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Baseball: Shain’s shutout

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After being swept by James Madison the previous weekend, William and Mary headed into its weekend series against Old Dominion still looking for its first conference win.

It took nine tries, but the College finally won its first conference games of the season, taking two out of three games against the Monarchs in Norfolk last weekend. The Tribe won the Friday game 4-3 but lost 12-5 Saturday before winning 4-0 Sunday to nab its first series win of the year.

“What it came down to in both the games that we won is that we pitched really well,” head coach Frank Leoni said. “For us to not only be able to win our first conference series, but to win one on the road is huge.”

The Tribe held Old Dominion to just five hits in the third and final game of the series en route to a shutout victory. Junior starter Cole Shain shut down the Monarcchs, allowing just three hits and one walk in seven innings.

“He did a lot to keep their batters off balance,” Leoni said.

Junior catcher Chris Forsten’s single in the second inning scored freshman third baseman Ryan Lindemuth to give the Tribe the only run it would need. Senior designated hitter Jonathan Slattery knocked in a run on a fielder’s choice in the fifth, Forsten got his second RBI of the day on a sacrifice bunt in the sixth, and senior shortstop Derrick Osteen added the final run on an RBI single in the ninth.

“We saw it as the most important game of the season,” Slattery said. “We saw it as a must-win.”

Saturday’s game was a different story. The Monarchs lit up senior starter Logan Billbrough for nine runs in four innings, including a seven-run third inning that put the game out of reach for the College. Old Dominion extended the lead to 12-0 following freshman designated hitter Joey Burney’s second homer of the day, a two-run double and an RBI single.

The lone bright spot was the eighth inning. After being held scoreless on three hits through seven innings, the Tribe scored five runs on singles by freshman pinch hitter Devin White and Osteen, and walks by sophomore second baseman Kevin Nutter and freshman third baseman Ryan Lindemuth.

“We came out a little flat out of the gate,” Slattery said. “By the time we got started, it was a little too late.”

The College took the first game of the series on the strength of a solid start of junior starter Matt Davenport, who gave up three runs on four hits in seven innings. The Monarchs drew first blood on a two-run homer by first baseman Chris Baker in the first inning, but Davenport didn’t allow another run until the sixth inning. The junior’s outing gave the Tribe enough time to take back control of the game.

Sophomore center fielder Ryan Brown scored on an RBI single by Slattery in the fourth, and in the sixth the Tribe took the lead for good on a two-run double by sophomore first baseman Tadd Bower. Forsten doubled in Bower to extend the lead to 4-2.

The Monarchs halved the deficit on a solo home run in the bottom half of the inning, but sophomore reliever Brett Koehler didn’t allow a hit over the last two innings, thereby securing the victory for the Tribe.
The Tribe will play George Mason at home this weekend, following games tonight against Richmond and tomorrow at George Washington.

On the Record: “Middle Brother” by Middle Brother

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The words “middle brother” bring to mind zits, Nirvana T-shirts and a perpetually closed bedroom door. The band Middle Brother brings to mind none of these things. Middle Brother is driving down a country road with the windows open on a summer night. It’s stomping your feet and almost driving off the road because you closed your eyes to sing the last words of the chorus. The debut self-titled album from this super-group composed of John J. McCauley from Deer Tick, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes and Matt Vasquez from Delta Spirit never lets you forget those country roads.

Many people have qualms with saying they like country music because, let’s face it, country music has gone soft. Contemporary country music, characterized by Tim McGraw, Kenney Chesney or — God forbid — Taylor Swift, has none of the edge of Johnny Cash or Jerry Lee Lewis. This is where Middle Brother shines — in the uncontrollable piano rifts and good times that sound like they’ve just come from touring the South in hot, cramped cars.

Some of the slower songs, like “Daydreaming” or “Blood and Guts,” sound like they might have been sung by McGraw when he was young and raw, when his heart had been broken and all he wanted to do was tear the person apart. This lack of polish, which Middle Brother also lacks, is exactly what makes it so great. It allows them to sing “I got a dick so hard that a cat couldn’t scratch” and “I just wanna get my fist through some glass.” If most country musicians are wearing cowboy hats and boots, Middle Brother is wearing trucker caps and dirty work boots.

Middle Brother doesn’t dwell on lamentations of past regrets; there’s too much energy in the music. It swings right past, and into the future, but it also helps that the spirit of the band is young, not the spirit of someone looking back on youth. Middle Brother is wild, and it doesn’t care that some of the edges are a little sharp. There are no porch swings or old dogs in Middle Brother, but there are plane crashes and eavesdropping on neighbors having sex. On the other side of this coin, Middle Brother is too raw to be ironic. Although its members may be professional musicians, its songs sound like they are half written around a campfire and finished at the last minute on stage. Their music avoids the polished and professional sound that comes from musicians in almost every contemporary genre — and that’s a nice change.

Paying the price of quality: Raise for professors should be a priority

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As students departed for spring break on March 4, College of William and Mary President Taylor Reveley sent out an e-mail discussing the actions of the Virginia General Assembly and how these actions will affect the College. Since most students were busy shoving clothes into suitcases and hitting the road, they may have missed some very important information concerning funding at the College. The first item on Reveley’s agenda was particularly interesting, especially in light of the recent Living Wage Campain, because it discussed potential changes to the take-home pay of faculty members at the College.

The GA has proposed that state employees must now begin to pay into their state retirement plan. Basically, 5 percent of the salaries of all state employees will go into their retirement funds if these employees are enrolled in the Virginia Retirement System. This cut is being proposed as an effort to save money for the state in light of the struggling economy. It will affect all state employees using the VRS plan, including roughly half of the professors at the College. This cut is particularly painful when one considers that the College’s professors have not seen a raise in the past three years.

Reveley has discussed the possibility of pay raises for professors at the College in order to help ease the blow to their salaries. Professors are key to the College’s success because of their ability to draw applicants to and keep students at the College. In order to remain a prominent institution of higher education, the College must recruit and maintain a prestigious faculty. Using any available funds to increase faculty pay, or at least to offset the cuts being made through the VRS, is a wise move for the College.

The LWC honorably seeks to give campus workers a raise. While I think this is a noble cause, I believe that any spare funds the College has in these difficult economic times should be given to the professors who are key to ensuring students are prepared for their future jobs. Most college applicants look at academic and faculty rankings when choosing their schools, and ultimately choose a college for its academics, not for the little features that are added bonuses; I certainly did not decide to attend the College for the food served at the dining halls.

I support Reveley proposing pay raises for at least some of the College’s employees to help offset budget cuts. However, I would like to see hard plans granting professors this raise. The professors are one of the most attractive features at the College, and we must continue to recruit top professors if the College is to maintain its position as a leader in higher education.

More power to alternative fuel sources

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Last Friday the largest earthquake in Japan’s recorded history occurred off the coast of Honshu, resulting in major damage as well as a tsunami. The videos and images of the devastation in Japan are unreal and indescribably sad. The tsunami essentially washed entire towns off the map. Hopefully, Japan will be able to recover from this disaster, and my sympathy goes out to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy. While it is hard to imagine that something that happened on the other side of the world could relate to Williamsburg, this earthquake in fact, demonstrates the risks associated with nuclear power.

The earthquake damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and triggered spikes in radiation. There have already been three blasts in the reactor buildings, and some fear radiation is leaking. Technicians are currently trying to cool the fuel rods in the nuclear plant, but Japanese officials believe that all three reactors at the plant may melt down. As new problems unfold, Japanese technicians are scrambling to resolve the situation, and 200,000 people who live in the area are currently being evacuated.

About 20 minutes away from the College, just across the James River, is the Surry Nuclear Plant. The tragedy in Japan prompts questions about the use of nuclear power and how dangerous it is. No one can control natural disasters, but we can control how we power our country. Nuclear power has its advantages and disadvantages: It doesn’t produce carbon emissions or contribute to climate change in any way, but, the resulting nuclear waste is highly radioactive and very harmful to the environment. This nuclear waste can last for 5,000 to 10,000 years; to put that into perspective, the pyramids in Egypt have been around for 5,000 years. Building nuclear power plants necessitates building storage facilities that can also last that long, which is incredibly difficult to do. So, the primary question is, should we continue to build coal-fired power plants, or should we build nuclear power plants and risk radiation leaks?

Now is the time for federal and state governments to look into funding alternative fuels and energy sources. Government funding and incentives could help push economic expansion by increasing jobs and market-driven growth. These alternative fuels would be less likely to impact the environment in a negative way. Consider this: If something were to happen at the Surry Nuclear Plant, Williamsburg and the College would be in the danger area for radiation. The plant controls its waste and reactors very well, but a natural disaster like the earthquake in Japan could put the nuclear plant at risk of a meltdown. This situation is not acceptable.

The tragedy in Japan is hard to watch, and the images coming from the country are terrifying. The damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has caused radiation leaks, and people have been exposed to this radiation. It is almost cruel that the only country to have ever experienced a nuclear weapons attack must also deal with a nuclear plant meltdown. Japan and other nations should learn from this situation and determine whether building nuclear power plants is worth the risk of another disaster. As Japanese technicians scramble to cool down the fuel rods, we can only hope that they are able to control the problem and stop further radiation leakage. This is one of the priorities for Japan in recovering from this calamity and should make us think about our own nuclear power plants.

Women’s Basketball: Tribe season ends in first-round tournament loss

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Down 17 with 4 minutes, 40 seconds left against Hofstra in the first round of the CAA Tournament, William and Mary lined up to watch Pride forward Anma Onyeuku shoot the front end of a one-and-one set of free throws.

She did exactly what the Tribe needed to retain any chance of launching a comeback and missed the first shot. But true to the first fifteen minutes of the second half, the College couldn’t capitalize. An offensive rebound, numerous uncontested passes, and about twenty seconds later, Hofstra guard Kate Loper extinguished all comeback hopes with a three-pointer from the left corner of the court, effectively ending one of the worst seasons in the history of the program.
The 89-67 defeat Thursday in Upper Marlboro, Md. was the result of a dismal second half of play by the College (3-26) — in which fifth-seeded Hofstra outscored the Tribe by 17 points — and came just eight days after the Tribe played Hofstra close for about 38 minutes, eventually falling by just seven in the regular season finale.
“This is tremendously disappointing because we came into this tournament with the hopes of actually doing very well,” head coach Debbie Taylor said. “It’s tremendously disappointing to lose by 20 to a team you just lost by [7] to.”
Despite wanting to go further in the conference tournament, the College will be happy to put the 2010-11 campaign behind it. The last time the team won fewer than four games in a season was long before any of the current players were born, when the College went 0-9 in the 1970-71 season. Coach Taylor called it a “crisis season.”
However painful the season was, the Tribe entered the tournament with renewed hope, and began the second half with a bit of momentum. After the College cut it to a 54-52 Hofstra lead with 14:41 left, the Pride turned on the jets, and the Tribe went ice cold. A 19-0 run from Hofstra turned what had been a close game into a blowout in a matter of five minutes.
“You have to expect in conference play and tournament play that you’re going to have to combat a run. And they’re a team of big runs because they have so much firepower,” Taylor said. “You have to weather the storm. From that point on we just stopped scoring and it kind of went downhill from there.”
When the Tribe turned to freshman center Kaitlyn Mathieu — the team’s third-leading scorer — for some of its own offensive firepower, Mathieu couldn’t deliver, missing jumpers on three-consecutive possessions. The freshman, who came into the game averaging 9.53 points per game, finished with just two.
“I don’t think she played her best game tonight, which is a shame because she’s had a great freshman year,” Taylor said. “She just really in the second half wasn’t playing as smart as she’s played and selecting her shots wisely. She rushed a lot.”
Without any punch from Mathieu, the team relied, as usual, on junior guard Taysha Pye, the team’s leading scorer and biggest all-around offensive threat. Pye had a solid night, scoring 15 points, but sophomore forward Emily Correal had the team’s best night, scoring 15 as well but also grabbing 10 rebounds.
“At a point we just got buried,” said Pye of Hofstra’s 19-0 run. “It’s hard to keep the energy up sometimes when they go on a run like that and they have the momentum. We didn’t do a very good job of bouncing back and that’s because we didn’t knock down shots.”
In the first half, the two sides battled it out but stayed close to each other, with the Tribe focusing its defensive effort on Pride forward Shante Evans, who dominated down low in the regular season finale, going for 36 points and 14 rebounds. But as the College concentrated on Evans, often doubling her on the block, it left open looks at the perimeter. Hofstra guard Nicole Capurso was there to take advantage, going on an incredible tear for 13 straight points from the 10:30 mark to 7:01 left in the first, putting Hofstra up by seven.
In a game of runs, though, the Tribe stormed back, scoring nine unanswered points to take a 31-29 lead with just over three minutes left in the half. The high-powered Hofstra offense remained in full force though, and a Pride three-pointer with two seconds left gave Hofstra a five-point advantage at the half.
The tale of the game could really be told by two statistical categories, shooting and rebounding. Hofstra outshot the Tribe by 13.5 percentage points, 19.6 in the second half. And the College got destroyed on the glass, getting outrebounded by 18 and giving up 18 offensive rebounds, which lead to as many second-chance points for the Pride. The usually-large advantage the defending team has when going for rebounds was hardly there for the Tribe, as the team pulled in only 22 defensive boards.
“They’re bigger than us, well Shante is,” Correal said. “We were face boxing and limited Shante, but it was the other ones who were going in and sweeping the rebounds.”
Taylor said a lot of Hofstra’s second-chances came from slow defensive rotation by the Tribe.
“We’d help and we wouldn’t help the helper and wouldn’t get their in time and that caused weak-side rebounds and easy lay-ups,” Taylor said. “Our defense was terrible in the second.”
The numbers didn’t disagree, as Hofstra shot 48.6 percent from the field in the last 20 minutes.
In the end, Taylor said she thought game didn’t represent the way the team had played down the stretch.
“I hope this isn’t a picture of what our season’s been like,” Taylor said. “I’d like to think we improved a lot over the season, I just don’t think we played particularly well this evening.”
While Taylor was disappointed with the team’s performance against Hofstra, Pye hoped to take the lessons learned during the disheartening 2010-11 campaign and attempt to correct them during the offseason.
“We’re all going to put in a lot of work,” Pye said. “[We will] get stronger and faster. We all feel the pain. We’ve been feeling it for 20 games so we’re really going to go hard this offseason.”

Men’s Basketball: Tribe’s season comes to an end versus Hofstra

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The faint echoes of past tournament glories, the ones seemingly awakened by junior forward Quinn McDowell Friday night, fell silent Saturday as the reality of the situation became clear there would be no magic this year.

After reaching the championship game two of the last four years, William and Mary (10-22) fell 72-56 to Hofstra Saturday night, ending its run in the CAA Tournament. Whereas in years past destiny or fortune had carried the Tribe come tournament time, Hofstra exposed the College Saturday as what is has been all season, a poor second half team.

“We just didn’t play well,” head coach Tony Shaver said. “I thought we played a solid first twenty minutes. The last twenty minutes really got away from us. I really thought their veteran leadership and their maturity showed a lot in those last twenty minutes.”

Senior center Marcus Kitts led the Tribe with 10 points to go along with eight rebounds. McDowell, who set a CAA Tournament record with 35 points Friday night, finished with only six points on 2-6 shooting.

Not that the sophomore’s performance versus James Madison Friday went unnoticed.

Where the Dukes left McDowell room to shoot, often against a smaller defender, the Pride crowded the Tribe’s leading scorer on every possession, rotating its zone defense towards McDowell’s side of the floor and running two defenders at him when he caught the ball.

“Going into the game, we were going to try and make somebody else beat us,” Hofstra head coach Mo Cassara said. “I thought once the game got going and we got into the flow of things, we kept the ball out of his hands, we moved guys around on him and we changed defenses, and I think that kept him off balance.”

The Pride held McDowell to one point in the second half, often daring the College to find a way to score inside. But the Tribe’s most potent inside threats this season, Kitts and freshman point guard Brandon Britt, could not exploit the Pride’s zone.

Kitts went 2-5 from the field in the second half, missing a couple of shots at point blank range, while Britt was held scoreless in the second half, as the Hofstra defense cut off his dribble penetration.

As the College’s offense cooled down, the Pride’s heated up thanks to CAA Player of the Year Charles Jenkins. Jenkins, who led all scorers with 20 points on the night, scored 15 points in the second half, eight of those coming on free-throw attempts.

“We did a really good job the first half,” Shaver said. “But when he just puts his head down he is so strong, he has an NBA body, and when the whistle blows as it did tonight, he gets every foul call. He’ll go to the foul line all night.”

Despite trailing 27-25 at the half, Hofstra outscored the College 47-29 in the second half thanks to Jenkins. And by the time little-used freshman center Fred Heldring came into the ballgame for Kitts with 2:16 remaining, it was clear that the game, as well as Kitt’s career, had come to an end.

“That’s certainly not the way I wanted it to end,” Kitts said. “But I’ve really enjoyed my time here. I thought the first half we really stuck with them. The free throws at the end of the half, I thought that would give us some confidence coming out. But that’s a really good team. Hofstra’s got the best player in the league.”

W&M/Hofstra CAA Tournament Live Blog

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The Flat Hat is live from the Richmond Coliseum as the No. 11 College looks to take on No. 3 Hofstra in the second round of the CAA Tournament

Men’s Basketball: McDowell scores 35, Tribe beats JMU

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Considering how this season has gone for William and Mary (10-21), one might have lost all hope in the waning minutes of the second half. The No. 11 seeded College had once again played well against a superior opponent, No. 6 seeded James Madison, but the young Tribe showed familiar signs of collapse.

JMU forward Julius Wells sank a three pointer from the corner, while forward Devon Moore drove through the lane to put in a layup that gave JMU a 68-67 lead with 1 minute, 21 seconds remaining in the contest.

With 54.9 seconds remaining in the game, freshman guard Brandon Britt took the ball, drove into the lane, and drew a crucial foul. The freshman went to the line, sunk both of his free throws, and provided the Tribe with its first late game victory of the season, a 72-68 upending of James Madison in the first round of the CAA Tournament in Richmond, Va.

“I’m not sure I can be any prouder of a basketball team than I am now,” Head Coach Tony Shaver said. “It’s pretty amazing to watch, quite honestly.”

While Britt provided the finishing touches, the night belonged to junior forward Quinn McDowell, whose 35 points set a CAA tournament single game record for points. McDowell was nearly perfect from the field, going 10 for 12 from the floor, including 5 for 6 from beyond the arc. He was also stellar from the free throw line, netting 10 of his 11 attempts from the charity stripe.

“It’s one of the best performances I have ever seen,” Shaver said. “We rode his shoulders to a win tonight … I honestly didn’t realize he had 35. He hit big shot after big shot.”

The only bad news concerning McDowell was that he appeared to have tweaked his already weakened knee at the end of the contest, something to watch for as the College takes on No. 3 seeded Hofstra tonight at the Coliseum.

While McDowell shined for the Tribe, James Madison’s best player, Denzel Bowles struggled against the College. Bowles, who was mired in foul trouble all night, was neutralized on defense and was ineffective on offense against a series of double teams by the College. Bowles finished the night with just five points, two rebounds and four fouls.

“I think the foul trouble tonight hurt him,” Shaver said. “He’s a guy who can give you 40 points any given night. The hard thing about doubling him is that you leave other good players open … You’ve got to stop him to beat James Madison.”

While the College was able to silence the Dukes’ big men, Bowles and forward Rayshawn Goins, JMU’s guards and forwards kept the game competitive. Moore had 22 points and was 3 for 4 beyond the arc, and forward Andrey Semenov was particularly troublesome for the Tribe, as he provided 15 points on a 5 for 6 shooting performance.

Offensively, the Tribe exhibited a slightly different look than they have displayed so far this season. The Tribe played well inside, and McDowell and Britt both frequently looked to work the ball inside against JMU. Most interestingly, the College, known primarily as a three-point shooting team, attempted only 13 the entire game —7 of which went in.

The contest was close throughout, featured 14 lead changes and neither team led by more than six points. The two squads entered halftime tied at 34 points apiece, and two back-to-back three pointers by McDowell and Britt got the second half going on a positive note for the College.

“Everyone played great tonight,” McDowell said. “We came out with such passion, and I think we surprised them a little bit.”

Follow the Flat Hat’s live in-game blog as the Tribe takes on No. 3 seeded Hofstra at 8:30 tonight

W&M/JMU CAA Tournament Live Blog

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The Flat Hat is live from the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Va. as the No. 11 College takes on No. 6 James Madison

HOPE stops risky business

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Instead of losing better judgment, motor coordination and decision-making abilities the Thursday night before spring break, The College of William and Mary’s Health Outreach Peer Educators’ is hosting an event to give students the chance to have all the fun sometimes associated with high-risk drinking without any of the negative health consequences of drinking.

On Thursday, students can head over to the Tidewater Room in Sadler Center to partake in HOPE’s Tribe Tropics, a pre-spring break party with activities, games, free food and absolutely no substance abuse. Some people believe that spring break, and the week before, can lead to high-risk celebration for students.

“This event gives people who don’t really want to participate in that a place to go and have fun,” said Danielle Noriega, who as the Vice President of the Sexual Health branch of HOPE and an intern with the Office of Health Education is in charge of running the event, Tribe Tropics. “It has the party atmosphere but still teaches you things you can actually use.”

HOPE is broken up into four branches — Sexual Health, Substance Abuse, Sexual Assault and Mental Health — each of which will be in charge of two booths at Tribe Tropics with activities pertaining to their particular focus of health education. Sexual Health will be hosting condom pong, a game similar to the higher-risk beer pong with the twist that students aim a ball into a bowl full of condoms, all of which are received if the shot is made.

Mental Health will have a craft station to help relieve stress and promote its message. One Substance Abuse booth will feature beer goggle twister.

“We’ll have three or four contestants each put on a pair of beer goggles that distort one’s vision in a similar way as alcohol would, and then play twister,” Jonathan Marlton, Substance Abuse VP, said. “It’s a fun event to help add perspective to excessive drinking.”

The second Substance Abuse booth will have a ring toss game, in which contestants will attempt to toss rings over glass beer bottles containing facts about alcohol consumption. The fact in the bottle closest to the thrown ring will be read, and if a contestant manages to get a ring over a bottle will win an edible prize.

In its fourth year of operation Tribe Tropics is being managed mainly by HOPE, with help from a few other organizations. The Student Assembly is helping fund the event, and is also being supervised by OHE.

“OHE is mostly involved through HOPE,” Noriega said. “The messages adhere to them, but it’s totally student run.”

Although HOPE is promoting healthy decision making, Tribe Tropics’s ultimate aim is not to tell students how to live their lives. Instead, HOPE is trying to remind students that there are ways to have fun without engaging in risky behavior. And even if students choose to partake in these high-risk activities over the break, Tribe Tropics hopes to help them make the smartest decisions possible while away from school.

“HOPE events like Tribe Tropics are designed for students to have fun and learn something,” Marlton said. “We are not here to tell anyone not to drink or have sex, but rather we want to educate students about lower risk strategies so they end up having more fun.”

Marlton added that the event will offer an alternative to Thursday-night partying by students.

“Tribe Tropics is a great opportunity to have a good time, get some free food, and learn a few helpful things in a fun, unimposing way,” Marlton said.

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