Spring Break has begun, and it has been nothing but baseball for our squad. 

Spring Break for a normal college student usually consists of a trip down to Mexico, or house boating on Lake Havasu, maybe even Corpus Christi.  We did go to Corpus Christi for Spring Break, but not to lay out in the sun. We were on a business trip - to play some baseball! We had a great weekend, winning three games at the Whataburger College Classic, including an extra-inning thriller against top-ranked Rice Saturday night.

After Sunday's win against TCU, our team took a tour of the USS Lexington, which was harbored in the gulf next to the ballpark. It was huge! The Lexington is a aircraft carrier that was active in World War II. When I got on the carrier, I headed straight to the top deck to check out the Jets on board. They had all sorts of jets and helicopters from WWII. I thought it was fun to be on a ship that was used in battle during war. It put things in perspective; right now kids my age are at war and I get to play baseball. It makes me love playing baseball that much more, and really appreciate the sacrifices those guys have made for all of us. The rest of the day was spent traveling to Austin, where we would play Texas on Tuesday.

When we arrived in Austin, we had practice at the field. I forgot they had an Astroturf playing surface; it was different. The ball exploded off of the ground when it was hit. Anything hit hard on the ground farther then 2 feet away from you was a base hit.

The atmosphere at the game was great. They had about 6,500 fans in the stands, including actor and huge Texas fan Matthew McConaughey. Like I said a few weeks ago from Baylor, Texans are proud people!  It's pretty cool the pride in that state.

We didn't play well against Texas; it was like we never got going, and it was upsetting. They do have a good team, however. Lots of respect for the 'Horns. And now we are looking to bounce back strong against a tough Oklahoma squad this weekend.

Joe Pa, Out.

(photo courtesy of Arizona State Media Relations Office)