-That was our first series win over South Carolina since 2008. We snapped the skid against Florida last season and really need to take care of Vanderbilt next time around. I wrote on Thursday night that South Carolina hasn't been as strong away from home and I think that you saw some of that this weekend. Some of their fans will tell you that injuries played a factor with them too. Either way, it was REALLY nice to beat those guys. I've been saying since last May that we owed them one, and we gave it to them this weekend.
-Daniel Nichols has quietly become our best hitter in league play.... He trails Hunter Cole in terms of average, but has far and away the best slugging percentage and is #2 on the team in OBP by a relatively thin margin (.009). His grand slam today was the first that we've hit in league play since, I believe, Kyle Farmer's shot against Auburn on Sunday in 2011. Nichols' shot today reminded me a lot of his first career HR, in Statesboro last season. Dead center, only their wall is a lot shorter down there so it hit about 20 feet up the batter's eye. Watching Nichols go around the bases, I'm not sure he knew that it left the park until he got about halfway to 3rd base.... so it may have been the fastest home run trot that we'll see for awhile. I'll be honest too.... I didn't think that we were going to hit any more this year. We got 2 this weekend and Nichols' shot today was absolutely the difference in that game. You almost forget sometimes just how big that 4 spot actually is on the scoreboard.
-I thought David Sosebee did a really nice job today. The strike zone wasn't very good behind the plate (both teams got it), and I thought that Sosebee managed that well. He didn't really leave anything up as it started getting later and his strike out of Pankake in the 6th was probably the key AB for us defensively in that entire game. The leadoff walk to start the game was no good and then he fell behind Pankake.... the 9-3 DP there seemed to settle him down a bit and it also got the crowd going. He made it look pretty easy until the 6th. I'd say that we've found a Sunday starter.
-I don't think that Sosebee was really even in the plans for this season 10 months ago. He deserves some credit for working hard to get himself to this point, and Fred Corral deserves a ton of credit as well..... That's the part of this whole deal that excites me the most. We're doing some great things on the mound right now and we went into this season expecting Sean McLaughlin and Jared Walsh to be integral parts of the staff.
-I was really surprised to see Heath Holder get the call in the 7th as opposed to Dylan Cole and even more surprised when Holder came out for the 8th. He pitched really well, though.... His curve is pretty nasty, and I like his tempo.... He got through the 7th in a hurry. That was as good as I've seen him pitch since he's been here.... going down the stretch, it's nice to know that it looks like we found another guy.
-South Carolina's middle IF is just really good... The E4 aside late today, both Gore and Mooney made a lot of plays for them... That was impressive.
-In 2016, I think that you're going to see Robert Tyler, Jared Poche', and Wil Crowe as the top shelf SEC guys. Crowe looked to be a step below those first two (but it's nearing the end of a long season for a freshman), but he's got a lot of talent and will have a great deal of success in this league.
-We just keep making plays in the OF. After Fred Corral, that reality represents the biggest factor in our pitching turnaround.
-Overall, just a very, very good weekend. Friday night was as good of a game as we've played all year. After yesterday, it was really impressive the way that we bounced back today and we FINALLY got a big, non-solo home run from someone. Good crowds all weekend, and just a lot of fun. We needed it badly.
-Daniel Nichols has quietly become our best hitter in league play.... He trails Hunter Cole in terms of average, but has far and away the best slugging percentage and is #2 on the team in OBP by a relatively thin margin (.009). His grand slam today was the first that we've hit in league play since, I believe, Kyle Farmer's shot against Auburn on Sunday in 2011. Nichols' shot today reminded me a lot of his first career HR, in Statesboro last season. Dead center, only their wall is a lot shorter down there so it hit about 20 feet up the batter's eye. Watching Nichols go around the bases, I'm not sure he knew that it left the park until he got about halfway to 3rd base.... so it may have been the fastest home run trot that we'll see for awhile. I'll be honest too.... I didn't think that we were going to hit any more this year. We got 2 this weekend and Nichols' shot today was absolutely the difference in that game. You almost forget sometimes just how big that 4 spot actually is on the scoreboard.
-I thought David Sosebee did a really nice job today. The strike zone wasn't very good behind the plate (both teams got it), and I thought that Sosebee managed that well. He didn't really leave anything up as it started getting later and his strike out of Pankake in the 6th was probably the key AB for us defensively in that entire game. The leadoff walk to start the game was no good and then he fell behind Pankake.... the 9-3 DP there seemed to settle him down a bit and it also got the crowd going. He made it look pretty easy until the 6th. I'd say that we've found a Sunday starter.
-I don't think that Sosebee was really even in the plans for this season 10 months ago. He deserves some credit for working hard to get himself to this point, and Fred Corral deserves a ton of credit as well..... That's the part of this whole deal that excites me the most. We're doing some great things on the mound right now and we went into this season expecting Sean McLaughlin and Jared Walsh to be integral parts of the staff.
-I was really surprised to see Heath Holder get the call in the 7th as opposed to Dylan Cole and even more surprised when Holder came out for the 8th. He pitched really well, though.... His curve is pretty nasty, and I like his tempo.... He got through the 7th in a hurry. That was as good as I've seen him pitch since he's been here.... going down the stretch, it's nice to know that it looks like we found another guy.
-South Carolina's middle IF is just really good... The E4 aside late today, both Gore and Mooney made a lot of plays for them... That was impressive.
-In 2016, I think that you're going to see Robert Tyler, Jared Poche', and Wil Crowe as the top shelf SEC guys. Crowe looked to be a step below those first two (but it's nearing the end of a long season for a freshman), but he's got a lot of talent and will have a great deal of success in this league.
-We just keep making plays in the OF. After Fred Corral, that reality represents the biggest factor in our pitching turnaround.
-Overall, just a very, very good weekend. Friday night was as good of a game as we've played all year. After yesterday, it was really impressive the way that we bounced back today and we FINALLY got a big, non-solo home run from someone. Good crowds all weekend, and just a lot of fun. We needed it badly.
