(04-10-2016 06:07 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 05:52 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 05:46 PM)Howlomaha Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 05:39 PM)HawaiiOwl Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 05:25 PM)Howlomaha Wrote:  MTSU handed them the game. Complete BS. Going to come down to the series anyway.

Time to prove that we are the better team!

Rice is the better team period. Look at their schedule! Weak as hell. Whenever they play a good team it is a loss except for Auburn. You can't compare both teams schedules.

They've also gotten awfully lucky in getting gifted 9th inning meltdowns on several occassions in conference. Odds are that luck will eventually run out. I believe today is the second consecutive weekend they have pulled victory from defeat thanks to a walkathon by the opposing bullpen (or an error-fest).

They have a couple other nice wins.. Bama, Michigan State (Best team in B1G this year)... They then have a lot of wins against "decent teams" like SELA, Samford, NW St... They are 11-3 against 51-100.. By comparison, we are 9-4 against that group.

They give up a ton of runs.

(04-10-2016 06:15 PM)Howlomaha Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 06:07 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 05:52 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 05:46 PM)Howlomaha Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 05:39 PM)HawaiiOwl Wrote:  Time to prove that we are the better team!

Rice is the better team period. Look at their schedule! Weak as hell. Whenever they play a good team it is a loss except for Auburn. You can't compare both teams schedules.

They've also gotten awfully lucky in getting gifted 9th inning meltdowns on several occassions in conference. Odds are that luck will eventually run out. I believe today is the second consecutive weekend they have pulled victory from defeat thanks to a walkathon by the opposing bullpen (or an error-fest).

They have a couple other nice wins.. Bama, Michigan State (Best team in B1G this year)... They then have a lot of wins against "decent teams" like SELA, Samford, NW St... They are 11-3 against 51-100.. By comparison, we are 9-4 against that group.

They give up a ton of runs.

I'm not really sure what the earlier reference to us "getting gifted" ninth inning meltdowns on several occasions is about. Obviously today but we've pretty much blown everyone out in conference. In fact, my biggest concern is that we haven't played enough close games. We rallied against UTSA in the ninth but we got two walks, a sac bunt, and then a two-run double from our best player off a pitcher that we blasted on Sunday. Definitely not "gifted" that one.

Hell, we gave away our one conference loss in just as spectacular a fashion as MTSU today.

We give up a ton of runs in the middle of the week. On the weekend, our pitching is solidly in the "average" category. We've given up 61 runs in 9 midweek games. 98 in 24 weekend games. We lack quality depth on the mound, and Berry has wisely shown restraint in not burning up our top relievers in weekday games.

I think we are probably a solid 2 or 3 seed in a Regional with that as our ceiling. We're probably the standard 1-2 or 2-2 team in a Regional that isn't much of a threat to win it. We have shown that we can consistently beat average to pretty good competition. I don't think we have the pitching to deal with Top 30-40 type teams.

Our flaws are:
-No idea what we can do against good pitching. None. Next week against UAB will be interesting to see how we respond to not being able to score at will. Is this an offense that can tee off on average pitching but get absolutely shut down by good pitching? That's possible. Especially without Braley and it becoming clear that Hadley will continue struggling with his hip flexor, there are question marks.
-Our starting pitchers, even if they are "on," struggle to go deep into games. If Cockrell gives us seven, we are happy. Johnson has the ability to go the distance. McCarty probably has less endurance than Cockrell and generally has high pitch counts. As the ODU series showed, that can kill you against Rice. And hell, even their "on" isn't dominant like McMahon, Fisk, Carroll (at times), Pierce, Drehoff, McInnis, or guys we've had before. Generally, you're hoping for two or three runs in six or seven innings of work.
-Add that problem with a lack of quality middle relief. Getting the ball from a starter's hand to Sandlin (our 145-pound freshman closer) will be an issue in close games. Unfortunately, it isn't due to a lack of experience or talent. Guys like Winston and Livingston will be drafted. But our coaching staff has struggled to develop high school talent.

Rice is probably the perfect team to expose these problems. We aren't the type of team that will win 2-0, 2-1, 3-2 games. I'll be happy if we get one.

(04-10-2016 06:14 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 06:07 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 05:52 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 05:46 PM)Howlomaha Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 05:39 PM)HawaiiOwl Wrote:  Time to prove that we are the better team!

Rice is the better team period. Look at their schedule! Weak as hell. Whenever they play a good team it is a loss except for Auburn. You can't compare both teams schedules.

They've also gotten awfully lucky in getting gifted 9th inning meltdowns on several occassions in conference. Odds are that luck will eventually run out. I believe today is the second consecutive weekend they have pulled victory from defeat thanks to a walkathon by the opposing bullpen (or an error-fest).

They have a couple other nice wins.. Bama, Michigan State (Best team in B1G this year)... They then have a lot of wins against "decent teams" like SELA, Samford, NW St... They are 11-3 against 51-100.. By comparison, we are 9-4 against that group.

PLEASE! How much you wanna bet that Samford and NW State are not Top 100 by season's end? Northwestern State is #33 in RPI right now with just a 17-15 record. That's not going to last. Samford is #71 with an 18-14 record. That's not going to last either. Michigan St. has a good record and a #188 SoS. Big Whoopie. Again, I'm not saying USM is not a Top 25 caliber team, but they've played a largely powderpuff schedule to date, and have lucked out of a handful of wins. They're not invincible by any means.

Go ahead and say it. they are clearly not a top 25 team period a this point.

(04-10-2016 08:18 PM)eaglenjxn Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 06:15 PM)Howlomaha Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 06:07 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 05:52 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 05:46 PM)Howlomaha Wrote:  Rice is the better team period. Look at their schedule! Weak as hell. Whenever they play a good team it is a loss except for Auburn. You can't compare both teams schedules.

They've also gotten awfully lucky in getting gifted 9th inning meltdowns on several occassions in conference. Odds are that luck will eventually run out. I believe today is the second consecutive weekend they have pulled victory from defeat thanks to a walkathon by the opposing bullpen (or an error-fest).

They have a couple other nice wins.. Bama, Michigan State (Best team in B1G this year)... They then have a lot of wins against "decent teams" like SELA, Samford, NW St... They are 11-3 against 51-100.. By comparison, we are 9-4 against that group.

They give up a ton of runs.

I'm not really sure what the earlier reference to us "getting gifted" ninth inning meltdowns on several occasions is about. Obviously today but we've pretty much blown everyone out in conference. In fact, my biggest concern is that we haven't played enough close games. We rallied against UTSA in the ninth but we got two walks, a sac bunt, and then a two-run double from our best player off a pitcher that we blasted on Sunday. Definitely not "gifted" that one.

Hell, we gave away our one conference loss in just as spectacular a fashion as MTSU today.

We give up a ton of runs in the middle of the week. On the weekend, our pitching is solidly in the "average" category. We've given up 61 runs in 9 midweek games. 98 in 24 weekend games. We lack quality depth on the mound, and Berry has wisely shown restraint in not burning up our top relievers in weekday games.

I think we are probably a solid 2 or 3 seed in a Regional with that as our ceiling. We're probably the standard 1-2 or 2-2 team in a Regional that isn't much of a threat to win it. We have shown that we can consistently beat average to pretty good competition. I don't think we have the pitching to deal with Top 30-40 type teams.

Our flaws are:
-No idea what we can do against good pitching. None. Next week against UAB will be interesting to see how we respond to not being able to score at will. Is this an offense that can tee off on average pitching but get absolutely shut down by good pitching? That's possible. Especially without Braley and it becoming clear that Hadley will continue struggling with his hip flexor, there are question marks.
-Our starting pitchers, even if they are "on," struggle to go deep into games. If Cockrell gives us seven, we are happy. Johnson has the ability to go the distance. McCarty probably has less endurance than Cockrell and generally has high pitch counts. As the ODU series showed, that can kill you against Rice. And hell, even their "on" isn't dominant like McMahon, Fisk, Carroll (at times), Pierce, Drehoff, McInnis, or guys we've had before. Generally, you're hoping for two or three runs in six or seven innings of work.
-Add that problem with a lack of quality middle relief. Getting the ball from a starter's hand to Sandlin (our 145-pound freshman closer) will be an issue in close games. Unfortunately, it isn't due to a lack of experience or talent. Guys like Winston and Livingston will be drafted. But our coaching staff has struggled to develop high school talent.

Rice is probably the perfect team to expose these problems. We aren't the type of team that will win 2-0, 2-1, 3-2 games. I'll be happy if we get one.

Thanks for the insight. Sounds like Rice is the polar opposite team to USM. We have exceptional starting pitching (Duplantier, Fox, Salinas, Amador) that will keep us in every game, along with one elite reliever (Otto) and another one (Myers) who's becoming a reliable 1 - 2 inning option....but absolutely no bullpen depth beyond that. And our offense is hit or miss, but mostly missing in action, even against sub-par pitching (e.g., at MTSU last weekend)....and we are close to inept at manufacturing runs. Consequently, we can beat anybody (as reflected in our 8-6 record against Top 50 opponents), but also lose to anybody. The good news for us is the our defense has really solidified after averaging 3+ errors per game the first 2 weeks of the season.

(04-10-2016 08:54 PM)Howlomaha Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 06:14 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 06:07 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 05:52 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 05:46 PM)Howlomaha Wrote:  Rice is the better team period. Look at their schedule! Weak as hell. Whenever they play a good team it is a loss except for Auburn. You can't compare both teams schedules.

They've also gotten awfully lucky in getting gifted 9th inning meltdowns on several occassions in conference. Odds are that luck will eventually run out. I believe today is the second consecutive weekend they have pulled victory from defeat thanks to a walkathon by the opposing bullpen (or an error-fest).

They have a couple other nice wins.. Bama, Michigan State (Best team in B1G this year)... They then have a lot of wins against "decent teams" like SELA, Samford, NW St... They are 11-3 against 51-100.. By comparison, we are 9-4 against that group.

PLEASE! How much you wanna bet that Samford and NW State are not Top 100 by season's end? Northwestern State is #33 in RPI right now with just a 17-15 record. That's not going to last. Samford is #71 with an 18-14 record. That's not going to last either. Michigan St. has a good record and a #188 SoS. Big Whoopie. Again, I'm not saying USM is not a Top 25 caliber team, but they've played a largely powderpuff schedule to date, and have lucked out of a handful of wins. They're not invincible by any means.

Go ahead and say it. they are clearly not a top 25 team period a this point.

I'll say it. No way in hell are we a Top 25 team.

For him to refer to our schedule as "powder puff" is obvious hyperbole. If you don't want to call it strong, fine. It isn't. But to this point, we've really only played three games against a definitively bad team (EIU). Other than that, we have played average to above average teams. Marquee wins? Absolutely not. But we've also played a schedule in which there really aren't any "off" nights.

I don't suppose @houstonsports16 informed @keithlaw that Otto didn't pitch this weekend. I can't tell since the tweets are now protected.

(04-10-2016 09:10 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 08:18 PM)eaglenjxn Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 06:15 PM)Howlomaha Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 06:07 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 05:52 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  They've also gotten awfully lucky in getting gifted 9th inning meltdowns on several occassions in conference. Odds are that luck will eventually run out. I believe today is the second consecutive weekend they have pulled victory from defeat thanks to a walkathon by the opposing bullpen (or an error-fest).

They have a couple other nice wins.. Bama, Michigan State (Best team in B1G this year)... They then have a lot of wins against "decent teams" like SELA, Samford, NW St... They are 11-3 against 51-100.. By comparison, we are 9-4 against that group.

They give up a ton of runs.

I'm not really sure what the earlier reference to us "getting gifted" ninth inning meltdowns on several occasions is about. Obviously today but we've pretty much blown everyone out in conference. In fact, my biggest concern is that we haven't played enough close games. We rallied against UTSA in the ninth but we got two walks, a sac bunt, and then a two-run double from our best player off a pitcher that we blasted on Sunday. Definitely not "gifted" that one.

Hell, we gave away our one conference loss in just as spectacular a fashion as MTSU today.

We give up a ton of runs in the middle of the week. On the weekend, our pitching is solidly in the "average" category. We've given up 61 runs in 9 midweek games. 98 in 24 weekend games. We lack quality depth on the mound, and Berry has wisely shown restraint in not burning up our top relievers in weekday games.

I think we are probably a solid 2 or 3 seed in a Regional with that as our ceiling. We're probably the standard 1-2 or 2-2 team in a Regional that isn't much of a threat to win it. We have shown that we can consistently beat average to pretty good competition. I don't think we have the pitching to deal with Top 30-40 type teams.

Our flaws are:
-No idea what we can do against good pitching. None. Next week against UAB will be interesting to see how we respond to not being able to score at will. Is this an offense that can tee off on average pitching but get absolutely shut down by good pitching? That's possible. Especially without Braley and it becoming clear that Hadley will continue struggling with his hip flexor, there are question marks.
-Our starting pitchers, even if they are "on," struggle to go deep into games. If Cockrell gives us seven, we are happy. Johnson has the ability to go the distance. McCarty probably has less endurance than Cockrell and generally has high pitch counts. As the ODU series showed, that can kill you against Rice. And hell, even their "on" isn't dominant like McMahon, Fisk, Carroll (at times), Pierce, Drehoff, McInnis, or guys we've had before. Generally, you're hoping for two or three runs in six or seven innings of work.
-Add that problem with a lack of quality middle relief. Getting the ball from a starter's hand to Sandlin (our 145-pound freshman closer) will be an issue in close games. Unfortunately, it isn't due to a lack of experience or talent. Guys like Winston and Livingston will be drafted. But our coaching staff has struggled to develop high school talent.

Rice is probably the perfect team to expose these problems. We aren't the type of team that will win 2-0, 2-1, 3-2 games. I'll be happy if we get one.

Thanks for the insight. Sounds like Rice is the polar opposite team to USM. We have exceptional starting pitching (Duplantier, Fox, Salinas, Amador) that will keep us in every game, along with one elite reliever (Otto) and another one (Myers) who's becoming a reliable 1 - 2 inning option....but absolutely no bullpen depth beyond that. And our offense is hit or miss, but mostly missing in action, even against sub-par pitching (e.g., at MTSU last weekend)....and we are close to inept at manufacturing runs. Consequently, we can beat anybody (as reflected in our 8-6 record against Top 50 opponents), but also lose to anybody. The good news for us is the our defense has really solidified after averaging 3+ errors per game the first 2 weeks of the season.

Yeah, as far as the Rice-USM comparison goes: To this point, it is safe to say that we are better against average competition. We won't have many letdowns and are getting sweeps instead of 2/3. Obviously, that doesn't mean anything once you get to good competition. I've seen plenty of USM teams that can lay waste to average to above average teams but piss their pants against big time teams. Hell, I think Rice fans have seen plenty of USM teams like that.

I've said all season that we won't know what we have until the Rice series. Our schedule hasn't been "weak" but no tournament caliber teams on the weekend. So, that's the thing here.....no one has any clue what this team looks like in a weekend series against a regional-type team. You can't really assert one way or another. I have an inclination based on history but hell, we could take it to you guys for all I know.

One thing I always find interesting with this series. If there's been a trend outside of Rice winning, it has been that we usually have that one starter who is a sinker-ball type guy that gives you guys fits (Copeland, Drehoff, McMahon). Bowden also threw a sink but he had much more dominant stuff than those three. Cockrell is the sinker guy this year. He'll go against Duplantier on Friday.

Ricky with well-deserved national exposure, as he topped D1Baseball's leaderboard from yesterday (with a great pic)...

http://www.d1baseball.com/featured/stat-...formers-2/

(04-10-2016 08:18 PM)eaglenjxn Wrote:  I'm not really sure what the earlier reference to us "getting gifted" ninth inning meltdowns on several occasions is about.

We rallied against UTSA in the ninth but we got two walks, a sac bunt, and then a two-run double from our best player off a pitcher that we blasted on Sunday. Definitely not "gifted" that one.

With respect, and not having anything to do with anything else... but perhaps because we are known for good pitching and have some pretty high standards when it comes to baseball... when you score 2 runs with one hit (and the hitter isn't one of the scores) you were gifted 'something'. Of course, without the bunt execution and the double you get nothing... but the two walks certainly helped.

Looking forward to a great series.

(04-10-2016 09:13 PM)HooCares Wrote:  I don't suppose @houstonsports16 informed @keithlaw that Otto didn't pitch this weekend. I can't tell since the tweets are now protected.

Unrelated to the tweeter, but I mentioned in the Tuesday A&M game thread that since Otto had thrown essentially a starter's share in that game, in my opinion he should be rested for a week. And he was. I am very pleased by that development. Good job, Wayne and co.

(04-11-2016 01:26 PM)RiceFootball2K5 Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 09:13 PM)HooCares Wrote:  I don't suppose @houstonsports16 informed @keithlaw that Otto didn't pitch this weekend. I can't tell since the tweets are now protected.

Unrelated to the tweeter, but I mentioned in the Tuesday A&M game thread that since Otto had thrown essentially a starter's share in that game, in my opinion he should be rested for a week. And he was. I am very pleased by that development. Good job, Wayne and co.

69 pitches in NOT a starter's share, which is 100 pitches.

You can argue semantics all you want, but when get your arm hot and throw 5 innings and 70 pitches (plus warming up, warm ups during innings and pickoff throws), you need plenty of time to rest and recover. Especially when you are still developing and not a paid professional.

Resting him this weekend was the right call. Again, kudos to the coaches. And suck it, Keith Law.

(04-11-2016 01:44 PM)RiceFootball2K5 Wrote:  You can argue semantics all you want, but when get your arm hot and throw 5 innings and 70 pitches (plus warming up, warm ups during innings and pickoff throws), you need plenty of time to rest and recover. Especially when you are still developing and not a paid professional.

Resting him this weekend was the right call. Again, kudos to the coaches. And suck it, Keith Law.

He would have pitched yesterday had Ricky faltered. Glenn warmed up twice and was ready to go....but i agree, the fact that he was not used was a good thing all around.

Regardless of whether Otto could/should/would have pitched on Sunday, the sequence of events vindicated OG's approach of always trying to win the game today and worry about tomorrow later. Having Otto pitch the rest of the Tuesday game after Amador took himself out was clearly the right decision. Any other sequence of pitchers on Tuesday very likely would have led to the loss. It turned out that we did not need Otto at all this weekend (very unlikely he would have made the difference on Saturday), so risking/blowing the Tuesday game to save him for this weekend would have been a bad choice.

(04-11-2016 02:44 PM)temchugh Wrote:  Regardless of whether Otto could/should/would have pitched on Sunday, the sequence of events vindicated OG's approach of always trying to win the game today and worry about tomorrow later. Having Otto pitch the rest of the Tuesday game after Amador took himself out was clearly the right decision. Any other sequence of pitchers on Tuesday very likely would have led to the loss. It turned out that we did not need Otto at all this weekend (very unlikely he would have made the difference on Saturday), so risking/blowing the Tuesday game to save him for this weekend would have been a bad choice.

1. Amador did not take himself out. Yes, he was cramping a bit, but from what I have heard he was within one or two batters max of hitting his strict pitch count cut-off. Remember, he had retired the final 6 batters on Sunday vs. MTSU.

2. To my surprise, Otto was warming up in the pen in the 6th inning on Saturday, when we were behind 0-1, and then 2-3, after each team scored two runs in that inning. The OG wisely went with Esquivel in the 7th, when we fell behind 2-5 (saving Otto for Sunday, if needed).

Amador showed some apparent distress. The trainer visited the mound. Amador left the game and was replaced by Otto. Regardless of how you want to characterize the nature of that pitching substitution, having Otto pitch the remainder of that game was a good call.