especially in baseball. So many games are played…day after day. You lose one…then you get ready to play tomorrow. These kids and this team lost a tough one last night, but they are used to playing tough series after tough series in the SEC. I expect us to battle it out tonight against Oregon State. State is good…real good. They have outplayed us so far in these two games, in my view. Yet, we have the same chance as they do to win the NCAA Championship. I don’t think we will be devastated…I think we will play this game with a lot of passion. Oregon State must be the favorite after the way we lost last night, but there are no guarantees for either side.
Our team is very determined, tough and has a lot of character. This may be the greatest win this program has ever had tonight. They have the mental edge on us, but we are a superb team. If Dave Van Horn is the coach we believe he is, he will find a way to get this team fired up and ready to kick some butt tonight. We knew coming in…we have to win 2 games out of 3 to be NCAA Champions. That is still the case. We have to win that 2nd game. We could’t do it last night. We must do it tonight. Go Hogs!
If we can strike first and stay in the game throughout, I think we have a chance to win. The trouble comes if we get down early and people start trying to hit 10-run homers. Then it could very, very ugly. Let’s hope for the best. A good start offensively, a well-pitched game by Campbell, solid defense and enough of a cushion that when adversity comes, the team doesn’t go, “Oh, wait! Here we go again …”
I think that is very important. Strike early, give Isaiah a cushion, and pitch well enough to hold them down. I don’t know how long Isaiah has gone before, but he’s usually not good past about 4 or maybe 5 innings. It’d be sweet to get him into the 7th. I think our bats are surely going to heat up. I just hope they heat up enough to stay ahead of an OSU team that I’m afraid is going to score some runs, too.
I admit, even after sleeping (well, tossing & turning) on it that I’m afraid that loss swung so much momentum to OSU that’s coupled with our depleted BP that I’m not at all optimistic about tonight. But, thank goodness, I don’t play.