Sam Murphy is a sophomore left-handed pitcher for the Omaha baseball team. A broadcast journalism major from Lake Worth, Fla., Sam will write posts throughout the season for his blog, "Bullpen Banter," available exclusively on OMavs.com.
Greetings!
College baseball's opening weekend has come and gone for most of the nation's teams this weekend. Unfortunately, Omaha baseball will have to wait another week to take the field, as our season opener in Knoxville was cancelled. The "polar vortex" made its way through the south late last week and brought along with it some unfriendly baseball conditions. Despite that, I hope everybody is as excited as we are for baseball season, which will now start for us on Feb. 21 in Port Charlotte, Fla.
I have to tell you, waking up Wednesday morning and knowing it was travel day had to be one of the best feelings in the world. I was packed and ready to go when all the fun started…
Marcus Ethen (my roommate) and I threw all our bags in his truck and were off to load the bus at "The Bubble" (our indoor practice facility, also known as the Chili Greens Dome). On the way, Marcus stopped at Wal-Mart to get some munchies for the road, but the instant we walked in, he received a text from our coaches. The expression he had on his face told me something was not at all right. That's when we were informed our trip would be delayed for the time being and maybe even postponed all together. Let's just say we weren't the least bit pleased and had something of a meltdown in the middle of Wal-Mart's produce section.
Late Thursday morning, we found out that our trip would be cancelled due to the weather and travel issues. It was an emotional rollercoaster getting psyched up for a game week, then hearing our series with Tennessee and Purdue was out of the picture completely. Mother Nature doesn't seem to be a big fan of baseball! But I've taken the optimistic mindset about this whole situation, knowing that everything happens for a reason – whatever the reason may be.
This will give us another full week to prepare and work out some final kinks before the 2014 season kicks off next Friday in sunny Florida. We'll have a full trip ahead of us, playing eight games with Milwaukee, Northwestern, Iowa, St. Bonaventure, Chicago State, Villanova and Western Michigan. I know we're ready!
As always, if you have any feedback, I'd love to hear it – you can shoot me a tweet @SamMurphy_17. Thanks for reading, and I'll be back with you soon.
God Bless and Go Mavs,
Sam
Check out previous entries from "Bullpen Banter" below:
#1 -- Let's Get Started (Feb. 7)
