In addition to game day coverage, CU Sports Information Assistant Richard RoBards, a Tiger travel companion, will keep fans updated from the NAIA Baseball National Tournament Opening Round with his diary log.

Wednesday, May 19

Yesterday's win was a confidence booster for a team in dogged pursuit of a reason for success. Today the Tigers will test No. 1 - Cumberland University.

It's just great to see a group come together in a way that validates exactly what their coach has been preaching - treat every at-bat, every pitch and every fielding opportunity as if it's your last. Just knowing some of the behind-the-scenes stuff, well, it was like deja' vu all over again. The sermon from the dugout steps came home to roost.

But you can't go forward sometimes without going backward. I don't think I'd be dancing too far out of line if I said the team REALLY appreciated last night's meal at Al's Steakhouse. Several parents joined the team and a handful of administrators to show a little Big Maroon Club love for the Baseball Tigers. There are really no Dakstats for this category, but there may have been an NAIA record set for most dinner rolls consumed and most laughs shared.

The anticipation of another tough game wasn't lost on the team as the bus ride back to the motel was replete with a anonymous rendition of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" by the Righteous Brothers. Actually it wasn't half bad, but the sit-down comedy routine could use a little polish.

I can't hang the night's entertainment on any one player, but I can say with some reasonable assurance that freshman Steve (San Jose, Calif.) Oiler was the guy handing the PA mike back to Ray the Bus Driver when we returned to Fairfield Inn. Steve, did American Idle call your room last night?

Speaking of Ray, he's been a little more on edge than usual - beings that with yesterday's win he's one step closer to the new haircut he promised the team on Day 1. He was looking for support from Trainer Scott Baughman and SID Chris Megginson. Baughman declared that a Mohawk wouldn't go over well in girlfriend-land and Megginson was holding out for a better offer - one that might include lawn service throughout the summer.

With yesterday's winds of the 20- to 30-mph variety at the park, I could swear I saw a couple of the Mohawks move to one side and then the other. It may have just been an optical illusion, though, just like the vision of those portable brown-door bathrooms along the third-base concourse.

Might I digress?

What's with those Porta Potties at the ballpark anyway? Didn't they know we were coming? With all the grandeur surrounding Silver Cross Field, one would think an NAIA Baseball Tournament would warrant more than half of its "real" bathrooms.

I spent 35 years in the newspaper business, have been married to the same woman or more than 40 years and have raised three kids ... so I know a thing or two about not be heard when I speak (or write). So, I'm offering this strictly from the For Whatever It's Worth Department.

I think the United States is missing out on a tremendous cost savings to taxpayers by not utilizing Johnnys on the Spot in our penal system. You lock a guy (or gal) in a Port-A-Let for more than 48 hours and if you don't have a changed person on your hands, my name could be Porky Pig. You could at least eliminate home incarceration collars because the "offender" would be recognizable from a block away, always carrying a significant tell-tale odor about him (her). You don't forget something that smells so sweet.

We'll be moving along as the day moves forward. We tee it up at 4:00 EDT, same as yesterday. You can cut the karma with a knife.

I'm not sure I know today's routine, but I do know where success seems to start with this squad ... with a foot long from Subway.

Stay tuned, there could be more ...


All entries of this diary, as well as tournament updates and live stats, can be found here