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Mack will answer XU fans’ worries

Doug Tifft
Sports Editor

What now?

In recent days many Xavier basketball fans have been wondering what the future of their beloved program after the departure of head coach Sean Miller on April 6.

Xavier fans know that the pieces are in place for a shot at the school’s first Final Four in 2010, as media entities such as the Sporting News and ESPN have placed the Musketeers in the nation’s top 10 for the preliminary 2009-10 top 25—even without knowing who the Xavier head coach is going to be.

Beyond an outstanding group of core players, Miller left behind deep recruiting ties when he jettisoned to Tucson, Ariz., for the head job of the Grand Canyon state’s basketball program. Musketeer fans have had to put on hold their dreams of seeing 2009 forward Kevin Parrom and 2010 forwards J.D. Weatherspoon and Jordan Latham in Xavier uniforms.

With the announcement on Tuesday that Xavier Athletic Director Mike Bobinski deemed former assistant Chris Mack to be worthy of taking over the head role, the question intensifies: What now?

Well, in reality, the drop-off from Miller to Mack should not be very severe.

Surely, there will be growing pains for a man that has not held the reins of a program since guiding the 1999 Mt. Notre Dame High School girls basketball program through the Greater Cincinnati League. However, Mack has been given many of the top coaching responsibilities in Sean Miller’s highly regemented coaching system over the past few years.

On the recruiting front, Mack may not even miss a beat from the Miller pace. He still has an excellent chance of bringing Parrom to campus, as the four-star small forward has stated that winning supersedes other factors in his decision making—an activity that Mack figures to do a lot of with the roster that he has inherited.

Even down the road, Mack would figure to have a chance to keep Xavier plugging along on a nationally competitive pace. With the potential addition of Jeff Boals to his coaching staff, Xavier would have two recruiters with existing ties to Weatherspoon and 6’10” center Adreian Payne. Being able to parlay those ties into filling the available minutes vacated by rising-senior frontcourt mates Derrick Brown and Jason Love will be among the top priorities of the Xavier staff in the coming weeks and months.

As Mack begins to build his track record with the presumptive early success, it will become easier to reel in players to a successful coach and program, as Miller often centered his marketing pitches around his won-loss record.

Boals’ ties to Ohio will potentially see him going after top-tier talent such as current sophomores Stevie Taylor and Markus Crider.

Fresh-faced Director of Basketball Operations-turned assistant coach Travis Steele is an Indiana native, who will be getting to work on plucking 2011 talents such as forward Justin Gant and guards Jeremiah Davis, Darwin Davis and Kendall Griffin from the Hoosier state.

Mack certainly seems to provide a stabilizing hand to the Xavier program by quickly infusing familiarity for the players and a connected recruiting web across the Midwest.

So maybe Xavier fans can now stop asking, “What now?,” and start asking, “What about Indianapolis?”

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April unkind to Xavier baseball

Musketeers drop seven of 12 after a promising start to season

Scott Mueller
Asst. Sports Writer

After getting off to a hot start, the Xavier University baseball team has cooled down. The team started off the year 12-6, but has since fallen to an overall record of 17-13.

The same can be said for the Musketeers’ play in the Atlantic 10. Last season the Muskies finished as A-10 regular season co-champions and appeared to be starting where they left off, with an A-10 season opening sweep of Saint Louis. Since the series with the Billikens, Xavier has dropped two of three to Rhode Island, La Salle and St. Bonaventure.

At the beginning of the year, head coach Scott Googins said he would like to see his team play better in mid-week match ups. Currently, the Musketeers have played well in the middle of the week. The Muskies have recorded wins over Marshall, Indiana and Miami (OH).

In addition, the Musketeers played No. 22 Ohio State close, leading through six innings before losing the game, 9-7.

On April 1, the Musketeers defeated Miami University 9-7. Xavier was easily in control the entire game, holding a 7-1 after three innings. Three runs in the top of the ninth for the Redhawks made the game interesting, but Xavier was able to hold on.

Xavier was looking to continue winning and to right the ship against A-10 opponents when the team traveled to Philadelphia to take on La Salle for a three game series. In the first game, Junior Danny Rosenbaum only lasted 4.1 innings and gave up seven runs (only four earned) on nine hits. The Muskies could never take the lead, and La Salle answered quickly every time Xavier scored. La Salle won the first game 8-5.

In the second game, Xavier fell behind early once again, and trailed 5-1 after the second inning. Xavier tacked on runs in the eighth and the ninth, but fell short, dropping the game 5-3.

In the third game XU salvaged a victory led by sophomore Ben Thomas. Thomas went 3-5 with a homerun and five RBIs. Xavier’s offense exploded for 18 runs and 18 hits, en route to a 18-12 victory, avoiding the sweep.

Last weekend, the Musketeers traveled to Olean, NY, to take on St. Bonaventure in another three game series. In the first game, facing a five run deficit, the Musketeers rallied for four runs in the top of the ninth, but came up short. The Muskies dropped the first game 7-6, but managed to even up the series in the second game. Rosenbaum (3-3) recorded the win for Xavier, pitching seven innings, allowing four earned runs and eight hits. Xavier won the second game 10-4.

In the rubber match, despite taking an early lead, Xavier fell 8-2. St. Bonaventure scored eight runs on only seven hits, scoring in only two innings (the fifth and sixth) and took the series from Xavier. The loss dropped Xavier’s record to 16-13 (6-6 A-10).

Playing in the inaugural Joe Nuxhall Classic on Tuesday, the Musketeers avenged a loss to Cincinnati, defeating the bearcats 12-8. Senior Brett Greenwell recorded the win for the Musketeers, pitching 4.1 innings of relief. Greenwell allowed two earned runs on four hits.

The Musketeer’s offensive was led by junior Zac Richard and sophomore John McCambridge, who both had three hits on the night. Xavier took the early lead, 3-0 after three innings. However, the Bearcats would gain the advantage after a six run fourth.

Xavier responded with two runs in the fifth and five in the sixth to retake the lead for good. The Muskie offense produced 14 hits on the night.

Xavier will play Wright State for the Championship Wednesday, April 15 at 3 p.m.

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MacLean a medalist

Scott Mueller
Asst. Sports Writer

Freshman Sebastian MacLean led the Xavier University men’s golf team to a fifth place finish at the UMB Bank-Mizzou Tiger Intercollegiate on Tuesday. MacLean, individually, finished in a tie for first.

For the tournament, MacLean shot eight under par, turning in rounds of 68,71 and 69.MacLean’s strong play fueled Xavier’s push in the standings.

On Tuesday, Xavier, as a team, posted the second best score, at three over par. The Musketeers trailed only New Orleans for the day.

Overall Xavier finished fifth in the tournament, behind Kansas State, UT-Arlington, New Orleans, and SMU.

MacLean lost the second playoff hole to SMU’s Kelly Kraft. The playoff was to determine the medalist for the tournament. Had MacLean won, it would have been the first medalist for Xavier since 2007, and the first freshman to do so since the 2005 A-10 Championship.

Sophomore Peter O’Neill finished nine over par, and in a tie for 23rd. Junior Kieran Lovelock was two shots behind O’Neill in a tie for 32nd. Concluding the scoring for the Musketeers was junior Alan Glynn, who finished in a tie for 42nd.

Xavier will return to action tomorrow against Cincinnati, in the inaugural Crosstown Shootout at Maketewah Country Club.

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Club Sports Report

Baseball
Past results: Currently 4-6 overall, but 4-2 in their division.
Coming up: Still has games remaining against Wright State, Kentucky and Northern Kentucky. If they can win their divsion, they will advance to the Club Baseball World Series.

Gymnastics
Past Results: Competed in meets hosted by Ohio State, Miami (OH) and Eastern Michigan.
Coming up: Will compete at Nationals in Atlanta against 640 club teams from across the nation.

Ultimate
Past results: Qualified for UPA College Regionals for the first time in club history by finishing fourth at sectionals. Defeated Miami (OH), Kent State, Toldeo, John Carrol, Dayton-B, Wright State-B and Kenyon at Regionals.
Coming up: Regionals will begin May 2, and will include Michigan, Illinois, Ohio State, Notre Dame and Michigan State.

Rugby
Past results: Finished the spring season undeafted, beating Loyola Chicago and Cincinnati. Competed in a tournament in New Orleans, defeated Vanderbilt, Tulane and Delaware.

Team captains, managers and players send your team’s results and upcoming events to the Newswire Sports Dept. at newswire-sports@xavier.edu to get your team into the Club Sports Report.

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 Briefs

Doug Tifft  
Sports Editor

Tennis finishes with victory

The Xavier University men’s tennis team wrapped up the regular season with a victory over Duquesne on Saturday.

Coming off their first conference loss of the year to George Washington, the Musketeers looked to reassert themsleves in the A-10.

Xavier got off to a quick start sweeping the doubles point. Junior Chris Herrlinger recorded a victory in straight sets in flight 1.

Senior Mike Dieciuc also picked up a point for Xavier. The victory was Dieciuc’s 77th career win, good enough for third all time single wins at Xavier.

The victory means Xavier will most likely be the No. 2 seed in the upcoming A-10 tournament. The tournament will begin April 24.

“I feel there’s much improvement this team can still gain from a couple weeks of practice before we come back here and try to defend our A-10 title,” said head coach Eric Toth.

Three set track school records

Several members of the Xavier University track team traveled to Tempe, Ariz. this past weekend to compete at the Sun Angel Track Classicand the Mesa Classic.

Freshman Brittani Peltz set a new school record in the 400 meter dash with a time of 57:58.

Junior Derek LeBlanc broke his own school record in the triple jump. LeBlanc reset the record by more than a foot.

Also re-establishing his own record was sophomore Jory DelCecato in the discus throw.

Next weekend the track team will travel to Oxford, Ohio to compete in the All-Ohio Championships

XUIM host “Mr. Wiggles Invit.”

The Xavier University Intramural flag football “Mr. Wiggles Invitational” will be April 18, 19 and 24. The event is a single elimination tournament. Interested teams should contact the XUIM office (intramurals@xu.edu) for additional information.