Due to both frustration (!) and work/travel commitments, I'm passing on my usual comprehensive preview this week, but thought I'd at least provide some info on Pepperdine Waves...

Scheduled game times are again 6:30pm CT Friday, 2:00pm Saturday, 1:00pm Sunday. The Rice Fans/Parents Tailgate will be this Friday, starting at 5:00pm at Audrey Moody Ley Plaza, the same location as last year. Please bring your favorite snack and beverage to share. All are welcome!


After losing a heartbreaking pitchers duel 2-1 yesterday at Sam Houston State, the Waves dropped to 4 - 3 on the season. They swept Saint Joseph at home to open the season, then lost two of three in Aggieland last weekend. They are currently borderline Top 50.

Here's their schedule and results to date...
http://warrennolan.com/baseball/2017/sch...Pepperdine

They're hitting just .238/320/.392 as a team, and have walked just 18 times (2 BBs/game) vs. 52 strikeouts. However, they've been hit by pitiches 11 times, which would appear to indicate that they crowd the plate.

Their Friday night starter has been almost lights out in his two starts: 0.77 ERA, .162 BAA, though he has had control issues. Their other two weekend starters have struggled a bit.

Here are their stats over their first 7 games, and their roster...
http://www.pepperdinewaves.com/sports/m-...mcume.html

http://www.pepperdinewaves.com/sports/m-...l-mtt.html

Time to turn the season around and start playing quality, fundamental baseball. That means throwing strikes, cutting down on the free passes issued by our pitchers and the defensive errors. It only gets tougher next week when Stanford comes to town.

Here's the Rice game notes for the weekend series...

http://www.riceowls.com/sports/m-basebl/...17aaa.html

...does anyone know if Lammons and Gneiting will be available after leaving Tuesday's game very early?

From what I can tell we are looking HARD for answers on defense. I have heard that Wunderlich will be getting some time at 2B...to my knowledge he has not played infield before. Unless of course it was in HS or HS summer ball. It will be interesting to see if there are any other infield switches. Could be problematic during bunt coverages..

(03-02-2017 04:50 PM)DirtyBirds52 Wrote:  From what I can tell we are looking HARD for answers on defense. I have heard that Wunderlich will be getting some time at 2B...to my knowledge he has not played infield before. Unless of course it was in HS or HS summer ball. It will be interesting to see if there are any other infield switches. Could be problematic during bunt coverages..

Why would Wunderlich get an opportunity at 2B over Jefferies, who's a proven infield defender? Does this mean Gneiting is out for a while, and that Gray may not make it back as quickly as first anticipated?

(03-02-2017 04:53 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(03-02-2017 04:50 PM)DirtyBirds52 Wrote:  From what I can tell we are looking HARD for answers on defense. I have heard that Wunderlich will be getting some time at 2B...to my knowledge he has not played infield before. Unless of course it was in HS or HS summer ball. It will be interesting to see if there are any other infield switches. Could be problematic during bunt coverages..

Why would Wunderlich get an opportunity at 2B over Jefferies, who's a proven infield defender? Does this mean Gneiting is out for a while, and that Gray may not make it back as quickly as first anticipated?

I would be surprised if Gray comes back at all.

(03-02-2017 04:53 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(03-02-2017 04:50 PM)DirtyBirds52 Wrote:  From what I can tell we are looking HARD for answers on defense. I have heard that Wunderlich will be getting some time at 2B...to my knowledge he has not played infield before. Unless of course it was in HS or HS summer ball. It will be interesting to see if there are any other infield switches. Could be problematic during bunt coverages..

Why would Wunderlich get an opportunity at 2B over Jefferies, who's a proven infield defender? Does this mean Gneiting is out for a while, and that Gray may not make it back as quickly as first anticipated?

Dayne is a hell of an athlete. If something has happened to Gneiting to put him out for a while, I think giving Wunderlich an opportunity at 2nd would be something to look at.

(03-02-2017 04:56 PM)RiceFootball2K5 Wrote:  

(03-02-2017 04:53 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(03-02-2017 04:50 PM)DirtyBirds52 Wrote:  From what I can tell we are looking HARD for answers on defense. I have heard that Wunderlich will be getting some time at 2B...to my knowledge he has not played infield before. Unless of course it was in HS or HS summer ball. It will be interesting to see if there are any other infield switches. Could be problematic during bunt coverages..

Why would Wunderlich get an opportunity at 2B over Jefferies, who's a proven infield defender? Does this mean Gneiting is out for a while, and that Gray may not make it back as quickly as first anticipated?

I don't think Gray is coming back.

How much does this hurt Gray's draft stock?

(03-02-2017 04:56 PM)RiceFootball2K5 Wrote:  

(03-02-2017 04:53 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(03-02-2017 04:50 PM)DirtyBirds52 Wrote:  From what I can tell we are looking HARD for answers on defense. I have heard that Wunderlich will be getting some time at 2B...to my knowledge he has not played infield before. Unless of course it was in HS or HS summer ball. It will be interesting to see if there are any other infield switches. Could be problematic during bunt coverages..

Why would Wunderlich get an opportunity at 2B over Jefferies, who's a proven infield defender? Does this mean Gneiting is out for a while, and that Gray may not make it back as quickly as first anticipated?

I don't think Gray is coming back.

This

Honestly if we are going to shake up the infield Van Hook should suit up. He kind of looks like a player and if I recall, he could pick it back in the day.

(03-02-2017 05:04 PM)RiceOwl Wrote:  Honestly if we are going to shake up the infield Van Hook should suit up. He kind of looks like a player and if I recall, he could pick it back in the day.

While I do not think the NCAA would find liking to that...I have a problem with sacrificing an out every time he comes up to bat.

(03-02-2017 04:57 PM)curve Wrote:  

(03-02-2017 04:53 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(03-02-2017 04:50 PM)DirtyBirds52 Wrote:  From what I can tell we are looking HARD for answers on defense. I have heard that Wunderlich will be getting some time at 2B...to my knowledge he has not played infield before. Unless of course it was in HS or HS summer ball. It will be interesting to see if there are any other infield switches. Could be problematic during bunt coverages..

Why would Wunderlich get an opportunity at 2B over Jefferies, who's a proven infield defender? Does this mean Gneiting is out for a while, and that Gray may not make it back as quickly as first anticipated?

Dayne is a hell of an athlete. If something has happened to Gneiting to put him out for a while, I think giving Wunderlich an opportunity at 2nd would be something to look at.

Yes, I know Dayne is a heck of an athlete, BUT playing any infield position is based largely on instinct, and Dayne hasn't played infield since Pony League as I believe he was an OFer in high school. I cannot believe The OG would make that type of sacrifice in middle infield defense, especially when he has a quality defender in Jefferies available. Having said that, I wish Dayne would get more frequent opportunities in LF, as he is a far superior defender from what I've seen in Sarchet, and probably no worse a hitter.

I doubt the OG would make a change unless it was something that has been in the works. Dayne is clearly an elite athlete and for all we know could be the next Dustin Pedroia.

My biggest fear with any potential infield move, regardless of player, has already been brought up - bunt coverages.

Now I am just speculating, but given that Pepperdine is a west coast team and we have been pretty bad at bunt coverages this season, I am willing to bet they test our small ball defense early.

Grab your popcorn everyone because this weekend could

[quote='RiceOwl' pid='14137612' dateline='1488497560']
I doubt the OG would make a change unless it was something that has been in the works. Dayne is clearly an elite athlete and for all we know could be the next Brock Holt.

FIFY

Brock is left handed and plays behind Pedroia. Figured I would shoot for the stars.

Why do we think Gray is not coming back??

(03-02-2017 05:36 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(03-02-2017 04:57 PM)curve Wrote:  

(03-02-2017 04:53 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(03-02-2017 04:50 PM)DirtyBirds52 Wrote:  From what I can tell we are looking HARD for answers on defense. I have heard that Wunderlich will be getting some time at 2B...to my knowledge he has not played infield before. Unless of course it was in HS or HS summer ball. It will be interesting to see if there are any other infield switches. Could be problematic during bunt coverages..

Why would Wunderlich get an opportunity at 2B over Jefferies, who's a proven infield defender? Does this mean Gneiting is out for a while, and that Gray may not make it back as quickly as first anticipated?

Dayne is a hell of an athlete. If something has happened to Gneiting to put him out for a while, I think giving Wunderlich an opportunity at 2nd would be something to look at.

Yes, I know Dayne is a heck of an athlete, BUT playing any infield position is based largely on instinct, and Dayne hasn't played infield since Pony League as I believe he was an OFer in high school. I cannot believe The OG would make that type of sacrifice in middle infield defense, especially when he has a quality defender in Jefferies available. Having said that, I wish Dayne would get more frequent opportunities in LF, as he is a far superior defender from what I've seen in Sarchet, and probably no worse a hitter.

I agree with every word you said here. I do believe that Dayne should be playing everyday. I think he will get better and better if he sees playing time continuously. Maybe the OG really likes what he sees in Sarchet? I'm not sure. I do know that Dayne took reps at 2B this week. In case you haven't noticed, (which I'm sure you have because it is blatantly obvious) there aren't many power threats in this lineup. Especially with Gray out. Maybe Coach wants to get as many power threats in the lineup as he can.

Dayne is also one of our fastest guys. Good kid and glad to see him get an opportunity again.

At 3-6 we should be trying anything and everything to right the ship.

The weather on Saturday and Sunday isn't looking good. Rain on Saturday might not prevent play but thunder possible on Sunday.

(03-03-2017 11:24 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  The weather on Saturday and Sunday isn't looking good. Rain on Saturday might not prevent play but thunder possible on Sunday.

And just like that the schedule has been changed to a Saturday doubleheader starting at 11:00am CT (with second game starting 45 minutes after the first game ends)...

http://www.riceowls.com/sports/m-basebl/...17aab.html

(03-03-2017 01:12 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(03-03-2017 11:24 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  The weather on Saturday and Sunday isn't looking good. Rain on Saturday might not prevent play but thunder possible on Sunday.

And just like that the schedule has been changed to a Saturday doubleheader starting at 11:00am CT (with second game starting 45 minutes after the first game ends)...

http://www.riceowls.com/sports/m-basebl/...17aab.html

You know if we were still playing at Minute Maid this would not be an issue..