Baseball Weekend Schedule Update

After speaking with Coach Fagler from Nebraska Wesleyan, we are very confident that we will be playing baseball on Saturday.  There is a chance that the games might be moved from their home park, Kiwanis Field (address:  33rd & J St) to Sherman Field (address: 6th & South). That decision will  be made tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon.  There is a slight chance of rain tomorrow morning in Lincoln, so that might play a factor on where the games are played. 

Stay tuned to the blog site, I will keep this updated as plans become a little more solidified. 

We are so fortunate to even have a chance of playing right now.  I am happy with the way the team has improved since February 1st.  Our pitchers have done a tremendous job of throwing more quality strikes, and I expect similar results the weekend.  We are going to spend a lot of time talking about playing aggressively in the three areas we have been stressing:  running the bases, defense, and throwing outs.  If we can be the aggressor in each of these areas, good things are going to happen.  Mistakes will be made, but we really want the guys to be aggressive.

I will have better details on Thursday, but if you have made plans to attend Saturday's game you can use the above field locations to map out your directions. 

The Seniors

What a great group of seniors we have.  I say this all the time, but the best part of my job is the fact that I get to be around these young guys every day.  They keep me young.  The seniors as a whole, have been so impressive.  Only one of the 6 starts, and not once have they complained.  They just keep encouraging and leading.
 

Erik Raney

Erik has not played a boat load of minutes for us this year, but he is someone you can trust on the floor.  He is having his best year as a Beaver.  You can trust that he will defend and get his hands on the ball.  He has become a very good passer.  Erik is a great personality.  His teammates love him.  He keeps everything in perspective, and truly believes we are going to win every game we play.
 

Eric Holton

Eric is one of the more organized people I have coached.  He is a perfectionist.  As a Pre-Denistry major, his class load has been big also.  This year he has been tremendous as our back up point guard.  He is making about 45% of his 3’s, and when he is out there, you want him to shoot the ‘3’, because it probably is going in.  I have know Eric, since he was just a little man, as our houses are 2 miles apart.  It has been fun watching him grow.
 

Adam Friedrichsen

This is the only year Adam has played minutes for us, and he has been great, especially lately.  He is versatile, and there is no one on our team who has worked harder in the weight room than him the last couple of years.  He was hurt last year, but has been solid as a rock this year.  The lefty has a variety of moves in the post.  If you are wondering where he is at 6:00 in the morning.  Check the lake, he is probably ice fishing.  That is his stress relief.
 

Adam Arndorfer

Like Freddy, this is Adam’s breakout year.  He is unorthodox at times, but is a horse down low.  He is big and strong, and has had some big games for us this year.  When he first came to BVU, he was extremely quiet, almost to a fault.  Now we can’t get him to shut up.  He is such a great program guy.  He is a team first player, just wanting to do his part.  He is doing his part very well.  It is great to have 2 players over 240 lbs. at the 5 spot, with him and Fog.
 

Jeff Bissen

Jeff is a fine leader.  When you need him most, he will show.  He will offensive rebound, defend, and make 44% of his 3’s.  He is committed to the program.  When he was a sophomore, and our team was struggling, he came to my hotel room, and said, “I know you are struggling finding the right combination of players, so don’t worry if you don’t play me, because I just want our team  to win.”  He was finally the guy who got it going for us, as he helped us win the conference tournament 2 months later.  Jeff will be a student coach for us next year.
 

Rahn Franklin

Rahn has a never ending smile on his face.  He is happy to be alive, and has high expectations for our team.  Rahn is not a guy who played a whole lot in high school.  He only played his senior year.  Therefore his skills have been raw to a certain point.  But he has improved, and he is a fine athlete.  I think he is the best defender in this league when it comes to playing a shooter that isn’t too tall for him.  He has shut down Griffin La Dew from Cornell both times.  Guys like that he guards well.   Rahn is a leader on this campus, and has done great things when it comes to diversity on this campus.  Not many inner city kids come to BVU, and succeed.  Rahn has done it with flying colors, and I am really proud of him.
 

Derrick Young

Derrick was a very good high school player.  Derrick is a shooting post player, but has decided to be a student coach this year.  Derrick has excellent leadership qualities, and has done great for us this year.  As a coach, DY has impacted the program with his organization and his ability to have good ideas at half time, when our staff meets to go over the first half.

Dubuque comes to town on Thursday night.  No one is more important to his team in this league than Tyler Daugherty.  He is really good, and scored 38 points on Tuesday vs. Central.  We have to have an outstanding approach to him tomorrow night.  It is not just about Rahn and Jeff guarding him, it is a team effort.  The problem we have with Dubuque, is that their pt. guard Taylor Blum did not play against us either time, as he was out with an injury, but two weeks ago he was the player of the week in the league and had 30 points at Central two weeks ago.  So with him and Daugherty in the guard court, you can see why they win games.  Their posts are also very athletic and they also have one more shooter that has been hot lately.

In order for us to be successful, we need everyone.  We need a great crowd, and we need everyone in our program ready to have a good night.  We are excited about another Iowa Conference Tournament, and we are hoping to play well.  The last couple of days, we have concentrated on ourselves, and tried to improve a few things.  Today, we will prepare for Dubuque, and practice for about an hour.

Go Beavers!!

Coach VH