The Name of the Game

We talked on the blog about how the smallest of plays affect games, especially on the biggest stage.  Well the Armstrong State softball squad experienced that again on Thursday - and this time on the winning side.

An RBI single that went just off the glove of Adelphi third baseman Breanna Martini's glove into shallow left field plated the only run of the game as the Pirates defeated the Panthers, 1-0, to keep playing at the DII Softball Championships. Armstrong State had plenty of opportunities for more runs - stranding 11 in the game, including two innings with the bases loaded - but the one run was all the Pirates would need, thanks to junior Jane Trzaska.

You can't say enough about the job Jane has done this postseason. Four times, head coach Ted Evans has given her the ball with the Pirates facing elimination, and four times she has come up with the win - this time she spun a two-hit shutout to keep Armstrong State's national championship hopes alive.

Speaking of national championships, both Armstrong State men's and women's tennis are back into the semifinals with eyes on the prize. The No. 2-ranked men downed NYIT, 5-1, to set up a showdown with top-ranked Saint Leo on Friday. The No. 3-ranked women beat Drury, 5-1, to advance and face a very familiar foe - Hawaii Pacific, who Armstrong State will face for the sixth time in the last seven NCAA DII Championships. The meeting will also be the third time in the national semifinals.

Both of tomorrow's tennis matches will take place at Metro State, which means they both will be on live video via NCAA.com. So tune in tomorrow to watch the Pirates try to advance to Championship Saturday.

But first - tune in later this evening for Armstrong State vs. Humboldt State as softball continues its dream of advancing to Championship Saturday! 

The Longest Wednesday

Wednesday morning at the DII Festival dawned with chilly temperatures but the promise of sunny skies. Unfortunately, the overnight rains meant that both tennis venues were late getting started in their matches, which pushed back not only the Armstrong State women's match against Lynn, but the men's match against Edinboro. In fact, due to the wet court delay AND two marathon matches beforehand, the Pirate men did not take the court against Edinboro until 10:30 pm - four and a half hours before the scheuled 5 pm game time.

Armstrong softball also had to wait a bit before it played its elimination game against Grand Valley State, and, like yesterday, had to wait for the offense to get into gear against the Lakers. But when it did ... the Pirates scored five runs in the last two innings to break open a 2-1 game and pick up the 7-4 victory. Junior Hannah Reppert had her second two-HR game of the NCAA postseason and now has 20 on the season, joining Alexis Mercer as the only Armstrong State players to hit 20 or more home runs in a year.

Jane Trzaska pitched the complete game and now has won three straight elimination games - the two at North Georgia last Thursday and today's game against GVSU. Having two quality pitchers will now be a necessity as Armstrong State will have to win twice tomorrow to stay alive - facing Adelphi at Noon and, if it gets past the Panthers, the Pirates will have to beat Humboldt State tomorrow evening.

Meanwhile, the women's tennis team had a tight match against No. 5 Lynn, but eventually won 5-1, setting up a quarterfinal showdown with one of the surprise teams of the tournament, Drury. The Panthers knocked off Concordia and come in with a 20-3 record, advancing to the Elite Eight only the second time in school history. 

Men's tennis was supposed to play at the same time as the softball team at Metro State's Regency Athletic Complex. Softball got on the field at 5:45 pm. Men's tennis did not take the courts until well past 9:00 p.m. - and when all was said and done, the No. 2-ranked Pirates took care of Edinboro, 5-0, to join the women's team in the national quarterfinals.

The first day of the NCAA DII Round of 16 historically has been the longest day of the championships - 32 teams playing 16 matches leaves very little room for error, and when several matches take longer than expected on top of a morning delay, well, somebody was going to be stuck playing late. As it turns out, the Pirates finished their match at 12:33 am local time - right as Thursday's opponent, NYIT, was putting the finishing touches on its 5-4 upset win over Indianapolis. So even though it's a quick turnaround, with less than 12 hours to get ready to play, both teams are on pretty equal footing from that standpoint.

So Thursday's schedule looks like this - Women's tennis takes on Drury at 8 am CT, while Softball faces Adelphi and Men's Tennis plays NYIT both at noon. We'll take another long day at the blog if it results in all of the Pirates winning, like Wednesday!

The slimmest of margins

The No. 16-ranked Armstrong State University softball team faced a tough task in the opening round of the DII Softball Championships on Tuesday, taking on No. 5 Humboldt State and the game was a microcosm of what makes softball such a great, yet frustrating sport. The Pirates fell to the Lumberjacks, 3-2, where one inning made the difference in the game. 

The game was scoreless in the bottom of the third inning when Humboldt State got an RBI single to take a 1-0 lead. What followed was unusual - a double steal on a 1-0 pitch, which put runners on at second and third. The Pirates appealed the batter's check swing on the pitch - and after the appeal was unsuccessful, pitcher Tori Bates was called for an illegal pitch (softball's version of a balk) which allowed the runner from third to score. Ball four to the next batter went to the backstop, with a passed ball allowing another runner to score - and just like that, it was a 3-0 deficit.

Not insurmountable, but the Pirates did not get their first hit until the sixth inning. When they did though, it was a leadoff single by Peyton Roth and a two-run home run from Logan Harrell - the fourth home run for the freshman in NCAA play so far this year. 

Humboldt State closed out the 3-2 win but the little plays that happened in the third inning are what made the difference - a 3-2 loss could have just as easily been a 2-1 win, or even an extra inning contest still going on right now.

All is certainly not lost - last season North Georgia was no-hit in its first game of the DII Championships and went all the way through the losers bracket to win the DII title. And the Pirates have been in this spot before as well, losing the first game to Central Oklahoma in the 2013 DII Championships only to win two straight elimination games, so when Armstrong State takes on Grand Valley State on Wednesday, the Pirates have a little bit of history on their side.

It also sets up an interesting afternoon at Metro State as at 5 p.m. CT, you will have Armstrong State softball playing at the same time Armstrong State men's tennis will be playing about 150 feet away from each other. The Pirate men take on Edinboro in its first round action at the Regency Athletic Complex tennis courts. Prior to those games, Armstrong State's women will face Lynn at 11 a.m. CT at the Gates Tennis Center. Go Pirates!

Mile High Fireworks

Tonight the Armstrong State tennis and softball teams took part in the DII Festival Opening Ceremonies, held at Denver's Mile High Stadium. Home of the Super Bowl 50 champion Denver Broncos. They made sure we knew that many times throughout the evening!

NCAA president Mark Emmert, Denver mayor Michael Hancock and others spoke to the more than 1,000 gathered student-athletes, welcoming them all to the Mile High City and preaching a message of community engagement, academic success as well as athletic success. Division II is unique within the NCAA in that they really do stress from a national level down to an institutional level about "life in the balance" and student-athletes succeeding in all parts of their collegiate careers. Armstrong State has had a banner year in the classroom this season - more than 70 student-athletes carried a 3.0 GPA or better during the calendar 2015 year.

After that came the exciting part - fireworks shot off from the Mile High Stadium field to the delight of all at the Opening Ceremonies. Watch the video from our Facebook page and be sure to follow us on Twitter all week long @armstrongpirate - we'll try to have some live look-ins at the Pirates through Periscope when they are not on the NCAA's live video feed.

Speaking of, the Armstrong State softball team will play at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow against Humbolt State kicking off action. Video and live stats links here. Let's go Pirates!

Armstrong State has arrived in Denver! Both the men's and women's teams had scheduled practices today, but as you can see in the above picture - mother nature had other ideas. The tennis teams got in about 30 minutes of hitting before rains fell at the Gates Tennis Center, while softball had a waterlogged practice today as well but thanks to the artificial surface at the Regency Athletic Complex on Metro State's campus, they were able to finish their practice this morning.

So for now, the teams have a little bit of down time before heading to Mile High Stadium for tonight's Opening Ceremonies. We hope the weather holds off so that we can get to see the planned fireworks display... before the real fireworks begin on Tuesday with the beginning of the Softball Championships!

Welcome back - now you get to leave again!

The Armstrong State University softball team finally arrived back on campus at 4:15 p.m. this afternoon - to a great reception that included faculty, staff and their travel companions coming up less than 36 hours from now, the Armstrong State men's and women's tennis teams. All three will be out the door very early Sunday morning to catch flights from Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport on their way to Denver for the DII Spring Sports Festival.

Both teams will be able to get in a little bit of practice on Saturday before heading out to Denver on Sunday. Despite just having the Super Regional end on Thursday, softball will be the first of Armstrong State's teams to play out at the Festival, taking on Humboldt State at 2:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday, May 17th.

First though, we will have the DII Festival Opening Ceremonies at Mile High Stadium on Monday. Also, check out softball senior Peyton Roth on Monday as she takes over the Peach Belt Conference's snapchat to give you an insiders view of the DII Festival!

Well isn't that something ...

Pardon our brief surprise as the blog must make room on the Pirate bandwagon for another whole team - that's right, the Armstrong State softball squad knocked off No. 4-ranked and defending DII national champion North Georgia twice on Thursday to advance to the DII Spring Sports Festival in Denver. That's right, the Pirates are bringing THREE teams to Colorado to compete for a national title. There are six sports hosting DII Championships in Denver and the Pirates will have teams in half of them. This is the third trip for softball to the DII Championships in the last four seasons - and the first time that head coach Ted Evans and the Pirates will get a chance to compete in the DII Spring Sports Festival.

Other than tennis, only one other Armstrong State team has experienced the DII Spring Sports Festival - men's golf was a participant in the very first DII Spring Sports Festival in Orlando in 2004.

So bear with us as we re-vamp the blog a little bit to add a little softball content, and figure out how to bring you coverage of not one, not two, but three Pirate teams ready to storm Denver next week!