Oh well. Let's win the next 4 at home and keep that streak going.

Rice offense inefficient but did manage 10 hits. 3 runs was not nearly enough to keep up with the Bearkat slugfest. 15 hits for them.

Well SHSU sure had our number this year.

(03-26-2013 09:11 PM)texd Wrote:  Well SHSU sure had our number this year.

And last year. 4 of last 5.

(03-26-2013 09:30 PM)HooCares Wrote:  

(03-26-2013 09:11 PM)texd Wrote:  Well SHSU sure had our number this year.

And last year. 4 of last 5.

I was at the game tonight and that's what I said to myself after the 2nd 4 run inning in the 8th. Y'all made it close and we answered. Gotta say I was pretty surprised at the outcome. Now that the conference schedule has started I figure we should see SHSU's record start to climb as we face lesser competition. So hopefully I'll get to see us play again in the offseason. Good game!

I think it's a good thing that the weekend series was moved up to Thursday - Saturday; thereby allowing the team to get back on the field and put this game behind them ASAP. If it's any consolation, Tulane get schooled by LSU yesterday 14-1, in a game that was effectively over after the first inning (5-0).

The conference games are the all-important ones; we simply need to keep winning the weekend series and, hopefully, get 2 - 3 CUSA sweeps in along the way. Go Owls!

Rice BB is not what was in the past. This is a down year. Just accept it. It happenes to everyone. I bet we drop out of the top 20. Good news though CUSA is pretty poor this year except for Houston is having a good year. We still have a chance to win the Conference.

(03-27-2013 01:19 PM)OldOwl Wrote:  Rice BB is not what was in the past. This is a down year. Just accept it. It happenes to everyone. I bet we drop out of the top 20. Good news though CUSA is pretty poor this year except for Houston is having a good year. We still have a chance to win the Conference.

We're 18-9. And we are going take care of our business against Tulane.

(03-27-2013 01:27 PM)d1owls4life Wrote:  

(03-27-2013 01:19 PM)OldOwl Wrote:  Rice BB is not what was in the past. This is a down year. Just accept it. It happenes to everyone. I bet we drop out of the top 20. Good news though CUSA is pretty poor this year except for Houston is having a good year. We still have a chance to win the Conference.

We're 18-9. And we are going take care of our business against Tulane.

+1. So long as we win the weekend series, we're still on solid ground.

Man, and we think Ag or Texas fans can be bad sometimes...

Until we completely drop out of any sort of ranking, or have a losing overall week, can we keep the noise down?

Yes, we aren't playing Omaha winning baseball right now, but there is still a ways to go in the season.

(03-27-2013 02:17 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  Man, and we think Ag or Texas fans can be bad sometimes...

Until we completely drop out of any sort of ranking, or have a losing overall week, can we keep the noise down?

Yes, we aren't playing Omaha winning baseball right now, but there is still a ways to go in the season.

Yup. We have the pitching to beat anybody. If we can get the offense to be above average, we give ourselves a chance. Getting Hoelscher back will be huge. Someone needs to go to the radio show and ask the OG about his status.

(03-27-2013 02:18 PM)d1owls4life Wrote:  

(03-27-2013 02:17 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  Man, and we think Ag or Texas fans can be bad sometimes...

Until we completely drop out of any sort of ranking, or have a losing overall week, can we keep the noise down?

Yes, we aren't playing Omaha winning baseball right now, but there is still a ways to go in the season.

Yup. We have the pitching to beat anybody. If we can get the offense to be above average, we give ourselves a chance. Getting Hoelscher back will be huge. Someone needs to go to the radio show and ask the OG about his status.

Agreed.

I feel like with baseball, more than most other sports, the chance a great team loses to a mediocre or bad team is a lot harder. All it takes is one player to have a lights out game and you lose.

I do wish SHSU didn't have our number though...

(03-27-2013 02:41 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(03-27-2013 02:18 PM)d1owls4life Wrote:  

(03-27-2013 02:17 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  Man, and we think Ag or Texas fans can be bad sometimes...

Until we completely drop out of any sort of ranking, or have a losing overall week, can we keep the noise down?

Yes, we aren't playing Omaha winning baseball right now, but there is still a ways to go in the season.

Yup. We have the pitching to beat anybody. If we can get the offense to be above average, we give ourselves a chance. Getting Hoelscher back will be huge. Someone needs to go to the radio show and ask the OG about his status.

Agreed.

I feel like with baseball, more than most other sports, the chance a great team loses to a mediocre or bad team is a lot harder. All it takes is one player to have a lights out game and you lose.

I do wish SHSU didn't have our number though...

Just like a hot goalie can propel a hockey team to an upset, a dialed in pitcher can do the same.

(03-27-2013 02:41 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(03-27-2013 02:18 PM)d1owls4life Wrote:  

(03-27-2013 02:17 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  Man, and we think Ag or Texas fans can be bad sometimes...

Until we completely drop out of any sort of ranking, or have a losing overall week, can we keep the noise down?

Yes, we aren't playing Omaha winning baseball right now, but there is still a ways to go in the season.

Yup. We have the pitching to beat anybody. If we can get the offense to be above average, we give ourselves a chance. Getting Hoelscher back will be huge. Someone needs to go to the radio show and ask the OG about his status.

Agreed.

I feel like with baseball, more than most other sports, the chance a great team loses to a mediocre or bad team is a lot harder. All it takes is one player to have a lights out game and you lose.

I do wish SHSU didn't have our number though...

Coach is going to have an interesting decision when Shane does return. He'll undoubtedly return to 3B, with Teykl likely going to 1B/DH, but what about Ewing, who's bat may just be picking up (based on last 2 games) and who has played exceptional defensively at 1B? Remember, Aquino has been locked into the DH spot.

No question, this team can still go on a strong regular season-ending run. The starting pitching is certainly there and the offense has the potential provided with work at improving our efficiency (which means better plate discipline, more consistent bunting and improved situational hitting). However, we do need a couple more bullpen arms to begin to show some level of consistency.

(03-27-2013 02:51 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(03-27-2013 02:41 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(03-27-2013 02:18 PM)d1owls4life Wrote:  

(03-27-2013 02:17 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  Man, and we think Ag or Texas fans can be bad sometimes...

Until we completely drop out of any sort of ranking, or have a losing overall week, can we keep the noise down?

Yes, we aren't playing Omaha winning baseball right now, but there is still a ways to go in the season.

Yup. We have the pitching to beat anybody. If we can get the offense to be above average, we give ourselves a chance. Getting Hoelscher back will be huge. Someone needs to go to the radio show and ask the OG about his status.

Agreed.

I feel like with baseball, more than most other sports, the chance a great team loses to a mediocre or bad team is a lot harder. All it takes is one player to have a lights out game and you lose.

I do wish SHSU didn't have our number though...

Coach is going to have an interesting decision when Shane does return. He'll undoubtedly return to 3B, with Teykl likely going to 1B/DH, but what about Ewing, who's bat may just be picking up (based on last 2 games) and who has played exceptional defensively at 1B? Remember, Aquino has been locked into the DH spot.

No question, this team can still go on a strong regular season-ending run. The starting pitching is certainly there and the offense has the potential provided with work at improving our efficiency (which means better plate discipline, more consistent bunting and improved situational hitting). However, we do need a couple more bullpen arms to begin to show some level of consistency.

Agree on bullpen. Need someone besides Lemond. Now, if we actually groom McCanna to start, Simms can go back and help out. Otherwise, Kevin needs to figure out how to handle the role. Fox looks like a solid lefty option. Beyond that, it gets interesting. McDowell could be used in the pen for a postseason run (except in the conference tourney, where we would need 4 starters, assuming again you want Simms/McCanna in the stopper role). Mason has fallen off the map, wonder if he has gotten hurt. Rutter hasn't performed and Ditman has been inconsistent, as one would expect of someone who doesn't have much pitching experience. Maybe Jeremy Fant can be the guy as he makes his return from injury? He has experience as middle relief.

(03-27-2013 02:51 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Coach is going to have an interesting decision when Shane does return. He'll undoubtedly return to 3B, with Teykl likely going to 1B/DH, but what about Ewing, who's bat may just be picking up (based on last 2 games) and who has played exceptional defensively at 1B? Remember, Aquino has been locked into the DH spot.

Agreed. It's a positive that Teykl has some games and AB's under his belt (that he wouldn't have otherwise), but so far, he's not shown that he's a better position player, or better bat, than the regular starting infield.

(03-27-2013 04:42 PM)grol Wrote:  

(03-27-2013 02:51 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Coach is going to have an interesting decision when Shane does return. He'll undoubtedly return to 3B, with Teykl likely going to 1B/DH, but what about Ewing, who's bat may just be picking up (based on last 2 games) and who has played exceptional defensively at 1B? Remember, Aquino has been locked into the DH spot.

Agreed. It's a positive that Teykl has some games and AB's under his belt (that he wouldn't have otherwise), but so far, he's not shown that he's a better position player, or better bat, than the regular starting infield.

Lots of assumptions in the above but if Shane does return at 100% both in the field and at bat at a future date, it is good that we have until that future date to figure out who might move where...

Question and comment

Q: Is there some type of offensive efficiency metric that is considered valid, such as % of players reaching base that score? If so, is our reading on the measure lower than in past years? Is that meaningful, or is it bad luck, as in an anomalously low BABIP?

C: Kudos to Matt Ditman and Wayne Graham that he is even out there in meaningful situations--it speaks to hard work and good coaching. I'm fairly sure that no one has ever appeared on the mound for Rice with less cumulative pitching experience that Ditman. We have had other guys who were position players in high school, but they at least got some innings in Juco before becoming Owls.

(03-27-2013 04:55 PM)MemOwl Wrote:  Question and comment

Q: Is there some type of offensive efficiency metric that is considered valid, such as % of players reaching base that score? If so, is our reading on the measure lower than in past years? Is that meaningful, or is it bad luck, as in an anomalously low BABIP?

C: Kudos to Matt Ditman and Wayne Graham that he is even out there in meaningful situations--it speaks to hard work and good coaching. I'm fairly sure that no one has ever appeared on the mound for Rice with less cumulative pitching experience that Ditman. We have had other guys who were position players in high school, but they at least got some innings in Juco before becoming Owls.

Bryce Cox came here as a 3B, and was converted into an elite closer, albeit not before taking his lumps along the way.

Ditman is a faculty kid who is still listed as a catcher on the roster. Ditman, I will guess, was not recruited in the same sense that Cox must have been to gain admission from Paris JuCo.

It is possible that Cox was recruited as an IF but converted immediately and thus never appeared in a game as a position player. That strikes me as improbable, but there is likely someone on the board with first hand knowledge.