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Arkansas Game....


ORUTerry

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I was a little surprised that Coach Walton had Ashman throw against Western Illinois on Sunday. I thought we might hold him back to pitch against the Hogs on Tuesday. Jeff Haxton mentioned on the broadcast that Ashman's father and brother were in town for the game - maybe that is why he was used.

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Ashman has turned out to be an absolute beast on the mound. I didn't think he would end up being our star pitcher, but I guess you never can tell.

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WHAT A GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i watched from home, that was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! way to go eagles, that should boost the rpi a lil

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I went out to the game last night, thinking I'd stay a couple of innings and head home, but as usually happens I got sucked in and stayed till the end - and boy, was I glad I did. After Arkansas scored in the first two innings, ORU held them runnless for the next seven, all the while chipping away at the Hog lead.

Then in the bottom of the eighth an Arkansas fielder lets a ball get past him, two ORU runs score, and suddenly ORU has the lead and the Hogs have only three outs to try to make it up. They didn't.

Sean Jarrett is absolutely the most phenomenal closer that I've seen at ORU. Batter after batter for the Razorbacks just stood and watched while strike after strike blew by them. Once he took the mound, the chance for any more Arkansas runs occurring dropped about to zero.

BTW, I had a chance to check out the new weight training facility last night, and it is nothing short of amazing. Upstairs is a beautiful room overlooking the field, with big glass windows so you can watch the game from the comfort of a "climate controlled" facility. The view of the field is great.

Downstairs is an incredible weight training room. Very impressive. The baseball offices are also down stairs.

Looks like the hard work and effort by those involved with fund-raising for the new facility have been amply rewarded.

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Amazing game and atmosphere last night. Chad's home run at the bottom of the 8th to make their lead 1 was the most fun i've had in a while. The sound of the Arkansas crowd at that point until the end of the game was golden.

I knew we had another score once we got the ball into the outfield again, but then the outfielder slipped and I'm like, "Sweet, 2 runs!" So glad a majority of the fans stayed until the end. The team never quit all game. Strong win over the #14 team in the nation.

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What a great win.... the team never gave up even after being down 4 runs early in the game. Coach Walton has the team playing really well right now. This should help with seeding in the Regional.

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I'm sad I missed the 8th inning rally! I had my 2 1/2 yr. old daughter and we headed home at the beginning of the 7th. I was impressed with Chance Chapman who came in for relief in the 2nd inning and was brilliant. What great use of speeds he had with his pitches to keep hitters fooled! He pitched I think 6 innings and gave up only 2 or 3 hits.

ORU's pitching gave our guys a chance to comeback and our offense didn't let the pitching staff down. That's what you call a good baseball team effort!

Good job Eagles!!!

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It also didn't hurt that Arkansas had four errors in the game, ORU, none.

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The first three errors did not cost Arkansas and runs .... but the 4th one cost them the game. Runners on 1st and 2nd were able score on the error. Our pitching kept us in the game after a shaky start by Greenwalt. I think we had a total of 12 strikeouts.

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Sean, who closed the game last night, was a beast on the mound. He was throwing strikes like it was nothing. Walton did a great job managing the bullpen last night after Greenwalt's meltdown.

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Walton outcoached Van Horn last night. He pulled Greenwalt when he needed to, and pulled Chapman when he needed to.

From the Arkansas point of view, Van Horn should have left Gilbert in the game in the mid-late innings, because he was pitching well, but he tried to get cute and not waste more than an inning or two per relief pitcher, and it cost him the game.

While I am not a baseball expert, the only coaching faux pas from Walton was when ORU had a runner on second and a runner on third with no outs, and he had the batter try to bunt. It cost us an out and ended up killing the rally in the inning (it was probably the 6th or 7th inning). Why would a coach ever bunt in that situation? With no outs, why not try to sac fly in a run instead or simply go for a base hit?

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While I am not a baseball expert, the only coaching faux pas from Walton was when ORU had a runner on second and a runner on third with no outs, and he had the batter try to bunt. It cost us an out and ended up killing the rally in the inning (it was probably the 6th or 7th inning). Why would a coach ever bunt in that situation? With no outs, why not try to sac fly in a run instead or simply go for a base hit?

It's a simple squeeze play. It was not a "suicide squeeze" where you have the runner on third base break for the plate once the pitcher starts his movement toward the plate without any thought to go back. If the guy gets the bunt down, it's a run. If he doesn't get it down, or worse, he pops the bunt up and it's caught, the runner on 3rd is toast!

It's not a bad decision with 0 outs. Particularly, if you have a guy up there who knows how to get down a bunt. It's not a bad decision because if he gets the bunt down in a good place, it's an easy run and the runner on 2nd advances to 3rd. If the bunter is thrown out at 1st. You still have 1 out and an opportunity for a sac fly or RBI situation on a single. If he fails to execute it well, like the hitter did last night, you still have only 1 out and have the opportunity for a sac fly or a 1-out single RBI situation.

It's a gamble either way, but a calculated one that makes sense from an opportunities standpoint.

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He got the bunt down, but it was toward the 3rd base side, is that why it was a poor bunt?

Because, no matter where he bunts the ball, the infielder/pitcher will always throw the ball to home plate to prevent the run.

So it seems to me that it would have to be a perfect bunt, or the run doesn't score.

It seems that the odds would be better that the batter would either get a hit or a sac-fly, than that he would get a perfect bunt down.

I understand the sacrifice bunt to advance a player to 2nd or 3rd to get the player in scoring position, but not to score a run at home plate.

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I would like to hear what ETG has to say in answer to your question, ORUJason, because I really don't know that much about baseball, and I'm just guessing, but I THINK he will say that actually the batter didn't get the bunt down - he hit it up and out, so that it was fielded fairly quickly by the pitcher, who was able to both hold the runner on third base AND throw out the batter at first.

In an ideal bunt, the runner takes home and the batter is safe on first, because the placement of the bunt is in a location that makes it hard for either the pitcher or the catcher to get to. I suppose in a less than perfect bunt you get one or the other.

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It doesn't have to be a perfect bunt. Where the bunt needed to be in that situation is down one of the lines or as near as possible to one of the lines.

In a "Suicide Squeeze" situation, his bunt is perfect! Because all you want to do is get the bunt on the ground and in play. By the time a player would even touch the ball, the base runner is already crossing the plate.

In any case, last night's was a "Safety Squeeze" - where the runner only breaks for home if the bunt is well executed down one of the lines. It was a bad bunt, because it came right back to the pitcher - believe me, the batter did not mean to just get the bat on the ball, he was hoping to get it down one of the lines. Like I commented earlier, it's a nice coaching decision in that situation. He just didn't get the bunt down in a more opportune place where someone would have to chase the bunted ball down in order to get the out at 1st base.

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By the way, I liked the coaching move on the "Safety Squeeze" play because it was a tight game (2 runs difference). If the game was 4 or 5 runs difference in the score, I wouldn't make the same comment - I would've had him swinging away to try and drive in 2 runs with one hit.

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So, ETG, is there a particular situation where a coach is likely to call a suicide squeeze?

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So, ETG, is there a particular situation where a coach is likely to call a suicide squeeze?

Sure. If you're 1 run down and your bats have been struggling as of late and you've got a guy at the plate who can get a bunt down. Here's the catch though...you want to try and pick a point in the count where it's not a good idea for them to pitch-out, like 2-0, or 2-1.

In another scenario, Suicide squeezes are great surprise plays. Maybe you have a guy who opens the inning with a triple and the next guy strikes out. The bottom of the order is up and your 8 spot batter has a .250 batting average, not great in other words. Have him try to lay one down. If you're up 2 or 3 runs, it's a great point to try and catch the defensive team off guard and add an insurance run.

Those are a couple of examples.

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