Kind of a foggy night (and day). Good pitching matchup. Not Zot, that's all.

2-0 UC-IRVINE in T1 after a 2 run shot.

Back to back singles for Rice have men at 1st and 2nd, no outs.

Gotta get those runs back here!

Cruz strikes out but ball gets past catcher so I guess it’s as good as a sac bunt.

2nd, 3rd, Collins at plate with 1 out.

We get one back on a wild pitch... Strikeouts need to stop, like now.

(02-22-2019 04:10 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  ... UC-I pitching is going to be the best we've seen this year, and may be the best we see in any weekend series this year. They don't walk batters, so we need to be more aggressive at the plate, and be looking for first pitch fast balls.

Our first two Owls handled those first pitch fast balls well, lashing line drive singles into the outfield. But then the UCI pitcher started throwing first pitch curves/off-speed, which we watched or wiffed. Fortunately, a passed ball and wild pitch brought in a run.

Going forward, we need some good pitch-recognition batting.

1-2, after 1.

Canterino K strands two Anteaters. Yay!!! Whew!

1-2, heading to B2.

A. Cruz with a two run bomb to score Frazier.

3-2 Rice with one out in B2.

After flailing wildly at two curve balls out of the zone ... Antonio Cruz parks the third one -- which would have been strike three -- on the LF hill. WooHOO!!!!

3-2, Rice ... 1 out in B2.

(02-22-2019 08:16 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  A. Cruz with a two run bomb to score Frazier.

3-2 Rice with one out in B2.

Never in doubt. Great time for the dinger.

Very impressed with the offense so far. Keep it up!

Great throw by Trei Cruz from deep in the hole to end T3 with a 6-3 groundout.

2-run dinger earlier in the inning, however, put UCI up 3-4.

We need the Owl offense to keep producing in B3 and beyond!

We get a lead-off walk, but nothing else in the bottom of the 3rd. We are working his pitch count at least.

Grrrr. Trei & DiCaprio wiff on 2-strike curve balls ... stranding Gneiting, who had walked.

3-4, after 3.

USM with a nice win at Mississippi State, winning 1-0 in 10 innings. They only had 3 hits but when your pitchers throw strikes and the defense plays well, you can win those types of games.

Strong 3-up, 3-down T4 for Canterino. Yay!!

3-4, heading to B4.

1st and 2nd no outs for the Owls in B4.

Not watching it - did we try to bunt with Cruz?

4-3 heading to 5th. So I just looked up Tennessee Tech's stats in 2018. They had a grand total of 13 sacrifices in 66 games. Rice has 0 sacrifice hits in 2019. Is it too early to conclude that Bragga really doesn't believe in small ball?