Penn State (24-19) vs. Nebraska (26-20-1) weekend thread

[throwback]

Nice all-around performance this weekend - I liked how the coaches basically forced the bottom half of the order to stop swinging for the fences by playing small ball with those guys, and it worked a lot. Saw a lot of unselfish at-bats and visible frustration when they knew they were a little selfish. 

 

Now it'd be tough to beat Maryland playing small ball that often, but it's going to work against most of the rest of the league. Also is a good strategy for playing in Omaha. And it should give those back half of the order guys some confidence - for example, they set up Evans in RBI situations quite a bit this weekend, and he hit the ball as well as he has in a month-plus. 

 

Haven't seen the two-base sac fly in a while - fun to do that in the same week as we get a triple play. 

 

On to Purdue - we owe them after the garbage they pulled last year ... and hopefully we kick the crap out of them and then stomp on the corpse. 

 

[throwback]

I should also mention, as much as I want to beat Purdue, realistically, this weekend means nothing in the big picture, while the B1G tourney means everything.

 

I hope the coaches take that into account and keep pitch counts short - have everyone as fresh as possible for the B1G tourney, especially if we have to start on Tuesday. Especially important for Olson, so he can come back Tuesday (and hopefully the following Sunday). We'll see, though. It's one thing to make a plan like that but it's another thing to stick to it in a tight game. Everyone wants to win.

 

[brfrad]

What would be ironic is if Purdue goes 0 - 2 against us.  MSU goes 0 - 2 against Indiana.  Purdue needs to beat us and MSU needs to lose Indiana to make thetournament.  East Lansing has a chance of rain, and we jump on Purdue early.  MSU waits around for the rain to come, and eventually cancels the game once Purdue loses.

Edited May 15, 2023 by brfrad