Only In Baseball (Softball Too)

For as much as we love it, baseball and softball has a tendency to drive us a little batty. It keeps us on our toes. And no matter how many games you go to, there is always something new.

Sunday held a number of first for me, both on the baseball and softball side. That contributes to a already crazy weekend with games moved to The Dalles and Tri-Cities.

Here's what made Sunday even more unique...
• Sunday's softball head was "winded out." Yes, you read that right. After one batter this afternoon, the Pacific and UPS coaches and umpires decided that the sustained 35 MPH winds in Pasco (gusts of 40-50 MPH) was too much. So...games called on account.

• I have never umpired a game, but today I called a batter out. In the eighth inning on the first game against Whitworth, the plate umpire missed a swinging strike by Nate Rasmussen on a first pitch steal attempt by Andy Tolbert (Tolbert was called out). We post the strike, but after the next pitch the umpires signals one ball, one strike. After the second strike, Whitworth's coach comes out to argue that ball one was actually a strike.

After a minute, the umpire looks up to me and asks what the first pitch was. He couldn't hear me yell strike, so I raise my arm, fist clinched, signaling the strike. Essentially, I called Rasmussen out. Sorry Nate.

• In the fourth inning of our second baseball game, a prevailing west wind of 30 miles per hour pushed three homers out for the Boxers. Rasmussen, Nick McNeely and Corby Makin all hit back-to-back-to-back solo shots over the left center field wall. It is an amazing sight to see three go out in a row.

Not to be outdone, Whitworth's Mitch Ramsay clubbed a home run to the same spot in the fifth. ramsay's, however, bounces off the road behind the left field wall, take a high bounce and rolls over the roof of a nearby house.

• At one point of game two, it was rainy and gray on the first base side of the open-air press box and sunny and dry on the third base side.

Only in baseball...and softball.

A Case Of MIstaken Identity

Did you know that the Pacific softball team will play Texas on Mar. 14? That's what I thought. Neither did I. And neither did Head Coach Tim Hill.

The University of Texas' Sports Information Office was kind enough to send us three copies of their softball media guide the other day (nice cover, by the way). Sure enough, their schedule has the Longhorns playing Pacific at the Judy Garman Classic Tournament in Fullerton, Calif., on Mar. 14. The funny thing is that our schedule has Pacific playing a home doubleheader against Puget Sound that day.

Oh wait. Texas is playing the University of the Pacific.

My bad? No, this one is on Texas. The sports information contact didn't realize that there are two Pacifics out there: the Division III school that we reference here and the the Division I school in Stockton, Calif. The media guide even lists yours truly and the Pacific University Web site for media contact information (click on the link to see the page).

Unfortunately, this is a common problem for us. I get at least one call or e-mail a month asking for information regarding the Pacific Tigers. Most of the time, I politely tell them that they have reached the wrong school and that they need to contact the Division I school.

This case of mistaken identity reached a fever pitch in 2004 when the Pacific Tigers won the Big West title and advanced to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. The day after the selection show, we received no less than 50 calls with ticket requests and film exchange. Ken Schumann, who was men's basketball coach at the time, even received a congratulatory fax from then-Kentucky coach Tubby Smith.

While I would love to know that other media relations professionals would do their homework, I know that there will always be confusion between us and University of the Pacific...unless one of us changes our name (we don't plan on doing that anytime soon).

Back to softball for a moment...the Boxers will not be playing a Division I opponent anytime soon. The closest Pacific will come is when they take on Simon Fraser in the Northwest Cup Tournament on Saturday in Portland. Simon Fraser played UCLA on Tuesday (yes...that UCLA), losing 6-3 and 13-2. That's a strong performance for a NAIA school and a sign that the No. 20 ranked Boxers will have their hands full. It will be a good test.

Playoff Scenarios

Here are the tiebreaker and playoff scenarios as it pertains to Pacific and Pacific Lutheran and their quest for the NWC Playoffs...

PACIFIC ADVANCES TO PLAYOFF IF...
• Pacific wins twice
• Pacific wins once and PLU loses once


PLU ADVANCES TO PLAYOFF IF...
• PLU wins both games and Pacific loses both games (makes PLU 9-7 and Pacific 8-8)
• PLU wins one of two games and Pacific loses both games (both teams 8-8, PLU owns tiebreaker with 1-1 record vs. UPS)
• PLU beat George Fox and tie at 8-8 with Pacific and Whitworth (PLU would own tiebreaker with win over GFU)
• PLU loses to George Fox, but beats Linfield, Pacific loses both games and a three-way occurs at 8-8 (Pacific owns tiebreaker over WHTW based on head-to-head, but PLU would own tiebreaker with 1-1 record vs. UPS)

Whitman is in the playoffs regardless of their result this weekend. If Whitman falls to 8-8, they would tiebreaker over both Pacific and PLU based on their 2-0 record against PLU.

Whitworth cannot advance even if they tie at 8-8 with PLU and Pacific and/or Whitman (see above).

PLAYOFF SEEDING (Should Pacific succeed in earning playoff berth)
Whitman will own the No. 3 playoff seed over Pacific if Boxers lose to UPS.
Whitman will own the No. 3 playoff seed over PLU based on head-to-head vs. Lutes.
Pacific will own No. 3 playoff seed over Whitman if Pacific ties with Whitman and beats UPS.

The NWC Basketball Playoffs begin on Thurs., Feb. 26. The No. 4 seed will play at No. 1 and the No. 2 seed will play at No. 3. Game times will be determined by Sun., Feb. 26. The winner of the two semifinal games will play in the tournament championship on Saturday, with the game played at the highest remaining seed.

Let's Play Three

As much as "Mr. Cub" Ernie Banks liked to say "Let's play two," I am sure he would shudder at the thought of three baseball games in one day.

For Pacific baseball, the tripleheader is seemingly becoming a regular occurrence. On Saturday (Feb. 14), the Boxers played three against Pomona-Pitzer. The Boxers won game one by a 3-0 score before dropping game two 10-3 and game three 3-0. All three games were seven innings.

The tripleheader was the second between the Boxers and Sagehens in as many years. That itself is unique, as is the thought of traveling from the Pacific Northwest to have games rained out in Southern California two consecutive years.

Add to the ledger Pacific's 2005 tripleheader against Puget Sound, and you could have a very unique spot in the annals of baseball for the Boxers.

Like almost everything else in baseball, someone has researched tripleheaders. That man is Phil Lowry, a member of the Society for American Baseball Research in Pennsylvania and the author of the highly acclaimed book Green Cathedrals. Along with researching the past of baseball's stadiums, he continues to research marathon games of 20 innings or more and tripleheaders at all levels of the game.

After last year's tripleheader against Pomona-Pitzer, Pacific became just the second school in collegiate baseball history to have played in two tripleheaders, according to Lowry's research. The other school was Ohio State, who engaged in tripleheaders against Northwestern and Purdue in 2002. To that date, Lowry had only uncovered 23 in the history of collegiate baseball. The majority of those had come over the last 10 years, owing to the ever expanding schedules at all levels and the urgency put upon coaches to get as many games as they can in.

That last fact may mean that there are more schools out there who have played two or every three tripleheaders, especially with as rainy as many parts of the nation can get during the spring. Hopfully Mr. Lowry's research has turned up more examples to lend credence to Pacific's marathon claim.

Either way, three games in a day is sure to tax a player's fitness. Six Pacific players, Joey Pulito, Keith Suits, Jereamy Probert, Kaeo Lau Hee, Nate Rasmussen and Brandon Kon, started in and played in all three games. Thankfully, the Boxers needed to use only five pitchers. We'll need the arms when the conference season gets underway in two weeks.

From The Mouths Of Babes...

Please allow me a moment to brag about my oldest daughter.

I work a lot of nights and weekends, and my wife is great about bringing my kids to games. They not only enjoy watching and running around the gym, but she also wants to make sure that they don't go a day without seeing their dad.

The family came to the Jan. 31 doubleheader against Whitworth. Towards the end of the women's game, Whitworth's Alida Bower left the game with an apparent knee injury. Bower spent most of the men's game on the PAC's north bleachers, her leg elevated and iced.

My family left to go home with about 10 minutes left in the men's game (bed time, you know). On the way out, Sydney (my three-and-a-half year old) made a point of stopping and asking Alida if she was going to be okay. Sydney was genuinely concerned about if her knee was going to be alright.

As she often does, Sydney's heart put a smile on my face on a night when I needed it. It also reminds all of us of what is really important in these games that we play.

No. 20...And Second In The NWC?

If polls are about respect, then it's about time that Pacific softball received some.

Last year, the Boxers' 31-9 record should have gained them at least a spot among those receiving votes in the NFCA Division III National Poll. It didn't, and while the poll has no influence on selections for the NCAA Tournament, the combination of no rankings and no poll certainly stung.

As 2009 begins, Pacific is earning some national respect. The Boxers open the year ranked No. 20 in the NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll. They open the year ranked above Willamette, who is No. 23, and defending NWC champion Linfield, who among others receiving votes.

So what about the recent NWC Coaches Poll? The conference's coaches have picked Linfield to repeat, gving the Wildcats six of eight first place votes. Pacific is picked second, earning two first place votes, while Willamette is picked third.

While that may seem like a slap in the face, the conference poll is probably closer to spot on than the national poll. Consider these facts: Linfield has won the last five NWC championships, won the Division III national championship in 2007 and beat the Boxers three out of four times.

If you look at those facts on paper, then Linfield is definitely the team to beat.

What will help Pacific, though, is that Linfield loses five players, including four infielders, all of whom were First Team All-NWC stars. While Pacific also lost some key players, including catcher Caitlin Mastenbroek, pitcher Andrea Bansen and outfielder Amy Walters, the Boxers have the advantage in terms of lineup. Pacific returns all-conference players at all but one position (Brooke Toy shifts to catcher, Carrie Maerz becomes the regular shortstop), an all-region hurler in Miranda McNealy and all-conference outfielders in Kristen Croxford and Stephanie Vanoudenhaegen.

Whether it is the No. 20 national ranking or the second place NWC prediction, Head Coach Tim Hill takes both as a compliment and a sign that others are thinking more of Pacific softball.

"Obviously when you raise your expectations and try to get better, you hope that other people show a little respect to your program. I didn't feel last year that we got any respect at all. Why? I don't know. But I think the fact that people have taken notice is a step forward for the program."

Unlike many coaches, Hill likes polls. They're fun for players and fans and are great for motivation, but he is quick to caution players that when they take the field, the number really means nothing.

"I really enjoy them, but it doesn't mean you're a better team. It doesn't make you a better player. It doesn't do anything for you on the field, so we'll treat it that way. With that said, I told the team that being No. 20 isn't good enough. There's a long ways to go so we will treat it as some motivation."

The Pacific softball season begins in a week and a half as the Boxers host Corban for a doubleheader on Mon., Feb. 16, at 4 p.m.

Six Degrees Of Separation

The Spring 2009 edition of NCAA Champion magazine takes an in-depth look into trips of the NCAA Division I basketball championships committee to potential sites for upcoming men's and women's Final Fours.

While the women's committee was making their bid trip to Nashville last October, the group was entertained by up-and-coming country star Crystal Shawanda. Boxer fans might recognize that name. Shawanda was the headlining musical artist at the second annual Pacific Legends Golf Classic, Hosted By Tommy Thayer. Shawanda was one of three country entertainers that helped to woo the committee. The others: Vince Gill & Amy Grant.

It is cool to know that Shawanda, who helped last year to raise over $150,000 for the Pacific athletics program, is considered high profile enough to help attract a major athletic event to Nashville, Incidentally, Nashville was awarded the 2014 Women's Final Four.

The third edition of the Pacific Legends Golf Classic is scheduled for Sun., Aug. 2 and Mon., Aug. 3, at The Reserve Vineyards & Golf Club in Aloha. Entry and celebrity information will be upcoming later this spring. For more details, please visit pacificlegendsgolf.com.