekend with the series sweep and a 3-0 start in C-USA play.

This time of the season is always exciting. Conference play is what we build towards throughout the early part of the season in hopes that we will play our best baseball when it counts most. I felt that last weekend was the most complete series we have played as a team so far this year.

Now, when I say "complete", I am talking about the different phases of the game and how we performed in each of them. Our pitching was outstanding once again as we yielded just seven earned runs in 29 innings pitched (all 7 coming in the first game!) - we had great efforts from both our starters and relievers. Offensively we put up 21 runs, but what was most impressive to me about our offense was the amount of quality swings we took - we hit lots of balls on the screws this weekend that were caught! Our hitters also did an excellent job with execution of bunts, hits-and-runs, squeezes and slashes, all of which made big differences in the outcome of the games at some point. Defensively we continued to play solid and give our pitchers confidence to throw strikes and to attack the hitters - there's nothing more comforting than that to a pitcher.

The conference sweep brings our season record to 19-7 and we have now won 15 of our last 18. Pretty good no matter who you're playing, I'd say. The scary thing, though, is that I still don't think we've hit our stride yet. I have seen marked improvements throughout the season already, and we are certainly doing a lot of things right on the field. I still believe this team has yet to fire on all cylinders, and that has me real excited about our upcoming schedule.

Our midweek schedule doesn't get any easier as Nicholls State comes to town this Tuesday night followed by LSU, and then Louisiana-Lafayette the following weeks. You can never overlook those tough in-state midweek games so we have to be ready to play every time we come to the ballpark.

Our next few conference series should also offer us an excellent opportunity to step up our game and start "playing to the level of our own excellence" (as Sensei Lance Green puts it). East Carolina comes to town this weekend on the heels of an impressive 13-game winning streak (including a sweep of Cal St. Fullerton a few weeks ago). This series will no doubt be our toughest test to date, and we are excited about the challenge and the opportunity to re-assert ourselves on the national scene. It's been a little too long since we've seen the Green Wave crack the Top 25, don't you think?

We hope to have everybody out there come support us during conference play. The race is going to be tight this year so we need all the help and support we can get! If you can't make it out, be sure and catch Green Wave Guru/Air-Drum Connoisseur Todd Graffagnini broadcasting the games via either radio or internet!

Thanks so much for reading, and like I said earlier: expect to be hearing from me more often from here on out! That's a promise!

Take care Wave fans, and I'll see you at the ballpark!

Roll Wave,
Matt