(03-02-2014 05:41 PM)greyowl72 Wrote:  We throw a two hitter at these guys and lose 2-1 because of two runs walked in during the third inning merry go round.
Rough.

No, we lost because our offense has been in a hopeless funk all week long. One earned run produced in 4 games this week. Embarrassing. No other word for it.

(03-02-2014 05:42 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  Wow, that was tough.

Although Tech won, they didn't really do anything to earn this one. All those walks to get them their two runs.

Can't understand how the Owl bats can become so quieted this year and last. I know about the new bats, but some teams are hitting with them.

Hope they can regroup for UH on Tues.

We play SHSU this week, not UH. Regardless, we'll need more than a run I suspect.

(03-02-2014 05:50 PM)Leoguy Wrote:  

(03-02-2014 05:42 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  ...Hope they can regroup for UH on Tues.

We play SHSU this week, not UH. Regardless, we'll need more than a run I suspect.

Oops! My bad. Always get those little Texas schools mixed up. Haven't exactly performed against either. Just hope we can figure out some offense.

(03-02-2014 05:43 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(03-02-2014 05:41 PM)greyowl72 Wrote:  We throw a two hitter at these guys and lose 2-1 because of two runs walked in during the third inning merry go round.
Rough.

No, we lost because our offense has been in a hopeless funk all week long. One earned run produced in 4 games this week. Embarrassing. No other word for it.

I agree Walt. I was just making the point that in our present state of microball, a timely pitching change might have kept those two Tech runs from scoring. Giving us a chance to eke out the W.
woulda coulda shoulda.

(03-02-2014 04:11 PM)d1owls4life Wrote:  That was unbelievably mismanaged. What were they waiting on? With the offense struggling the way it is, 2 runs is huge. Why let him stand out there and fail?

That young man will be a big part of Rice's future. You have to let him learn. Minute Maid the first weekend in March is not the same as a weekend in June. Sadly, even very talented freshmen are still freshmen and sometimes have freshmen experiences.

(03-02-2014 04:08 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(03-02-2014 04:04 PM)TJS_NYC Wrote:  5 walks in the inning? How long will this be allowed to go on?

Never could get his FB over. He kept flying open and everything was outside. Had a chance to throw a 3 ball breaking pitch to the next to last hitter(RH hitter) but didn't and guess they didn't want to throw a breakng ball at all to the last LH hitter.

Do you think everyone is trying to do just a little bit more than they should, like breaking off first to get a good jump instead of watching the line drive go through?

(03-02-2014 04:42 PM)SpaceCityBuzz Wrote:  

(03-02-2014 04:22 PM)TJS_NYC Wrote:  

(03-02-2014 04:20 PM)greyowl72 Wrote:  

(03-02-2014 04:11 PM)d1owls4life Wrote:  That was unbelievably mismanaged. What were they waiting on? With the offense struggling the way it is, 2 runs is huge. Why let him stand out there and fail?

My feelings exactly. We've scored one run in 22 innings.
Duplantier stayed in too long.

Seems like status quo for the offense today.

Sometimes it's hard for our fans to remember why we play these games in MMP and take on some tough opponents. We're hoping that Jon D (as countless others) will gain some experience that will be useful on the Road to (and in) Omaha. That's why we play the games. That's why Michael A (and others) might be attempting to lay down a two strike bunt. Delayed gratification!

I am guilty of wanting it all and wanting it now, but I hear you. Last year Rice went 0-3 at Minute Maid and still got to a super regional.

(03-02-2014 06:43 PM)13thOwl Wrote:  

(03-02-2014 04:11 PM)d1owls4life Wrote:  That was unbelievably mismanaged. What were they waiting on? With the offense struggling the way it is, 2 runs is huge. Why let him stand out there and fail?

That young man will be a big part of Rice's future. You have to let him learn. Minute Maid the first weekend in March is not the same as a weekend in June. Sadly, even very talented freshmen are still freshmen and sometimes have freshmen experiences.

No one's debating that, 13th...and he's a big part of Rice's present, as well as future. However, do you really need to leave him in after he threw 16 balls in 17 pitches? Are you really expecting a sudden righting of the ship and strike throwing. Strange, 'cause Jon has outstanding control, but it was clear to just about everyone after the 3rd consecutive walk that he had lost it.

(03-02-2014 06:48 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(03-02-2014 06:43 PM)13thOwl Wrote:  

(03-02-2014 04:11 PM)d1owls4life Wrote:  That was unbelievably mismanaged. What were they waiting on? With the offense struggling the way it is, 2 runs is huge. Why let him stand out there and fail?

That young man will be a big part of Rice's future. You have to let him learn. Minute Maid the first weekend in March is not the same as a weekend in June. Sadly, even very talented freshmen are still freshmen and sometimes have freshmen experiences.

No one's debating that, 13th...and he's a big part of Rice's present, as well as future. However, do you really need to leave him in after he threw 16 balls in 17 pitches? Are you really expecting a sudden righting of the ship and strike throwing. Strange, 'cause Jon has outstanding control, but it was clear to just about everyone after the 3rd consecutive walk that he had lost it.

Sometimes you have to measure the want to. Sometimes you may not be able to measure the want to because the life experiences in dealing with adversity have not developed methods for righting the ship. You learn more from defeat than you do victory.

While it may have been clear to you and just about everyone that he had lost it. I kept hoping the kid would take a deep breath, focus on his fundamentals and right the ship. I would be a terrible pitching coach because I would believe in my pitcher and think he could bow his neck and get through a rough spot.

I don't think anybody is blaming Duplantier. It wasn't his day. Happens in baseball all the time.
The decision to leave him in after totally losing his control is what has me scratching my head. I think the coach thought he would regain his control. He realized at some point that it wasn't gonna happen. I'll bet he wishes he had come to that realization a bit earlier.
Oh, well. Lets reorganize and beat SHSU.

Baugh and Townsend had some innings like that early in their career and were allowed to pitch through it. I think Graham handled it fine.

(03-02-2014 06:48 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(03-02-2014 06:43 PM)13thOwl Wrote:  

(03-02-2014 04:11 PM)d1owls4life Wrote:  That was unbelievably mismanaged. What were they waiting on? With the offense struggling the way it is, 2 runs is huge. Why let him stand out there and fail?

That young man will be a big part of Rice's future. You have to let him learn. Minute Maid the first weekend in March is not the same as a weekend in June. Sadly, even very talented freshmen are still freshmen and sometimes have freshmen experiences.

No one's debating that, 13th...and he's a big part of Rice's present, as well as future. However, do you really need to leave him in after he threw 16 balls in 17 pitches? Are you really expecting a sudden righting of the ship and strike throwing. Strange, 'cause Jon has outstanding control, but it was clear to just about everyone after the 3rd consecutive walk that he had lost it.

I guess I would have thought that the staff would have been a bit quicker with the hook since from the start of the game Jon had trouble throwing the FB for a strike...yes he did get some strikes but for the most part he was missing. I kept waiting on the two walks to see a breaking ball. Sometimes if you can't get the FB over you throw a breaking ball.

Just a bad weekend and some poor ball (mainly on offense) since the second Stanford game...I don't really count the one Purdue game. We should be completely out of the Top 25 and maybe that is a good thing. I would give the team a break and just tell them to meet the bus to go to Sam and get away from the ballpark for a bit.

Normally you win if you hold the other team to 2 runs.

(03-02-2014 05:43 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(03-02-2014 05:41 PM)greyowl72 Wrote:  We throw a two hitter at these guys and lose 2-1 because of two runs walked in during the third inning merry go round.
Rough.

No, we lost because our offense has been in a hopeless funk all week long. One earned run produced in 4 games this week. Embarrassing. No other word for it.

Having watched all three of the Rice games in last year’s and this year’s college classic, I find myself much more encouraged by our performance this year (hopefully adjusting for the freezing-my-tail-off factor from last year). Last year, after the first game, our pitching and defense were not nearly as solid as they were this year – a total of four runs allowed in three games against top-25 competition and zero errors is pretty solid. And I came away feeling like even though we scored only two runs, we weren’t as helpless on offense as we were last year. Particularly against Tech we collected seven hits and hit the ball solidly several other times, just right at someone. I liked our aggressiveness on the base paths and overall hustle. We have many more quality opponents on the remaining schedule than we did last year – if we start winning games we’ll be fine. I’m looking forward to the rest of the year. Go Owls!

The local newspaper reported that Tech had not beaten us since 1996. That jogged my memory..Tiki commented earlier in this thread that they hadn't beaten us "since the last century".
To add insult to injury, yesterday's game was the first time in 14 years that Tech had a win with only two hits.

(03-03-2014 11:55 AM)greyowl72 Wrote:  The local newspaper reported that Tech had not beaten us since 1996. That jogged my memory..Tiki commented earlier in this thread that they hadn't beaten us "since the last century".
To add insult to injury, yesterday's game was the first time in 14 years that Tech had a win with only two hits.

If memory serves, 1996 was the year where Rice regressed from the top 4 in the SWC, but all SWC teams made it to the tourney in Lubbock, and Rice came out on top to make it to the NCAA Tourney for the first time. They then went to Baton Rouge, eliminated LSU and lost to eventual national champion Cal State Fullerton. Or, maybe that was 1995.

But, Rice did have quite a streak of winning tournaments in Lubbock around that time.