Game 297 - New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies

October 1 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, PA
Comcast Sportsnet

Quite a performance from Jerad Eickhoff, who tossed seven scoreless innings as the Phillies completed a sweep with a 3-0 win.

Eickhoff was a 15th-round selection by the Texas Rangers in the 2011 draft and was part of the Cole Hamels trade in July. The rookie right-hander was making his eighth career start on Thursday afternoon and he used an excellent curve ball to strike out 10 and allow just four hits.

With the threat of bad weather this evening the game was moved from its original 7 p.m. start time. We'd have to file this under Not Quite a Capacity Crowd:

* Reporter Gregg Murphy:

"Where else do you want to celebrate your bachelorette party than Citizens Bank Park?"

Well, Gregg, I'm not a woman, nor have I ever been to a bachelorette party. But I've got to figure my answer to that question is anywhere else on planet Earth?

* Couple of Matt Stairs Moments I'd like to mention.

On guessing wrong on a pitch

"Next thing you know, you're popping it up and 'aww, man!'"

On how quickly the game was going in the early innings

"At P.F. Chang's, we're going to have an early dinner!"

On.....something

"No-man land....that no-man area.....what is it?"

Play-by-play man Tom McCarthy: "no-man's land"

"Thank you."

Game 104 - Cincinnati Reds at Atlanta Braves

April 30 at Turner Field in Atlanta, GA
Fox Sports Ohio

We'll start with a shot of Turner Field, which would have to be considered at Not Quite Capacity

And I also have a question & possible solution for the Braves.

Q: Kelly Johnson is your cleanup hitter?!

S: Perhaps it's time to find another cleanup hitter.

* Big day for Mike Leake, who tossed eight innings of two-hit, shut out ball in the Reds' 5-1 win. In his last two starts against Atlanta, Leake is 2-0 and hasn't allowed a run in 14 innings. Leake also hit one of Cincinnati's four solo home runs

* You know who else had a big day? Color commentator Chris Welsh, who said "lightning in a bottle,", "a hard-throwin', right-handed Texan" and "old country hard ball" in the same inning. Good work, Chris!

Game 68 - Columbia at St. John's

April 8 at Jack Kaiser Stadium in Queens, NY
espn3.com

Since beginning a four-game series with USC-Upstate on March 20, the Lions have been rolling. With Wednesday's 5-4 win, Columbia has won eight straight and 13 of 14 since sweeping all four in Spartanburg.

Ryan Marks came out of the bullpen in the third inning and after Alex Caruso's bunt single to open the frame, Marks retired nine straight. A much-deserved win for the southpaw.

* Ralph Bednarczyk and Bob Hieschfield had a nice day of Baseball Phrases:

"He has to live downstairs"
"Try to beat these hitters diagonally"
"Hitting a robust .368"
"Baseball hotbed"
"Monster blast"
"I wouldn't say he's a burner, or a rabbit"
"Big, healthy cut"
"Good, healthy cuts"
"Pitcher's best friend"
"That certainly puts out a fire for Magee"
"Square him up"
"Stay tall"
"He has a very green light" 

Wednesday at Jack Kaiser: not quite a capacity crowd

Game 39 - Miami (Fla.) at Wake Forest

March 21 at Wake Forest Baseball Park in Winston Salem, NC
ESPNU

The early innings have not been kind to Wake Forest so far in this series.

In Friday's series opener, Miami scored three runs in the first inning and seven in the second in a 15-2 victory, then the Hurricanes scored eight runs through the first three innings Saturday and won 12-7. Carl Chester led off the game with a home run to set the tone for the Hurricanes. Will Craig had a lot to do with the early-inning struggles in game two as the sophomore right-hander allowed seven runs (five earned) in just 2 1/3 innings.

Craig did hit his eighth home run of the year and reached base three times for the Demon Deacons.

Wake is 1-4 in ACC play since taking 2-of-3 from Virginia Tech in the conference opener March 7-8.

* The Webb Bobo All Stars are happy to welcome to the team Miami junior infielder Edgar Michelangeli.

* Baseball Phrases!

"Very high baseball intellect"

* Not quite a capacity crowd today in Winston Salem

Game 35 - Lanier HS at Salem HS

March 18 at Salem High School baseball field in Conyers, GA

Kevin Barham provided a perfect example of how cruel and euphoric the sport of baseball can be, all in a matter of one early-spring evening.

The sophomore started on the mound, and though he did fan six batters, he walked five others and lasted just 3 2/3 innings, departing with his team trailing 3-1.

The Seminoles got great relief work from Ndiayemon Harrison (2 1/3 IP, 1 H) and Yorel James (3 IP, 4 H, 4 K) and were able to rally. While Lanier didn't get a runner to second base after the fourth, Salem got a run in the fifth on a hit batsman and two errors - one the physical kind and the other when on a routing grounder to first, Cole Dudley couldn't decide whether to try and nail Harrison, who was about halfway between third and home, at the plate, or get the out at first (he got neither). Down to their last two outs in the seventh, Harrison reached on another error and scored on Jason Howell's sacrifice fly to save the Seminoles and tie the game at 3-3.

I haven't yet gotten to Barham's day at the plate. He struck out in each of his first two plate appearances, then popped up to the catcher on a drag bunt attempt in PA No. 3. Barham did lay down a nice sacrifice in the eighth, but that rally never materialized. The night finally belonged to Barham in the home half of the ninth. After (guess who?) Harrison led off the frame with a single, and a walk to Howell and Akil Baddoo's bunt single loaded the bases, James couldn't come through when his grounder forced Harrison at the plate.

All was forgotten two pitches later when Barham hit a flare over second base that chased home Howell with the winning run. Great ending to a wild night for Barham and the Seminoles.

“We had an opportunity and (Barham) took advantage of it,” Salem coach Bobby Link said afterwards.

The Conyers, Georgia school is trying to turn its program around after missing the state playoffs in each of the last four seasons. Link's in his first year in the Salem dugout and he may be the guy to do it. Not only are the Seminoles 7-2 and 2-0 in Region 8-AAAAA after completing the season sweep of Lanier, but I've watched Salem play games just like Wednesday several times over the past four or five years and they seemed to always find a way to lose them.

Not tonight, and after a tough start, Barham turned out to be a big reason why.

“It’s a team effort," Link said. "The kids right now are working their tails off, they really want to be successful. Everybody’s contributing, everybody’s doing a job.”

Final thoughts...

* I covered Salem back on February 27 and we added just one Webb Bobo All Star (Jonesboro's Thominique Stroy). My apologies to Salem's Akil Baddoo, who is now the newest member of the team.

* The Lanier side of the bleachers was what I like to call not quite a capacity crowd:

Game 23 - Kent State at Liberty

March 8 at Liberty Baseball Stadium in Lynchburg, VA
Liberty Flames Sports Network

Color commentator Matt Warner provided another extensive list of Baseball Phrases. Let's take a look at his Sunday Masterpiece:

"Cut down at the dish"
"RBI knock"
"Positive vibes"
"Let's see if he can roll one up"
"Filling up the zone"
"Stabbing at the baseball"
"Flag it down"
"He brings an energy level"
"Two schools of thought"
"He did a great job blocking it up"
"He went fishing for it, came up empty"

* Nice day for the Liberty offense, which had six different players drive in at least one run and 14 hits to win the game 8-3 and the series 2-games-to-1.

* I'd call this not quite a capacity crowd

* And finally, let's play Is That A Name?

Kent State junior third baseman Zarley Zalewski.

Game 15 - Eastern Illinois at Arkansas

March 2 at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville, AR
SEC Network

A couple quick things from this one, which Arkansas won 8-1 to sweep the Monday doubleheader:

* SEC Network play-by-play man Alex Perlman in describing the Arkansas defense: "..and on the leather side".

* It was the second game of a doubleheader, which in itself was a makeup of a pair of rain outs on Saturday and Sunday, so the numbers were a bit thin at Baum Stadium.

The TV cameras caught a few different sections of the stadium, and here's a quick attendance estimate: 11.

* It's been a rough start to the 2015 season for Eastern Illinois (0-5). After being outscored 12-2 in the two games Monday, the Panthers are hitting just .159 and have an 11.31 team ERA.