(02-15-2019 10:45 PM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  Pretty much the same look as last year.

Exactly my thoughts. Can’t hit in the clutch

Bad, bad loss.

Bleh

Bad loss, but no harm done if we win the next two.

You know- this is all Wayne's fault.

I hope we have other options we can look at on offense. I don't remember many good swings besides Collins.

The 4th (or 5th?) inning was the killing point really of the game. Collins led off with a double, and then Cox singled off the 3B's glove to put runners on the corner with 0 out. Gneiting (our only lefty) was up, and I think he worked the count to 3-0 before taking a strike and then weakly flying to center. At that point, I thought Bragga might try to manufacture a run with J. Dunlap but nothing doing, and he meekly fisted a ball to 2B. It appears to me that we're going to have to manufacture runs whenever we can with our hitting.

It's a shame because the crowd was nice too.

(02-16-2019 06:43 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I hope we have other options we can look at on offense. I don't remember many good swings besides Collins.

The 4th (or 5th?) inning was the killing point really of the game. Collins led off with a double, and then Cox singled off the 3B's glove to put runners on the corner with 0 out. Gneiting (our only lefty) was up, and I think he worked the count to 3-0 before taking a strike and then weakly flying to center. At that point, I thought Bragga might try to manufacture a run with J. Dunlap but nothing doing, and he meekly fisted a ball to 2B. It appears to me that we're going to have to manufacture runs whenever we can with our hitting.

It's a shame because the crowd was nice too.

Edwards' final two swings (single, double) were both line shots. Cox had one nice shot, and T.Cruz, Gneitting and DiCap all hit long drives that were caught. Having said that, Gneitting's leadoff AB in the 9th cost us the game. Took two ball down broadway, then struckout on a pitch well out of the strikezone which would have been Ball 4 and a much-needed leadoff walk. He also did an awful job of situational hitting earlier in the game, with Collins and Cox on the corners with no outs and the infield back, all he had to do was pull the ball to the right side to score a run...and, instead, he hit a weak pop to short left-center. Just awful.

As I said before, given their extended absences, it's likely going to take Edwards, DiCap and A.Dunlap several weeks to shake off the rust....but to do that they've got to play every day. Playing J.Dunlap and Beaulaurier, both of whom look badly overmatched, instead of A.Dunlap is just stupid, IMO.

Best opening day crowd in several years, and it was all Rice. Half the women's basketball team were also in attendance and sitting right behind us in Section F.

0-1 in the post-Graham era. Lost to a mediocre team from the northeast, in February, at home, with our ace. 1 run. 3 errors. Ouch. Only one game, but not a good start. Shades of Nichols St. I expect a drop due to coaching (not saying anything bad about Bragga but can’t expect him to be at WG’s level) but hoping some aspects, like offense, will improve. There is plenty of talent on this team to do well. We’ll see.

(02-16-2019 06:43 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I hope we have other options we can look at on offense. I don't remember many good swings besides Collins.

The 4th (or 5th?) inning was the killing point really of the game. Collins led off with a double, and then Cox singled off the 3B's glove to put runners on the corner with 0 out. Gneiting (our only lefty) was up, and I think he worked the count to 3-0 before taking a strike and then weakly flying to center. At that point, I thought Bragga might try to manufacture a run with J. Dunlap but nothing doing, and he meekly fisted a ball to 2B. It appears to me that we're going to have to manufacture runs whenever we can with our hitting.

It's a shame because the crowd was nice too.

There was a nice energy in the park for most of the game.

(02-16-2019 10:05 AM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(02-16-2019 06:43 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I hope we have other options we can look at on offense. I don't remember many good swings besides Collins.

The 4th (or 5th?) inning was the killing point really of the game. Collins led off with a double, and then Cox singled off the 3B's glove to put runners on the corner with 0 out. Gneiting (our only lefty) was up, and I think he worked the count to 3-0 before taking a strike and then weakly flying to center. At that point, I thought Bragga might try to manufacture a run with J. Dunlap but nothing doing, and he meekly fisted a ball to 2B. It appears to me that we're going to have to manufacture runs whenever we can with our hitting.

It's a shame because the crowd was nice too.

There was a nice energy in the park for most of the game.

Including the Owls’ dugout. It’s been a while since the Rice dugout has been as vocal as it was at the start of the game. Unfortunately, not taking advantages of Matt’s excellent start, scoring opportunities mid-game and an unfortunate error on the slip sucked the energy right out. Hope the guys bounce back big today.

(02-15-2019 10:54 PM)RiceFootball2K5 Wrote:  Bad, bad loss.

The good news is that our ace pitcher is the real deal. The bad news is that this could not have been any worse for Rice, otherwise. Big crowd; new era; lots of excitement that was needed for the program, that will now be tougher to sustain.

Why no scorn for Janish? A guy being thrown out by "at least 3 feet" (I did not see it but I am quoting) doesn't strike me as "they had to do everything perfectly to get him". It is easy to 2nd guess bad base-running decisions, so here I am: lots of ways for the winning run to score if he is 90 feet away.

Faces in the crowd--Former AD Bobby May was at the game as was former Track Coach Steve Straub. Austin Kubitza is back in school now and will get his degree in May, and Mason Hellums is also back after three operations and getting his degree.

(02-16-2019 11:14 AM)owlsfan Wrote:  

(02-15-2019 10:54 PM)RiceFootball2K5 Wrote:  Bad, bad loss.

The good news is that our ace pitcher is the real deal. The bad news is that this could not have been any worse for Rice, otherwise. Big crowd; new era; lots of excitement that was needed for the program, that will now be tougher to sustain.

Why no scorn for Janish? A guy being thrown out by "at least 3 feet" (I did not see it but I am quoting) doesn't strike me as "they had to do everything perfectly to get him". It is easy to 2nd guess bad base-running decisions, so here I am: lots of ways for the winning run to score if he is 90 feet away.

On the other hand, one could note thstz;
- There were two outs, which eliminates the sacrifice or infield grounder as ways of getting the run home from third;
- The next batter up was 0-4; and
- Rice as a team was something like 4-for-30 at the plate at that point.

I didn't see the play either, but in those circumstances, it seems that the odds of scoring by forcing the defense to make a play might not be much different from the odds of scoring by holding at third and hoping for a hit.

At any rate, regardless of whether our hitting performance entered into that baserunning decision, the real story would seem to be: we gotta hit better to win.

(02-15-2019 08:25 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(02-15-2019 08:20 PM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  Cruz! RBI single!

1. Presence of OER - Check
2. First blood - Check

Well that didn’t age well..

(02-16-2019 11:14 AM)owlsfan Wrote:  

(02-15-2019 10:54 PM)RiceFootball2K5 Wrote:  Bad, bad loss.

The good news is that our ace pitcher is the real deal. The bad news is that this could not have been any worse for Rice, otherwise. Big crowd; new era; lots of excitement that was needed for the program, that will now be tougher to sustain.

Why no scorn for Janish? A guy being thrown out by "at least 3 feet" (I did not see it but I am quoting) doesn't strike me as "they had to do everything perfectly to get him". It is easy to 2nd guess bad base-running decisions, so here I am: lots of ways for the winning run to score if he is 90 feet away.

If the runner had held at 3rd, then the situation would be 2 outs with a runner on 3rd and a force at 2nd. Count on the non-existent hitting or hope to make a run happen?

(02-15-2019 11:39 PM)interwebowl Wrote:  You know- this is all Wayne's fault.

Not really appropriate sarcasm because those are Wayne's recruits who didn't hit the ball. (Disclaimer: I am NOT a member of the anti-Graham crowd).

(02-16-2019 11:27 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(02-16-2019 11:14 AM)owlsfan Wrote:  

(02-15-2019 10:54 PM)RiceFootball2K5 Wrote:  Bad, bad loss.

The good news is that our ace pitcher is the real deal. The bad news is that this could not have been any worse for Rice, otherwise. Big crowd; new era; lots of excitement that was needed for the program, that will now be tougher to sustain.

Why no scorn for Janish? A guy being thrown out by "at least 3 feet" (I did not see it but I am quoting) doesn't strike me as "they had to do everything perfectly to get him". It is easy to 2nd guess bad base-running decisions, so here I am: lots of ways for the winning run to score if he is 90 feet away.

On the other hand, one could note thstz;
- There were two outs, which eliminates the sacrifice or infield grounder as ways of getting the run home from third;
- The next batter up was 0-4; and
- Rice as a team was something like 4-for-30 at the plate at that point.

I didn't see the play either, but in those circumstances, it seems that the odds of scoring by forcing the defense to make a play might not be much different from the odds of scoring by holding at third and hoping for a hit.

At any rate, regardless of whether our hitting performance entered into that baserunning decision, the real story would seem to be: we gotta hit better to win.

No problem with the decision to send the runner in that situation. I would have sent the runner earlier in the game on the short pop to CF. The RI CRer throw to the plate on Rice’s lone run ended up somewhere between the mound, plate and 3rd base. Run on him! Unfortunately, the CFer wasn’t the one to field the ball hit to right center.

(02-16-2019 12:19 PM)Tomball Owl Wrote:  

(02-16-2019 11:27 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(02-16-2019 11:14 AM)owlsfan Wrote:  

(02-15-2019 10:54 PM)RiceFootball2K5 Wrote:  Bad, bad loss.

The good news is that our ace pitcher is the real deal. The bad news is that this could not have been any worse for Rice, otherwise. Big crowd; new era; lots of excitement that was needed for the program, that will now be tougher to sustain.

Why no scorn for Janish? A guy being thrown out by "at least 3 feet" (I did not see it but I am quoting) doesn't strike me as "they had to do everything perfectly to get him". It is easy to 2nd guess bad base-running decisions, so here I am: lots of ways for the winning run to score if he is 90 feet away.

On the other hand, one could note thstz;
- There were two outs, which eliminates the sacrifice or infield grounder as ways of getting the run home from third;
- The next batter up was 0-4; and
- Rice as a team was something like 4-for-30 at the plate at that point.

I didn't see the play either, but in those circumstances, it seems that the odds of scoring by forcing the defense to make a play might not be much different from the odds of scoring by holding at third and hoping for a hit.

At any rate, regardless of whether our hitting performance entered into that baserunning decision, the real story would seem to be: we gotta hit better to win.

No problem with the decision to send the runner in that situation. I would have sent the runner earlier in the game on the short pop to CF. The RI CRer throw to the plate on Rice’s lone run ended up somewhere between the mound, plate and 3rd base. Run on him! Unfortunately, the CFer wasn’t the one to field the ball hit to right center.

This type of discussion is one of the great joys of baseball!

(02-16-2019 10:05 AM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  :banghead:There was a nice energy in the park for most of the game.

Old fart reminiscence time: I’ll never forget the first night game at Cameron Field. The place was packed, the crowd was yelling and stomping its feet, the house was literally rocking. Lance Brown, our pitching coach, observing with a half-pleased, half-worried smile, muttered, “Jesus, they’re gonna need the friggin’ Gestapo to control this crowd.”

The energy will be there right along with the wins. Sure, it sucks to lose the symbolism of the first-game W, but I’m not going to fret about it beyond tonight’s first pitch.

(02-16-2019 12:36 PM)sts60 Wrote:  

(02-16-2019 10:05 AM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  :banghead:There was a nice energy in the park for most of the game.

Old fart reminiscence time: I’ll never forget the first night game at Cameron Field. The place was packed, the crowd was yelling and stomping its feet, the house was literally rocking. Lance Brown, our pitching coach, observing with a half-pleased, half-worried smile, muttered, “Jesus, they’re gonna need the friggin’ Gestapo to control this crowd.”

The energy will be there right along with the wins. Sure, it sucks to lose the symbolism of the first-game W, but I’m not going to fret about it beyond tonight’s first pitch.

Owls lost their first game in Reckling to UH. Things worked out pretty well for many years following that loss. Hope for the same in this new era.