but we all knew that would happen…Games like today boil down to execution we lost 2 runs in th e1st 2 inn by not executing fundamentals and it cost us the game.,Hopefully we beat their freshman tomorrow,he is struggling but turned down 1st round money so tells you he’s capable.
The bad news is that our pattern has been to score runs early and then recede inside our offensive shell, hoping we scored enough to carry us for the whole game. Most times it has - of course, it helps when one of the innings is a 6 spot or some-such. Of course, the second game vs. Texas and yesterday were exceptions to that rule.
The good news is that with this kid’s age and lack of success (so far), IF we can get on him early his wheels may fall off, or we may get into their bullpen early.
Go into their offensive shell? What does that mean? I have seen them get to a starter, and maybe the first reliever and put up a crooked number, especially with some help with walks and errors.
But then another reliever begins to hit spots and throw solid pitches. That is generally what slows down an offense, good pitching. I heard Van Horn both Friday and Saturday credit the Ole Miss pitchers. What I saw was solid pitching.
More often than not, it’s walks and defensive lapses that lead to offensive explosions in college. In fact, very seldom do you see big innings from just raw hitting. Last year’s team might have been the exception, but that was a rare collection of experienced hitters and VERY talented newcomers. Those newcomers were getting more good pitches to hit than this year, mostly because there were always runners on base when they hit last year.
I did see some good hitters take a couple of hanging breakers as they “hunted” fast balls, as most college hitters do.
I listen to Bubba Carpenter and like him a lot, but when he talks about being ready for a hanging breaker, it’s rare that an average college hitter can do that. That’s more what I see happening on the pro level. Of course, Bubba was in pro baseball for a long time.
I don’t see amateurs adjust to a mistake with a breaking ball too often. Yes, guys like Benintendi, Cox, McCann and Wilkins seemed to bust a hanging breaker. But guess what, those guys were like pro hitters at the college level. Those who I see hammer a hanging breaker are mostly juniors and seniors who have learned to hit the pitch where it’s thrown, as opposed to young and inexperienced hitters who are looking for a specific pitch.