and I mean fast, because it's late and I'm tired.
-First, what a weird swing of emotions. After the 1st inning, it felt like it was going to be one of those 12-2 type of nights. I don't know if it was an issue of us letting our guard down or Lipscomb pitching a whole lot better, but it started feeling kind of strange after that 1st. We were still up 4-0 in the 5th when Lipscomb lead off with a single, then moved him to 3rd on a base hit by the next guy. At that point, I remember saying aloud "We're going to fart around and lose this game." Lipscomb really couldn't have had more momentum after that frame and even after Keegan McGovern's moonshot, they still held us to only that run and kept adding to their lead. Then the 9th happened, then the 11th happened.... You just feel tired at the end of it, really.
-On the 5th inning, candidly it was a very disappointing from Robert Tyler. He's better than that. I thought that the first mound visit from Stricklin was a very interesting and I imagine (though I don't know) that it was something along the lines of "hey, you're up 4-0, this is a spot where we've got to have you get some outs and protect this lead. Don't give in here." Maybe I'm off base, but I imagine something similar to that was said. The throw over on the bunt (can't remember if that was before or after the visit) was disappointing as was the pitch to Andrew Lee, which ended his night. The pitch to Lee and long HR reminded me of the Florida State game last year when John Sansone took him deep in a fairly similar situation. Tyler is better than that.... he's better than making that catastrophic pitch that turns a game around. He'll learn from it and he'll be better as a result of tonight, that much I'd bet.
-You just never know what you're going to get with David Savage. Not that I thought that his zone was terribly inconsistent tonight.... We probably get the better end of it, honestly, but I don't know.... Sometimes the walks really pile up when he's back there and sometimes you don't notice him at all. If you told me that we'd play a four and a half hour game tonight, I would have guessed Savage was back there.
-Safe to say Keegan McGovern is coming out of his slump.
-I'd love to know the backstory on Cody Glenn, tonight's starter for Lipscomb. How do you start off at LSU (and pitch well as a sophomore) and then end up at Lipscomb, and get shelled, three years later? There must have been an injury involved. Glenn just didn't have much of anything tonight and his body language wasn't real great either. We probably caught a break on Nick King's AB. Glenn really didn't throw another good pitch the rest of his outing after he didn't get King on the called third strike. But give Lipscomb credit, they made the change after the 1st and the next guy was terrific. As bleak as their chances looked in the 1st, they didn't fold up, nor did they coach in a give up manner. Given how many arms we saw tonight, I'd imagine there's a good chance we'll see Glenn out of the bullpen on Sunday.
-During Blake Cairnes warmups, I heard Stricklin yell from the dugout "Blake, make sure you come set!!" Then we get a balk call later that inning. It's got to drive a coach crazy. Other than that, I thought that Blake did a good job overall. I said before, he's not overly creative out there, but it works.... He throws a very heavy looking fastball and isn't afraid to pitch to contact.
-Bo Tucker just keeps better. With respect to Moody and Cairnes, Tucker looked the most in-control of anyone we threw tonight. I'll be interested to see if his role changes moving forward.
-Patrick Sullivan does a really nice job over at 1st. He made a great play to get the out on a dropped third strike with a very high throw in the 1st inning... He seems like a heady guy, but is also very, very strong with the glove there.
-In the 11th, when Mitchell Webb got to 2-0, I think everyone in the stadium knew we were going to get a walk off walk.
-Had we lost, I don't imagine Scott Stricklin would have gotten much sleep tonight. As it is, I don't imagine that Jeff Forehand will. He's probably kicking himself for not staying with Kyle Kemp for the 9th inning. Whoever ultimately won, one coach was going to be extremely disappointed with things tonight, given how it played out. I'm glad it's their guy, obviously, but man, what a game of inches sometimes.
-Really, not to sound negative, we were lucky to win tonight. All the innings count the same, but without the 1st inning, we don't just lose tonight, we get worked. It's a very odd way that we've gotten to 10-5, that's for sure, but I think it's apparent now that we are going to have to find a different gear offensively if we are going to compete in the SEC. Tonight was very close to being the worst loss of the season. Thankfully it wasn't and our team deserves a tremendous pat on the back for pulling themselves off the mat there late and finding a way. But it's got to get better.... and I know everyone knows that..... the quality of competition is about to take a serious turn upward and our performance is going to have to do the same if we're going to this thing above water.
-First, what a weird swing of emotions. After the 1st inning, it felt like it was going to be one of those 12-2 type of nights. I don't know if it was an issue of us letting our guard down or Lipscomb pitching a whole lot better, but it started feeling kind of strange after that 1st. We were still up 4-0 in the 5th when Lipscomb lead off with a single, then moved him to 3rd on a base hit by the next guy. At that point, I remember saying aloud "We're going to fart around and lose this game." Lipscomb really couldn't have had more momentum after that frame and even after Keegan McGovern's moonshot, they still held us to only that run and kept adding to their lead. Then the 9th happened, then the 11th happened.... You just feel tired at the end of it, really.
-On the 5th inning, candidly it was a very disappointing from Robert Tyler. He's better than that. I thought that the first mound visit from Stricklin was a very interesting and I imagine (though I don't know) that it was something along the lines of "hey, you're up 4-0, this is a spot where we've got to have you get some outs and protect this lead. Don't give in here." Maybe I'm off base, but I imagine something similar to that was said. The throw over on the bunt (can't remember if that was before or after the visit) was disappointing as was the pitch to Andrew Lee, which ended his night. The pitch to Lee and long HR reminded me of the Florida State game last year when John Sansone took him deep in a fairly similar situation. Tyler is better than that.... he's better than making that catastrophic pitch that turns a game around. He'll learn from it and he'll be better as a result of tonight, that much I'd bet.
-You just never know what you're going to get with David Savage. Not that I thought that his zone was terribly inconsistent tonight.... We probably get the better end of it, honestly, but I don't know.... Sometimes the walks really pile up when he's back there and sometimes you don't notice him at all. If you told me that we'd play a four and a half hour game tonight, I would have guessed Savage was back there.
-Safe to say Keegan McGovern is coming out of his slump.
-I'd love to know the backstory on Cody Glenn, tonight's starter for Lipscomb. How do you start off at LSU (and pitch well as a sophomore) and then end up at Lipscomb, and get shelled, three years later? There must have been an injury involved. Glenn just didn't have much of anything tonight and his body language wasn't real great either. We probably caught a break on Nick King's AB. Glenn really didn't throw another good pitch the rest of his outing after he didn't get King on the called third strike. But give Lipscomb credit, they made the change after the 1st and the next guy was terrific. As bleak as their chances looked in the 1st, they didn't fold up, nor did they coach in a give up manner. Given how many arms we saw tonight, I'd imagine there's a good chance we'll see Glenn out of the bullpen on Sunday.
-During Blake Cairnes warmups, I heard Stricklin yell from the dugout "Blake, make sure you come set!!" Then we get a balk call later that inning. It's got to drive a coach crazy. Other than that, I thought that Blake did a good job overall. I said before, he's not overly creative out there, but it works.... He throws a very heavy looking fastball and isn't afraid to pitch to contact.
-Bo Tucker just keeps better. With respect to Moody and Cairnes, Tucker looked the most in-control of anyone we threw tonight. I'll be interested to see if his role changes moving forward.
-Patrick Sullivan does a really nice job over at 1st. He made a great play to get the out on a dropped third strike with a very high throw in the 1st inning... He seems like a heady guy, but is also very, very strong with the glove there.
-In the 11th, when Mitchell Webb got to 2-0, I think everyone in the stadium knew we were going to get a walk off walk.
-Had we lost, I don't imagine Scott Stricklin would have gotten much sleep tonight. As it is, I don't imagine that Jeff Forehand will. He's probably kicking himself for not staying with Kyle Kemp for the 9th inning. Whoever ultimately won, one coach was going to be extremely disappointed with things tonight, given how it played out. I'm glad it's their guy, obviously, but man, what a game of inches sometimes.
-Really, not to sound negative, we were lucky to win tonight. All the innings count the same, but without the 1st inning, we don't just lose tonight, we get worked. It's a very odd way that we've gotten to 10-5, that's for sure, but I think it's apparent now that we are going to have to find a different gear offensively if we are going to compete in the SEC. Tonight was very close to being the worst loss of the season. Thankfully it wasn't and our team deserves a tremendous pat on the back for pulling themselves off the mat there late and finding a way. But it's got to get better.... and I know everyone knows that..... the quality of competition is about to take a serious turn upward and our performance is going to have to do the same if we're going to this thing above water.
