Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Lee Weld Blog: first two weeks of the season
March 1, 2011
Southern Illinois right-handed pitcher Lee Weld will be keeping a blog throughout the 2011 season, giving Saluki fans an insight on what it is like to be a student-athlete at SIU. Here is his fourth entry of the season...
Hello Saluki Baseball fans,
I'm back to give you an update on the first two weekend series and explain how it is for me watching the games from the dugout and bullpen.
The first weekend, we opened up in Ruston, La, at the Louisiana Tech Classic. We played Louisiana Tech on Friday, Grambling State on Saturday and Nicholls State on Sunday.
The first game against Louisiana Tech was probably the hardest day of my recovery so far. When we arrived at the field, I was nervous for the game even though I knew I wouldn't get to step on the field, but I was also saddened that I couldn't go out there and play with the guys. It's different preparing for a game when you know there's nothing you can do to help the team.
All that I did the entire weekend to help the team was to be the bullpen guy who would signal to Coach Finigan when our relievers were ready to go in the game or I gave them advice on how to get ready to go in.
Our next weekend series was against the defending national champions, South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. We played them in a three game series at their place which was very exciting. The stadium they play in is easily one of the best college venues in baseball.
Each day they were close to packing the stadium to capacity, which created a great atmosphere for all of the games. The bullpens were an exciting place to be because of the fans leaning over the railing and yelling at us.
I got a few good nicknames that weekend and heard some good jokes. My best nickname was "Papa Smurf" since I'm so short. Which brought another joke of, "It says you're 5-8, but you look only 4-12. It was some good ribbing from the fans that I enjoyed being a part of.
The caliber of SEC baseball was pretty good that we got to see. They have a couple of potential high draft picks that showed us why they were.
We got swept in the series, but we also showed a lot of heart and resolve. We came back in game one and game three when we had our backs against the wall that showed what kind of baseball we could play. I was excited to see some of our young guys step up too.
Next weekend, we head to Memphis, Tenn. to play in the Memphis Tournament against Eastern Kentucky, Oral Roberts and Memphis. We're looking to get back on track by winning this tournament.
Thanks for reading and Go Dawgs!
Lee Weld #29