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Former Cougars player Slauter experiences CWS
College World Series
spt cp SlauterMSU
Mitch Slauter - photo by COURTESY PHOTO
Updated: Jun 16, 2013, 3:54 AM
Published: Jun 16, 2013, 2:02 AM

As the College World Series began on Saturday, former Barton Community College baseball catcher Mitch Slauter became the second Cougars player to compete on college baseball’s biggest stage. 

Slauter joins former fellow catcher Jeff Christy to reach Omaha as Christy was the starting catcher for the University of Nebraska during their 2005 appearance. 

Slauter and his unranked Mississippi State Bulldogs beat the No. 3-seeded Oregon State Beavers 5-4 on Saturday afternoon in the first round of the double-elimination CWS.

Hampered by a mid-season injury, Slauter’s action has been limited throughout the latter part of this season. Batting .242 on the season, the senior started 27 of the 36 games he’s played this season with a .986 fielding percentage behind the dish. In Slauter’s junior season he started sixty-two of the Bulldogs' 64 games, batting .232 with a .990 fielding percentage. With his .364 batting average in last year’s Tallahassee Regional, Slauter landed on the region’s all-tourney team and later was named to the Southeast Conference Academic Honor Roll.

Playing in 107 games for the Cougars, Slauter started all but two of those batting .348 with 13 homers. Named the Kansas Jayhawk Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year his sophomore season, Slauter also received second-team all-conference honors his freshman year. The Olathenative and 2011 Barton alum finished his Barton career with a .983 fielding percentage solidifying his place as one of the best backstops in Cougars history.  

The Bulldogs reached the CWS by sweeping Virginia University in two games at the Virginia Super Regional.

Now a volunteer assistant coach for his Huskers, Christy spent five years playing in the professional ranks after being drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 2006.

Additional information regarding Barton Baseball can be found online at www.BartonSports.com
Have You Seen This? The mic is always hot
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Hayes looked over at his teammates and mentioned that one of the reporters in the crowd was gorgeous. The reporters started laughing and Hayes quickly realized that his mic was on and his face turns about as red as his shirt. - photo by John Clyde
John Clyde
Published: Mar 29, 2015, 2:39 PM


HOT MICINGTON All through journalism school there was one thing that was pounded into our brains day after day: The mic is always hot.

What this basically means is that even when you dont think the microphone is on, always assume it is, because you may say something youll regret. I am not joking when I say for four years in college I was taught this time and time again. If youve ever seen any news bloopers on YouTube, youll notice that a lot of journalists either went to some really bad journalism schools or maybe they were bad students.

Wisconsin basketball player Nigel Hayes learned the hot-mic lesson the hard way this week, but in his defense I dont think hes journalism major.

During a press conference, Hayes and fellow teammates Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky were prepping for questions when the moderator asked Hayes to say something for the stenographer. Hayes tried to make a joke, but it wasnt until his following comment that he got the crowd laughing.

Hayes looked over at his teammates and mentioned that one of the reporters in the crowd was gorgeous. The reporters started laughing and Hayes quickly realized that his mic was on and his face turns about as red as his shirt.

The 20-year-old Hayes looked like an embarrassed 13-year-old when he put his face in his hands and awkwardly smiled.

Besides the awkward hilarity there are two things I love about this video. The first thing is the fact that what Hayes said was actually very flattering and respectful. He didnt use derogatory or sexist terms to describe the woman he saw. He said one of the classiest compliments you can give, that someone is beautiful. Refreshing to hear a young man use these terms, even if it did cause him extreme embarrassment. The other thing thats great about this is how embarrassed he gets. Its adorable to see this humble player get embarrassed by his comment.

While we all love buzzer-beaters and Cinderella stories, this may be one of the best moments to come out of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.