-First, the team definitely has some heart. I don't just mean the 9th inning either... Zak Kristofak and the defense did a tremendous job to keep it at 3-2 (and really, it should have been 2-2, it really liked we got hosed on that based loaded walk)... That'll bode well for us later in the year. It wasn't pretty this weekend, outside of a few innings on Friday night, but we're not playing for style points. This was a better opening weekend than we had last year, and that's a plus.
-In 2006, we opened up with UNC Greensboro. We beat them in extra innings on opening night and then walked them off in the bottom of the 9th on Saturday (maybe it was the other way around). We beat them pretty soundly on Sunday, but the point is, the first two wins that season definitely didn't suggest that we were a future Omaha team... Is this group as good as 2006? No, probably not... but you can't draw too many ultra definitive conclusions after the first weekend.
-That said, there is a lot that we need to clean up. It's one thing to have some quiet innings against a guy like Eichhorn or Shuman, but our inability to scratch off of a true freshman today was a bit concerning. But, the defense was better today and we only K'd 3 times today as well. So that's a positive. Michael Curry and Cam Shepherd probably aren't going to go into any extended slumps this year and Keegan McGovern will always give you a tough AB.... I still think that we're going to be a good hitting club (we did hit .317 this weekend, but some of that was skewed by Friday)...
-Pitching is a concern, regardless of what Hancock and Adkins did the last two days. We're going to see many better lineups than Ga Southern.
-As far as Adkins, he was obviously tremendous today. That's two days in a row our starter has thrown up only 0s and only allowed 2 hits over 6 innings. Chase seemed to mix up a lot of stuff today... his fastball has some really good bite to it too. He's just tough when he gets in a groove...
-Ga Southern plays with a predictable chip on their shoulder... They chirp a lot... I don't think there is a whole lot of love lost between either program. I do respect Hennon as a head coach. Lot more intensity this weekend that we'll probably see next weekend or in a few weeks with Toledo, that's for sure.
-How about Keegan McGovern on the full count? He hit that baseball a LONG way... at Ga Southern's stadium (being a good bit shorter in CF) that would have drawn a lot more "oohs" and "ahhs" I think.
-If you didn't know any differently, you might be inclined to think that Pete Hughes is our head coach. Hughes stands at the end of the dugout, he's more vocal than Stricklin (at least the last two days) and seems a lot more involved defensively than Stricklin. That's interesting. I knew Hughes would be more of a presence than Jimmy Ryder, but I'm struck by the extent to which that is true.
-I'm pretty sure we lose if get picked off 1b in the 9th inning today and I'm pretty sure it took a heck of a slide back to avoid being picked. It's a game of inches sometimes, but if Ga Southern gets that out, I bet we're 1-2 today.
-Adam Goodman was an interesting choice to face the lefty today. He did his job and got a big out for us. I kinda thought we'd go in a different direction there, but that's got to be a good confidence booster for Goody.
-I think that Mason Meadows just needs some ABs to get comfortable at the plate. He was good behind it this weekend, that's for sure. We caught well all weekend. Along those same lines, I really think that Patrick Sullivan is going to be a force this year once he knocks off some rust.
-Don't undersell what today means... We showed a lot of grit all weekend long. While there is a lot to clean up, we've got some things to feel good about too. Just got to keep it going over at Kennesaw this mid-week...
-In 2006, we opened up with UNC Greensboro. We beat them in extra innings on opening night and then walked them off in the bottom of the 9th on Saturday (maybe it was the other way around). We beat them pretty soundly on Sunday, but the point is, the first two wins that season definitely didn't suggest that we were a future Omaha team... Is this group as good as 2006? No, probably not... but you can't draw too many ultra definitive conclusions after the first weekend.
-That said, there is a lot that we need to clean up. It's one thing to have some quiet innings against a guy like Eichhorn or Shuman, but our inability to scratch off of a true freshman today was a bit concerning. But, the defense was better today and we only K'd 3 times today as well. So that's a positive. Michael Curry and Cam Shepherd probably aren't going to go into any extended slumps this year and Keegan McGovern will always give you a tough AB.... I still think that we're going to be a good hitting club (we did hit .317 this weekend, but some of that was skewed by Friday)...
-Pitching is a concern, regardless of what Hancock and Adkins did the last two days. We're going to see many better lineups than Ga Southern.
-As far as Adkins, he was obviously tremendous today. That's two days in a row our starter has thrown up only 0s and only allowed 2 hits over 6 innings. Chase seemed to mix up a lot of stuff today... his fastball has some really good bite to it too. He's just tough when he gets in a groove...
-Ga Southern plays with a predictable chip on their shoulder... They chirp a lot... I don't think there is a whole lot of love lost between either program. I do respect Hennon as a head coach. Lot more intensity this weekend that we'll probably see next weekend or in a few weeks with Toledo, that's for sure.
-How about Keegan McGovern on the full count? He hit that baseball a LONG way... at Ga Southern's stadium (being a good bit shorter in CF) that would have drawn a lot more "oohs" and "ahhs" I think.
-If you didn't know any differently, you might be inclined to think that Pete Hughes is our head coach. Hughes stands at the end of the dugout, he's more vocal than Stricklin (at least the last two days) and seems a lot more involved defensively than Stricklin. That's interesting. I knew Hughes would be more of a presence than Jimmy Ryder, but I'm struck by the extent to which that is true.
-I'm pretty sure we lose if get picked off 1b in the 9th inning today and I'm pretty sure it took a heck of a slide back to avoid being picked. It's a game of inches sometimes, but if Ga Southern gets that out, I bet we're 1-2 today.
-Adam Goodman was an interesting choice to face the lefty today. He did his job and got a big out for us. I kinda thought we'd go in a different direction there, but that's got to be a good confidence booster for Goody.
-I think that Mason Meadows just needs some ABs to get comfortable at the plate. He was good behind it this weekend, that's for sure. We caught well all weekend. Along those same lines, I really think that Patrick Sullivan is going to be a force this year once he knocks off some rust.
-Don't undersell what today means... We showed a lot of grit all weekend long. While there is a lot to clean up, we've got some things to feel good about too. Just got to keep it going over at Kennesaw this mid-week...
