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Post by rgmillikan on Mar 26, 2021 16:42:04 GMT -6
BSU takes the first game 7-6. Baker was roughed up halfway thru the game, but thankfully our lineup stepped up at the plate.
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Post by redbirdman on Mar 27, 2021 11:48:11 GMT -6
Cards get a great game from McDermott going all the way giving up 3 hits & fanning 13 in 7-1 win.
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Post by rgmillikan on Mar 28, 2021 15:55:50 GMT -6
Cards end up taking 3 of 4 with a Navarro walkoff HR today. I would of really liked to have swept 1 of the first 2 opponents because the second half of the MAC schedule is much tougher on paper than the first half, but most importantly they didnt split either series.
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Post by villagepub on Mar 28, 2021 19:00:42 GMT -6
Cards end up taking 3 of 4 with a Navarro walkoff HR today. I would of really liked to have swept 1 of the first 2 opponents because the second half of the MAC schedule is much tougher on paper than the first half, but most importantly they didnt split either series. Really needed to sweep WMU and Toledo. They are two of the weakest programs in the MAC this year. With no MAC Tourney and 40 games determining your fate, you have to capitalize early. |
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Post by CallingBS on Mar 29, 2021 8:43:27 GMT -6
Miami didn't sweep Toledo either. Toledo gave them a tough series too. CMU split with OU this last weekend. Something is wrong at Kent, as Dayton just took 3 of 4 from them. Miami did take 3 of 4 vs NIU last weekend, who took 3 of 4 from Kent the weekend before.
The MAC is as strong and deep as it has ever been this year. Based on early results, I'd say Miami appears to be the favorite, but we are definitely in the mix. I'm just not sure we have consistent enough hitting or consistency deeper in the rotation to sweep a 4-game series.
Games 3 and 4 of these series are always going to be a crapshoot. I said that before the conference season, and so far it has played out that way.
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Post by villagepub on Mar 29, 2021 8:49:57 GMT -6
Miami didn't sweep Toledo either. Toledo gave them a tough series too. Kind of my point. To separate from the other top tier teams, you need to get the sweep over the weak teams. I think this is your target to win regular season: sweep lower 1/3 tier; go 3-1 against mid-tier; a split, or better against top tier. |
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Post by CallingBS on Mar 29, 2021 9:01:34 GMT -6
Miami didn't sweep Toledo either. Toledo gave them a tough series too. Kind of my point. To separate from the other top tier teams, you need to get the sweep over the weak teams. I think this is your target to win regular season: sweep lower 1/3 tier; go 3-1 against mid-tier; a split, or better against top tier. Yet so far that is not the way it is playing out. CMU split with mid tier (maybe) OU. Miami and BSU took 3 of 4 from Toledo. Kent lost 3 of 4 to NIU. Miami didn't sweep NIU, though NIU is a bit of a mystery in terms of their "tier" at this point. In other words, none of the 4 favorites have met your standards so far. I'll bet there are very few 4-game sweeps. Your logic makes more sense for the normal 3-game series seasons. Kent is the enigma based on the last two weekends. I wonder what the deal is? We know they have the talent. I quick scan of their box scores would indicate Covid wasn't an issue. |
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Post by CallingBS on Mar 29, 2021 9:07:09 GMT -6
The league winner will have a winning record in head to head matchups between CMU, BSU, Miami, and Kent. I could see a lot of splits in those series.
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Post by villagepub on Mar 29, 2021 9:11:00 GMT -6
Kind of my point. To separate from the other top tier teams, you need to get the sweep over the weak teams. I think this is your target to win regular season: sweep lower 1/3 tier; go 3-1 against mid-tier; a split, or better against top tier. In other words, none of the 4 favorites have met your standards so far. I'll bet there are very few 4-game sweeps. Your logic makes more sense for the normal 3-game series seasons. Gotta be better than the favorites |
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Post by 00hmh on Mar 29, 2021 10:13:17 GMT -6
Miami didn't sweep Toledo either. Toledo gave them a tough series too. Kind of my point. To separate from the other top tier teams, you need to get the sweep over the weak teams. I think this is your target to win regular season: sweep lower 1/3 tier; go 3-1 against mid-tier; a split, or better against top tier. That's a goal, a good target, but you are going to see mid tier teams have a good series against you. That 4-0 series is a hard target. I'd also expect we'd see 3-1 or 1-3 about as often as a split against a top team. Maybe both those more likely than 4-0 versus the bottom tier. That is really hard, even those bottom tier teams could have one good game, or your pitching fail in game 3 or 4. Even a minor injury in a bad week... |
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Post by villagepub on Mar 29, 2021 12:15:46 GMT -6
Kind of my point. To separate from the other top tier teams, you need to get the sweep over the weak teams. I think this is your target to win regular season: sweep lower 1/3 tier; go 3-1 against mid-tier; a split, or better against top tier. That's a goal, a good target, but you are going to see mid tier teams have a good series against you. That 4-0 series is a hard target. I'd also expect we'd see 3-1 or 1-3 about as often as a split against a top team. Maybe both those more likely than 4-0 versus the bottom tier. That is really hard, even those bottom tier teams could have one good game, or your pitching fail in game 3 or 4. Even a minor injury in a bad week... Statistically, I know how distribution works. My point is that if all contenders start dicking around with 3-1, 2-2 and 1-3 series results, the MAC Championship will boil down to tie breakers, and I believe that will be head to head run differentials. BSU has to clearly differentiate itself with a sweep, or two, or three, and they missed two key opportunities with two of the lower tier teams. |
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Post by realitycheck on Mar 29, 2021 20:34:32 GMT -6
You're not wrong...but 4-0 brooms are hard to come by. Our bats are not there yet. I like our Skipper and our boys. Let's see what happens.
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Post by villagepub on Mar 30, 2021 9:12:33 GMT -6
You're not wrong...but 4-0 brooms are hard to come by. Our bats are not there yet. I like our Skipper and our boys. Let's see what happens. Bats are terrible right now. Pitching is good although there are moments when they give up the "big inning." Losing to WMU 15-12 when you had a 6-0 lead, and it costs you a sweep is a concern. Let a couple of big innings grow. Need to put those games away. The loss to Toledo had another inning where they scored 3 runs with two outs (two outs then gave up two walks, a single and a double). Lost that game by 3. Got to close out innings. |
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Post by CallingBS on Mar 30, 2021 10:06:12 GMT -6
We hit .301 in the Toledo and WMU series, which leads the MAC in conference games and is 33 points higher than the second highest team BA in league play. We definitely need more timely hits, though. Our biggest problem right now is our 2nd tier pitching staff looking great for 4-5 innings and then falling apart in the blowup inning or two you mentioned.
You clearly have a burr up your butt about the baseball program. MAC baseball is very good, and we are in the hunt nearly every year. Our players are excellent representatives of the university. We fared very well in a very tough non-conference slate - stumbled at ODU due to some injuries, uncharacteristic fielding errors, and lack of timely hits. If you want to pick on a coach and program, the basketball board would be a much better place to frequent.
Of course the two losses to WMU and Toledo are disappointing, but that's college baseball to a certain extent. I don't think this team (or any MAC team) has much of a margin for error. We weren't THE favorite this year anyway. CMU was, but they've stumbled out of the gate a bit, but they're certainly far from out of it. I think the MAC representative could make some noise in a regional, but it will be a dogfight between 4 favorites and likely a wild card or two to get that one spot.
And I still say 4 game series and 2 7-inning games was a dumb idea. It waters down the quality of the league, and we've seen that play out the first couple of weekends.
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Post by CallingBS on Mar 30, 2021 10:22:43 GMT -6
And I'm not trying to be all roses. I don't really have a dog in the fight. I just love baseball, coach in high school, and follow it closely. As an alum, we don't have many programs to be proud of, but baseball has consistently been one of them since Maloney stepped foot on campus. Is it perfect, of course not, but you get out of things what you put into them, and we are way outperforming the resources we put into baseball.
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