Friday, February 18, 2011

Broncos Lose to Tennessee 15-1

Not a good game when you're trying to get your confidence. Hopefully the team can bounce back tomorrow.

Gymnastics Scores From Around the Country

#1 Florida defeated Auburn with a score of 196.850, slightly below their average
#2 Stanford defeated Arizona with a 195.3; the Cardinal came in averaging 196.650
#3 Utah defeated #8 Michigan with a score of 196.425, slightly above their average
#4 Oklahoma defeated Missouri with a score of 196.425, slightly above average
#5 Georgia downed #21 LSU with a score of 196.5, half a point better than their average
#6 Alabama beat Kentucky with a great score of 197.075, a full point above average
#7 Oregon State is idle this week
#8 Michigan lost to Utah with a 195.425 score, 3/10 lower than their average
#9 UCLA is off this week
#10 Nebraska fell to #19 Denver and scored 195.725
#11 Boise State throttled Utah State with a season-high 196.250, a full point above average
#12 Arkansas lost to BYU with a 195.025, slightly below average
#13 Washington lost to Arizona State with a 195.45
#14 Ohio State defeated Michigan State with a 195.2, slightly above average, and will meet Kentucky Sunday
#15 Minnesota takes on Iowa State Sunday

#3 Tennessee Jumps on Broncos for 7-0 Lead

Jessica Spigner just blasted a grand slam to lift the Vols to a 7-0 lead. Freshman Morgan Barnes has replaced Lela Work on the mound for the Broncos in the second. Nothing like pitching to the #3 team in the nation in your first year.

Boise State Gymnasts Blast Utah State With Season High

In the second breaking story that this blog has brought you, the Boise State gymnastics team scored a season high tonight in ripping Utah State in Logan tonight. The Broncos scored 196.250 to beat their previous high of 196.175 and defeated their opponents by over 2.5 points. Only 11 teams in the country have posted higher totals than Boise State did tonight. USU finished with 193.600.

Boise State had a shot at a 194.450 score (which would have been the nation's 10th-best this season), but Amy Glass, who earlier this week took over the #1 spot in the nation, scored 9.375 on the beam. Glass needed a 9.9 to give Boise State the 194.45 but it was not to be. That is the second individual score under 9.50 tonight. Still, Boise State so far has the 7th best score in the country this weekend.

Hannah Redmon was brilliant tonight in leading the Broncos to the win. Redmon paced the team in the vault (9.925), bars (9.850) and floor (9.875) and won the vault and floor events. Hailey Gaspar was also fantastic with a 9.875 on vault, a 9.825 on floor and a 9.7 on the beam. Kelsey Lang was another star, contributing a 9.850 on beam and a 9.775 in floor exercises. Bekah Gher scored a 9.825 on beam and a 9.750 on the bars. Glass won the all-around competition with a 38.925, getting a 9.875 on vault, a 9.850 on floor and a 9.825 on bars.

Bronco Softball Team About to Go Against #3 Tennessee

The Lady Vols blasted Cal Poly 11-2. This game is already late getting underway--it was supposed to begin at 7 p.m. Mountain Time.

Bronco Gymnasts Still in Command

But alas, Kelsey Black had a 9.050 on floor.

The Broncos will beat Utah State with those scores, but they won't have a chance against Oregon State and the like.

Boise State has a 147.275. As I mentioned in the story, they need a 197 to stay within half-a-point average of Oregon State. With the floor scores, the Broncos now need almost 5 10's to reach that 197.

Boise State leads 147.275-144.675. As a team, they are putting away the Aggies which was one thing I called for.

Redmon again led the Broncos on floor with a 9.875. Hannah is having an incredible meet, starting out with the 9.925 on vault. Add in the 9.850 on bars and that's a great evening.

Boise State also starting out well on beam. That used to be Boise State's weakest event several years ago; they have really stepped it up. Right now, the Broncos have a shot to beat their season-best of 48.925.

With a 9.8 on beam, Amy Glass can help the Broncos to their best score of the year. Coming up!

Boise State-USU Update

The gals must have read this blog because so far, no scores below 9.7.

After two rotations, Boise State leads 98.250-96.925.

Hannah Redmon rang up a 9.925 on the vault to lead Boise State and also paced the team on bars with a 9.850. Hailey Gaspar and Amy Glass scored 9.875's on the vault.

BYU edges Boise State at Desert Classic

Yet another score brought to you first in the Boise Valley on this blog--

BYU may be #16, but the difference between the Cougars and Boise State was one run. The Cougar sports information department was quick to point out that Boise State came into the game averaging 1.25 runs per game.

I've found out over the years that once you point out a flaw in your opponent, it comes back to bite you. The nationally-ranked BYU team was fortunate to win this afternoon's game, squeaking by the Broncos 12-11.

The game was a hard-fought contest thoughout. BYU was ahead 6-5 in the fifth and appeared to put the game out of reach with a six-run sixth. Junior Stacie Graham sent a blast into the gap that scored Delaney Willard and Madisen Robb. JC Clayton's single plated Graham. After Tiffany Messerschmit reached safely on a bunt, Kristin Delahoussaye sent a shot over the left field fence for a three-run homer.

But Coach Erin Thorpe's team battled back. Pitcher Allie Crump launched a one-out single to begin the rally and Ashley Collier pinch-ran for Crump. Tazz Weatherly came through with a single and Megan Harvey was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Jessica Kraft came in to run for Harvey. Kelly Sweeney hit a shot up that the BYU pitcher had trouble with and a run scored. All three Bronco baserunners moved up on a wild pitch with Weatherly scoring the second run of the inning. Devon Bridges reached on an error to load the bases but Mackenzie Whyte struck out. Batting with two out, Holly Bourke singled down the left-field line, advancing to second on the throw as Sweeney and Kraft both scored. Kellie Caplan came through with a single to score Bridges and Vanessa Alvarez followed with a single to knock in Bourke. It took three Cougar pitchers to finally put out the fire, as finally a fly ball ended the inning.

Delahoussaye was 4-5 with two doubles, the three-run homer, five RBI's and two runs. Jessica Fitu added a homer and a double in a 3-5 afternoon for BYU.

Caplan was 3-5 with three RBI's while Crump was 3-4 including a home run. Weatherly contributed to the Bronco hitting attack by going 2-4.

Boise State takes on another ranked team tonight in #3 Tennessee. Tomorrow, the Broncos meet Cal Poly and Long Beach and then battle Oregon Sunday.

Bronco Gymnasts Grab Early Lead on Aggies

After one rotation in Logan, Boise State has begun on the right foot. The Broncos have 48.975 points to 48.250 for Utah State. Boise State performed on the bars while USU started out on the vault.

The beam is where we'll see how the Broncos have progressed. They had trouble against San Jose State.

In the preview on this blog, I said to watch the scores for Boise State, especially the lower ones. I said they should all be 9.5 or higher.

So far, the low on bars was a 9.7 and the high 9.85. The 49.275 team score on vault is a season high. Great start ladies!

The TIme is Now for Bronco Gymnasts

Boise State's gymnastics team is loaded with seniors all set for their last few weeks in collegiate competition.

Tonight, the Broncos travel to Logan for a meet with Utah State. The competition is important for several reasons. First, Boise State wants to quickly put away the Aggies before another Western Athletic Conference team thinks they have a chance to upset Boise State at the upcoming conference championships. Last week, it took top-notch performances in the final few vaults for the Broncos to defeat San Jose State. Although the Spartans were defeated, they left the meet feeling upbeat that they could come so close to the 11th-ranked Broncos. When you are in fact #11 in the nation, best to give your opponents the feeling that they don't have a chance.

The second thing to look for is that the WAC Championships are indeed coming up. Boise State wants to continue to get better. They want to add more difficult elements in their routines but even more importantly, they want to execute flawlessly. Last week, Boise State had three performances of 9.3 or less and it almost cost them. The Broncos feature several excellent gymnasts; what they are looking for now is consistency throughout the lineup. The senior members on the team and those that are highly-ranked need to help the other members out for the good of the team. That is leadership and it is what the senior-laden Broncos need. So look for not just how the nationally-ranked Broncos perform tonight--look at the score for the lowest member of the team--that should be at least 9.5 in every event.

Yet another thing to watch is the Broncos' final team score. As I've pointed out on this blog, Boise State is part of a Regional that contains five of the nation's top 13 teams and only two of them will get to advance to the national championships. Of course, it is head-to-head competition in the Regionals that determines which two teams go. But gymnastics is very much a subjective sport, in which you live or die by what the judges think of you. Thus, if you are perceived as weaker than another team, it is tough to get the judges to give you a better score, no matter how good you perform on a given night. So it is important for Boise State to get themselves to a position where they are perceived as being the equals of their rivals in the Western Regional.

Stanford is the highest-ranked team in the West (#2 in the nation) with a 196.650 average score. Oregon State, a team the Broncos have to defeat in the Regionals, averages 195.896. Boise State's average is more than a half a point lower than Oregon State at 195.215. Boise State needs a team score of 198 to close within 3/10th's of a point. They need a 197 to close with half a point. It is important not only from a confidence level for the Bronco gymnasts to see themselves close to Oregon State but also for the judges to see that as well.

The Bronco-Aggie meet starts at 7 p.m. Mountain Time tonight.

Bronco Men Go Against UC-Santa Barbara

Boise State goes out of conference for a contest against UC-Santa Barbara Saturday night as part of the ESPN "Bracket-Buster" series.

The series pits teams from what ESPN calls "mid-major" conferences against each other. ESPN chose to let the Gauchos host the game in Santa Barbara, where they are 8-3 this season. UCSB has won three of its last four games and is tied for fourth place in the Big West Conference.

The Broncos and Gauchos were together in the Big West several years ago and split six games. They have not met since 2001.

Saturday's game tips off at 9 p.m. Mountain Time.