UC's starting pitcher allowed WKU to hit for the cycle in the 3rd inning but then calmed down after that. He's been replaced.

UC is not hitting well and still striking out a lot (7 times today so far).

Those averages are through three games.

I don't care who is pitching, when you put out a lineup that has only two players over .200 it is going to be a long season!

(02-26-2016 03:00 PM)Bearcat Otto Wrote:  Those averages are through three games.

I don't care who is pitching, when you put out a lineup that has only two players over .200 it is going to be a long season!

It's not looking good so far, that's for sure.

The strikeouts were a problem last year and it looks like nothing has changed there. UC batters have struck out 8 times today.

I talked to a good friend that is a big time LSU baseball fan and watched all 3 games. He said that he thought that the batting would be ok. He was more worried about our pitching thru the season than the bats. He told me that we needed a pitching coach. Told him that Neal was a pitching coach at IU before being HC here. Plus I don't think we have the money like LSU to have just a pitching coach.

UC loses 5-2.

Just did a little research...

Through four games UC has had 136 at bats and struck out 44 times. That is 33% of the total ab's we don't touch the ball!!! You can't win like that. Knotholers have a better average putting the ball in play.

While we were striking out 44 times we only walked 13 times. We would be better off not swinging and hope the opponents pitcher is as bad as our hitters.

Another extra inning loss to Georgia in the 10th.

Another 14 strikeouts!!! Pitiful.

How about we bunt every at-bat? At least we would make the opponent make a play. Of course you have to touch the ball to make that work, though.

Extra innings vs Georgia and LSU? It sucks but i cant help but think those wouldve been monster blowouts in years past.

Tough start to the year, but theyve played some high level competition. It takes time, especially in this sport.

This is the beginning of Neal's third year. It doesn't take that much time.

If you cannot recruit contact hitters then you will continue to see 33% strike out ratios all year long.

Georgia pitchers walked only two batters. That coupled with our strike outs tells me that our guys were swinging and missing at balls not in the zone. That is basic baseball 101. Know the strike zone!

I see nothing from this coaching staff that will contribute to UC improving over the next few years.

(02-28-2016 10:40 AM)Bearcat Otto Wrote:  This is the beginning of Neal's third year. It doesn't take that much time.

If you cannot recruit contact hitters then you will continue to see 33% strike out ratios all year long.

Georgia pitchers walked only two batters. That coupled with our strike outs tells me that our guys were swinging and missing at balls not in the zone. That is basic baseball 101. Know the strike zone!

I see nothing from this coaching staff that will contribute to UC improving over the next few years.

You dont see hanging with 2 SEC baseball teams an improvement over where this program was?

Its a very young team, at a very early point in the season, i know youve got some problems with Neal for some reason, but I'm not ready to kick him to the curb.

Now I'm not saying Neal is the greatest coach of all time, but since this is college baseball we're talking about here, im thinking we give this guy time to shape this program exactly how he sees fit. Theres no rush.

But when i see a bunch of sophomores hanging in extras with the #5 team in the country and another strong SEC program, im not exactly in panic mode yet.

Show me one area where this team has gotten better in 2+ years.

And why is it that we only have a bunch of Sophomores on the team. Did he not recruit in year one?

That's right...I remember now. He ran off all of the decent talent he had on the team.

I remember all the people on this forum that wanted the previous coach fired because, in there opinion, they didn't see improvement. Where are they now when this guy is taking the program down the tubes?

(02-28-2016 12:09 PM)Bearcat Otto Wrote:  Show me one area where this team has gotten better in 2+ years.

And why is it that we only have a bunch of Sophomores on the team. Did he not recruit in year one?

That's right...I remember now. He ran off all of the decent talent he had on the team.

I remember all the people on this forum that wanted the previous coach fired because, in there opinion, they didn't see improvement. Where are they now when this guy is taking the program down the tubes?

How much further down could it go?

All the decent talent? Like the what, 9th overall pick or something, in Ian Happ who played two years under Neal. If thats the kind of talent that wants to stay and play for Neal, then I'm cool with that.

Another 1 run loss.

I was lucky enough to head to Athens this last weekend to watch the game vs. Georgia. Took my 7yo daughter and we toured around UGA's campus. Got to sneak into the baskeball arean as the men's game finished as we arrived. My daughter was able to sneak between some bars into the football stadium to get some decent picks "Between the Hedges". UGA's campus really reminds me of Cincinnati's campus.

Back to baseball. This is a young team. Very young, but I can see the talent. This team is better than the record indicates. They've lost 3 games to the #5 team in the country, 1 game to a team that should crack the top 25 soon, and another strong SEC team. The only hiccup I see is the Western Kentucky game.

I think Ty is going to succeed here.

As for the comment above about all the strikeouts, I'm OK with it. Swing the bat. Be aggressive. The young players will get better and gain discipline with the experience. Cleary took the "don't swing until you have 2 strikes" approach with a lot of his players. Those years turned out 15 wins.

You can't walk your way to the big leagues (well, unless your last name is Youkilis).

I will say this about baseball overall (it also pertains to FB and BB as well...):
I am a fan of sound fundamentals. "Small ball", in the long-run, wins. I am not saying that I don't like an aggressive approach to batting, but I prefer contact hitters as opposed to the massive HR-sluggers. Adam Dunn used to drive me nuts when he played for the Reds. Yeah, he'd hit big, but more-times-than-not he went down swinging wildly at a pitch rather than hitting for contact and making the other team field and throw him out.

That's just me. I'd prefer to see a team lose in a game where they had two-digit numbers of hits as opposed to losing with only one or two hits but those hits being HR's. I like to see baserunners. Paraphrasing (and recasting) Kevin Costner's advice in Bull Durham, make them hit some grounders; strikeouts are fascist. Make the other team play defense...simply striking out makes it too easy for the other team.

(Similar in FB and BB... Make the other team work.)

(02-29-2016 11:08 AM)Bearcat25 Wrote:  I was lucky enough to head to Athens this last weekend to watch the game vs. Georgia. Took my 7yo daughter and we toured around UGA's campus. Got to sneak into the baskeball arean as the men's game finished as we arrived. My daughter was able to sneak between some bars into the football stadium to get some decent picks "Between the Hedges". UGA's campus really reminds me of Cincinnati's campus.

Back to baseball. This is a young team. Very young, but I can see the talent. This team is better than the record indicates. They've lost 3 games to the #5 team in the country, 1 game to a team that should crack the top 25 soon, and another strong SEC team. The only hiccup I see is the Western Kentucky game.

I think Ty is going to succeed here.

As for the comment above about all the strikeouts, I'm OK with it. Swing the bat. Be aggressive. The young players will get better and gain discipline with the experience. Cleary took the "don't swing until you have 2 strikes" approach with a lot of his players. Those years turned out 15 wins.

You can't walk your way to the big leagues (well, unless your last name is Youkilis).

It's the beginning of year three for this staff.

When do you think the young players should start to improve on making contact? year 4? 5? maybe 6 or 7?

^hmmm wonder where Ive heard this type of talk. Cant put my finger on it....

(02-29-2016 11:47 AM)Bearcat Otto Wrote:  

(02-29-2016 11:08 AM)Bearcat25 Wrote:  I was lucky enough to head to Athens this last weekend to watch the game vs. Georgia. Took my 7yo daughter and we toured around UGA's campus. Got to sneak into the baskeball arean as the men's game finished as we arrived. My daughter was able to sneak between some bars into the football stadium to get some decent picks "Between the Hedges". UGA's campus really reminds me of Cincinnati's campus.

Back to baseball. This is a young team. Very young, but I can see the talent. This team is better than the record indicates. They've lost 3 games to the #5 team in the country, 1 game to a team that should crack the top 25 soon, and another strong SEC team. The only hiccup I see is the Western Kentucky game.

I think Ty is going to succeed here.

As for the comment above about all the strikeouts, I'm OK with it. Swing the bat. Be aggressive. The young players will get better and gain discipline with the experience. Cleary took the "don't swing until you have 2 strikes" approach with a lot of his players. Those years turned out 15 wins.

You can't walk your way to the big leagues (well, unless your last name is Youkilis).

It's the beginning of year three for this staff.

When do you think the young players should start to improve on making contact? year 4? 5? maybe 6 or 7?

Seriously? Year 3 and you want the guy canned? And this is baseball for goodness sake (and yes, I'm a former player). He has a young team and should be given the opportunity to turn it around. Sheesh.

Could you imagine if Duke canned Krzyzewski after his first three seasons finishing 17-13, 10-17, and 11-17?

Otto- just curious but were you or your son one of the Cleary players "chased off" by Coach Neal? I am not trying to flame but you have been noticeably critical from day one.