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ORU vs. Arkansas


theeagleman5

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It will be a tall task for ORU (38-18) against host Arkansas  (39-18)...the Hogs are seeded 5th in the tournament and have an RPI of 3 compared to 131 for ORU....UA has an ace Blake Knight who is 10-0 with an ERA of 2.78.....guessing that he will be starting on Friday afternoon at Baum Stadium.....not sure who ORU will select but it should be Miguel Ausua (8-1  3.28)......any thoughts on whom Coach Folmar will select?  Ausua, McGregor or McMinn???...As always in baseball, this is a game ORU can win but we will need to play our best baseball of the year....gotta have an outstanding starting pitching effort and timely hitting.....the big home crowd also very difficult to overcome but I doubt ORU will be intimidated having played at Baum in the regional last year.....:geek::eagles::ugeek:

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Ausua and McGregor were not as sharp in my opinion. I would bring Josh McMinn for this outing with a 3.84 ERA. That is just my opinion. We can win this game with the right pitcher and hopefully, our hitting will continue the great defense. 

 

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I would go for broke if it's a close game to try and get in the winners bracket.  Starter for 5 -- Townsend for 2 -- Wommacks for 1 and Stout to close it out.......throw all your chips on the table.  Do not let whoever your starter is see the Arkansas bats for a third time at the plate.

Arkansas and Knight are a tall order.  It would be nice if ORU could get sent North or West once in a while just to see different competition in the regionals.

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Yeah....winning those first two games in this format is HUGE!!....Hogs can be beaten as Missouri State proved last year.....EXPECT A MIRACLE!!!.... TheEagleman would also not mind a different regional some year....send us to California, Coastal Carolina or Minnesota....8-)

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Arkansas threw Trevor Stephan last year in the opening game according to the box score....I don't think he was their ace but he pitched like it....shut ORU out for 7.1 innings with 12 Ks and the bullpen finished up the shutout......maybe the Hogs will save Knight for their 2nd game on Saturday figuring they can beat ORU with the #2 guy like last year.....:ugeek:

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14 minutes ago, theeagleman5 said:

Arkansas threw Trevor Stephan last year in the opening game according to the box score....I don't think he was their ace but he pitched like it....shut ORU out for 7.1 innings with 12 Ks and the bullpen finished up the shutout......maybe the Hogs will save Knight for their 2nd game on Saturday figuring they can beat ORU with the #2 guy like last year.....:ugeek:

He and Knight were pretty similar but Stephan was probably our best pitcher by the end of the year last year. He's already made it to AA for the Yankees organization this year.

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I would bet they save  Knight for round two and assume they can beat us. Anybody getting out of work to make the game on Friday?

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The ORU line up isn't exactly the 1927 Yankees.....or even the 2018 Yankees....I appreciate the respect but TheEagleman has to wonder why you wouldn't save your undefeated ace for the huge 2nd game on Saturday night....the Hogs should still be able to beat us with their #2 guy.....just sayin'.....:?

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According to the ORU game notes, McGregor will get the start and Cummings is still unable to play in the outfield.  I thought McCutchin looked a bit iffy on a few balls in RF during the Summit League championship after DH'ing most of the year.

http://oruathletics.com/sports/bsb/2017-18/files/2018-6-1_NCAA_Regional_Notes.pdf

 

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Not shocked McGregor is getting the task, he has been on fire this year and deserve the chance to take on Arkansas. The hogs have a very balanced hitting lineup, but all their guys can hit it out of the park. McGregor may have struggled against NDSU, but I don't fault him too much. The ump gave him a tight window to pitch at and was forced to throw favorable pitches to the NDSU hitters. Hopefully that will not be the case on Friday. Blaine Knight is going to be a pitcher the Eagles have never faced, a hard throwing righty with a killer fast ball. Knight tops about 97mph, but will probably be in the mid-90s on his fastball. He has a slider/cutter that will play a factor against our guys. If our hitters don't chase that cutter, we have a chance to do some damage. Not sure what else he can throw, but that seems to be his bread and butter. 

I did venture over to the Hogs fan forum to see what their opinions were about the game. They seem to think this game will be a cakewalk for their squad and many of their fans were disappointed in throwing Knight instead of their #2 or even their #3. Personally, I think you have to throw you #1 in the first game. You can't count on just pure talent and stats from your pitcher to win or lose a game. This is a tough regional for the Hogs to overlook all their opponents, despite all being from non-power 5 conferences. Unfortunately, I think the Hogs' batters are just going to be too much for our pitching staff (I hope I am deeply wrong). 

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You won't likely be wrong, Weird Al....even if McGregor pitches lights out, UA is going to score some runs and TheEagleman just doesn't think our bats will be able to touch Knight....ORU lost 3-0 in the opener last year and then 4-3 in the 2nd game...so 18 innings and we got 3 runs.....and the ORU line up isn't as strong as it was in 2017.....we need a Golden Eagle miracle.....:eagles:

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Don’t forget the 14-6 beat down ORU laid on OSU in the 2017 regional at Arkansas.  ORU went 1-2 in that regional and the 3-0 loss to Arkansas was a well played game by ORU who just couldn’t string together a few hits when they needed it, but ORU had solid defense and pitching in that game last year vs Arkansas.

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I think it says a lot about the respect P5 programs in the area have for ORU baseball. Even in a down year, they're rolling out their ace against us. Winning game #1 is all important in a regional.

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3 hours ago, ORUJason said:

Don’t forget the 14-6 beat down ORU laid on OSU in the 2017 regional at Arkansas.  ORU went 1-2 in that regional and the 3-0 loss to Arkansas was a well played game by ORU who just couldn’t string together a few hits when they needed it, but ORU had solid defense and pitching in that game last year vs Arkansas.

Alas, we aren't playing OSU, Jason....wish we were....ORU owns OSU.....the Hogs will be a tad more difficult to beat...this kid Knight could be pitching in the big leagues some day soon.....:eagles:

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It's game day and TheEagleman is getting fired up...Got my ORU T-shirt on at the office.....:eagles:

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