brfrad

The pitcher tomorrow for ASU is 4 - 2 with a 6.15 ERA. Which means he will shut us out.

I admit to it. I'm willing to eat some crow.

This team has no fundamentals. Put the ball in play. Swings at 2 pitches nowhere close, and stares at strike 3 down the middle with a runner at 3rd and 1 out.

He is what we needed today. I was very wrong about Eddins earlier in the year. He has been pitching very well. Lead-off double and walk to start the 7th, but no bunt leads to a pop-up to the catcher. Erstad refuses to play small ball. Bailed out by a hbp.

Angelo picks up Roskam and Gomes.

Why shouldn't we keep playing a guy who is batting 10 - 60 (.167) with 29 k's, and bat him 4th to top it off?

Went from a chance at the conference title to hoping to make the tournament in 2 weeks.

Now, Erstad rips into the players. Where was it the last month?

It would take a lot I'm sure, but it would be worth it.

When we lose this game you can shoot our chances. I could understand having a rough day and the opposing pitcher having the game of his life. This offense has been shut down by everybody since the Purdue series. I would be feeling terrible if I was a Purdue pitcher.

Adios regional bid!

I think my 40 year old self who can throw 50 mph with no breaking stuff could go out and shut this team down.

Somebody has to say enough is enough, and start hitting. Runners on 1st and 2nd 0 outs. Do we bunt? Nope. Do we PH for a guy with 10 AB this year, maybe with Hegge who is a good bunter? Nope. We let the guy with 10 AB hit a weak fly ball to right. The next guy grounds into a double play.

This game might be over. We may not score 3 runs the rest of the season. This is sad right now.

This is getting beyond ridiculous. A 5.77 ERA has retired 11 batters in a row.

If I was a pitcher facing Nebraska, I would be begging my coach to let me face them.

This team is playing awful baseball right now. Northwestern gets a SB and a single. We load the bases with 1 out, K and fly out.

It feels like this team is 2 for their last 50 with RISP. Lack of extra base hits are making it more difficult. This pitcher has a 5.36 ERA, and we have 3 singles against him.

I will say for all the hand wringing I've done the last few weeks, this season has went better than I expected. We have a chance to win the conference and make a regional. At the beginning of the season, I was hoping to make the Big 10 tournament. Must sweep this weekend and win 1 against ASU and 2 against Michigan, we would be 29 - 19 overall, and 17 - 7 in conference. Michigan has Maryland, Indiana, and us. Let's say they go 5 - 4. That would put them 16 - 7. Indiana has Illinois, Michigan, and Rutgers. Finishing 5 - 4 is a real possibility. 16 - 8 would be their finish. That would give us a conference title.

We are a bad contact team. We are 10th in the Big 10 in strikeouts per plate appearance. I would like to see more sacrifices. We do run a decent amount, as we are 5th in the Big 10 in stolen base attempts per game going into this weekend. I think as some of the players get older (Schwellenbach, Chick, Palinsky, Gunner, and Gomes), they will get more power, but they are young, and haven't developed that power, yet. The 6th inning was this season in a nutshell (at least the last 3 weeks. The first two batters reach on a HBP, and a single. I know we are down 4 - 0, but still have 3 more opportunities to score. If the inning plays out like it did, and we get the bunt down. There are runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. A wild pitch puts a runner on 3rd, and scores a run. The next batter strikes out, but the batter after gets a single to left. We would have a 4 - 2 game with a runner at 1st and 2 outs. We're back in the game. A 3 run 7th gives us a 5 - 4 lead.

I worded that wrong. I just put the guys who I thought had upper level talent. I think Gunner would be included in that group, possibly Roskam. The other players have showed flashes (Hallmark on the opening weekend), but I don't think they will be/should be everyday players. Another solid recruiting class, and the talent will be there. Now, to develop them. One extra base hit this weekend is not going to get the job done. We are very fortunate not to have gotten swept. The good news is we get Northwestern (a sweep is a must). We need to get some momentum going into the last 2 weekends.

Palinsky, Chick, Acker, Schwellenbach, Gomes are a few players who have talent. The rest of the team probably not so much. The ? is do they end up like Asche, and get a cup of coffee in the bigs or Altavilla and struggle for their final 2 years here. Their approach with 2 strikes is horrible, but it also is en vogue in the majors, now.

36 runs in the last 11 games. Take out 17 runs in 2 games against Iowa and Omaha, that's 19 runs in 9 games.

As a former official scorer, that was an absolute error on Altavilla.

Why did we bring Perry out for his 3rd inning? Why not take him out after 2 good innings, and give him some confidence. Now, his memory will be giving up a run or more in the 9th.