Play ball!

And Jordan pegs the first batter! Way to go, Jordan! 8 more like that and we'll win the CUSA dodgeball championship! Oh wait...

Jordan gets a fly out to RF then strikes out the #3 hitter on a 3-2 pitch. Hit-and-run was on, and Perrott's throw skipped off the mark. Successful stolen base. Then an inning-ending towering fly out. On to B1!

(Dare I say it?)... Let's go, bats!

JP says the UCF pitcher--Ben Lively, their usual Friday night starter--is top-10 nationally in ERA. GT says it's a tidy 0.61 though 59.1 innings. Not too shabby. If y'know, you're into that kinda thing...

Byrd flies out. Then Stringer crushes a 1-out double! Way to go! Ford coming up.

EDIT: Lively quickly gets two strikes on Ford, but Ford continues to foul off 0-2 pitches. Then grounds out to 2B. Stringer hustles to 3B. At a minimum, good job advancing the runner.

(04-13-2013 02:10 PM)smackdaddy Wrote:  JP says the UCF pitcher--Ben Lively, their usual Friday night starter--is top-10 nationally in ERA. GT says it's a tidy 0.61 though 59.1 innings. Not too shabby. If y'know, you're into that kinda thing...

But against our hot hitting owls, his ERA will be shredded.

WOOHOO!! Stringer scores on a wild pitch! Rice up 1-0!

Now THAT is why little things like advancing the runner matter (grounding to right side of the infield rather than the left side, in this case). Huge run against this guy. Great job, Owls. Huge hit by Christian; nice job by Ford.

Perfect advertisement for the benefits of small ball. Put pressure on the defense and the pitcher.

(04-13-2013 02:12 PM)Ranger Wrote:  

(04-13-2013 02:10 PM)smackdaddy Wrote:  JP says the UCF pitcher--Ben Lively, their usual Friday night starter--is top-10 nationally in ERA. GT says it's a tidy 0.61 though 59.1 innings. Not too shabby. If y'know, you're into that kinda thing...

But against our hot hitting owls, his ERA will be shredded.

Yeah, Stringer just obliterated his WHIP! If you listen closely on the radio, you can faintly hear Lively crying from the dugout. Tough luck, kid.

(04-13-2013 02:18 PM)Ranger Wrote:  Perfect advertisement for the benefits of small ball. Put pressure on the defense and the pitcher.

Exactly, my friend. Exactly.

Alright!
Nice to get on the board early against this elite UCF pitcher.

DOUBLE PLAY!! Great job, Shane, Ford, and Blake!!

After giving up a full count walk, Jordan Stephens keeps dealing and gets the less-orthodox "3 up, 3 down." Gotta love that Owl defense. Keep it up, guys!

And Cook leads off B2 with a single! Lively can't believe it! "Who are these guys?" he seems to be muttering on the mound.

EDIT: And more small-ball from the Owls. Ratterree moves Cook to 2B with a sac bunt to the right of Lively. Now we've got two shots to knock home Keenan. Let's do it! This guy's meat!

EDIT: And once again, a groundball advances the runner. 2 outs, but Cook on 3B. Time for a trademark Lively wild pitch.

Fox pops foul to the UCF 1B. Inning over. 1-0 Owls speeding to the T3.

(04-13-2013 02:24 PM)smackdaddy Wrote:  And Cook leads off B2 with a single! Lively can't believe it! "Who are these guys?" he seems to be muttering on the mound.

EDIT: And more small-ball from the Owls. Ratterree moves Cook to 2B with a sac bunt to the right of Lively. Now we've got two shots to knock home Keenan. Let's do it! This guy's meat!

EDIT: And once again, a groundball advances the runner. 2 outs, but Cook on 3B. Time for a trademark Lively wild pitch.

And once again...

I wonder what percentage of our sac bunts result in a run, what the average percentage is across college baseball, and how we compare.

(04-13-2013 02:28 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(04-13-2013 02:24 PM)smackdaddy Wrote:  And Cook leads off B2 with a single! Lively can't believe it! "Who are these guys?" he seems to be muttering on the mound.

EDIT: And more small-ball from the Owls. Ratterree moves Cook to 2B with a sac bunt to the right of Lively. Now we've got two shots to knock home Keenan. Let's do it! This guy's meat!

EDIT: And once again, a groundball advances the runner. 2 outs, but Cook on 3B. Time for a trademark Lively wild pitch.

And once again...

Heyyyyyyy. What happened to "Optimistic" Owl?? For the record, when I said "this guy's meat," what I meant, of course, was that Lively is a delicious prime rib basting in his own succulent juices. Hmm, maybe that doesn't sound so good...

T3: A couple of groundballs to Stainback, followed by a 2-out walk.

EDIT: Then another stolen base for their #1 hitter, Woods; his second of the game. Then...HR. Dang. Jordan's 2-out walk comes back to bite him. Owls now down 2-1. Every run is huge against Lively.

(04-13-2013 02:33 PM)smackdaddy Wrote:  

(04-13-2013 02:28 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(04-13-2013 02:24 PM)smackdaddy Wrote:  And Cook leads off B2 with a single! Lively can't believe it! "Who are these guys?" he seems to be muttering on the mound.

EDIT: And more small-ball from the Owls. Ratterree moves Cook to 2B with a sac bunt to the right of Lively. Now we've got two shots to knock home Keenan. Let's do it! This guy's meat!

EDIT: And once again, a groundball advances the runner. 2 outs, but Cook on 3B. Time for a trademark Lively wild pitch.

And once again...

Heyyyyyyy. What happened to "Optimistic" Owl?? For the record, when I said "this guy's meat," what I meant, of course, was that Lively is a delicious prime rib basting in his own succulent juices. Hmm, maybe that doesn't sound so good...

Optimistic and blind are not the same. FTR, I am generally optimistic in all phases of my life, but that doesn't mean I drive 90 in a 50 zone on the expectation that cops are someplace else.

After last night's failures and the second inning failure today, I was just wondering how well we were doing at our chosen offense.

How come I keep thinking about Santo and Johnny's song, Sleepwalk, whenever I follow these games.