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It's a crime that Paul Sather of North Dakota did not win Coach of the Year. Sather got all he could out of a team with no stars that was a preseason cellar pick; if anything Marvin Minzies at KC was a detriment to the success of arguably the most talented roster in the league.

My random thoughts: The catcher position is going to be weaker if we don't get LaLiberte back this year. Injuries are tough, especially at that critical position. The Holden Breeze errors are weird. He only had 5 errors all of last year. David Herring has been excellent at SS. I hope he is back in the lineup today. The outfield is incredible. I wish those of you out of town could actually see the plays they have made. Coach is letting everyone get some playing time. I think that once the starting lineup stays consistent, we will be a better team. We have been really spoiled with Jake McMurray at 1st base.

UMass Lowell continues their late winter tour of the midwest with a three game series at JLJ starting tomorrow. Not gonna lie, I didn't know there was a UMass in Lowell until the Golden Eagles baseball schedule came out. The Redhawks are 3-9 on the year. They opened the season at Highpoint (NC) and took 3 of 4 from the Panthers. After that successful road trip are losses to William and Mary, 3, Kansas St, 3, and Creighton, 2. So a tough start for this squad. They were picked to finish 6th out of 7 teams in the American East preseason poll. As a team their slash line is .232/.325/.355. They average 4 runs a game but that average is a bit inflated by the Highpoint series. They did score 8 runs in a loss to Creighton. The average less than 1 HR a game. In that all important HBP category they average less than one a game. I'm sure we will help them improve in that category Team ERA is 8.56 but teams are only batting .305 against them. Analyzing their pitching staff is tricky as they seem to use a lot of arms. Their pitcher with the most innings, James Capellupo, has only thrown 13.2 innings and his longest outing is 4 innings. So @Old Titan,@tmh8286 and @Texasgrip should have time to make plenty of trips to the concession stand as we endure multiple pitching changes. Capellupo is sporting a .263 ERA so maybe it is a good thing he isn't averaging 6 or 7 innings an outing. Not to be disrespectful, but this isn't the strongest opponent we will see at JLJ this year. The good guys need to stay focused and not let anything stupid happen this weekend. This should be a sweep.

We had a new pitching coach in 2013, which took over for Rob Walton, and developed his troops (pitchers and catchers) until 2018 - when Matt Whatley was drafted as a junior in his Johnny Bench year. The current pitching coach took over in 2018. Outside of Jacob Godman, we have struggled at the catcher position and LaLiberte looked to be the help needed. He is currently injured with a lame non-throwing shoulder, so it is uncertain when he will be ready to go again. We have a whole new middle infield and first baseman that has never played that position. It is going to take a little longer to get those positions on the same page, but hopefully by the time we get to late April/May we will be hitting on all cylinders.

Two very glaring defensive stats as the Eagles enter this weekend... Over the past five full seasons (2018-23, excluding the COVID year), ORU's defense has averaged 0.77 double plays per game. To be on pace for that average through 13 games, the Eagles should have turned 10 double plays so far this season. They have turned THREE. Certainly, this may be an anomaly that will work itself out over a 60-plus game season, but it is something to watch. More concerning is the defensive play behind the plate. ORU has a LONG history of stellar catchers (including Jose Trevino and Matt Whatley in recent years), which has been a huge component in overall team success. In the past five years, ORU catchers have allowed a passed ball in every 6.11 games. Following this average, ORU should have allowed 2 passed balls in the first 13 games. But, already this season, there have been TEN passed balls by ORU catchers in the 13 games. The ten passed balls are more than ORU has allowed in any SEASON since 2015. Here's hoping that these are early-season blips of a new team coming together. One ray of hope is knowing that Coach Folmar and staff have a great record in coaching up catchers. In 2015, freshman Matt Whatley allowed 13 passed balls over the course of the season as the team's primary catcher. In 2016, he played even more innings behind the plate, with only 6 passed balls. In his final season of 2017, Matt played almost every game at catcher with only ONE passed ball all season (and won the Johnny Bench award as the nation's best collegiate catcher).

Neither team plays much defense, so the game will come down to each team's offensive efficiency. For ORU, the #1 variable this season is 3 point shooting percentage. In the first 22 games of the season (with a record of 11-11), ORU shot 39.1% from beyond the arc. In the late season 7-game skid, the Golden Eagles shot 27.8%. If ORU shoots at least 33% or higher, I think they'll be wearing their road unis on Saturday.

I think Friday is the 50th anniversary of ORUs loss to Kansas in OT in the Elite 8.....probably something we will never see again....the first 37 minutes of that game were amazing....

WBB does a great job of getting post season recognition for their first 20-win season in 13 seasons. How Kelsi didn't get COY for this year, is beyond me (except for the fact that we play in a Dakota conference). Kelsi did what no one else expected. What's exciting is that all these women are eligible to come back next year, with the exception of Cooper. Next year could be the most exciting yet for ORU WBB! 2023-24 Summit League Women’s Basketball Awards All-Summit League First Team Brooklyn Meyer, South Dakota State (So., F) Elle Evans, North Dakota State (So., G)* Paige Meyer, South Dakota State (Jr., G)** Kacie Borowicz, North Dakota (5th, G)** Grace Larkins, South Dakota (Jr., G)* Hannah Cooper, Oral Roberts (Gr., G)* All-Summit League Second Team Heaven Hamling, North Dakota State (Sr., G)*** Taleyah Jones, Oral Roberts (So., G) Jordan Jones, Denver (So., G) Ruthie Udoumoh, Oral Roberts (Sr., G) Jade Hill, St. Thomas (Jr., G) All-Summit League Honorable Mention Amber Scalia, St. Thomas (So., G) Grace Cave, Omaha (Jr., G) Madison Mathiowetz, South Dakota State (So., G) Jalei Oglesby, Oral Roberts (RSo., G) Emma Smith, Denver (So., Gr)* ^Player of the year automatically earns a spot on the first team *previous all-league selections noted above All-Defensive Team Brooklyn Meyer, South Dakota State (So., F) Ruthie Udoumoh, Oral Roberts (Sr., G) Tori Nelson, South Dakota State (Sr., F) Elle Evans, North Dakota State (So., G) Hannah Cooper, Oral Roberts (Gr., G) All-Newcomer Team Taleyah Jones, Oral Roberts (So., G) Jalei Oglesby, Oral Roberts (RSo., G) Kendall Holmes, South Dakota (Jr., G) Alayna Contreras, Kansas City (So., G) Dominique Phillips, Kansas City (Gr., F) All-Freshman Team Emily Robinson, Oral Roberts (Fr., F) Abby Krzewinski, North Dakota State (Fr., G) Kiera Pemberton, North Dakota (Fr., F) Emani Bennett, Kansas City (Fr., G) Jenna Hopp, South Dakota State (Fr., G) Player of the Year: Brooklyn Meyer, South Dakota State Newcomer of the Year: Taleyah Jones, Oral Roberts Freshman of the Year: Emily Robinson, Oral Roberts Sixth Woman of the Year: Jalei Oglesby, Oral Roberts Defensive Player of the Year: Brooklyn Meyer, South Dakota State Coach of the Year: Aaron Johnston, South Dakota State

I will be shocked if the good guys pull this one off. Saw literally nothing vs. UMKC to make me think things are headed in the right direction, while South Dakota has shown some signs of life their past few games. Would love to be proven wrong!

I like that Bill Haisten is taking such a strong and possibly somewhat unpopular stand. Also, he is correct. When you attend a game in person at OU, something about the Lloyd Noble Center feels oppressive. Perhaps it is the lack of height between the floor and the ceiling or maybe the lighting which seems darker than a usual arena.

That is a good call OT. I thought for sure Sather would be fired last year because UND had struggled for about the last 5 years. Then they gave him another contract and he took the Hawks from 9th place last year to tied for 2nd this year. He should have won coach of the year.

More news on Jonah Cox.

All of those $1 Hot Dogs going to waste!! What a shame!!

I just hope the guys play with some energy and do not get blown out. There have been some tournament blowouts in other leagues, where you can just tell that teams have packed it in. Just do not give up ORU and fight to the end!

Trying to put this diplomatically: I'm a little concerned (so far) about our defense on the right side of the infield.

ORU now up to a 4.5 pt favorite....not sure if i have EVER seen a team with seven straight losses and playing as poorly as we have been favored like this in what is basically a road game in South Dakota....TheEagleman is perplexed...does Vegas know something we don't???...probably not.....if I were betting i would take USD and the under (151.5). Good Guys have won TWO road games all season...... TheEagleman ALWAYS wants my Alma Mater to win....but not really sure I want to see a match up with the Jacks on Saturday Night in back to back nights....would be VERY ugly......

Gotta make shots and grab some rebounds… things that ORU have not done well - especially in the latter half of the season. It also helps to make stops - which is another weak spot

You might have heard a while back that Mabee Center lost out on renewing a contract to host high school basketball tournaments for the 2022-24 games. We had been the host for 12 years. Now, the Tulsa World's Bill Haisten is in our corner and saying that the games should return to Mabee Center. Here's the heart of his story from today's World: NORMAN — It’s always baffling that a university with world-class facilities like Memorial Stadium and Love’s Field is content to have unsightly Lloyd Noble Center as its home for basketball. Before anyone at the University of Oklahoma says, “Well, we really aren’t content with the LNC,” I would counter that they’ve had many years to do something about it. OU is a football-softball school that soon will drag a sub-standard arena to the Southeastern Conference. For the third consecutive year – and, hopefully, for the final time – the most important Oklahoma high school basketball games are played in this soulless building. … Before 2022, the 6A and 5A state tournaments were played for 12 years at Oral Roberts University’s Mabee Center. The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association awarded the 2022-24 championship contract to OU. ORU’s bid for a new contract was doomed, it was explained in November 2021, because of an issue involving digital ticket fees. Since 2019, the University of Central Oklahoma’s Chad Richison Stadium has hosted Oklahoma prep football championship games. Edmond now feels like the forever home of football title games, and I’m OK with that. UCO has invested heavily in its stadium, which is perfectly sized (12,000 capacity) and has nice amenities for fans and teams. This should be the forever situation: championship football each December in Edmond, and 6A-5A championship basketball each March at ORU. In April, the OSSAA conducts a bid process for the next basketball championship contract. Presumably, it’s another three-year deal. Presumably, ORU submits a bid. Whatever the issue was with ORU’s digital tickets – someone needs to get that fixed ASAP. While the recently renovated Mabee Center is better than ever, OU’s Lloyd Noble Center is a terrible place for high school basketball.

Correct Otis, UMass-Lowell is NOT the UMass everyone automatically thinks of, that institution is in Amherst and was/is a member of the A10 but moving to the MAC. UMass-Lowell as you pointed out is a member of that powerhouse baseball conference, the American East Conference. If we do not sweep this team this weekend, there may be serious problems in River City. BTW, no disrespect to the good people of UMass-Lowell.

ECHO-Echo-echo....

Reaching for the Summit really needs to have you as a guest on their lousy podcast.

This is indeed terrible. One problem is that everything is electronic now and no one is really taught how to write. Getting back a hard copy with red ink all over it and being told to try again is a very good learning tool. However, this one might just be a "throw it away and start over". Another post talked about the video production quality. I do not think there is any real training for the camera operators or the switcher in the truck. Some of the kids on the production crew probably have never watched a baseball game on TV before. These are fixable problems if someone in authority actually cared and took interest to correct them and produce a better product.

I think the issue was actually with the scoreboard that had been recently installed and not being able to have it fully operational for the tournament.