Darin Kuskie and Nick Sulpizio join to recap a series win over #8 Coastal Carolina. CB, Gary and Coach Finwood look ahead to the final series against JMU and who you should root for this weekend.

This episode is brought to you by the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation.

Because of you, we create winners in the classroom, in athletic

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Become a member today.

Yeah.

There we

go.

Hello.

Yeah.

Hello, Monarch fans.

Yeah.

Welcome to the Hudson homers podcast, coming to you after a road

ranked series- Ooh ... victory.

How about that, CB?

Ooh.

Wow, that was great.

That's, uh ... I, I've said it a few times in this podcast, I said

one ... These guys are ... The one thing they've been consistent at is

being inconsistent, and they might just screw around and go down and beat

the, uh, number eight team on their, at their place, and that's what happened.

So we

love it.

We've, we've definitely risen to the level of competition.

We saw it against Southern Miss.

Yeah.

See it again against Coastal, but this time we come out of there with two wins.

You called it last week when I was like, "Oh, we just need to win one game.

One game we keep the hopes alive." You're like, "Why not just win the series and-

Win the series

I guess they listened to you.

Glad they did.

I think, I think I said sweep, so they didn't quite listen to me.

That's ... But, no, it was great.

That was ... That's awesome for the guys.

And, uh, speaking of that, we'll, we'll, we'll stop all the preamble.

We can do a lot of talking after.

We, we got a couple of the guys hanging out right now ready to talk to us.

Yes, we do.

We got- There they are ... Darin Kuskie and Nick Sulpizio joining us.

Oh.

Doing things backwards today, but what's up, fellas?

Good.

How are you?

It's

going good.

Well, we are doing great.

Good, man.

I think we're all celebrating, trying to get our voices back.

I spent a week in Chicago and then yelling at my TV all weekend,

so thanks for that, fellas.

How'd that feel going in there?

I mean, that, that's ... I, I haven't been down there.

It looks like a, looks like a minor league park.

Looks like a great place to play.

How'd that feel getting down there?

Especially, like, Nick, you got the last out.

How'd that feel?

Yeah, I mean, that was, that was really cool, but, um, it seemed like it kind

of cleared out at the end of Sunday.

Mm-hmm.

Um, but ... And obviously it wasn't that loud, because they didn't win.

So it was most- Thanks.

... main- mainly just the, the about 100 ODU fans or so cheering.

So, I mean, it was good to see our fans down there, too.

But yeah, definitely a nice park.

That's great.

Yeah.

It sounded on the TV broadcast like there were a lot of ODU fans.

I wasn't sure if that was being done on purpose because that's just where the fans

were or not, but, uh, seems like there's a great contingent of fans that came down.

Darrick, did you see them down there too?

Yeah, there was.

There was a good amount of fans and, uh, our dugout was

definitely making some noise too.

Yeah, you guys do a good job of getting loud when it's, uh, when you need it.

That's for sure.

Oh, yeah.

If I remember last year at War Memorial, their fans were pretty chippy the entire

time, partially because they seemed shocked they were getting hit by a pitch.

Uh, but were you all feeling that kind of Friday and going into Saturday,

just the, the fan chippiness there?

Uh, yeah, a little bit.

I mean, it wasn't the worst atmosphere to play in ever, but I mean, yeah, it's

not like a friendly environment, I guess.

What, what's the worst one you've ever played in, if you

want to call somebody out?

Probably Clemson fans are probably the worst.

Ah.

That's pretty bad.

Yeah, those SEC schools.

That's which- Oh, yeah ... they're tr- they're trying to emulate that.

So that's, that makes sense.

How about you, Nick?

What's the worst place, uh, worst fans you've, uh... I mean, not the worst,

but like the most aggressive or whatever you want, however you want to phrase it?

Um, I would say, uh, the Southern Miss fans last year.

They were- Yeah ... especially since they got that, that hill right there that

leads- Yeah ... right next to our bullpen.

So it was kind of like surrounded by the Southern Miss fans.

Yeah.

I remember being out there in BP and it's just kind of like,

man, they're right on top of you.

They sure

were

talking a lot.

Yeah.

Yeah, they were really close.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, you know, going into this weekend, obviously like getting

one from Coastal is good.

You all got two, which is even better, you know.

How was the team feeling?

How was that bus ride home, and what have you all been talking about amongst

yourselves since the beating Coast-

Um, the, the bus ride home was, um, a lot.

It was, I mean, five and a half hours of not... I would say any silence.

Throughout the whole six hours.

So- No silence ... if you wanted to sleep, there was no sleeping on the bus back,

but-

... there was no reason to sleep after- Yeah

... Winston

was still there.

I did notice a lot of the guys on social media, there, that seemed to

be a common phrase of, uh, "Committed to having the funnest summer ever."

Uh, which I love.

I think that's great.

I mean, I think that's, that's clearly an indication of like, you know, the funnest

summer ever would be going, making a run to like the College World Series, right?

I'd have to imagine- That's it ... that's where they're, they're coming from.

Yeah.

Who, was there anybody in particular who started that or who's, who's kind of dri-

you know, driving the bus is a big thing.

Who's kind of driving the bus on that one?

Um, I don't, I honestly don't really know where that started.

It seemed like one day we just showed up and it was just- Funniest song ever, so I-

Yeah ... I'm not

really sure.

There's a few of them.

Like, I think, like Maverick, Kellan, Shoe.

Like a few of them started

it.

Okay.

The old man.

Okay.

I think,

I think I saw Maverick's post first, if that counts for anything.

Yeah.

But I don't know when it actually started.

I love it.

I think, I think for the guys that are coming back next year,

just start with that day one.

Just start that.

Yeah.

Don't wait until, uh, to May to come up with it.

I, I love it as a, as a thing.

But let's, uh, keep that starting next, next year, day one.

Um, so you guys, speaking of the season, you know, you both have had, you've had

some real great moments, both of you.

You've had some real not fun moments, I'm sure.

Mm-hmm.

Um, for each of you, how have you been able to kind of

navigate the ups and downs?

Maybe not get too high when it's high, and not get too low

when things aren't going right.

Uh, it's a long season, you know.

You play 56 games, and it's my third year of college baseball

now, so I've played a lot.

And, you know, just treat every game the same basically.

I mean, look at it, take the positives from a bad start or take

the negatives from a good start or, you know, kind of a mix of both, and

then just keep pushing week by week.

Right.

How about you, Nick?

Yeah, I kind of end up, uh, piggyback off what he said.

It's like, it is a long season, and I feel like every- everyone's

gonna have ups and downs.

And I mean, it's kind of, with Marin, he, he definitely helps us, like, and

reminds us to be confident and always to trust ourselves and the work that we put

in throughout the week, that it's gonna show up when we, uh, pitch in the weekend.

And then, Darin, I want to talk a little bit about last

week against Arkansas State.

Mm-hmm.

Uh, just 'cause that- Mm-hmm ... that's obviously a huge series.

A lot of really big moments happened over that weekend.

But you coming out the gate in that first game against Arkansas State,

six innings, no runs, I think only three hits, and then 11 strikeouts.

Mm-hmm.

Uh, was there anything different with that game?

A little different game plan approach, feeling yourself, or just

the ball ended in the right spot?

Uh, yeah.

I mean, stuff-wise, everything was pretty similar.

Um, I was just able to locate better.

And, uh, we knew they'd be a pretty aggressive offense, so

used that to, uh, my advantage and let them chase a little bit.

That's great.

Um, I want to ta- uh, both of you guys tell us about how you ended up at ODU.

Like, Nick, I know, you know, you've been here all three years.

You came, uh, out of high school.

You know, tell us a little about the process for you ending up at Old Dominion.

Yeah.

So I think it was my sophomore summer.

Marin saw me at, um, it was like some New Jersey, like, state games,

um, for, like, the high school players, and he saw me there.

And I mean, like, ever since then, he was, he would always, like, call

me and follow me, like, throughout the summer going to, like, Georgia

and stuff, and he just seemed ... He was, like, really personable, and

he was always calling, checking in.

And it kind of just, like, made you seem at home, and I haven't

even stepped foot on campus yet.

And then- Uh, when he showed me, when he t- I came here and took the tour,

it was like, "Yeah, this place is awesome." Like, I'm, I would love to

start my college baseball journey here.

And you showed up and there were already, like, nine other

Jersey guys, so you felt at home?

Yeah, it was, yeah, I already knew, like, Marco was coming here.

Mm-hmm.

And he was like, he went to the rival high school, so, so it was,

yeah, definitely, like, a lot of local players that I already knew,

which was definitely also a bonus.

Well, it's interesting too, too, 'cause you, you know, you were in

Jersey, but then you ended up, I think your senior year, you went to,

uh, Pro Five down in North Carolina.

How'd that end up happening?

Yeah.

Uh, it was kind of just, um, in high school, I was like, I guess

kind of a late bloomer, so to speak.

Um, and then, I guess we just thought that was the best idea, and that's what I ended

up doing for my last year of high school.

Okay.

I tried to see you play for them, but you were too lazy to show up that day.

I just want to remind everybody of that.

Yeah.

I, I think, um, uh, yeah, I got hurt when I went down there, so I only ended up

throwing, I only threw, like, one inning in the last game of the season in May, so.

Oh,

wow.

Yeah.

Okay.

I wasn't there.

Yes.

I was kind of unfortunate with that.

Yeah.

But.

Well, it's okay.

Well, at least you haven't had really any injuries here that have

been any major, so that's good.

Yep.

And then, you know, with DK, you know, you had kind of a very different

side, where you went to, um, U- USC Upstate- Mm-hmm ... or UC Upstate.

I forgot how you say it.

USC Upstate, you know.

Um Right ... for the first two years.

Then appeared through the portal.

So tell us about how you ended up at Old Dominion.

Uh, yeah.

I mean, out of high school, I think I had two offers maybe.

Two or three offers.

Um, yeah, I was like a really late bloomer, like, I like

really didn't even hit my stride until I almost got on campus.

And then, yeah, played there for two years and, uh, I needed a change.

Needed a, a step up and, uh, some more help in development.

And, uh, in the portal, Marin reached out to me, and he's the best pitching coach

I talked to in the portal, so it was pretty much a no-brainer to come here.

Like that.

There you go.

That's a pretty good sales pitch there.

Yeah.

And

a little closer to home, too, 'cause you're from Maryland- Yeah,

yeah ... so it's a little bit better.

Yeah.

That's kind of what pushed me out, but.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's nice.

Awesome.

Well, Darin, let's go through what, what pitches do you throw, and how did

you develop the arm action you have?

'Cause CB's got some great still shots of you.

I mean, just, like, right over top of your head.

Yeah.

Uh, so just take us through all the things that lead to, you know,

you pitching the way that you do.

Um, yeah.

So in high school, I kind of threw like a windmill.

Like, I, like, didn't even, like, bend my elbow.

And my pitching coach at home was like, "Yeah, like, that's just not gonna

cut it." So, uh, one winter he just had me throw a football, like, every

single day- Mm ... for the winter for, like, two or three months probably,

and then I came back and my arm action was way shorter and more over the top.

Like, kind of like a football player, I guess, and that's kind of where I

developed my pitching motion and, like, my velocity kind of took off from there.

And then I got here and I, uh, developed a new changeup, like a, a kick change,

a spike change- Mm-hmm ... um, with Marin, and, uh, a new cutter grip too.

So I throw a four-seam, a slider, a cutter, and a changeup.

Was Stott helping you with your arm action there on throwing the

football at any point in time?

No, he, he would be a really good help, though.

Yeah.

And same thing for you, Nick.

Just love to know, like, the, the pitches you throw, what you've found successful,

and just kind of how your, your journey has gone here, changing your arm

action and grips and things like that.

Yeah.

So I'd say, uh, earlier in the year I was mainly just, like, sinker and slider,

and, I mean, that wasn't really working out, so I would say about, I think,

halfway through the year or, like... Yeah, around halfway, we kind of switched

and went mainly four-seam and changeup, and that's definitely been working way

better in the second half of the season.

Um, yeah, I throw a four-seam, a sinker, uh, a changeup, and a slider.

What was that last pitch you threw, uh, yesterday?

Was that a slider?

No, that was a fastball.

That

was a fastball?

Okay.

Yeah.

That's... I forget you got that nasty movement.

All right.

There

we go.

Yeah, that's the thing, that four-seam, I, I don't think it ever comes out- Yeah

straight.

Like, it's always moving, 'cause they were having big time

trouble yesterday picking you up.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

So we, we mentioned football.

Did either one of you guys play other sports in high school or maybe

even younger that you were any good

at?

Um, I played- Enjoyed ... I played basketball in high school,

and then I played, uh, street hockey up until eighth grade.

Hmm.

Ooh,

sure.

Like some street hockey.

Yeah.

I never played any other sport.

Like, I stopped playing other sports when I got to high school, but when

I was younger, I did swimming and, uh, soccer, and I was probably the

best at swimming when I was a kid.

Okay.

That's my

best sport.

See, you got that long swimmer body.

I can see that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I see you.

You got the Michael Phelps shoulders.

I got you.

Yeah.

Were you guys hitters in high school?

Did y'all, did y'all get out there and swing a little bit?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah?

W-

Yep.

What position did you play, other than pitcher?

Uh, I play- Uh- ... every outfield or shortstop or third.

I play anywhere.

Okay.

Yeah, I just played third, um, in high school.

Okay.

Are you guy- are you guys... Who, who's the better hitter on the team?

Of, of, like, who's the best pitcher?

Who's the best hitting pitcher between the two of you and on the team?

I don't know.

We haven't, we haven't really- I, we, I don't think anyone has

ever seen each other swing a bat.

Yeah.

That's see- And they're like- All right.

These guys are too polite ... we'd have to pull up some old

video and

highlights

for

that.

Yeah.

You guys are too polite, see, 'cause I... This is where you need somebody

to be like, "I..." Obviously, me.

Like, I bet Keller would be like, "I am." See, that's... You guys are too polite.

I've, I've heard he's got some power, so.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I saw, I saw Keller go five for five in a game with Knight schools.

He, he can, he can ball a little bit.

Yeah.

I feel like Ben Tann would just be quiet.

He would go get a bat and just start hitting gappers the whole time.

Like, it just seems like him

Probably.

Yeah.

All right.

Well, we've seen both of your roommates at some point in the background on this call.

Yeah.

I don't know if you're aware of that or not.

Uh- Yeah ... but, but Nick- Yeah ... I don't know who's at the top of the stairs,

but, uh, who's in your house this year?

Uh, it's me, Darin, and Marcus.

Yeah, it was, it was

Marcus in both the first-

And I think...

Oh, so Marcus was in both shots that's so

funny.

Yeah, Marcus, Marcus came down and, and like he saw me on the call,

and then I heard him- Yeah ... go upstairs, and he opened Darren's

door, and he was on the call also.

Yeah, he

was like, "Oh, you're in here too." I was like, "Yeah."

Yeah.

I would have, we would have invited...

Marcus can come on in.

We love him too.

He always says no to me when he w- when I ask him to talk.

Really?

Yeah.

Well, awesome.

Well, I know you got- you all are going to Dirty Buffalo here later.

Is that just like a meet and greet promotion, or what's going

on over there at Dirty Buff?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, it's like

a- It's like a meet and greet

good.

Yeah.

Uh, it's like a meet and greet.

And, uh, I mean, they gave us dinner last week too for their trivia night, so

they're doing like another promotional thing, giving us dinner again.

You guys are smart.

That's the way to do it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's the kind of NIL I can get behind.

Dinner, yes.

Yeah.

Especially wings at Dirty Buff too, man.

That's- Yeah.

Oh, my God ... that's pretty solid there.

That's my go-to stop whenever I'm down in town.

Mm-hmm.

Awesome.

Well, I, I know there's a lot of excitement, a lot of stuff going forward.

You got a big series with JMU coming up.

Uh- Mm-hmm ... have you all started talking about JMU yet?

I mean, it, it sounds like the mindset is just win the next game.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I mean, we've... I mean, we- every time we go into a

series, it's we want to win three.

Just we don't ever just want to win one or two.

It- or just it's kind of just like win every game you can.

Yeah.

Well, awesome.

Well, we'll certainly be cheering you on this weekend to take on JMU's, uh,

series, uh, season finale for the home games before they head on to Montgomery.

So Thursday, Friday, Saturday series, make sure you head over to

the ballpark, support these guys.

I think the Senior Day activities are going on Saturday, I believe.

Yeah, probably.

Yep.

I think it was like Mother's Day, graduation on Friday, and

then, uh, Senior Day Saturday.

All comes

together, so.

Yeah.

Should be a good, good weekend.

Yeah.

What's that like for you guys?

S- since y- you've both been through a couple of Senior Days as not seniors.

What's it like for you as not seniors, uh, being a part of those?

It's gotta be interesting, I would think.

Yeah, I mean, I'd say it's kind of like happy and sad at the same time.

Mm-hmm.

' Cause, you know, it's some of those, some of those guys' last time playing,

and it's definitely the last time you guys will be on the same team.

Yeah.

But it's also, like, cool to see your friends graduating and doing other stuff.

Yeah, it's, it's a little sad.

I mean, for me, I've only played with these guys for a year, but I know

Nick's played with them for three now.

Like, that's, it's pretty sad to see somebody you played with for

three years, you know, I don't get to play with them again.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, I mean, these days you never know, they may be able to come back for another

year 'cause I think- Yeah ... Gatti Young had walked at Senior Day last year-

... and is obviously, uh, back on the team.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Who knows?

Can't get rid of him.

No.

No, definitely not.

All

right.

Well, we appreciate you guys joining us.

Won't hold you up any longer.

Y'all get out there, get your, get your free food.

We love it.

Um, hey, we, we appreciate everything you guys are doing.

Just keep it up, and just keep taking it one pitch at a time, so it's fun to watch.

Yes, sir. Thank you so much.

Yeah.

All right, awesome.

We're gonna take a quick ba- break.

We'll be back with Coach Finwood.

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Yeah, thanks, Blaine.

Welcome back, fans, and thank you, Blaine.

Good to have Nick and Darin on.

I know they got wings on the brain, so I want to make sure we- Yeah.

... there.

They go enjoy that, and, uh, of course, meet a bunch of the fans

that are gonna be showing up, um-

Yes

... just to

come out.

And even if they don't meet a bunch of the fans, they'll meet a bunch of the wings.

That's what really matters.

I mean, that's... A, a win- It's great ... is a win there, and Dirty

Buff- Win, yes ... is a good spot for it.

Yes.

But yes, but, uh, we have Coach Finwood joining us- Finny ... as usual.

Finny, how about that weekend- Hello, everybody ... down in South Carolina?

Yeah.

It, uh, it ended up being a beautiful weekend, and we, we

had a lot of fun the, uh...

Especially the last two days.

You know, Friday wasn't much- Mm-hmm ... fun.

That was probably one of the- Yeah ... longest games of

my entire coaching career.

Geez.

Um, four-hour game, and you get out hit by one maybe, and get beat by eight,

and, uh, we just gave them a bunch.

Mm. But the guys bounced back, you know, um- Yeah Three of those four games last

week we played pretty good baseball, so.

Mm-hmm.

Uh, bea- you know, beating Richmond on Tuesday, then going down there and winning

that series, which that's an awful hard place to win a series, and hadn't ... Not

a lot of road teams have won there.

I think, um, you know, a couple in the last few years.

So, um- Yeah ... we, we, we just got ... You know, after Friday I had a sense

I mean, and this is just, I don't know whether it's good or bad, it just is.

I'm,

I'm not a big rah, rah, let's go get 'em, this is big game.

I just don't think baseball's best played that way.

Mm. Um, when you got the right guys, they just focus on playing the

game, not, not so much the opponent.

I feel that way about scouting reports.

That doesn't mean I, we don't wanna be prepared by any means, but I think

you can spend too much time thinking about what the other people do

well, and you're not spending enough time focusing on what you do well.

And, you know, that's kind of the old John Wooden philosophy, like

let's take care of our, um, stuff and be the best version of us.

I thought Friday, and it, it started all week, you know,

Coastal this, Coastal that.

They're, they're so awesome, they're ranked, and blah, blah, blah, and we

just overcooked the grits of that game-

Mm-hmm

... way too much.

Everybody was tight.

They were trying too hard.

Mm-hmm.

Uh, offensively we did enough, but we were just- Yeah

not good on the mound.

And Kusk maybe wasn't a real good match up for them.

They do hit breaking balls fine when they're up, and he couldn't

get the fastball in on them.

Um, and then, you know, we, we, we made a ... We misplayed a couple balls.

He misplayed a bunt.

Um, we, we misplayed a couple balls on defense, and walked them too

many times and hit 'em too many times, and you can't beat them- Mm

giving free bases.

So after the game we said, "Look, man, can we, can you just stop and just play

baseball?" Like throw strikes, make routine plays, compete at the plate.

We get some big hits, we'll have a chance.

If you just do those things, it's just another ... Treat it like another game

instead of all this hoopla, you know?

And the guys came out and did it.

I mean, the next day- Yeah ... we were much more in the groove, calm, you know,

focused and, and I thought JJ Gatti, you know, gave us a really good start.

Um, and you know, the lineup was turning over for the third time, uh, after four.

And it wasn't that he was throwing poorly, it just felt like it was

time to, to make a change and- Mm-hmm

we debated it a little bit in the dugout.

And, you know, I told the guys, I said, "Look, man, Ben Tanton's down there,

who no one's hit this year. And are we gonna bring him in if we're down, or

bring him into a mess?" I'm not gonna sleep great tonight if we don't get

him in this game at the right time.

Now, if he gets the shit knocked out of him, I can live with that.

Yeah.

I can live with that.

It's still the right move, 'cause he's been our best guy.

And we brought him in and he was just nails, man.

I mean, tops that out innings, I think one hit, what was it, two outs in the ninth?

Mm-hmm.

Maybe.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And one walk and seven strikeouts

and-

Mm-hmm ... he was fantastic.

Um, can't say anything other than that.

Uh, and we were able to scrap and, you know, claw and get a couple more

runs, um, you know, on top of that.

I mean, Will- Will Johnson had a really good weekend swinging the battle.

Yeah.

Wow.

And,

and defensively, you know, he's... His last month, he's... I don't know what he's

hitting the last month, but it's a lot.

A lot.

Yeah.

Gotta,

gotta be able 400.

And, uh, you know, he's raised his average probably 60 points.

Um, but we- Which

is not easy to do when you already have a bunch of at bats

... yeah, yeah, he's just been hot as a firecracker, man, and hitting

the ball all over the field, which is- Mm-hmm ... what he did early

in the season, and then he- Mm-hmm

got away from it a little bit and he's gotten back to having a really

good aggressive approach up there and, um, swinging at strikes, you know.

Uh, F. Morales had a lot of big at bats for us- Mm-hmm ... I thought as well.

Um, you know, so we get a, a hard fought 6-3 win and really

pitched well, and we only used two pitchers, you know, which was huge.

I mean, our Achilles heel in these weekends has been we've been winning

one because we've had to go through so many guys just to- Mm ... get that one.

We run out of bullets a little bit on Sunday.

Yeah.

And, um, so it saved us some.

Uh, and, you know, again, another Sunday we're playing for the series, uh- ... and

just like all the rest of them, right?

Uh- Yeah ... and, and, you know, one last Sunday, that was big.

Guys knew they could do it, and on a rubber match and, um, you know, of

course, you know, they, we knew Cameron Fluker is gonna start, and I said,

"Look, just do me a favor." Mm-hmm.

"Don't get hung up on all this hype about Cameron Fluker.

They're gonna be fired up.

He's good.

He's gonna be a high draft pick.

You gotta lay off the high fastball, and he's not gonna be out there for

that long 'cause he's on pitch count.

So if we're patient and we can wait him out, their closer hadn't thrown yet,

we gotta get him in the game early.

He's good, too.

Um, but the earlier you can get him in the game, the better chance you're gonna have.

And they'll bring him in early, 'cause he's thrown multiple innings.

Horn." And so, I mean, that couldn't have worked out any better.

I mean, Will hits the second pitch of the game out of the ballpark,

and- Yeah ... we scratched two more in the third to knock him out.

Now their closer's in the game in the third inning, and he's good.

Uh, but- Yeah ... we wore him out You know, we got to him Right And

he got tired, and, and we, and we were able to expand that lead.

And, and, in the meantime, you know ... Conkle was throwing the ball really well.

Uh, Pat Johnson came in and didn't feel good, and we kinda knew it.

Mm-hmm.

When

he came in, it was one of those weird things.

It, it can happen at times in a baseball game.

You know, Pat threw real well, probably longer than he'd gone

all year against Richmond.

And, uh, when he came in the game, Brandon Pond kinda called down and

said, "Man, he ain't got it." Like, he's probably ... he ain't got... Like, so

we said immediately, you know, of course

How often does that happen?

It doesn't happen very often.

Okay, interesting.

That's

one of the disadvantages of coaching third base when you're in the first base dugout.

Mm-hmm.

Is that doesn't get communicated properly.

Um- Mm-hmm ... and I just said, "Let's learn from this.

You know, the next time that happens, we gotta be able to, to hell with,

whether you're talking to me or not, like, get somebody else- Yeah

going." Fortunately, Pat, you know, got two outs, and I think- Yeah,

right ... walked, uh, whatever.

Gave up a hit.

But it was the right time to bring Bailey in, and he got- Mm-hmm ... um,

Harthol, I think he grounded out to first to get out of that inning.

Um, and then Bailey went back out, and this is what we got now, but

then this just wasn't, wasn't great.

And it just felt like the right time to bring Sulpizio in.

And he came in and did a great job, man.

I mean, you know, he give, we give up one in that one inning, and then that was it.

Um, JL was really good, you know, in four innings to start the game.

Um, so, you know, pitching wise the last two days, I don't know, what

did we hold them to, like, 10 hits in two games or, or something like that?

Yeah.

Um- It, it wasn't much.

It was what, six hits on Sunday and-

Six and five, so 11 hits.

11 hits.

Yeah.

Against the number 18 in the country on the road.

Yeah.

That's pretty damn good.

Pretty good.

Yeah.

And we didn't walk them.

You know, I think we had 13 strikeouts Saturday and two walks, and yesterday

maybe 4, eight and 4 or something.

Yeah,

4 and 10.

Yeah, 10 and 4.

We didn't walk them, and I, I, you know, sometimes it takes... Th-

these are the intricacies of a game.

Um, you need an umpire that's got the balls to ring guys up back there-

Yeah ... especially in that environment.

And I thought that was a really good crew we had this weekend and, and the

Saturday and Sunday guys definitely did.

Um- Mm-hmm ... and, you know, it was a bigger zone yesterday for both teams.

Friday was a really tight zone.

It

was.

Um, but both those guys

Yesterday started tight it felt like, and then it got bigger about the third.

Then they

loosened it up.

You're right, they did.

Yeah.

' Cause

they barked at them on a, on I think, uh, Morales' first at bat.

Mm-hmm.

F was walking back to the dugout and the guy followed him and made... You know,

when the hitter does that, I mean, you're just setting- Yeah ... setting the guy up

I w- I was laughing at that one, like, "Oh no, it's gonna be a long

day if that's not strike three." Yeah.

That

guy's good.

That guy's usually good.

He's a good umpire, and he, and he settled down and, you know, he was

throwing strikes, which, what you want.

Um, and-

I said sometimes I think the umpire just needed a drink of water.

Yeah, yeah.

I th- I think sometimes they go get a drink of water and all of a sudden

the, the strike zone's clear again.

Yeah, there you go.

Um, but Nick was, Nick was really good.

Ben was really good.

I thought our pitching, you know, the last two days was, was really solid.

And, and we played good baseball.

We, we caught the ball on defense.

We had so many big hits, especially with two outs.

Yeah.

Um, a bunch of two out RBIs, you know, uh, and a bunch of

two out and two strike RBIs.

Um, so approach wise offensively, that was probably our best weekend

of the year, um, you know, against a, a very good pitching staff.

Yeah, I was really encouraged Friday.

Like, I, you know, we gave away, I think, 14 free passes, and I just felt

like we kinda gave that game away.

We had the one inning where we didn't allow a hit, but I think five runs scored.

Yeah.

But what I was encouraged by was that the bats just kept going.

Yeah.

Like, they kept getting hits, they kept chipping away.

Like, they w- they weren't just mailing it in 'cause they were down by a lot.

And I, I think CB and I were texting each other at the same time saying,

"If we can hit like this the rest of the series, we're, we're definitely

gonna win a game, if not two."

Yeah.

And, uh, you know, when you think about their Saturday guy, they're pretty good

all year, um, for them, and we, we hit him around good, and it, it just was a

good, you know, good solid team effort.

It w- it wasn't just one guy, although Will was probably the, the highlight,

but we had a bunch of big hits, F, you know, and Scotty got a couple big ones,

and Nick felt big ones, and Zach Leite and Mav, and those guys just, we just

hung in there at the plate and, and, and really defended the field well.

You know, they hit a lot of fly balls, just kinda, kinda how they swing,

but we, uh, the balls that were on the ground, we made the plays on.

So, um- Yeah ... that's, that's, that's solid.

And it just, the guys just felt, it felt like they were ... You know, to me it

felt more like, I don't know, four or five years ago how we played all the time.

Um- Right.

... close, expecting to win, but focused- Mm-hmm ... and, and

just played good baseball.

Um, and we've played more like that this second half- Of the

season, so hopefully we can keep it

up On this podcast, at one point, the halfway mark, you

were like, "We're 5 and 10.

I've been through this before when I was at Auburn.

You started the season 5 and 10, and then you went 10 and 5 the rest of the way."

Yep.

I mean, you realize you could actually exceed that, right?

Well, one game at a time.

That's, uh,

yeah.

You could.

You could.

Yeah.

You gotta win Thursday, but-

Yeah, you gotta win Thursday and-

Yeah

... you know, uh, Kuskie's just been up and down this year, man.

He just has been- Yeah ... very, very up and down.

We need him to be up, you know?

He's gotta keep the ball down.

Um, and he's gotta get that breaking ball in play and throw, throw

those changeups- Mm-hmm ... where he needs to get the lefties.

And when he does that, he's been good and, and, you know, you just can't

get, he just can't get us out of it.

Um, I think that's certainly possible if we play like we did

this, you know, last two games, then yeah, you, you got a chance to-

Yeah

... you know, have a chance to win all three, so but let's, let's get

Thursday and get in that tournament.

Um- Mm-hmm ... and then you're just working for seeding.

Um, you know, Coastal's playing Louisiana, uh, over there, and they have

to win because Southern Miss is a game behind them, and they're playing- Yeah.

Northern at home, so they're probably- Yeah,

Southern Miss fans were loving us this weekend.

Oh,

I heard a lot.

Yeah,

yeah, exactly.

Um,

but,

you know, so Coastal's, they, they gotta, they gotta win and, um, th- th- so that,

that's good for us in regards to Louisiana 'cause they're, they're, you know, they,

they're fighting to try to win the...

You know, and, and they, you know, their, their hosting chances took

a big shot, um- Mm-hmm ... this weekend I think because, so they're

gonna have to, you know, get it back.

You know, they need to win the league- Yeah ... something like that.

So-

If you-

Uh, they gotta play-

If you ask some of the Coastal fans, they would tell you that they're

no longer making the postseason at all 'cause let me tell you-

they were down in the dumps about the seventh- Yeah ... inning on Sunday,

and I enjoyed every second of it.

Yeah, yeah.

Isn't it great?

Like, college, college baseball fans, sports fans are amazing.

Yeah.

You know?

It's like all those guys stink now.

Everybody's firing the coach.

Yeah.

Right.

You know, it's just the sky can get fallen in a hurry, can't it?

Yep, and, um- But I, I said, "Look, man, how you handle success, how you handle

failure, all of 'em, you know, both of 'em can be imposters, so to speak. All

that matters to me is how we play." I, I'm happy when we win, obviously.

Um- Yeah ... but, but when we play well, I can live with the losses.

I know you guys, I feel bad for you guys when we play well and lose.

Yeah.

But-

Yeah

... our job is to get you guys to play well, and that's- Yeah ... what matters.

And so- I said, "All these people are gonna be patting you on the

back tonight telling you how great you are. They were the same people-

Mm ... that were telling everybody how shitty you were two weeks ago."

Right.

So-

Yeah.

Uh, you know, just remember that.

That's life.

That's how it works.

Be, be respectful and, and, you know, be humble, and know we still got a lot to

play for, 'cause if you lose this series this weekend or don't play well and, and

don't make the tournament or, uh- Mm-hmm ... whatever, then last weekend, people

are gonna forget about that in a hurry.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You know, and, and the point you just made about it's, uh, playing well,

you can handle it, I think that's been kind of one of the problems is this

year is when you have lost games, a lot of times it, it wasn't that you

played well and happened to lose, it's that you just did not play well.

There've been, uh, you would probably have less- No question ... than a handful of

these, those games that were like, "Okay, you know what? We just lost that one." Um-

Yeah, I agree ... but that, you're right.

If, if that happens, that happens.

Like, hey, you know what?

That's baseball.

Yeah.

And we were a bad defensive team for the first half of the season.

Mm-hmm.

We weren't good enough- Yeah ... uh, in, in, you know, taking hits away,

for one, and we were terrible.

We were making too many routine errors, and I think two, quite frankly,

like, two position moves helped us become a pretty good defensive team.

Putting Feltman center field, obviously, and putting, um, Zedalis at third base.

Um- Oh, yeah ... he'd been up and down offensively, I know, but he solidified-

Yeah

... the defensive part of third base, and we were really struggling there.

Uh, really struggling, and it was costing us games.

And those two moves, I think, helped us become a pretty good defensive team.

Reliable maybe is the best word.

And then Will Johnson figured it out, right?

Mm-hmm.

Like, he went through a little, you know, space there where he was scuffling

offensively and defensively and, you know, it was kind of a streaky

thing that was hurting him, but he, he got it all worked out and he's

playing his tail off on defense now.

And, and all three of those guys you mentioned made big plays all weekend.

Yeah.

I mean, Tyler had some hot shots that he knocked down at third, and-

Mm-hmm

... you just, y- you just know he's gonna make the throw across the diamond.

Like, uh, at, it, it's, you're not worried about where the ball's gonna go.

You know it's gonna go right to Zach.

Yeah.

And then Nick on, on Sunday, I mean, they- Yeah, he had a couple in the first inning

hit a couple balls deep in that left center gap, and he tracked them

both down, kept runs off the board.

I mean, I-

Yeah, the- ... is

there a ball he can't get to?

... the ball Barthol, the ball Barthol hit in the first inning, I mean, that's a double,

you know, in most cases, and- Yeah ... and a run from first, so that's a run in,

and they're getting it going, right?

And he takes that away, man, and, and those are just

momentum changers, you know?

They takes it away from them, gives it back to us or helps us keep it-

Mm-hmm ... so to speak, so- Yeah.

I mean, I think that, that helped us.

And the bullpens, you know, worked its way into being much more

reliable, uh- Mm-hmm ... overall.

Um, you know, the starting pitching has still been up and

down, but it's, it's the, the...

We got a few more pieces that we've been able to

go to.

Yeah, and I, you know, speaking of momentum, you know, y- yesterday when

Coastal gets a run and you kind of feel, uh-oh, and then we go and add a run

in the next half inning, and we just kinda kept going, getting those runs

back, and then ultimately pulled away with runs in the eighth and the ninth.

That's something I didn't see us do earlier in the season-

Mm-hmm ... that we are doing now.

And I mean, it, it's a lot more comfortable when it's just

Sulpizio out there when it's nine to two, and not, you know-

Right

... five to two or something.

Yep.

No, no doubt.

Yeah, you can never have enough runs on the road.

Yeah.

Uh,

we've- Yeah ... we've proven that.

But- Learned that one ... uh, I, I think, I mean, as a coach, you want your guys

to develop a, a resilience and a, a way to get up off the mat, so to speak, and

I think this group has gotten there.

Um, we, we've been, you know, left for dead and, uh- ... they clawed their

way, clawed their way out the hole and now you can see the light, so to speak,

and now they just gotta go take it.

And, you know, you get to this part of the year, man, it's not as much about

trying to keep 'em fresh and feeling good, but it's- Yeah ... it's not as

much about anything other than them just wanting it, um, and playing that way.

And you gotta thread the needle of trying too hard, I think sometimes, 'cause that

can get you, but you gotta just go play.

And if we can play that steady, um, like that, then, you

know, I think we'll be fine.

Yeah.

I think the, the most fun, funnest summer ever, I think, was the thing I saw coming

from a lot of your players on there.

Yeah, fully,

fully committed to the funnest summer ever.

That's what, uh, the bunch of the guys were sharing yesterday, uh, probably

while they were on the ride back.

Um, which I love- ... 'cause that, that implies, you know, the funnest

summer ever would be, like, a run to the College World Series.

So I, I've, I've said, uh, maybe next year they could start out with that, and

not wait till May to discover that plan.

But I like, I love the approach.

That'd be great.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I would, I would, uh, agree, I would agree with that.

Um, so-

Well, it's, uh-

We got three games left, man, and, you know, in the regular season, uh, at the

beginning of each year, I tell 'em, "We got 56 scheduled. You know, we gotta earn

every one after that, the opportunity to play after that." And so we've got three

left, and we've gotta earn the rest.

And, you know, it, it, it's nice to know that you actually are playing,

not just to get in the tournament, um, but to maybe be in the real tournament.

To get, have the opportunity- Yeah, yeah ... to get that sixth seed.

Um, and to win your way into it.

You know, last year we, we kind of backed into it when we were getting

swept by Coastal, and then- Having the stuff go the way it needed to go

so we could get the six seed, but it would be fun, much more gratifying

to play your way in, way into it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

A lot

nicer to have- But then- ... three

wins at the end and

Yeah, a- and like you said, you know, have an opportunity to, to go, you

know, whatever it is, nine and six, 10 and five- Mm-hmm ... 11 and four.

Yeah.

Um, in the second half of the season, you would be as hot as anybody in the league.

Um- Yeah.

Yeah ... you know, and that's significant.

Yep.

Playing your best ball at the right time of year is also, I think, really important

for that tournament too, 'cause- Yeah.

Yeah ... you do get the six seed, it's not like it's a magically easy road.

You still are gonna be playing good teams.

Mm-hmm.

Oh, yeah.

Um- Without a doubt.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, right now it's what, Coastal, Southern Miss, um, s- what, uh, App State,

Troy, South Alabama, something like that.

Yeah, South Alabama and Troy are tied.

South

Alabama, Troy.

Yeah.

Then Louisiana's 14 and 13 sitting there in the six seed.

Yeah.

Um, yeah, I mean, it's still all, it, it's still all right there.

I mean, I, the six seed is what we're targeting, but there are some scenarios

where five is on the table too.

But you gotta depend on other outcomes, and- Yeah.

Yeah ... we know we don't necessarily wanna do that, just As always, just

go and play your, play your game.

That's right.

Pitch in

front of you.

That's all you can

do.

That's it.

Go, go-

Yeah

... go play your best on Thursday and see what happens, you know?

I know we got a little bit of rain coming in Wednesday night, and then

Thursday hopefully getting out of here sometime, you know, before noon, and

then the rest of the weekend- Yeah

looks pretty good, so.

Yeah, wouldn't

be- And

we got, uh- ... better today out of

it.

Yeah, yeah.

Uh, today was nasty.

Uh- Yeah.

Yeah

... we, we got, uh, you know, graduation and we got senior- Mm-hmm ... senior day

and all of those things this weekend as well, so, um, should be a lot of fun.

Uh-

Yeah ... in terms of a pitching plan, I know it's a funky week 'cause

it's Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

Are you still rolling Kuskie, Gatti, Jackson, or how you feeling?

Yeah, I think so.

Uh, it, it'll be TBA again on Sunday because, you know, what we do on

Sunday will depend on what we did Thursday and Friday and where we're at.

Right.

You know, if Sunday doesn't matter, I mean, it all matters, but if we

need to hold some guys for, you know, whatever, then, then we will if

it, if it doesn't matter that much.

Um, if it matters on, yeah, you g- you win, you get the six seed, then

we're going after it, obviously.

Yeah.

Um, but Kuskie didn't throw that many pitches.

Mm-hmm.

Uh, neither did Gatti, so the short, the two days short

shouldn't hurt them too much.

It's not like they threw, you know, seven, eight innings.

The one guy that I think it's gonna affect- Would be Ben Tanton

because he threw 92 pitches Mm-hmm

his longest of the year on Saturday.

So I don't see him, we'll see how he feels, I don't see him

being available for Thursday.

Yeah.

Uh, but Friday or Saturday, obviously, yes.

' Cause it's, it's kind of a tough pitching plan spot too, because like, yes, you need

to win games to get in the tournament- Yeah ... but you also need to be ready

'cause you could be playing on Tuesday in the tournament, and that's single

game, you wanna have your best arms.

Yeah.

So I'm not envious of you trying to figure all that stuff out

over the next couple hours.

No, it

always, it always is.

And you know, it's interesting because the conference will actually

allow you to play this past weekend on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, if

both- Mm ... teams agree to it.

Oh.

So that you're only sh- you know, you're short that week- Mm-hmm

but then it's kind of normal the next week.

Uh, we just couldn't 'cause we were in exams, and- Mm-hmm ... we couldn't

move that, that day early to do it.

So, um, obviously if you can, then, you know, you'd, you'd like to do that.

It's less obtrusive for this weekend coming up.

Um, so, it, but that, that's where we're at.

So yeah, but those guys will go, and then we'll figure se- you know,

game three out when we get there.

A lot can happen between now and game three, so hopefully it's just

a couple of ODU wins- Yeah ... and we have the, all the power, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

And you know, quietly, I, I think that, um, Jackson Okonkwo's last

three starts have been pretty good.

I, I think- Mm-hmm ... he's gone three and, uh, three or four, and then four.

Um- Mm-hmm ... you know, uh, they've been, they haven't been messy.

You know, he, he's been good.

Mm-hmm.

So he's getting better.

He's starting to really move in the right direction, which is good to see.

He looks

amazing.

Yeah, I was at Greenbrier Christian on Friday, and they were asking

about him, and I was like, "It's going pretty good right now."

You know- Yeah ... obviously he's a freshman, had some bumps,

but- Yeah.

And Jackson's one of those kids, I tell people sometimes the, the tr- trajectory

of a lot of kids that end up being really good college pitchers, um, goes, they're

strike, one, they're strike throwers.

Um- Mm-hmm ... and, and sometimes when you're a strike thrower,

I love that personally, um- Yes

you're throwing too many hitter strikes, and so you give up a lot of hits.

Yeah.

But you're not afraid to throw strikes.

Then as you get better and learn and get some experience and get tired of,

you know, giving up hits- ... you learn how to throw more pitcher strikes.

Um- Right ... it's the guys that don't ever throw the strikes that

can't get to the next thing, um- Mm

because they're either afraid of contact or don't have the command

to, you know, command the baseball and, or, or something of that nature.

So Jackson's certainly in that first category.

And you know, I think Mike and, and the pitching staff have-

Have done a good job helping him.

You know, he's, he's gotta continue to work on his arsenal

and get the breaking ball better.

He's a big time sinker, you know, pronator, so sometimes that breaking

ball and those guys like that, takes a little while to figure out, uh,

the breaking ball and the changeup.

But he, you know, like yesterday, I mean, everything was at the knees, man.

He was throwing ground balls- Mm-hmm ... it was boom, boom, boom.

And he, in that environment, you know, you're, you're starting as a true

freshman against a guy that's gonna be one of the top- Yeah ... five picks

in the draft maybe, 10 picks in the draft, uh, on the other team, and

I thought he handled himself great.

I was really proud of him.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, he looked as smooth as I've seen him all season, just dicing guys up.

I mean, four innings, no runs, three hits, one walk, and three strikeouts.

Yep.

Yep.

I'll, I'll take that from a freshman or from anybody against number eight.

Yeah.

Yeah, it was good.

And, um, you know, again, that's the longest he's gone.

Mm-hmm.

Um, you know, and, and, you know, I, we may be guilty of overprotecting guys,

I think when they're young especially, but we want them to continue to develop.

And when you don't do that, I think it's hard to develop when

you're, when you're banged up.

And so I think we- Mm-hmm ... we've done that with this, this group.

And, you know, Ben Tanton, uh, you know, the, both those guys, those are their

longest outings of the year, and that's

in-

Mm-hmm ... week 13.

Um, so they certainly have built up to that.

Yeah.

Yeah, the Baby Face Assassin.

That's, that was

the-

CP, you need to, you need to trademark that or something, 'cause it was good.

Yeah, I gotta- Yeah ... I need to get a, get into my, uh, in my Canva and do

something, 'cause I got an idea for it.

Yeah, I don't, I don't like the, uh, his dad shared something that, you know,

I'm, I'm not a fan of the AI slop, so I gotta make something of my own maybe.

There we go.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But- There were, he, he was getting some national attention while he was

absolutely shoving- Mm-hmm ... uh, which, you know, we don't want it to get too

national, but- No ... but there were a lot of fan bases very jealous that

we had a Ben Tanton and they didn't.

Yeah.

Put it that way.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, the, uh, you know, those words get out certainly.

It's just part of the, the, what we're dealing with in our, you know,

timeframe of the, of the thing.

Gary Gilmore, they had a really nice, uh, ceremony for the- Yeah ... uh,

2016 National Championship team before Saturday's game.

And Coach Gilmore was there, and I've known him forever, and we got to visit.

And, um, he sent a nice text after the game yesterday and said, "Man, some

really good looking young arms." He

said-

Mm-hmm ... um, you know, uh, what'd he say?

He said, uh, "Don't let 'em play this summer. Take their phones away from 'em."

The way this stuff's going nowadays.

Honestly.

So he said, you know, that's just how, how it is.

But the, uh, I- Tho- those guys have g- all gotten better, and, you know,

I, I still think that, you know, Chris Cavalcante and Maddox Jack- Mm ... those

two guys can- Yeah ... they're a little bit behind those other two,

but they're, they're gonna come.

I, I believe those guys al- also have a bright future here.

And, you know, everybody's journey is a little bit different, right?

Uh, when they, when they actually figure it out and it pops, you just

don't... I don't have a crystal ball big enough to know the answer to that one.

Working it.

Yeah.

And if they're the right kids and they're talented enough,

then, then it happens for them.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think that was Chris Cavalcante's third time facing Richmond

this year too, wasn't it?

Hasn't he pitched in all three Richmond games?

I don't know

about that.

I know the first one there he did, he threw two innings.

Um- I

can't remember if he did the second

one ... I don't remember the second one- Yeah ... if he

did

or-

Well, just, you know, I, I've been trying to quietly- Probably ... keep,

keep track of who we've played in the non-conference, and you've really caught

VCU and Richmond playing their best ball.

I mean, they're, they're tied for second right now in the A10 behind St. Joe's.

Um, so, like, even that midweek work is actually against some pretty damn good

offenses, even though they're in the A10.

Yeah.

He did.

He faced Richmond all three times, faced East Carolina both times.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Battle tested, at least.

Well, yeah.

I mean, and the thing, you know, we've talked about with him is, like, building

experiences, not having to start- Yeah ... every time right down here,

like taking the next step, and some days- Mm-hmm ... he's gotta be better at that,

without a doubt, but we think he will.

You know, I think Maddox Jack is... I hate it e- we didn't get him in

there this weekend, but, um- Mm

we, it just, that's the way it worked out.

You know, if you had a... Again, if you had a crystal ball, you'd have

thrown him in that game on Friday.

Um, but you don't, so that's the nature of the bullpen.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, at the end of the day, you came away with two huge wins down there.

I mean, it just opens the door for more possibilities, but I think it just

adds to this quiet confidence that the guys on your team have been building.

Like, since that Southern Miss series, it's a different team in that dugout.

Yeah.

Hopefully we're playing... But we're definitely playing better baseball, and,

and hopefully we can keep that up and, and take it into the postseason with us.

Mm. So for all the things, you know, this group's had to go through, the

players and the coaches the last two years, it's, it's, it's fun to

be playing well right now and- Mm

kinda overcoming some of those things.

I, I think people will tend to maybe forget about them, um, but we won't.

You know, uh, uh, we're a few months away from, you know, hopefully being in

that b- ballpark, so that's exciting.

Yeah, I, I think that's a very fair point, that a lot of people, the people

that tend to be angry the ballpark's not, not complete and it's like, who is

this hurting more than the, the people that are trying to use it every day?

Like, I don't, I'm sorry it's inconvenienced you slightly.

These guys are out there working every day and that, trust me, they're the

ones really having some, some issues.

So yeah, I, I think you're right that that's gonna be the kind of

thing that just will get overlooked, especially as you move them into

the br- beautiful place next year.

Yeah, I mean, it's just, you know, the, the people you talk to.

I, I was talking to Kevin Schnall, their coach, and he's like, "Man,

we're watching video of y'all's games and like there's nobody there." Yeah.

And we hear, you know, we hear people say, "Yeah, it's just dead, you know.

There's no atmosphere at all." Mm-hmm.

And, uh, I was like, "Yeah, that's what we're dealing with every day right now."

I, I don't think anybody understands-

Mm-hmm

... how, really how much a home field, uh, fan base that gets loud and, you know,

when you're in a venue that allows that, um, can help 'cause it really can.

And so, you know, for two years now we haven't really had that.

And, and so- Mm ... that's, um, but we need to, we need to suck it up for

three more games and not worry about that, just create our own energy.

And we probably let the guys go a little bit crazier than normal this year-

... just 'cause we felt like that's, that's the only energy down here, and we need it.

And I, I probably been, have had, you know, gotten warned more for

dugout noise this year than ever.

And,

you

know,

the guys are, "Hey, Coach, the guys can't bang on the thing," and I'm like, "Okay.

Yeah, yeah, I'll tell

them." Yeah, yeah,

yeah.

After the next half inning I'll tell them.

Uh-huh.

Literally have certain times they do it every single time.

Yeah, let me get this new pitcher's adrenaline dump real quick- Yeah

and then, yeah, we'll be quiet.

Yeah.

Yeah, and then I, I never do so.

That's funny.

Uh, it's kind of what we, what we need to go through, you know,

to try to boost the energy up at certain times in the game, right?

Yeah.

Where, where normally the fans are doing that.

Right, yeah.

You know, anything.

They're getting loud and clapping and some of the- Well,

especially, you know, they're right, I know to you they're kind of right on

top of you a lot, too, which is nice.

Mm-hmm.

Yep.

It really helps that, feel that energy- It

gets awesome ... flow

down.

Yeah.

Yep.

Yeah.

It's gonna be close and, and even behind the plate with all the people

are gonna be right there- Mm-hmm ... on the field, in Rally Alley, I think

we got a chance to really kind of, it can, it can, you know, be a

suffocating feeling like that, you know?

Um, so we're hopeful for that anyway.

Oh, I'm, I'm excited for the first, like, Sun Belt series next year when

they're not used to anything going on at ODU 'cause they- ... been on the

road, in construction, or playing at another ballpark or something, then all

of a sudden there's a guy nine beers deep at Rally Alley on the corner-

of that dugout.

And I mean, it's not gonna be me, but it might be.

Who knows?

Probably, probably Sam Sinnon.

Oh,

yeah.

Yeah.

We got plenty.

We got

plenty.

Maybe so.

Yeah.

Yeah, for sure.

So, um, yeah.

But again, I know we'll, we'll, uh, I guess the next one of these would

be from the, from, uh, traveling to the tournament potentially.

That's what we meant to talk to you about, how we have to figure out how to

do this, uh, uh, if, if we do it Saturday.

We'll, we'll talk to you about that.

Yeah, we'll figure out what night is, if- Yeah ... how the best way to do that is.

Yeah, maybe it's you and me on the bus, who knows?

Yeah.

That'd be

fun.

I could do that.

Tales from the

road.

Figure

something

out.

Yeah.

Uh-

We'll figure it out.

Hopefully it is on the way down to the tournament.

Yes.

That's the, that's the hope and the goal.

Yeah.

So, so.

But thank you guys

again.

Finny, we appreciate you.

For everything.

Yeah, we missed you last week.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, I don't know.

I thought about it.

I was like, man, I don't know, maybe I didn't do it last week

and we picked- ... it all up.

Hey, you know, hey, I-

Yeah ... we

love having you, but

whatever

works, man.

Yeah.

W- we had, we had the same conversation about possibly recording yesterday instead

of today- Yeah ... just to keep it going.

Oh,

yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So we, Steph came...

This is a good story.

Steph came with us, you know, it was Mother's Day weekend and, and, um, you

know, the, on the way back the guys were all saying, you know, she's a

good lu- good luck charm and all that.

And- Mm-hmm

... he

said, "Well, maybe I'll have to go on another trip." And so Hayes

goes, "You say that like you

have a choice."

Like, you don't have

a choice.

Like, you don't mess with a, with a winner's streak.

Yeah.

Let's go.

You... So that was fun.

That's

funny.

But, uh, yeah.

Oh.

So, and, uh- You had a good

contingent down there ... hopefully-

Huh?

You had a good contingent of ODU fans down there- Yeah ... 'cause I could hear a, a

whole game on Sunday It was pretty good,

man.

It was a lot of parents and family and friends.

Can't imagine people wanna go to Myrtle Beach.

And we stayed at a really cool old beach resort right on the-

Yeah

... the north, uh, the south end o- of the beach, and we were

right on the beach, man.

It was, it was neat.

The guys did stretching and stuff out on the beach one day and,

uh, you could walk out there.

It was beautiful and, um, that was, that was really neat, so it was good.

That's great.

Well, all right, I'll let you guys go.

Thank you.

Go Monarchs.

Go

Monarchs.

Go Monarchs.

Thanks, Finny.

Thanks, Finny.

All

righty.

That's great.

Missed that last week, man.

That's something else.

I know, but now I'm afraid we've jinxed the whole damn thing.

Well, you only jinx it if you believe you jinxed it, you know?

If you, you just... Hey, we've had 'em on all year.

It's, and I always say, like, I, I love baseball and I'm super... Trust me,

when I played, I, I would, you know, you, you, you'd sprint to the field and

you, you jump over the, the foul line.

But at the same time, it's like I, I'm well aware that nothing I'm doing is

affecting what these guys are doing.

It doesn't matter what shirt or hat I'm wearing, where I stand,

it's completely irrelevant.

So if other people believe that, I guess, but I know me personally,

nothing I'm doing is affecting what's going on in this game.

It's irrelevant, but when it works, it messes with your brain.

Like- Yeah ... Friday I did the whole listen to Ted and watch ESPN+ on mute.

Mm-hmm.

And then Saturday I just watched the ESPN+ broadcast and we won, so

you can guess what I did on Sunday.

I mean,

I'll say the only game I didn't watch this weekend, uh, like I saw the

very end, was the, uh, Friday game 'cause I was at a high school game.

So, you know, so the two games I sat and watched the whole

game, we played great and won.

So, you know, if you wanna start talking about superstitions and

that, maybe that's, maybe I did it.

Who knows?

Whatever you were doing last Saturday and Sunday, I need you to replicate it-

Right ... but on Friday- Yeah ... and Saturday of this week coming up.

Well, I, I'll be at all three of 'em, so I'll be replicating that.

We'll be- We'll be there.

Yeah, I definitely have Saturday, TBD on Friday.

Apparently it's difficult to get a hotel in Norfolk on the

Friday night of ODU's graduation.

Who would've thought?

Yeah,

who'd have thought?

Yeah.

Who would've thought?

Um-

Hey, if you want to come sleep on my couch in my condo and

have the cat, uh, on your face-

you can do that.

You're, you're more than welcome.

Yes, I'll, I will find some way, shape, or form to get down there.

Uh, definitely not gonna miss Saturday 'cause that's when

they're gonna do the graduation- Yeah ... ceremony for the players.

Uh, that's obviously a, a big deal for them since baseball really can

never attend a spring graduation.

I think Saturday is the, is the, uh, senior day.

I think Friday is the graduation.

Friday's grad- okay.

Yeah.

Oh, that makes sense 'cause they're all gonna be at graduation-

Yeah ... on, on Saturday, at least the, the faculty and staff will be.

Yeah.

So, all right.

Well-

There we go

... we gotta get to players of the week here real quick.

Oh, do we?

Okay.

So give me a second to get your stats.

Uh- I was gonna say, let's see if we have that or

not.

Oh, I don't think- There we go.

Hey, look at that ... either, I don't think either one of these

guys are gonna shock anyone- Yeah

... for

their player

of the week selection.

What a shocker, right?

Um, yeah, so Ben Tanton, I mean, yeah, y- you were kind of saying it

during the game, and I don't know if any of those awards have come out or

not, but, uh, them, it's kind of like national pitcher of the week type stuff.

Um, five scoreless innings on the road as a freshman at number

eight is pretty phenomenal.

Uh, only one hit, but like, as Finny pointed out, with two outs in the

ninth, one walk, seven strikeouts.

So, uh, Ben is, he's well on his way to... We're kind of at the point in the year

where you're kind of cementing the guys who are gonna win the year-long awards,

and, I mean, I don't know what somebody else would have to do here at the end

of the season to take over for Ben being the pitcher of the year for the team.

So that says a lot about him as a freshman.

I, I think I, I shared that the other day.

He's got seven wins.

Um, that's the most for a Monarch since Sam Armstrong had nine in 2023.

Um, the last time a Monarch had double digits was 2007, Anthony Shaller.

He went 11 and 2.

Um, and for people who might remember Anthony Schaller,

he was also, he was a hitter.

He was an outfielder at DH also.

Uh, that same season he also hit three, I think it was 305 with 10 doubles,

five triples, five homers, 35 RBIs.

So Anthony had a pretty good year.

Yeah, pretty good.

Um, I can't remember if that was... I think that was his, his senior year

before he ended up playing a few years in the minors for the, um, the Tigers.

Got... I think he made it all the way to double A. Um, so yeah.

So Ben's having a great year and then couple other guys

obviously had a great time.

Okonkwo we pointed out, four scoreless on Sunday.

Um, three hits, a walk, three strikeouts.

Uh, Sulpizio.

I let the cat be in here and now she's trying to get up

on me.

This is,

this is, it was a mistake.

It was fine until I all of a sudden wanted to start talking.

Um.

The,

the

cat

just wants a voting player of the week, that's all.

He really does.

Just agreeing on Ben Tanton.

I was like, she's a year old now.

She's just fine.

No, she's not.

Um, so Sulpizio, uh, we know he got the win yesterday.