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,
We made it back! The weather in Phoenix was spectacular while we were in town. Unfortunately, though, the Valley of the Sun proved to be a tough place for us to play this past weekend. Going 1-3 on the weekend was rough, especially after dominating the first game. But baseball is one of those games where you just have to put the past behind you and move onto the next game…quickly.
Let's start with some off-the-field fun first though…
For
Anthony Falcone, let's say the trip started out a bit unlucky, and it was all at the expense of yours truly…
Tony and I had just checked our bags and got our tickets for the flight to Phoenix when I grabbed Tony by his bat bag -- because he was walking away from me – and lightly pulled him back my way. Harmless, right? Well, when I pulled Tony's bag, the whole thing just ripped – the heavy-duty bat bag split. Figures something like this would happen when I'm involved. Tony was not happy with me to say the least, but he made the bag functional again somehow…God bless the kid.
The Tony and Sam theatrics were far from over, though; after the bag incident, we headed to security – together – as I was trying to convince Tony he should accept my apology. He didn't budge. Somehow we managed to follow each other going through airport security, and let's just say that didn't end well for Tony either. Then, as I was trying to get my belongings from the X-ray scanner and get out of the way of other travels, I managed to get in Tony's way a third time. Tony was putting on his shoes, and I went to remove one of the bins and ended up clonking him in the head with it. Someone just needed to quarantine me from the rest of human civilization; I was out of control unintentionally.
(I think it's important that you guys know that Tony and I are on speaking terms now; he has forgiven my klutziness and accepted that lefties must stick together through the thick and thin.)
The plan when we arrived in Phoenix was to head to Grand Canyon's field for practice, but that ended up fizzling, so we had unanticipated free Thursday night in Phoenix. Lucky for us, there was plenty to do, and since we were staying downtown, we were close to it all.
About half the team, myself included, went downtown and took in the Oklahoma City Thunder/Phoenix Suns game at the US Airways Center! For many of the guys, it was their first NBA game, and they couldn't have picked a better one to attend. The Suns rallied from a double-digit deficit and won a barnburner. It was an awesome atmosphere!
The next day, it was on to what we actually came to Arizona for…baseball. Friday night was a great one for the Mavs as we shut out Grand Canyon, 6-0.
Tyler Fox pitched a heck of a game, and because of it was named Summit League Pitcher of the Week on Monday. Congrats. Foxy -- well deserved, my friend! Keep rolling!
(Side note: Every time our pitching staff produces a shutout, pitchers get the privilege of doing what they do best and get to take batting practice!)
After Friday night, the rest of the series was tough to watch unfold, as Grand Canyon took the next three games and clinched the series. We just have to keep learning from our mistakes and build from there. We're going to put it all together very soon and when we do…watch out.
This Wednesday will be fun when we travel to Manhattan, Kan., to take on defending Big 12 Champion Kansas State. Last year we came so close to taking them down. Wednesday will be the first of two opportunities this season to give them all we've got!
And then this weekend, I – and the rest of the guys - hope to see you out at the Ballpark at Boys Town for our home opener against Air Force. The three-game series starts on Friday and goes through Sunday. The weather is shaping to be decent, so there's no excuse not to be there!
I forgot to include my roommate, "Mr. 605" (
Alex Schultz), in my post last week after garnering conference player of the week honors. You deserved it, kid!
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)
#2 -- A Delayed Start (Feb. 16)"
#3 -- A Week in Florida (March 3)
