-Never really relaxed during that one, even at 9-2 you look up at the scoreboard and see much ball there is left to be played. This was a nice win, though, beyond the fact that it put us into Hoover officially and locked us into the 10th spot in the SEC, it was really good to see us weather the storm there in the middle innings. Tennessee had all the momentum in that game by the 6th, and we never let them push ahead of us.
-It was a bit of a grind for Bo Tucker tonight. I guess he's just better out of the bullpen.... Although, missing as much time as he did in the fall, he's been on a different schedule as far as getting "built up" to throw 100+ pitches. I wonder sometimes if he tries to pace himself too much when he starts. The other thing too was that his best inning was the 4th.... he got three quick outs and made some really good pitches in the process. Then he had to sit for about 25 minutes while we had our big inning and I wonder if he just got a little cold.
-Have a night Keegan McGovern. 5 hit games obviously don't happen every day and I'm sure this one was extra sweet for him after being dropped down to the 8th spot against tech. He's been putting together some very good ABs for the past couple of weeks now, but hitting a lot of stuff right at people.... a lot like Daniel Nichols in the early going. Man, did Keegan ever look like a guy tonight.
-On that note, how about the bounce back from Daniel Nichols? He had a tough game at Turner, and I really hated that for him given that his brother played at tech and given that he had such a good game there last year. You had to wonder how long it was going to take him to get back on track after that head injury. Outstanding work for him tonight.
-Tennessee is bad defensively. Really bad, and tonight goes to show you why errors and fielding percentage rarely tell the whole story of a team defensively. If they make a routine play in CF and a couple of routine plays at SS, they probably 3-4 runs off the board. Of course, we handle our pitching differently in that case too.... They played the worst defensive game I've ever seen from a major college team in the middle game of the series last season and then they weren't a whole lot better on Sunday. That part is hard for me to figure out. You'd think with a guy like Serrano, coming over from the west coast, that he'd put a premium on defense.
-When they brought in Andy Cox, who has pitched a lot of innings for them through is time in Knoxville, I knew that his numbers were bad this year and that he'd had a couple of absolutely dreadful outings (and some good ones too). Didn't take long to figure out what we were going to get. I tell you though, he walks the first two guys on eight pitches, then we got up there and try to give him an out (by sac bunting), even keeping that on in a 3 ball count. I about lost my mind too when we had Stephen Wrenn bunting in the 2nd inning.... No sense in wasting outs like that early, especially against a team like Tennessee who can swing it so well.
-These guys are 7-21 now in the SEC.... you wouldn't know it watching them hit. They've got some guys in their order.... But I guess it's not hard to figure out why they've struggled so.
-Thought it was a great move bringing in Heath Holder to pitch the 9th. It's a must win game, we might as well go with the best pitcher on our staff. I liked it a lot. And Heater handled it. If we get into a regional, he really needs to get the baseball game one... And that guy deserves some serious recognition from our fans when he gets his jersey or plaque (not sure what they're doing) on Saturday.
-LJ Talley hits two HRs tonight if there is no wind or if the air isn't so heavy.... The first one he hit back there, I thought was way out when it left the bat.
-Benito Santigo is better than he was last year, but he doesn't have the numbers or the talent to act the way he does at the plate.
-Hopefully mother nature cooperates tomorrow and we get a 9 inning game in as scheduled (or as moved). I'll be interested to see the crowd tomorrow for the 3p first pitch. It hit me today that this is about to be it at Foley Field for another season.... and a lot of guys who have played a lot of baseball and been around the program for long time will be leaving as well. I guess I can think about that later.... it's tough to know that the home card is almost finished, all the same. All that said, it sure didn't feel like the last weekend tonight, especially late.... This has been the weirdest weather season I can remember. I wish I'd taken in my jacket tonight. We never had any overly cold home games (other than a mid-weeker early that I had to miss).... And it never really got too hot either. If this is "climate change" (it isn't), I'm not sure what all the fuss is about....
-It was a bit of a grind for Bo Tucker tonight. I guess he's just better out of the bullpen.... Although, missing as much time as he did in the fall, he's been on a different schedule as far as getting "built up" to throw 100+ pitches. I wonder sometimes if he tries to pace himself too much when he starts. The other thing too was that his best inning was the 4th.... he got three quick outs and made some really good pitches in the process. Then he had to sit for about 25 minutes while we had our big inning and I wonder if he just got a little cold.
-Have a night Keegan McGovern. 5 hit games obviously don't happen every day and I'm sure this one was extra sweet for him after being dropped down to the 8th spot against tech. He's been putting together some very good ABs for the past couple of weeks now, but hitting a lot of stuff right at people.... a lot like Daniel Nichols in the early going. Man, did Keegan ever look like a guy tonight.
-On that note, how about the bounce back from Daniel Nichols? He had a tough game at Turner, and I really hated that for him given that his brother played at tech and given that he had such a good game there last year. You had to wonder how long it was going to take him to get back on track after that head injury. Outstanding work for him tonight.
-Tennessee is bad defensively. Really bad, and tonight goes to show you why errors and fielding percentage rarely tell the whole story of a team defensively. If they make a routine play in CF and a couple of routine plays at SS, they probably 3-4 runs off the board. Of course, we handle our pitching differently in that case too.... They played the worst defensive game I've ever seen from a major college team in the middle game of the series last season and then they weren't a whole lot better on Sunday. That part is hard for me to figure out. You'd think with a guy like Serrano, coming over from the west coast, that he'd put a premium on defense.
-When they brought in Andy Cox, who has pitched a lot of innings for them through is time in Knoxville, I knew that his numbers were bad this year and that he'd had a couple of absolutely dreadful outings (and some good ones too). Didn't take long to figure out what we were going to get. I tell you though, he walks the first two guys on eight pitches, then we got up there and try to give him an out (by sac bunting), even keeping that on in a 3 ball count. I about lost my mind too when we had Stephen Wrenn bunting in the 2nd inning.... No sense in wasting outs like that early, especially against a team like Tennessee who can swing it so well.
-These guys are 7-21 now in the SEC.... you wouldn't know it watching them hit. They've got some guys in their order.... But I guess it's not hard to figure out why they've struggled so.
-Thought it was a great move bringing in Heath Holder to pitch the 9th. It's a must win game, we might as well go with the best pitcher on our staff. I liked it a lot. And Heater handled it. If we get into a regional, he really needs to get the baseball game one... And that guy deserves some serious recognition from our fans when he gets his jersey or plaque (not sure what they're doing) on Saturday.
-LJ Talley hits two HRs tonight if there is no wind or if the air isn't so heavy.... The first one he hit back there, I thought was way out when it left the bat.
-Benito Santigo is better than he was last year, but he doesn't have the numbers or the talent to act the way he does at the plate.
-Hopefully mother nature cooperates tomorrow and we get a 9 inning game in as scheduled (or as moved). I'll be interested to see the crowd tomorrow for the 3p first pitch. It hit me today that this is about to be it at Foley Field for another season.... and a lot of guys who have played a lot of baseball and been around the program for long time will be leaving as well. I guess I can think about that later.... it's tough to know that the home card is almost finished, all the same. All that said, it sure didn't feel like the last weekend tonight, especially late.... This has been the weirdest weather season I can remember. I wish I'd taken in my jacket tonight. We never had any overly cold home games (other than a mid-weeker early that I had to miss).... And it never really got too hot either. If this is "climate change" (it isn't), I'm not sure what all the fuss is about....
