Lancaster: UMO on the regional bubble

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on May 2, 2015 11:16 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- Carl Lancaster wonders if his baseball team still has a heartbeat and a fire in its belly.

Neither has been evident the past two weeks.

"It's been disappointing," said Lancaster, whose team turned in an uncharacteristic 0-2 performance -- as the No. 1 seed -- in last week's Conference Carolinas tournament.

"I had a lot of expectations with this team. We've limped during the last few games of the season."

The Trojans get a chance to rejuvenate themselves this week with two important regional games will undoubtedly determine their postseason fate. They play host to No. 11-ranked Catawba on Monday and Francis Marion on Wednesday.

Two wins should solidify UMO's chances of advancing to the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional for the sixth consecutive year.

Anything less ...

"If we split, it will depend on what happens in the Peach Belt (tournament)," Lancaster said. "If we lose two, I know for a fact (we're out). I'm not real excited about how we practiced this week.

"(I) can't put a finger on it. You think they would be hungry to play, but it could just be a waste of time. We'll see what happens when they get here Monday afternoon."

Lancaster composed a difficult non-conference schedule that included matchups against seven nationally-ranked teams -- Franklin Pierce, Catawba, Florida Southern, Lander, Erskine, UNC Pembroke and Armstrong State. UMO logged a 7-5 worksheet against those teams that included a 4-3 record in road games.

But bad losses to lower-tier Conference Carolinas teams have come back to haunt the Trojans. Two defeats each against eventual conference tournament champ North Greenville, Barton and King (Tenn.); along with three defeats against Belmont Abbey have proven detrimental. The regional selection committee will take those results into account when it selects the six-team field.

Right now, Lancaster projects UMO on the bubble at No. 7.

"North Greenville winning ... terribly hurt us," Lancaster said. "Honestly, it didn't matter who wont it (but) if we had gone 2-2, I don't think we would have been hurt whatsoever.

"What multiplied the pain was Catawba lost to Wingate. I totally understand where we're at right now."

That bubble is about to burst.

Despite one of six teams with 30-plus in-region victories, the Trojans lost four of their final five games. Three outcomes were decided by three runs or less.

"I know what it takes to put a crowd together like we had (this year)," Lancaster said. "On the field stuff, you can deal with it. Outside, when you lose people who are critical, it's absolutely frustrating.

"We control our own destiny. We got ourselves into this mess. Either we get out of it, or we start preparing for next year."