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Bears baseball 2017 edition

M

MoonlightGraham

Active member
UNC looks to be an improved squad this season. The Bears opened the year with 9 games on the road in California. After losing 3 of 4 to the University of San Francisco on opening weekend, UNC notched their second win against San Francisco State. BYU then defeated UNC twice by scores of 6-0 and 10-9 in games played at Stockton, CA. The Bears completed the opening road trip with a split of games at San Jose State winning 1-0 behind the 14 strikeout pitching performance of Junior Aaron Hamilton. San Jose won the second game by a 5-4 tally.

UNC opened their home schedule this weekend with a 4 game set against North Dakota State. I was able to attend Saturday's doubleheader and I was impressed with the improvement in hitting and pitching by the Bears, the defense is still a bit questionable -- especially in the middle infield. Errors have extended some innings and yielded unearned runs.

The Bears looked sharp against North Dakota State. UNC came from behind in Game 1 to win 7-5. The Bison took game 1 of Saturday's double dip by a 7-4 score, but the Bears took the nightcap 7-6, coming back from a 6-1 deficit to win it. Today's finale was a blowout with UNC taking an 8-2 victory.

The Bears now stand at a record of 6 wins and 7 losses. UNC has slugged 17 home runs in 13 games.

This coming week the Bears will be on the road again with 2 games at Nebraska and a 3 game set at Nebraska-Omaha.
 
The Bears earned a 50-50 split this past week.

They had 2 disastrous games against Nebraska. The Huskers took the first game on Tuesday 8-2 with the Bears committing 3 errors. Wednesday's game was probably UNC's worst performance of 2017 as Nebraska won 12-2 with UNC making 6 errors.

UNC rebounded nicely against Nebraska-Omaha with a doubleheader sweep on Thursday. UNC took Game 1 9-4 led by 4 hits each for Evan Johnson and Jack Pauley. As a team the Bears pounded 16 hits and committed no errors. Solid pitching, hitting, and fielding gave the Bears game 2 by a 7-3 score.

The third game of the series was postponed and eventually cancelled due to cold weather.

The Bears record is currently 8 wins and 9 losses. Two road games at Wichita State await them this week. The Shockers are currently 8-6 but are undefeated at home with 7 wins. UNC will face a stiff challenge in Wichita.
 
Bears 3-0 in WAC play! UNC swept the Sacramento State Hornets this weekend in Greeley, improving them to 11-12 overall. After struggling through two losses at Wichita State (11-5 and 10-4), the Bears were back in Greeley against Regis on Tuesday and suffered a 5-4 loss in a tight game.

Despite the three game skid, UNC was clearly able to 'right the ship' as they began WAC play this weekend. In game 1 the Bears scored a 7-5 victory led by a solid 6 innings from starter Aaron Hamilton and a save from Anthony Brady. Brett Minnick was the offensive key with a 2 run double and a third RBI on a single.
Game 2 was lead by Sac State 3-1 in the fifth when UNC exploded for 6 runs (led by Dean Lawson's first career home run). The Bears got another strong 6 inning start from Trey Watson.
Game 3 was all Sacramento State as they looked to salvage 1 game from the series. The Hornets led 7-2 in the bottom of the 9th when the Bears opened up a can of whip-ass on them. Key hits from the Bears came from Evan Johnson (3 run double) and Nick Tanner's game winning single with the bases loaded.

This is my fourth season of following UNC baseball since moving to the area 4 years ago. The program is definitely improving and becoming a competitive force in the WAC.

The Bears are off until next weekend when they travel to Phoenix to face Grand Canyon (currently 9-13 overall, 3-0 in the WAC).
 
Since my last update UNC has continued their 2017 pattern of flrting with the .500 mark but never quite getting there.

March 31st-April 2nd they were swept at Grand Canyon by scores of 7-0, 12-3, and 12-2. The next weekend they returned to Greeley to battle with Seattle. The Bears lost a slugfest in game 1 14-12, won the second game 11-10 and were slaughtered 10-1 in the finale.

April 11th UNC returned to the win column with a 9-8 victory over Air Force in Greeley followed by a Friday win 8-6 over Metro State. A doubleheader at Metro State followed on Saturday and the Bears were swept 2-1 and 4-0.

This week they faced UC-Colorado Springs in Greeley on Tuesday and won by a 10-6 score.

Bears offensive leaders continue to be Jack Pauley (.352, 6 HR, 31 RBI), Evan Johnson (.315, 4 HR, 26 RBI) and Cole Maltese (.309, 9 HR, 22 RBI). Matt Burkhardt (.333, 1 HR, 6 RBI in 57 at bats) has become a recent contributor.

On the mound the starters include Aaron Hamilton (2 W, 3 L, 4.68 ERA, 40 K, 16 BB), Troy Watson (3 W, 2 L, 7.14 ERA, 23 K, 24 BB), and Keenan Lum (1 W, 3 L, 8.20 ERA, 19 K, 6 BB). Anthony Brady is a solid closer out of the bullpen (1.50 ERA, 12 innings pitched, 4 saves).

As a team UNC is batting .278 while their opponents are at .310. The Bears have 35 home runs while yielding just 20. Fielding continues to be problem as UNC has committed 48 errors in 34 games versus 33 errors by their opponents. The miscues have resulted in 38 unearned runs. Team pitching has a 6.10 ERA with opponents holding a 4.90 ERA.

Overall the Bears record stands at 15-19 (11-4 in Greeley) and 4-5 in the WAC.

A stiff challenge (and golden opportunity) presents this weekend as UNC will face WAC leader New Mexico State in Las Cruces. The Aggies are 23-15 with a terrific 8-1 record in the conference. The Aggies are batting .314 with 36 home runs. Their pitching holds a 4.71 ERA and they have committed 48 errors in 38 games (leading to 35 unearned runs).

The series will likely feature a great deal of offense and the keys for the Bears to win will be playing smart baseball in all 3 aspects of the game.
 
The Bears have hit a skid since my last update on April 20th. They currently stand in danger of missing the WAC Tournament at the end of this month. They are 5-10 in the conference, tying them for 7th place out of 9 teams. They are 16-24 overall (having lost 5 of 6 games since my last update).

New Mexico St is clearly a power in the WAC this season. They plowed through UNC by scores of 10-3, 7-4, and 6-3. Weather prevented the Bears next game against Air Force (a game that is unlikely to be made up). The Bears returned to Greeley this past weekend to face Utah Valley with high hopes of winning the series, only to fall 6-1 in the opener. UNC easily won game 2 7-0 and and led game 3 by a score of 5-3 in the 8th inning. Unfortunately UNC yielded 6 runs in the 8th and 9th to lose the game and the series 9-5.

As bad as the last two weeks have been, there is still hope of moving up in the WAC standings and making the tourney. There is little margin for error in this point in the season. Next up are 2 road series against CSU Bakersfield (8-7, 22-17) and UT Rio Grand Valley (6-12, 24-23), a one game non-conference match with Air Force in Colorado Springs, and a home finale series against Chicago State (6-9,10-30).

I fully expected this year's Bears team to finish in the middle of the WAC. They can still do that but they must win at least 5 of the final 9 conference games to reach that level.
 
UNC saved their best baseball for the end of the season. Hopefully they can make some noise in next week's WAC tournament. At my last update the Bears were on the outside looking in at making this year's tourney, but they rose to the challenge in grand fashion...

The Bears final road trip of the season last week was their best of the season. They took 2 out of 3 at UT-Rio Grande Valley, narrowly losing the finale 6-5 after winning the first two games 6-5 and 5-4. On Tuesday UNC added a win in their final non-conference matchup by a 13-11 score at Air Force.

This weekend UNC hosted Chicago State for a 3 game set to finish the regular season. The first two games were played at CSU-Pueblo due to the snow storm that hit the area. The Bears romped in those games 10-0 and 9-1. Today's finale has just finished on Senior Day in Greeley with the Bears hanging on for a 11-10 win and the sweep!

UNC now stands at 22-28 overall and 10-14 in the conference. Looking at the final regular season stats, the Bears are batting .280 with 43 home runs (versus .315 and 27 homers for their opponents). UNC has committed 64 errors resulting in 52 unearned runs (an area that needs improvement if they are to succeed in the tourney). The pitching staff has a 6.07 ERA compared with 4.62 by their opponents.

WAC tourney matchups will be announced in the next 24 hours. If I am reading the standings correctly UNC will finish as the 5th seed and face CSU Bakersfield in their first outing.

Go Bears!
 
Update: I had the tourney seeding incorrect. #5 UNC will meet #4 Utah Valley on Wednesday. The winner will have to face #1 seed New Mexico State on Thursday. The loser will move to the losers bracket in the double elimination format.
 
Bears upend #4 seed Utah Valley 6-4 for their first ever WAC tourney win. UNC will face #1 seed New Mexico State tomorrow with a chance to really make some noise in the conference.
 
The Bears downed #1 seed Aggies 5-4. Jacob Howard strikes out the last 2 batters with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th to seal the victory.

UNC stays undefeated and plays Sacremento State on Friday night in the winners bracket.
 
During the regular season the Bears swept the Hornets in Greeley. Last night in Mesa Sac State got their revenge stifling the UNC offense to take a 10-1 victory.

Next up is CSU Bakersfield at 4 pm on Saturday. Lose and the Bears go home. Win and they face a rematch with Sac State at 8 pm.

Hopefully a long Saturday and two victories await UNC. Go Bears!
 
The Bears fought hard but lost 8-5 to CSU Bakersfield in WAC tourney action this evening. CSUB advances to the championship round against Sacramento State.

The Bears should carry a great deal of momentum into the 2018 campaign. Overall they were 24-30 this season but they were 8-3 in their final 11 games. This includes their first 2 WAC tourney victories.

Congrats on a good season UNC and can't wait for next year!
 
I fully expected this year's Bears team to finish in the middle of the WAC. They can still do that but they must win at least 5 of the final 9 conference games to reach that level.
 
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