-First, what a neat "full circle" kind of deal for Patrick Boling. We go to Clemson in 2011 and are leading and in control of the game when Boling comes in, walks 4 straight hitters, and Clemson puts up a big cooked number. Boling wasn't really the same after that and wasn't much of a factor the rest of the way. Then he doesn't make the team the next year. Last night, he throws a career high in innings and probably did the best work of his long tenure. It was neat to see that. That night in 2011 seems like a long time ago. It was. Boling has really grown up since then.
-Playing their fourth game in four days, you could tell that Clemson was a little bit flat footed. That's a tough deal.... we had to deal with it the other way in 2012 when we played Clemson on Wednesday and then had the Thursday - Saturday series with Ole MIss. By Saturday, we were a little sluggish and the bullpen was well worn. But, four games in four days or five games in four days is the reality of a regional, come June. I still think that Clemson is over-rated at #14 and in no way did I think that they were close to being 12 runs better than us. They'll probably still wind up hosting a regional, thanks to their top heavy league, and who knows, maybe we're back there in June.
-Three years in a row we've won up there. I'm not going back through the records, but I don't imagine that's happened for us (if ever). All three were very enjoyable W's.... last night certainly was. There wasn't a moment in that game last night when it felt like we would lose.
-Really happy for Hunter Cole. As a South Carolina native, I know that game meant a lot to him last night. His HR ball in the 1st was CRUSHED... He really should have had 3 hits too as he squared up his last one about as well as one could do.
-I thought that Pete Nagel would have earned the save last night. He came on in the 8th with a 4 run lead, with two guys on base as I recall.... I figured that a 4 run lead with 4 outs to get and the tying run in the on deck circle would qualify him for a save, but I guess not.... How strange is it that we only have one save this season?
-We've still got some guys hitting in the middle of the order who are fighting it right now. I'm not sure what else you can do, really. Who we have is who we have, but we've got to figure out a way to get some more production. The main thing that we're doing as an offense that we didn't do last year is drawing walks.... we've ground out A LOT of BBs this year (9 more last night).... typically, we don't score in an inning without drawing a walk somewhere.... I guess that's often the case, but it seems magnified with us.
-For having 3 errors (the last one on Nelson should have been scored a hit), that was a really good defensive game that we played last night, I thought. Outfield continues to do a fantastic job... All three of our OFs last night have started multiple games in CF in their careers. McLaughlin is probably more of a corner guy, but he covers a lot of ground and Welton and Wrenn are as good as anyone in the league.
-Right back to it tomorrow night.... Really proud of the bounce back after a disappointing Sunday. Great effort all around last night and a very, very enjoyable W.
-Playing their fourth game in four days, you could tell that Clemson was a little bit flat footed. That's a tough deal.... we had to deal with it the other way in 2012 when we played Clemson on Wednesday and then had the Thursday - Saturday series with Ole MIss. By Saturday, we were a little sluggish and the bullpen was well worn. But, four games in four days or five games in four days is the reality of a regional, come June. I still think that Clemson is over-rated at #14 and in no way did I think that they were close to being 12 runs better than us. They'll probably still wind up hosting a regional, thanks to their top heavy league, and who knows, maybe we're back there in June.
-Three years in a row we've won up there. I'm not going back through the records, but I don't imagine that's happened for us (if ever). All three were very enjoyable W's.... last night certainly was. There wasn't a moment in that game last night when it felt like we would lose.
-Really happy for Hunter Cole. As a South Carolina native, I know that game meant a lot to him last night. His HR ball in the 1st was CRUSHED... He really should have had 3 hits too as he squared up his last one about as well as one could do.
-I thought that Pete Nagel would have earned the save last night. He came on in the 8th with a 4 run lead, with two guys on base as I recall.... I figured that a 4 run lead with 4 outs to get and the tying run in the on deck circle would qualify him for a save, but I guess not.... How strange is it that we only have one save this season?
-We've still got some guys hitting in the middle of the order who are fighting it right now. I'm not sure what else you can do, really. Who we have is who we have, but we've got to figure out a way to get some more production. The main thing that we're doing as an offense that we didn't do last year is drawing walks.... we've ground out A LOT of BBs this year (9 more last night).... typically, we don't score in an inning without drawing a walk somewhere.... I guess that's often the case, but it seems magnified with us.
-For having 3 errors (the last one on Nelson should have been scored a hit), that was a really good defensive game that we played last night, I thought. Outfield continues to do a fantastic job... All three of our OFs last night have started multiple games in CF in their careers. McLaughlin is probably more of a corner guy, but he covers a lot of ground and Welton and Wrenn are as good as anyone in the league.
-Right back to it tomorrow night.... Really proud of the bounce back after a disappointing Sunday. Great effort all around last night and a very, very enjoyable W.
