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Knudson: Opening Ugh

As that master of philosophy, Ray Birmingham, has said on many occasions, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. That’s the good news.

Because if it was all about how you started, the Mountain West baseball squads would already find themselves in deep you-know-what. Last Friday’s “Opening Day” was most certainly a day they’d all like to forget.

The five MW baseball squads combined to go 0-6. Ouch.

Yes, everyone lost. Air Force lost twice, once to Alcorn State and once to #8 LSU. You can make that three losses if you count the disheartening loss of ace pitcher Sean Carley even before the season started. Carley tore a ligament in his elbow and will need season-ending surgery.

Bullpen meltdowns undid conference favorite TCU – ranked as high at #10 in the pre-season – and San Diego State. The Horned Frogs fell to #22 Ole Miss at home in their opener. Andrew Mitchell was solid on the hill, but the inexperienced Frog bullpen couldn’t hold the lead. Ditto in San Diego, where the Aztecs retired Stephen Strasburg’s jersey AND honored Head Coach Tony Gwynn before the game…then got a solid start from Cole Swanson…but watched a lead slip away late in a loss to Washington.

Birmingham’s New Mexico Lobos got decent pitching but couldn’t solve the off speed offerings of Nevada pitcher Braden Shipley in a 5-3 loss. UNLV fell behind early and could not overcome Loyola Marymount in a 4-3 loss.

It all added up to an Oh-fer on Opening Day.

One of the best things about baseball is the chance to wipe away the disappointment of the last game the very next day. Both the Lobos and Rebels were able to bounce back with second game victories, but San Diego State fell again to Washington while both TCU and Air Force were rained out. Finally, on Sunday, Air Force broke through with their first win of the season, beating Alcorn State 6-1 before falling to LSU again 4-0. Things got better for TCU, as freshman Preston Morrison retired all 10 hitters he faced out of the bullpen to secure a 5-3 TCU win, and earn a series split. San Diego State used a walk off double from Cody Smith to salvage a 10-9 win in that series finale.

UNLV dropped the rubber match of the series to Loyola Marymount, and New Mexico lost another tight game to future conference foe Nevada and lost that series as well. The final tally for the weekend: No one came out of the opening weekend winless, but no one came out with a winning record, either. Issues to try to correct? Of course. That goes without saying. For instance, nothing is more demoralizing to a team than blowing late inning leads. A strong bullpen is VITAL to season long success. TCU is going to have to hope that young arms like Morrison can fill the void left by Trent Appleby and provide effective middle and late inning relief. SDSU is also counting on some youngsters in the bullpen. They need time to grow.

There will be many more losses AND wins for all these squads before a champion is crowned at the end of May. Provided you play well enough along the way to give yourself a chance to be there in the end, Birmingham is right: It IS how you finish that matters. No one knows that better than Birmingham’s Lobos, who struggled through a rugged and forgettable regular season a year ago before shocking college baseball by winning the Mountain West tournament and advancing to the NCAA tournament for the second straight season.

Expect a season of up’s and downs, and every one of these teams fighting hard to reach that finish.