On February, 20, 2009, in response to the need for budget cuts, the University of Vermont athletic department chose to eliminate the varsity baseball and softball programs after the 2008-2009 academic year.
Each of the programs has been a loyal mainstay on baseball and softball scenes within the state, as well in department lore. Baseball was the first program started at the university and consistently has one of the highest amount of native Vermonters on its roster.
Marqus Blakely’s second foul was Evan Fjeld’s golden opportunity.
The University of Vermont sophomore forward was thrust into action just 2 minutes, 35 seconds into Sunday’s men’s basketball game against New Hampshire when the reigning America East Conference’s player of year went to the bench with two fouls.
New Hampshire coach Bill Herrion summed up Fjeld’s performance after UVM rolled to a 72-56 win over the Wildcats at sold-out Patrick Gym.
“The Fjeld kid killed us,” he said. “Just killed us.”
Fjeld (pronounced Fee-eld) racked up a career-high 18 points, knocking down all seven of his field-goal attempts and converting 4 of 7 foul shots in 22 minutes. He scored 10 of his points in the first half while Blakely sat on the bench with a towel draped over his shoulders.
Fjeld’s contribution, combined with a balanced offense and suffocating pressure defense, led UVM to its fifth consecutive victory, vaulting the Catamounts (14-6) into a tie with Binghamton for first place in the America East with a 5-2 mark.
“We were struggling at the beginning of conference (play) and lost two in row. Some people might have said Vermont is not all that good, not living up to the hype, but I think we’ve played well over the last five games,” Fjeld said. “We put ourselves at the front of the conference.
“We put ourselves in a great position.”
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