Sports 8
Thursday, April 10, 2014
The Appalachian | TheAppalachianOnline.com
Baseball
Strong start not enough to lift Mountaineers over High Point
by Cory Spiers Sports Editor
A
ppalachian State baseball (11-19, 5-3 SoCon) allowed the game-deciding run in the ninth inning to High Point University (19-13, 7-5 Big South) in a 6-5 loss in Boone on Tuesday night. Senior third baseman Kyle Brandenburg hit an RBI double into deep center field off of App State’s junior right-handed pitcher Taylor Thurber that gave the Panthers the late lead. The game started out smoothly for the Mountaineers. Freshman righthanded pitcher Sean Mason, who started the game for App State, had an easy first inning in which he needed only seven pitches to retire all of High Point’s batters. The Mountaineers took an early 1-0 lead when it scored in the second inning when freshman designated hitter Matt Brill lofted a single into left field, scoring sophomore shortstop Dillon Dobson, who doubled to left field on the previous at bat. Brill’s single extended his teamhigh hitting streak to 12 games. During that stretch, Brill has compiled a .477 batting average. The Panthers had its biggest inning of the game in the fourth when they scored four runs on four hits. All four of the runs were brought in without a ball leaving the infield. High Point scored its fourth inning runs off of two infield singles, a fielder’s choice and a hit batsman with the bases load. Mason was pulled during the big Panther’s inning and gave way to freshman left handed pitcher Dallas DeVrieze. App State rallied to tie the game at
Morgan Cook | The Appalachian Senior third baseman William Head slides home Tuesday night during the Mountaineers loss to High Point University.
four in the fifth inning. Senior catcher Josh Zumbrook walked with the bases loaded to score a run, and then freshman left fielder Tyler Stroup drilled a two-RBI single into right field. The Mountaineers regained the lead in the sixth inning when junior second baseman Michael Pierson led off the inning with a double to center field before Brill added another RBI, singling Pierson home. “We kept it close all game,” Brill said. “Fortunately, we were able to
come back and get into the game.” The Panthers tied the game at five when Brandenburg blasted a home run to left field in the seventh inning. Brandenburg then produced the deciding run for High Point and the Mountaineers were unable to tie the game in its half of the ninth, falling at home for the second time this season. “I thought we were OK, and we battled back a little bit,” head coach Billy Jones said. “We had some chances to separate the game, and we didn’t
get it done.” Thurber suffered the loss for the Mountaineers, dropping his record to 0-4 on the season. App State will play next in a threegame weekend series against conference rival The Citadel. The series starts Friday in Boone with the first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. “It’s three games at home, and we need to take all three,” Dobson said. “It’s good to come back here and have a few games, and we need to take advantage of it.”
Softball
Schoelkopf continues strong season, notches academic honor by Nick Joyner Senior Sports Reporter
For junior softball pitcher Alissa Schoelkopf, profound pitching skills are something almost everyone in the stands can identify when she takes the mound. But her ability to make opposing batters swing and miss may overshadow something equally as impressive: her academic performance. Last week, Schoelkopf earned Southern Conference Student Athlete of the Week honors for the week of April 2 after posting a season-high 10 strikeouts in a road start at Samford. The right-handed pitcher also sports a 3.45 GPA as an exercise science major. Alissa is the first Appalachian State student-athlete to win the SoCon academic honor since women’s basketball’s Maryah Sydnor did so during the week of Feb. 26. “I just try to do my best at everything I do,” Schoelkopf said. “I’m very strongminded. If I want some-
thing done, it’s going to get done. That’s just how I am.” Schoelkopf has 213 strikeouts as a Mountaineer, placing her seventh in program history. “I think it goes back to Alissa’s mentality and her approach to everything,” head coach Shae Wesley said. “She’s very competitive with what she does, and she expects the best out of herself both on the field and in the classroom. I think that definitely shows up in her grades, and you can obviously see it in her performance on the field.” Schoelkopf, who is fourth in the conference in hits allowed with 70 and eighth in runs allowed with 45, has always taken pride in balancing athletics and academics. “It’s just something you have to do. You must have good grades to play,” Schoelkopf said. “It’s normal to me. I have been playing softball and going to school my whole life, so I’m used to all of it. I just have to do my best in both academics and athletics.”
Cara Croom | The Appalachian
Junior Alissa Schoelkopf throws pitches at Saturday’s game against Georgia Southern. Schoelkopf maintains a 3.45 GPA and was the Southern Conference Student Athlete for the week of April 2.
Column
There are no perfect brackets, just perfect entertainment Cory Spiers Sports Editor
The University of Connecticut has won the NCAA championship, and you don’t have a perfect bracket. But don’t feel bad, because no one does. Warren Buffett bet one billion dollars from his own pocket on the assumption that no one would have a perfect bracket. And after only the first 25 games of the tournament, his money was safe. The fireworks of the tournament start-
ed when 11-seeded Dayton knocked off six seed Ohio State in a tightly contested game. In the same round, the state of North Carolina had its own share of drama when the three-seeded Duke Blue Devils were knocked off by 14-seeded Mercer. The early upsets destroyed brackets, but thrilled viewers, who, like me, didn’t have much at stake with their brackets. The first No. 1 seed to fall was Wichita State, who was criticized all season for playing in a weak conference. Kentucky, who marched all the way to the tournament final to face the Huskies, beat them by two in a classic duel. Most importantly, I loved the Final Four, because no one saw it coming. Watching the Huskies knock off the No. 1 Florida Gators was both shocking in the fact that the Gators fell by 10 and
in the fact that I never thought UCONN would have a shot at smelling the Elite Eight, much less the finals. Wisconsin and Kentucky played a classic match that saw the Wildcats edge the Badgers by one. And again, who could have predicted that the Wildcats and Huskies would actually meet in the finals? In fact, Monday night’s game was the first time a seven and eight seed met in the title game, and it was the highest combined seeding of any championship game in NCAA tournament history. And that’s what made it great. A Kentucky fan named Tyler Austin Black gained Internet fame when he got a right calf tattoo done before the tournament that read: 2014 National Champions, with the Kentucky logo beneath. Black said after the championship game
that he is keeping the tattoo, despite the unfavorable result for his favorite squad. “It’s a way to remember this team, and it’s a part of my life story,” Black said in an interview with ESPN.com The fate of Black’s favorite team was sealed by second-year UCONN head coach Kevin Ollie, who can now add a national title to his Husky resume. Ollie, a former player for the Huskies, didn’t need a tattoo before the tournament started. He just led a seven seed to an improbable championship run. And what a ride it was. Burn the brackets, turn your focus to congratulating the Huskies and reflect on what was a very entertaining tournament. You might not be any wealthier, but remember, there’s always next year for that perfect bracket.