COLUMBUS, Ga. --- During this year's NCAA Division II Southeast Baseball Regional, Tusculum College players Ethan Carpenter and John Topoleski, will be providing a daily blog about their experiences at this week's tournament.

Day 6 - May 22, 2016

ETHAN CARPENTER: This morning started around 10 a.m. We had sort of a late night last night so the morning is mostly uneventful. Mostly just hanging around and watching TV and grabbing something to eat before our 1 p.m. spot time. I decide to go to McDonalds to get some nice Powerade, and to mainly get out of the hotel. I drink a few cups there and then take one for the road (gotta stay hydrated).

We finally get suited up in our BGO's (Big Game Orange Jerseys) and head downstairs to get on the bus where we have Arby's waiting. This bus ride was a little different that the average pre-game bus ride thanks to "Ladies Man" Rodney handing over the speaker system to Coach Rodriquez (and team DJ) so he could play some songs over the entire bus to get us going. It was a good bus ride and we all got off focused and ready to go. We catch the end of the Lander and USC Aiken game which decided the first team in the championship tomorrow. Lander wins in a good game and moves USC Aiken into the elimination game at 7 p.m. tonight. The game we hope to be playing in after we take care of business at 3 p.m. in our first game. After restlessness takes over about the 7th inning of this game I walk around the stadium until it is time for us to take the field.

Finally we get to and you know the drill... we get in our stretching, throwing, pre-game talk and prayer, followed by handshakes and other rituals and it's finally time to play. It takes us a little bit to get going but Christian Raasch was putting up a lot of zeros and really throwing it well. With a few good at bats and a Kevin Victoriano bomb (Kevy-Bats), we find ourselves up 3-0. We played great defense, pitched really well, and but together some good innings to come away with the 3-2 win over Mount Olive to keep advancing and putting is one win away from Championship Monday. It was a huge win for the guys.

We have a tiny bit of a break to rest and grab a bite to eat before we start our game with USC Aiken at 7 p.m. Unfortunately this game did not go our way. We had some tough innings where we just couldn't catch a break and the ball just didn't bounce our way. We fought hard until the end but ultimately lose 8-2 and just like that our season is over. It's a really hard thing to swallow and it's the kind of thing you don't think will ever happen until it does.

Coach Jones says some words and we spend a bit of time in the outfield with our teammates. It's really tough hugging the seniors for the last time on the field, and it's something I will never get used to. We had a great season, nothing at all to be ashamed of. I love this group of guys and the bonds we've created this season cannot be matched or forgotten. We proved a lot of people wrong, and we were the last team from the SAC standing which is a lot to be proud of. We were the first Tusculum team since 2012 to even appear in a regional and made it within one win of going further than any TC team ever has. I love you guys and thank you.

We eventually pack our things for the last time and make our way out of the dugout to see family and friends. After a few last moments of hugging and shaking hands we load up the bus and leave the field. Considering that it is 10:30 at night, we chose Waffle House as our food option. We literally filled every seat in the Waffle House and keep it that way for almost an hour.

As everybody finishes eating we rush back to the bus after hearing word of another "Ladies Man" Rodney ukulele concert. He's the best bus driver/entertainer in the country. After a few rounds of "Proud Mary", Rodney returns to the wheel and we turn for the hotel. But not before the ukulele was turned over to Jordan Huntley (who cannot play it) for some hilarious, freestyle ukulele verses that really got the team going. It was a good way for the team to have some fun one last time together. We get back to the hotel, receive our announcements and head to our rooms. We're departing tomorrow morning around 10 a.m. to head back to Tennessee.

It's been one heck of a ride this season. The support we received while at this tournament and throughout the season was unbelievable and we cannot thank those of you that followed us enough. It really does mean the world to us. Another huge thank you goes out to our coaches, our athletic trainers, Assistant A.D. Dom Donnelly, my teammates and the rest of our TC baseball family for making this year so special. Signing off for the final time, thank you and goodnight Pioneer Nation!

JOHN TOPOLESKI: The sun is shining and that can only mean one thing... Gameday! Tandon Dorn an I wake up at 9:30 a.m. and go downstairs to get some breakfast. Jeovanny of course will probably stay in bed until lunch like always. After breakfast I turn the TV on and find "How I Met Your Mother On"! One of my favorite shows by far. Coach Nick Rodriguez comes by and drops off our freshly washed uniforms for today's games.

Once again since our season is on the line, we are wearing Big Game Orange. While laying down, trying to wake up, Kevin decides to bust into our room blasting his music... Not a good thing to wake up to... Once Kevin finally left, we started getting ready for the game and went down to the lobby around 12:30 for lunch.

While down in the lobby "ladies man" Rodney told us that we got a new bus. Rodney is in a great mood and apparently it's his birthday too. Lunch today is two Arby's sandwiches with some water to keep hydrated for the game. Everyone seems focused and ready to play today! It's going to be a long day, but as long as it's not three games in a day like at the conference tournament we should be okay.

Huuuuuge win for the Pioneers! Christian Raasch got the start in the first game and what an amazing job he did! He battled and fought all game long and gave us a great chance to win the game. Kevin Victoriano started us off with a huge 2-run bomb to put us up 2-0. And then we tacked on another run to make it 3-0. Raasch ran into a little trouble in the 8th. Giving up 2, but Devan Watts came in and shut the door. Watts came back out for the 9th and set them down 1-2-3. Great team win to get us one win away from championship Monday. Time for USC Aiken in 30 minutes.

Well that's not the outcome we were looking for. We didn't help out Carp early and put him in some tough spots and he battled! A couple defensive miscues hurt us early and we just weren't able to recover from it. It turns out that this would match the farthest TC has ever gone in a regional (I'm not sure if that's true), but if it is, I couldn't be more proud of my teammates. Nobody gave us a chance all year long, and we fought and proved them wrong.

To all the seniors, thank you so much for being here and helping us go through this amazing run together. I'm so proud to be a Pioneer, and I wouldn't change a thing! Love you all!

We end our very emotional night with our last team meal at Waffle House! Probably the best dinner we've had all year! We head back to the hotel to get packed up and cleaned up for our last bus ride home tomorrow! On the way back Jordan Huntley decides to show off his singing and plays us a few toons on our bus driver's ukulele to cheer us all up! Who knew he could be that funny. It was an amazing ride, and can't wait to do it again next year!

Day 5 - May 21, 2016

ETHAN CARPENTER: I wake up today praying that it is not raining because we finally get to play today! I get up a little before 10 a.m. but decide to opt out of hotel breakfast thanks to roomie Devan Watts having a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts.

The weather looks gloomy during most of the morning and it did rain a little but it starts to open up a little bit as the day goes on. We hang out and watch Rob Dyrdek's "Ridiculousness" before showering and getting ready for lunch.

We meet downstairs at 1 p.m. to head to Cracker Barrel for lunch. Our new bus still hasn't arrived (poor Rodney), so we all climb onto the Columbus State bus and head off to CB.

We get to Cracker Barrel about 15 minutes later and wait for the call of "The 32 members of the baseball team" over the intercom, to head inside and be seated. My table consists of fellow blogger John Topoleski, Creighton Wilke, Christian Raasch, and myself, which turned out to be a sort of dream team.

We were lucky enough to be seated first and upon the motivation of our leader Raasch, we sat down ordered drinks and our food within 2 minutes, before some guys had even opened a menu. We get our drinks and biscuits (Raasch loves Cracker Barrel biscuits), and wait for our food. I ordered the country fried chicken with Mac n cheese, hash brown casserole, with some lemon water. Thanks to our quickness and wit, we receive our food about the time the other guys are giving their orders (to their shock).

We finish our meal with some good conversation, and decide to go sit outside in the rocking chairs to wait for the rest of the team to finish eating. I spend my time outside watching an intense checkers battle between Top and Wilke that ultimately ended in a tie, somehow. We load back up the bus and head back to the hotel to rest and get focused for our game tonight.

We get to the field during the Columbus State/Mount Olive game so I watched the last 4 innings of it while the hitters took some cuts in the cage.

After a few innings I got restless from waiting and just wondered around the park until the game was almost over. Finally we get to move into the third base dugout and get ready for our game. We all do our pregame rituals, I get a good light toss in, followed by the pregame team prayer, handshakes and other last minute preparations.

After over 48 hours it's finally time for us to go to war for each other and play for our season. It didn't take long for us to come to life as we put up five runs in the 2nd inning, which is always a good time. Our stating pitcher Placido Torres settles in as always and kept throwing up zero after zero.

I spent most of the game in the bullpen hanging out and yelling because that was where I was when we put up 5 runs (superstitions always has a hold on baseball players this time of year. The bullpen crew mainly consisted of fellow pitchers Cameron Carney, Spencer Brothers, and myself with half inning stays from Tyler Hall, Devan Watts, and Dillon "Big Sexy" Hardy. We also had guest appearances from self-proclaimed pitching coach Matt Barham as well as between inning pitching seminars from Jordan Huntley.

About the 4th inning Coach Rodriguez came down and asked if I could call Dominos from his phone and change our post-game order. So as any good pitcher would do, I put on my best Cuban accent, said I was Nick Rodriguez and got the job done, but not before snapping a quick bullpen picture and setting it to his background. He loves us.

Tonight was a fun time... we played with a ton of energy and pieced together some nice innings and some extra run, one of which came from a bomb by the one and only J-Tolle (Jim Tolle). We really are a great team to be a part of and when we play like we did tonight, we are very hard to beat.

Torres goes the distance, and along with timely hitting and great defense, we come away with a 7-1 win to advance and keep playing. After short celebrations, handshakes, and a talk from Coach Jones, we pack it up and head back to the hotel.

By the time we get back on our Columbus State bus it is about 12:30 a.m. The pizza is waiting for us in the lobby so we grab a box along with some waters and head to our rooms. We also take our uniforms from today to Coach Roddy and Coach Brandon Steele (they do it all folks) so they can be washed for the next day because we're big fans of wearing the Big Game Orange jerseys (what we call BGO's). Within the next 30 minutes, we eat, shower, get our announcements, and prepare for bed.

Another huge day tomorrow, game at 3 p.m. against Mount Olive. All we have to do is play for each other and play our game and the rest will take care of itself. The support from everybody has been unbelievable and we look forward to more tomorrow! Thank you and good night Pioneer Nation!

JOHN TOPOLESKI: It's Gameday Pioneer Nation! This morning we started off with some breakfast around 10 a.m. since the game is at 8:30 p.m. tonight. Of course Tandon Dorn and I go down for breakfast, Jeovanny Tolentino decides to stay in and sleep for a while. After dinner, Tandon "all day" Dorn, gets his usual lift in making his veins pop and making everyone feel bad.

Before lunch, Jeovanny finally wakes up, and we watch SEC network to catch up on last night's baseball games and also the softball tournament. Around 1:00 p.m. we leave for Cracker Barrel! This is one of our favorite places to go. The best part about Cracker Barrel is sitting with Raasch. Because he was so hungry, he bolted to the first open table, and demanded Ethan Carpenter, Creighton Wilke, and I to order. Not really sure what I ordered until the food came because he was in such a hurry. And because of Raasch, we received our food before the rest of the team sniffed their biscuits. I ended up getting the chicken and dumplings with hash brown casserole and Mac n cheese! This is one of my personal favorites and fills you up for sure.

After lunch Wilke and I play a quick game of checkers where of course I beat him. After lunch we head back to the hotel to get ready for the game! Before we leave, the roommates and I watch the end of the UT/UGA baseball game, and the Vandy/Auburn game. We go down to the lobby at 5:45 p.m. to get some Subway, and it's time to leave for the field.

The bus was very quiet tonight, everyone is getting focused for the big game. And of course to top it all off we are wearing BGOs (Big Game Orange). In the words of TJ Miller, "All we rock is BGOs". (Big game orange) I decided to switch up the music a little bit just to make sure I stay focused and don't get too amped up. But it's kinda hard not to get pumped when your season is on the line.

We just got to the field. Time to take some BP and watch the end of the Columbus St./ Mt. Olive game.

Huuuuuuge win for the Pioneers as we defeat Belmont Abbey 7-1

Torres got the start for us tonight and was it a great one! Our offense finally started clicking and we got some huuuuuuuge hits from Kevin Victoriano, Nick Lacina, and Jim Tolle with a BOMB! Our two-out hitting was great, and our approach was a lot better than it was on Thursday. We got our first win of the regional with a 7-1 final and it felt like Belmont Abbey was quiet all night long. Torres was keeping them off balance all night, and after our 5-run inning, their dugout was silent. It was a great win for the 'neers tonight, but we aren't done yet.

We have another game tomorrow against Mt. Olive and it should be a great one!

Goodnight Pioneer Nation and see you tomorrow!

Day 4 - May 20, 2016

ETHAN CARPENTER: Today is a little strange because we did not play today. It seems like we just got the regional rolling and we get hit with an off day. It's not entirely a bad thing though. Most of the guys wake up around 9 or 9:30 a.m. and go eat breakfast. For some reason I wake up with a headache so I decide to take it easy and hang out in the room for the first part of my day. Devan Watts, Zach Slagle and I fall into our usual TV search for a cop show and in turn settle to watch the end of a "Rambo" movie (no telling which one) followed by a odd stop on HGTV to admire an awesome lake house in North Carolina. Other than that we flip on to an EMS show and shower to get ready for practice at 2 p.m.

We get downstairs a little before 1 p.m. to get our lunch of Chick-Fil-a. Since we do not have a Chick-Fil-a in Greeneville this is always a favorite of the team. After we eat, there is still a little time to kill until we leave so Devan Watts and I decide to go sit outside the hotel lobby and wait. It's a surprisingly nice day in Columbus so far, not near as hot as the past few days with a nice breeze blowing. We're just hoping that the rain doesn't pay us a visit. While sitting outside, Watts curiously asks me if I think the rims on (Assistant A.D.'s) Dom Donnelly's car are stock or custom. I couldn't come up with a solid answer for this so hopefully Dom himself can solve this riddle for us. (They are stock - thank you for your interest).

Anyway, as the team starts to gather we learn that our bus will not crank, again. Poor "Ladies Man" Rodney just can't catch a break. So I just continue to sit outside and wait for the bus to be fixed so we can go practice. I spend most of my time waiting, talking with Christian Raasch about the bracket, weather, schedule changes, and strategy. I know I've given him a hard time in my blogs about talking a lot (he knows I'm just joking) but he is my go-to guy for information. He always knows what exactly is going on and what will happen.

After about 30 minutes of waiting we get to load the bus...only problem is that it's not our bus, it's Catawba's. They were nice enough to let us use their bus to get to practice until ours is fixed, a nice gesture but still strange. We get to practice at Northside High School which is only about 5 minutes from our hotel. It's a nice place with an indoor batting area. The pitchers and I run, stretch and throw in the outfield. It's a little wet but not bad. The position players get their work done in the cages.

We take our Catawba bus back to the hotel and get ready for dinner. We shower up and get ready to leave for dinner at 6:15 p.m. to find out that we are now traveling on a Columbus State bus (the one that picked us up from practice a few days ago) because our bus is out of commission and the replacement will not be here until the morning.

We go to a barbecue place a short ride away called "Country Barbecue." They served water in mason jars and the tables were covered with brown paper and there were crayons on the table so naturally I drew my own treasure map while I waited on my food (complete with forest and volcano).

I get a variation of the plate which most of the team got. My plate had chopped pork and ribs with the sides of potato salad and French fries. It was a delicious meal (and a good change from our usual Golden Corral). Before leaving though we had to inform our waitress that it was Chris Cochrane's birthday so we waited around for just a little longer so he could receive his song by the whole restaurant staff and a piece of cake, which the team helped him eat of course. We load back up on our Columbus State bus and head over to the field to catch the last half of the Catawba and Mount Olive game. Mount Olive pulled out a good one, a 6-4 decision, and we head back to the hotel.

We get back to the hotel around 10 p.m. and start to get ready for bed. Coach Rodriquez comes around and give the final announcements... we turn off "Captain America" and call it a night. Big day tomorrow as we finally get to get back on the field and fight as a team! 8:30 p.m. Saturday night, everybody tune in! Thanks for your support Pioneer Nation. Goodnight!

JOHN TOPOLESKI: This morning started off pretty slow with us only needing to make an appearance at breakfast until 10 a.m. A lot of the guys took advantage of this and slept in. While the morning went on, we realized that Catawba had lost last night, and were supposed to play this morning, but Mother Nature had other plans. It rained so much last night that all the games were pushed back, and only one game is going to be played tonight at 7 p.m. So of course that means our game tomorrow is going to be a late one.

After breakfast we all relaxed in our rooms watching Sportscenter and trying to find a movie to watch before our short practice. Around 1 p.m. we were given Chick-fil-a by Coach Rodriguez. Two sandwiches each along with a water to stay hydrated. After lunch we were supposed to depart for Northside high school for practice, but of course our bus decided to break down again... "Ladies man" Rodney is having one rough week. We were thankful enough that Catawba wasn't using their bus, so we were about to borrow theirs to travel to the high school. Thanks Catawba.

While at Northside, the hitters took BP in the cages, really focusing on staying on time for fastballs, but able to stay back for off speed. While the position players were hitting, pitchers did their usual throwing in the outfield. After practice we traveled back to the hotel get cleaned up for BBQ!

It's 6:30 p.m. and that means dinner time! Most of the guys went to eat with their families, so the guys who stuck around got a special treat. We were all given instructions from Coach Rodriguez to order a special meal, that came with pork, beef, and ribs. And then if you wanted brisket you could order that instead. This meal was amazing! Of course my fellow blogger Ethan Carpenter said it wasn't as good as North Carolina BBQ, but this was still just as good for me and the rest of the team.

Right before we left, we mentioned to our waitress that it was Chris Cochrane's birthday. So we had her bring him a special dessert and of course a special birthday song too.

After dinner we went and caught the end of the Catawba and Mt. Olive game. We were in for a great game and unfortunately our fellow SAC member had their season come to an end. Catawba played a great game, but unfortunately couldn't pull it out.

And now it's back to the hotel and we are catching up on our sport highlights as always. Coach Rodriguez should be coming by soon for room check and it's finally Gameday again! The team needs to get some rest and get focused up for our game tomorrow night, because the mood around the team is that we don't want to go home early.

Goodnight Pioneer Nation!

Day 3 - May 19, 2016

ETHAN CARPENTER: Game one of the NCAA tournament starts early for us with game time being at 11 a.m.. I'm up and dressed by 8:30 a.m. so I can head down for breakfast. I chose to eat a simple bowl of Fruit Loops and McDonalds hash brown given to me by Chris Cochrane. Zach Slagle was up earlier and dressed getting ready for his game 1 start. He was playing some music in the room to get his day started and I was surprised to hear that one of his gameday songs was "It Goes Down In The DM's", a terrible song if you ask me but whatever works.

We depart from the hotel at 8:50 a.m. to start what we came here to do. It's a little gloomy outside with signs of last night's rain, but still pretty humid. We get to the field to see the Columbus State team dumping the water off the tarp and putting it back on the field. I hang out and walk around the field while the hitterS head to the cages for pre-game batting practice. Everybody seems locked in and focused, which gives me a really good feeling.

The tarp finally comes off and the sun decides to peek out. I've already worked up a good sweat and I haven't even touched a baseball yet. The outfield is still pretty damp with a few undercover water puddles that a few of the guys fail to avoid, but I have a feeling the heat will take care of that soon. I get a nice toss in to see how my arm feels today.

We go through the rest of our pre-game rituals which for me included the team prayer, hand shakes, last minute motivations, a pack of peanut butter crackers, and then mostly roaming around and trying to control my excitement. The time finally comes and all players from both teams are announced and line up on their respective sides. We are the away team today. The national anthem is played, (followed by most of the team singing to themselves the song we are accustomed to hearing at this time when we play at home), and it's go time.

We lost a tough one today 2-1. We felt confident throughout the whole game and played very well, but just came up short. Slagle gave us a really quality start and Devan Watts came in and did a great job finishing the game. We played great defense all game long and banged out 11 hits but only managed to push across one run. Baseball is a strange game sometimes. We out hit USC Aiken but managed to score one less run. Give credit to them, they played a good game as well and their pitcher did a great job of getting out of jams. It just comes down to the little things when you make it this far and play really good teams.

It stinks, but we're no where close to being done. Long road ahead but we know we can do it. Disappointing yes, but as we clean up our stuff, say hello to family members and friends and head to the bus, we have to put it behind us and move on to the next one.

We get back to the hotel and we go back to the room to shower and cool off a bit. About 10 minutes after we all get settled in we get a text that Chick-fil-a is waiting for us in the lobby. I head down, get my two sandwiches, add pickles, pick up a ranch and chick-fil-a sauce, a bottle of water and enjoy my lunch.

For the next few hours we mostly just hang out either in the room or by the pool. I think the heat took a lot out of us today so the team is taking it easy the rest of the day. We head to dinner at 6:15 p.m. at Golden Corral, we've become known by name there. I eat my usual, popcorn shrimp, Mac and cheese, ham, and mint chocolate chip ice cream. This trip to Golden Corral was special indeed though because the great Dom Donnelly (Tusculum Asst. AD) decided to join the team, always a pleasure. We get back to the hotel to continue our string of relaxation for this afternoon. The absence of Christian Raasch has made this a more peaceful and easy process.

Some of the guys decide to ride back over to the field and watch the night game, but Zach Slagle and myself decide to stay at the hotel. The only regret I have about not going is missing the ukulele and singing display "Ladies Man" Rodney put on for the guys on the bus (I got my fill of his show on snapchat however).

Slagle and I flip through the channels and settle to watch "The Internship", a great movie (even though it is not cop related). We await around for Coach Rodriguez to come around with announcements before we call it a night. He comes around and tell us the times to get us ready for tomorrow. We do not have a game tomorrow but we do have a 2 p.m. practice at a local high school. It'll be a good day to get us back on track and ready to keep pursuing a championship.

Thank you for all of your support Pioneer Nation! Don't count us out, we're still going to do this! Goodnight!

JOHN TOPOLESKI: It was an early morning for the Pioneers with breakfast before 8:30 a.m. with departure from the hotel at 8:50 a.m. But the best thing about it, ITS GAMEDAY! "Ladies man" Rodney met us out in front of the hotel where Mother Nature decided to let us know she is here with us again. Hopefully she holds off until after the game, because the team is ready to take care of some business and prove some people wrong!

The bus is quiet on the way to the game. Almost everyone has their headphones in listening to their own pre-game music. I personally stick to the TomorrowWorld playlist because it was the best weekend ever and they should bring it back so we can "work it".

Finally it's time to play some baseball. We came out hitting in the first couple of innings with hits by J.J. Wesley, Nick Lacina, Creighton Wilke and Jordan Huntley. We were getting runners on, but weren't getting that one hit to get us on the board.

Zach Slagle was pitching amazing, competing every bottom half to keep them off the board. We finally get on the scoreboard with two outs in the third inning when Jimmy Tolle singled in Kevin Victoriano and we are jacked! We can only manage to get one run and Slagle settles in. He continues to keep USC Aiken off balance and off the board. But in the sixth inning we run into a little trouble, and USCA gets two runs, but that's all they get. The last three innings felt just like the first 3. We get runners on with good at bats, but then can't execute to get them home. At the end of the game we were one passed ball, and maybe two base hits away from taking control of the game and just couldn't cash in. It is a tough one to swallow, but now we have our backs up against the wall fighting for our season once again. We will bounce back. Next game is Saturday at 3 p.m., so we can get some rest, and find a way to win from here on out!

After the game some of the guys spent some time with their families that came down to support. The rest of us went back to the hotel and relaxed before going to dinner. Some of the guys went swimming again after the warm afternoon where Kevin of course hit his nose on the bottom of the pool. We went to dinner around 6 p.m. again and went back to Golden Corral! TC baseball does love some Golden Corral. We were lucky enough to get an appearance from Assistant A.D. Dom Donnelly at dinner tonight. We felt special of course. After dinner some of the guys wanted to head back to the field and catch the end of the Lander/Mt. Olive game and some of the Catawba/Belmont Abbey game. The second game of the day was held up due to rain delays last four hours and did not get completed until later in the night. Me personally, I decided to hangout at the hotel with Jeovanny Tolentino and watch the games on the computer instead.

Tomorrow is going to be a weird day, with not playing. But we will get a small practice in and make sure we are fresh and ready for Saturday's game. And hopefully we will be able to go to the games tomorrow and scout some competition too. Well Coach Roddy (Nick Rodriguez) has come by for room check and it's time to get ready for tomorrow. Goodnight Pioneer Nation!

Day 2 - May 18, 2016

JOHN TOPOLESKI: Tandon Dorn and I woke up this morning around 9 a.m. to grab some breakfast down in the lobby. Jeovanny Tolentino of course stayed back and slept until 11 a.m. which is what he usually does on each road trip. We walked down to the lobby and I grabbed a couple bowls of fruit loops and a waffle for breakfast, while others were having eggs, bagels, and fruit.

We came back to the room, only to realize that "all day Dorn" had to stop by the hotels workout room and get a pump in. If his veins aren't popping then he hasn't worked hard enough. The roommates and I relax and watch some TV until Coach Roddy (Rodriguez) brings us Subway sandwiches at 12:30 p.m.. We all got a 6-inch each to keep us satisfied until after practice. While boarding the bus for practice "ladies man" Rodney gives us a lesson on who manufactures the bus and what is so special about it. The fact that the back wheel turn to make it easier to cut corners is what's so special about it in case y'all were wondering. The bus is all packed up and on to Columbus State we go for our team practice! Time to get focused and prepare for USC Aiken.

What an eventful last couple hours. We just finished up at the field for practice! We took BP and worked on PFPs so we can get used to the grass and dirt. The ball really flies out to right field here, making it easy for left handers to hit the ball onto the softball field behind the right field wall. This was probably one of our better BP sessions. We had a lot of line drives, and even had some bombs too. Creighton Wilke and Kevin Victoriano continued to show their home run power throughout their groups. The surprise of the day was Chris Cochrane actually hitting a couple balls out! We all stared in amazement. After BP we did fireman for the pitchers and infielders, while the outfielders took fly balls from Coach Rodriguez.

Once practice was over, we were all waiting outside the gate, waiting on "ladies man" Rodney, when word was passed around that our bus had broken down. I don't know what it is about us being in a regional and our buses. Last two times we have been in a regional our bus decides to break down out of nowhere. It's a good thing Columbus State had an extra bus to take us back to our hotel to get cleaned up for dinner. Besides the bus breaking down and us getting adjusted to the Georgia heat, I believe it was a solid practice and we are ready for tomorrow!

When we got back to the hotel, some of the guys decided to try out the pool to cool off and relax before dinner. This was not for me because the water was still freezing, so my roommates and I decided to watch Jurassic World. I've never seen it before, and figured this was the best opportunity to watch it. We ended up going to everyone's favorite dinner spot --- Golden Corral. The waiters were complaining that we were eating too much, but of course we didn't care. We were all starving. Once we left dinner, we came back to the hotel to relax and get some rest before tomorrow's big game.

Coach Jones kept telling us that nobody is going to give us a chance, so it's our time to prove them wrong once more. As we all relax in our rooms a lot of the guys are watching the NBA Playoff game with the Warriors and Thunder, while me personally I'll just stick to watching baseball. Coach Roddy comes around for room check at 10 p.m., and after that it's time to get some rest.

Goodnight Pioneer Nation... Game time is 11 a.m. and we need everyone's support!

ETHAN CARPENTER: Day two began for me around 9 a.m.. The old man of the room, Zach Slagle, had gotten up around 8:30 a.m. and went downstairs to eat breakfast. Devan Watts and I decided to take a more solid route and walked to the IHOP in the hotel parking lot around 9:30 a.m. for breakfast. I got the 2x2x2 special, which included a stack of 2 pancakes, two slices of bacon, and 2 scrambled eggs with cheese of course. After a solid breakfast to start my day, we went back to our hotel room for some downtime before practice.

While flipping through TV channels I found a show called "Rocky Mountain Law" and that pretty much solved the question of what we would be doing for the next two hours (we really like cop shows). After a few intense car chases and busts later, I decided to hit the shower, put on my practice gear and get ready to head to the field. The good thing about being a pitcher is on days like this all I need for practice are cleats and my glove, unlike the position players who had to haul down full bags from their rooms for practice.

We get to practice in shorts today, which for some reason is seen by the whole team as a huge luxury that we all enjoy equally. Coach Rodriquez (and star Food Coordinator) meets us downstairs in the lobby with a 6-inch subway sub as a light pre-practice snack. I grab a turkey and cheese sandwich and top it with lettuce, onions and mayonnaise, my usual, with a bottle of water.

With the arrival of skipper Coach Jones and our fearless leader Coach Ireland in the lobby, the team grabs their stuff and loads the bus to head to practice. "Ladies man" Rodney greets us, happy as always, and we head to Columbus State. For most of the morning the weather has been mostly overcast but as practice time approaches the clouds start to break up and the temperature starts to rise. It's gonna be a hot week down here in Georgia, so I have to stay hydrated.

We arrive at the campus about 15 minutes after leaving the hotel and get our first look at Columbus State. I like the campus here. Seems like a good site to host the tournament. We get off the bus at the field and it is extremely muggy outside and feels like 85 degrees. We walk into the stadium for the first time to check out where we will be playing. After glancing at the stadium seating, high backstop wall, and overall playing surface, I instantly look to scout out the bullpen area (a habit of most of us pitchers). An excitement swept over the pitching staff and myself as we discovered the bullpen was large with so much room for activities, slightly out of play, and possessed ample seating--a pitchers dream.

Pitchers Griffin Ebel, Cameron Carney, and myself make a vow to spend some quality time there during games when we aren't pitching. I finally switch into my cleats, take a jog to the centerfield wall and back and begin to stretch and get ready to throw while the position players take batting practice on the field. I think pitcher Tyler Hall almost got hit around 15 times while trying to warm up in right field. I decide to stretch it out a little bit today and toss back to around 200 feet with my throwing partner Tim "Big Sexy" Hardy.

Most of the guys do about the same, some go a little longer, some decide to throw at shorter distances. Hardy works his way back in to end our toss and I go to the bullpen to get in some work. Coach Ireland gives me some of his unique pre-pitching inspiration and I start my bullpen session. I throw exactly 24 pitches, mixing in fastballs, change-ups, and curveballs to my good friend and catcher Jim Tolle (otherwise known as J-Tolle). I shake Jimmy's hand and decide to take a breather and watch the other bullpens.

Coach Ireland then steals my glove and I throw him some ground balls as he puts on a display to teach me how to field with a glove that isn't broken in yet. We then head to the mound to do our fireman drill (my personal favorite), which consists of bunt and pitching fielding practice. After this drill we clean up the field, meet with Coach Jones, and head to the bus.

Only problem is the bus is not there waiting for us. At first we all thought "Ladies Man" Rodney had forgotten about us but about 15 minutes of waiting later we learn of a worse truth. Turns out, our bus had failed to crank back up during our practice and was now out of commission (not Rodney's fault). Thankfully, Columbus State sent us a bus to pick us up and take us to our original bus. We get to our broken down bus, get all personal items and equipment off of it, and transfer back onto our new bus and finally head back to the hotel. We get back to the hotel, unload everything once again, and finally retire to our rooms to shower and hang out until dinner.

I find yet another cop show (this one titles "Southern Justice" and lay back to relax. At 6 p.m. we load up the bus and go to eat, and the restaurant of choice: Golden Corral. I ran through my typical servings of Mac n cheese (which the team basically wiped out), popcorn shrimp, and steak followed by a serving of mint chocolate chip ice cream. A solid meal for the night before a game. With half of the team in a food coma and ready for bed we make it back to the hotel. Oh and in case you were worried, we did manage to get our original bus and "Ladies Man" Rodney back.

I spent the next hour or two just hanging out outside with my third baseman and fellow blogger John Topoleski, trying to drown out another endless ramble from Christian Raasch which consisted all the way from "the moon landing was fake because there's no wind in space" to more talk of golf, cars, and shoes. He's always good for a good conversation or entertainment. We have a few brief conversations with some Catawba players that are staying at the same hotel as they come and go. A few "good luck to you guys" exchanges and harmless joking but that's all.

Around 9 p.m. I finally head back to the room with Slagle to watch our new favorite cop show, drink a few bottles of water to hydrate for tomorrow, and wind down for the night. Coach Rodriquez comes around at 10 p.m. to let us know the plans for tomorrow along with his usual motivation. I know for a fact that he's just as pumped up about getting started tomorrow as any of us are.

Early start tomorrow as we load the bus at 8:50 a.m.. A lot of excitement to get started tomorrow and show everybody what we're here for. It's time for me and the roommates to go to sleep... Huuuggeee day tomorrow. Thank you for all of the support (shout out to Fan of The Year: Ms. Nancy!). Tune in tomorrow for a Day 3 update Pioneer Nation! Goodnight!

Day 1 - May 17, 2016

JOHN TOPOLESKI: This morning we woke up and had a short practice of taking some hacks in the batting cage. At 2:30 p.m. we left campus with some Arby's sandwiches and curly fries (Which are a lot better than regular fries of course). Columbus, Georgia here we come with our bus driver Rodney, aka the lady's man. We took our first stop around 6 p.m. so everyone could stretch out and grab some snacks. Strangely enoughm we stopped at Cochran's travel center (not to be confused with freshman catcher Chris Cochrane). Everyone took advantage of grabbing some snacks and of course some Mountain Dews.

We stopped for dinner at everyone's favorite southwest grill... Welcome to Moe's! I'm not sure if we were more excited for Moe's or to get off the bus, because it was an ice box.

We finally arrived to our hotel only to realize that Catawba is also staying in the same place... This is going to interesting. We finally get to our room only to check snapchat for a MTV cribs - TC edition from Ethan Carpenter and Devan Watts. Tandon Dorn and Jeovanny Tolentino are my roommates for this trip, only to realize that one of us gets lucky enough to sleep alone. We all get settled in, flip on some sports, and relax until Coach Roddy (Nick Rodriguez) comes around for room check.

Tomorrow we have our practice at Columbus State, which the team is very excited to get out there and get started. It should be a great start to another great week of baseball!

ETHAN CARPENTER: Our travel day started with an 11 a.m. practice to get some last minute work in. Even though the weather insisted on keeping us inside, we still managed to get in our throwing, while the hitters took some cuts in the cage. The next hour or so consisted of last minute packing and praying that I didn't forget anything.

Before leaving, Coach Ireland was kind enough to bring us a nice lunch of Arby's roast beef sandwiches with curly fries, a solid addition to our regular Arby's meals. Meal time was cut a little short thanks to Zach Slagle coming into the clubhouse to announce that the bus had arrived, followed by a team-wide scramble to get to the bus and claim their favorite seat. I found my usual seat without a problem so all is good.

As everybody started to settle in, am overall disappointment swept over the team as we realized the lack of charging outlets on our new bus. A six-hour trip with everyone's phones dying can get interesting. With the bus finally packed, we met our driver and self-proclaimed "ladies man" Rodney and the boys were finally off to Columbus, Georgia to start our NCAA Regional journey.

Most of the guys put in headphones to listen to music or take a nap, which makes up the two main options on road trips. Myself on the other hand was just simply attempting to tune out the constant rambling talk of fellow pitcher Christian Raasch, another common occurrence on road trips. He was talking about golf, or shoes, and whatever else came to his mind throughout the first three hours of the trip. Other than that, I spent most of my time attempting to break in my new Wilson A2000 glove that had finally arrived about 20 minutes before we loaded up the bus.

About half way through our trip we stopped at "Cochran's Travel Center" to stop to grab some snacks and use the restroom. While getting off the bus catcher Chris Cochrane (with an "e") informed me that the store had spelled his name wrong. On this stop I decided to pick up a Mountain Dew (as did about 90% of the team) and a bag of Nacho Cheese Bugles to fuel me until we stopped to eat dinner. After another 2 hours and about 3 Devan Watts short dancing displays, we stopped to eat at Moe's, even though most of the guys had their eyes on the Texas Roadhouse or Hooters right across the street. A chicken burrito later I climbed back on the bus for the final time tonight.

"Ladies Man" Rodney promised to have us at our hotel in 58 minutes exactly. Slagle was kind enough to let me borrow his portable charger so I could revive my dead phone. The last leg of our first day travel was pretty quiet as most of the team, myself included, put in headphones to listen to music to get through our final 58 minutes. We finally arrive at our Hampton Inn around 10 p.m. as planned by "Ladies Man" Rodney. As we get off of the bus we're greeted by Graduate Assistant Coach and former player Nick Rodriguez (who was my vote for SAC Coach of the Year and was also apart of the last Tusculum team to reach a Regional in 2012).

We all strolled to the doors of the lobby, myself loaded down with two bags and a pillow, to hear our room assignment. I am roomed with my usual fellow pitchers Devan Watts and Zach Slagle and we begin our seemingly never ending walk up the stairs to the 3rd floor. We settle into our rooms after a long travel day and pick our spots. Watts and I start our road trip ritual which includes making our own version of "MTV Cribs" to post on Snapchat. After that I get ready for bed and flip the TV on to Spike so we can watch "Cops", another road trip ritual. Coach Rodriguez comes around for room checks to let us know what the plan for tomorrow is and I decide to call it a night.

That pretty much sums up our travel day to the NCAA Regional. Huge practice day at Columbus State for the team tomorrow at 2 p.m. Tune in for a Day 2 update tomorrow night Pioneer Nation! Goodnight!