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Post by rc on Feb 19, 2022 21:09:41 GMT -6
I watched the games but there was not much play going on....
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Post by rc on Feb 20, 2022 13:19:48 GMT -6
Game 4: This is too disappointing to watch. They lead off with a double, our pitcher walks two, then we make an error and they score. I get depressed too easily. Still no outs. What a start.
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Post by bogeyman on Feb 20, 2022 13:22:43 GMT -6
We cannot throw strikes. Last year the same thing plagued us against good teams. Yesterday we were continually 2-0 and 3-1 on batters while NDS started us 0-2 consistently. You cannot win without throwing strikes and getting ahead in the count.
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Post by rc on Feb 20, 2022 13:45:36 GMT -6
You are spot on. Our pitching concept is not a winning approach -- it is a recipe for eventual break-down, which has happened several times already. But in addition, on offense, we sure take a lot of pitches. Maybe we are looking for a pitch, don't get it and just rest the bat on the shoulder -- that is playing into the hand of excellent pitchers, and puts our hitters in a hole. The batter has to become defensive. NDSU's performance has been very impressive. I hope this last game they run out of such skilled guys on the mound. I would like to see us display a little offensive aggression.
BTW: it is interesting that every pitch NDSU throws is called from the dugout -- my kind of baseball.
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Post by Outsider on Feb 20, 2022 15:31:54 GMT -6
At least our guys are putting up a good fight today.
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Post by bogeyman on Feb 20, 2022 15:49:29 GMT -6
NDS found a pitcher or 2 who can't throw strikes and our bats have risen from the dead. Carter Sells pitching himself into more innings. Yeah!
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Post by Outsider on Feb 20, 2022 16:49:45 GMT -6
But then they eat up our relief pitchers....... Just when you think we can actually rally a victory today.
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Post by Outsider on Feb 20, 2022 17:38:16 GMT -6
Interesting last-minute standoff, but too little too late and we couldn't capitalize.
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Post by rc on Feb 20, 2022 17:59:00 GMT -6
I worry Sam Houston might be the WAC's best, they took 3 of 4 from a highly ranked Nebraska team. GCU is typically very good as well.
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Post by Outsider on Feb 20, 2022 18:20:38 GMT -6
We certainly didn't live up to any hype this weekend, but maybe they can still pull it together.
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Post by bogeyman on Feb 20, 2022 21:21:48 GMT -6
Not a very good beginning to the season but hey, it's the 1st series of the year. I'm glad our bats woke up in the last game. If I'm remembering correctly we ended three different innings with the bases loaded. But the deciding factor in our loses were 30 walks and 5 (HBP). We have to start throwing strikes. We used 16 of the 21 pitchers on our roster. Surprised we didn't use Austin Glaze--may be hurt. Not one of our starters made it out of the 4th inning. Our hitters are going to make noise. Can our pitchers improve? Michigan next weekend. Should be another good test.
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Post by rc on Feb 20, 2022 21:48:34 GMT -6
We have some fundamentals wrong. Imagine, we gave up 7 stolen bases. That seems remarkable but it could have been a lot worse. Several times North Dakota simply did not even run when the opportunity was clearly there. But their whole scheme seemed preplanned, called from the dugout, so they did not take many risks. It was like we had not worked on holding the runner or pick-off plays. Plus giving up eleven walks is not normal. When we get better control of the game flow, I think we will have a pretty good offense, but pitching and defensive alertness need a lot of work. Michigan State will be a test.
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Post by Cap'n Cattitude on Feb 21, 2022 8:45:04 GMT -6
Not a very good beginning to the season but hey, it's the 1st series of the year. I'm glad our bats woke up in the last game. If I'm remembering correctly we ended three different innings with the bases loaded. But the deciding factor in our loses were 30 walks and 5 (HBP). We have to start throwing strikes. We used 16 of the 21 pitchers on our roster. Surprised we didn't use Austin Glaze--may be hurt. Not one of our starters made it out of the 4th inning. Our hitters are going to make noise. Can our pitchers improve? Michigan next weekend. Should be another good test. Pretty sure the starters were on pitch counts. But they need to go deeper than 4 innings on 60-75 pitches. I didn't see too many innings but it appeared that the Bisons were very, very disciplined at the plate. It was not unusual for them to foul 3-4-5 pitches and they always went with the pitch... didn't try to pull everything. That also affected our pitchers, me thinks. We, on the other hand, seemed to always be looking for the ball over the middle of the platter.
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Post by kjmike1956 on Feb 21, 2022 10:13:11 GMT -6
I was expecting a whole lot more out of this series. Hopefully things get better in the next few weeks.
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Post by wildcatter on Feb 21, 2022 10:28:52 GMT -6
Doesn’t help that every article coming out before the season starts heaps praises on a team following a successful prior season. Sets up major expectations that the program hasn’t hard for a decade. NDSU won the summit league last year and was a regional qualifier so they were never going to be a pushover. Baseball seasons are long, it’s a disappointing start but so be it. Get it out of the way and figure out what we need to do to keep climbing the baseball ladder.
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