Thursday, March 27, 2008

New baseball stadium good to 49ers

There is no question the Charlotte 49ers baseball team has taken full advantage of its new home this season.

Hayes Stadium not only provides a far-superior atmosphere to watch and play in, but the 49ers have reaped the benefits in their record as well.

After Wednesday's 12-8 home win against Wake Forest, Charlotte is now 18-3 on the season, including a 16-1 mark at home. Until a loss earlier this week to Radford, the 49ers had a 17-game home winning streak dating back to the end of last season.

Charlotte begins its first sustained road trip this weekend, playing three games at Atlantic 10 rival La Salle, one game at perennial power Tennessee, then three more at Temple before returning to Hayes Stadium on April 8 for a game with N.C. A&T.

Charlotte is 2-2 in road games thus far, with wins over USC Upstate and South Carolina and losses at Wake Forest and Presbyterian. Coach Loren Hibbs said the upcoming trip will give his team its best test yet.

"Anytime you're on the road in any league, it's hard to win. We're up front with our guys and we'll meet in the lockerroom and get a handle on what's ahead," Hibbs said. "We're going to try and do the things that have worked for us. We're going to try to speed up the game like we like to do to people. Hopefully, we'll come home with some good results."

Notes: Former Piedmont star Rob Lyerly, a sophomore transfer from Campbell, went 3-for-4 in Wednesday's win with two doubles, a home run and four RBIs. ... Charlotte has not lost consecutive games since the 2006 season - a streak of 82 games.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Atta' boy Rob!! The kid is an absolute stud. The Niners have something special right there.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jim.

Anonymous said...

That's a great streak, 82 games without losing back-to-back. We come home with three wins this weekend if we don't get rained out!

Anonymous said...

We need a sweep this weekend. LaSalle is BRUTAL in baseball. 4-19 record so far.

panfan1 said...

All the early home games have been in our favour. The real test is the road games ahead of us. I think were are still very good but must win on the road. Go NINERS!

Anonymous said...

FACT: Charlotte lost fewer games (12) than any other Division 1 baseball team in 2007.

FACT: Charlotte had the second highest winning percentage (80.33%) in college baseball in 2007. Only Vanderbilt was higher (80.60%)

Here's the weird part:
Chapel Hill was ranked 3rd and had a 57-16 record.
S. Carolina was ranked 7th and had a 46-20 record.
NC State was ranked 24th and had a 38-23 record.
Wake Forest was ranked 27th and had a 34-29 record.
Charlotte was ranked 41st and had a 49-12 record!?

WTF Mates? Where's the love?

(click on my name to go to the complete 2007 rankings list)