The first series of the season is now in the past and although we lost three of four games to Sioux City, the team is excited about how everything has been going. The pitching has held its own and the defense has looked spectacular at times. The bats have been slow but its nothing out of the norm because we didn't face situational pitching until the opening day.
In the opener, we fell 4-1 in 10 innings. Josh Neitz cruised through six innings and limited the Explorers to just five hits and one earned run to pick up his first quality start of the year. Joe Klein relieved Neitz in the seventh and made the most of this professional debut as he held the Sioux City bats at bay for three innings. He was touched up in the ninth and gave way to Baron Short, who closed out the game. The highlight of the extra-inning game saw T.J. Johnson catch a deep fly ball in left field and missile home a throw Eddy Rodriguez just in time to tag out the Sioux City runner. The fans came flocking to Cohen just as expected as almost 8,000 came through the gates on Thursday night.
We then dropped the second game, 12-7. The game saw both teams combine to rack up 34 hits with 11 players notching two hit games. This was the hottest day I've seen since I have been out here and it was evident through the health issues in the stadium that night. One person had a stroke, another fainted, while one member of the team had to go to the hospital. I didn't realize how important it is to make sure you are hydrated and have plenty of food in you until this day. The air is so dry and the sun is so strong that when you actually realize you are dehydrated, it is often to late. It's funny because I don't really sweat all that much out here and its been atleast 90 degrees everyday so far. It's because the sweat beads actually evaporate before they come off your skin.
It was nice to pick up our first victory on Saturday night in front of a good sized crowd at Cohen. Kennard Bibbs and Jorge Alvarez each clubbed out three hits to lead us to a 6-5 victory. We jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, which would hold up for the first six innings. Sioux City plated two runs in the seventh to take a 4-3 lead but we would respond with two runs in the eighth to put the game away. Chris Thompson struck out the side in the ninth to pick us his first save of the year.
Going into tonight's game, our goal was to walk away with a split series. The pitching was good again but the bats were silent. I have to give credit where credit is due and Sioux City's pitching was impressive the entire series. The Explorer starters all made it deep into the game and put Sioux City in good position every game. The Explorer bats were surely lucky this series as hit after hit squeaked through the infield. As a pitcher, there is nothing more upsetting than making a quality pitch and having someone roll over on it and squib a ball through a gap. This happened quite often this series and although our pitching staff is not happy with it, the law of averages tell us that the luck will soon swing our way.
Butch gave us the day off tommorow. This is the first day off I've had since I flew in, a span of 16 days. We are going to have a bunch of people over to the pool tommorow for a cookout. After tommorow, we host Pensacola for a three-game series and then hit the road for seven days with three-game sets at both Shreeveport and Pensacola.
I've got the ball for Tuesday's series opener against Pensacola. It is going to be Military Night at Cohen and the crowd should good. These are nights where all military members at Ft. Bliss get in for free. We will be suiting up in our traditional Military Night camoflauge uniforms. Last season, Dad was here for the last Military Night game and ended up buying the jersey off my back. They plan on doing the same thing this season with Tuesday being the first of four Military Nights. The rotation will then start up again with Josh Neitz throwing on Wednesday morning for Kid's Day.
10 days :)
In the opener, we fell 4-1 in 10 innings. Josh Neitz cruised through six innings and limited the Explorers to just five hits and one earned run to pick up his first quality start of the year. Joe Klein relieved Neitz in the seventh and made the most of this professional debut as he held the Sioux City bats at bay for three innings. He was touched up in the ninth and gave way to Baron Short, who closed out the game. The highlight of the extra-inning game saw T.J. Johnson catch a deep fly ball in left field and missile home a throw Eddy Rodriguez just in time to tag out the Sioux City runner. The fans came flocking to Cohen just as expected as almost 8,000 came through the gates on Thursday night.
We then dropped the second game, 12-7. The game saw both teams combine to rack up 34 hits with 11 players notching two hit games. This was the hottest day I've seen since I have been out here and it was evident through the health issues in the stadium that night. One person had a stroke, another fainted, while one member of the team had to go to the hospital. I didn't realize how important it is to make sure you are hydrated and have plenty of food in you until this day. The air is so dry and the sun is so strong that when you actually realize you are dehydrated, it is often to late. It's funny because I don't really sweat all that much out here and its been atleast 90 degrees everyday so far. It's because the sweat beads actually evaporate before they come off your skin.
It was nice to pick up our first victory on Saturday night in front of a good sized crowd at Cohen. Kennard Bibbs and Jorge Alvarez each clubbed out three hits to lead us to a 6-5 victory. We jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, which would hold up for the first six innings. Sioux City plated two runs in the seventh to take a 4-3 lead but we would respond with two runs in the eighth to put the game away. Chris Thompson struck out the side in the ninth to pick us his first save of the year.
Going into tonight's game, our goal was to walk away with a split series. The pitching was good again but the bats were silent. I have to give credit where credit is due and Sioux City's pitching was impressive the entire series. The Explorer starters all made it deep into the game and put Sioux City in good position every game. The Explorer bats were surely lucky this series as hit after hit squeaked through the infield. As a pitcher, there is nothing more upsetting than making a quality pitch and having someone roll over on it and squib a ball through a gap. This happened quite often this series and although our pitching staff is not happy with it, the law of averages tell us that the luck will soon swing our way.
Butch gave us the day off tommorow. This is the first day off I've had since I flew in, a span of 16 days. We are going to have a bunch of people over to the pool tommorow for a cookout. After tommorow, we host Pensacola for a three-game series and then hit the road for seven days with three-game sets at both Shreeveport and Pensacola.
I've got the ball for Tuesday's series opener against Pensacola. It is going to be Military Night at Cohen and the crowd should good. These are nights where all military members at Ft. Bliss get in for free. We will be suiting up in our traditional Military Night camoflauge uniforms. Last season, Dad was here for the last Military Night game and ended up buying the jersey off my back. They plan on doing the same thing this season with Tuesday being the first of four Military Nights. The rotation will then start up again with Josh Neitz throwing on Wednesday morning for Kid's Day.
10 days :)
