April 9, 2007

Hello again Wave Fans! I hope you all had a relaxing and fun Easter Weekend with your friends and families.

Thankfully, we were able to salvage a win on Easter Sunday against Memphis. The Tigers came into town and played very well and showed us why they are a program on the rise and a major contender in Conference USA.

It certainly wasn't the weekend we were hoping to have after taking a big series over East Carolina and then an emotional victory over LSU last Tuesday night. It was a perfect reminder, however, of why you cannot get too high on the good days or too low on the bad ones. I was proud of the way we competed all week, but it is clear that the conference race is going to be close this year - especially with Rice sweeping last weekend to take the overall conference lead. We have to be ready to play every day if we want to accomplish the things we set out to accomplish this year.

Every game is a new challenge, and I was impressed with how we responded after losing the first two games of the series. A less-mature club might have given up since the series was already lost, but our team came out with a real sense of urgency and resolve and was prepared to do whatever it took to secure a win. As Coach Jones often reminds us - in conference play it's not about series wins and losses, it's about accumulating conference victories. Every game counts the same, so whether you've won or lost the first two games of a series, you have to have a killer instinct on Sunday.

Also, for those of you who haven't heard yet, our friend and former teammate Micah Owings made his Major League debut as the fifth starter for the Arizona Diamondbacks last Friday night. Micah went 5.0 shutout innings, allowing just one hit and striking out six Washington Nationals! Micah is one of the most dedicated, hard workers I've ever had the privilege to play with and we are all very proud of him and his post-Tulane successes! Keep it up Mo!

Unfortunately, we also got some bad news last week about the Turchin Stadium construction progress. It doesn't look like we're going to get in there this year. This is obviously very disappointing news for us all. Turchin is our home, and it's difficult to describe the anticipation we feel about getting back to that home; but for now we will have to wait.

One thing I can say for certain is that this team and this program have excelled despite great adversity in the past and we will continue to do so. We are not going to let this disappointing news distract us from what we have set out to achieve this year. It's like I told Coach Jones after he broke the news to us seniors last Wednesday - if I had to chose, I'd rather play another game in Omaha than Turchin anyway. I do want thank all of you fans who make the trip out to Airline to support us while we are off campus. You have helped make Zephyr Field feel like home over the past two seasons and we really appreciate your dedication and support!

We have another big week ahead of us this week. The University of Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin` Cajuns come to town Tuesday night before we head to Hattiesburg to take on conference rival Southern Miss. This is yet another challenging week for us as we get into the heart of conference play. We are excited about the opportunity to take on two top teams and continue to assert ourselves as a national power this year.

I hope that many of you out there will be able to make the trip to Hattiesburg with us this weekend. It's always a great atmosphere at Southern Miss. hey bring out lots of fans to the park, so let's see if we can top them and their energy level!

See you soon and thanks for reading!

Roll Wave!
Matt