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Re: ORU vs Arkansas


MrsSmith

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Too stunned to post. 

I don't think Duffy slipped, I think he was positioned wrong, he tried to twist around to catch the ball and just went down.  Didn't look like a slip to me.

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Why so many pitches for a freshman who rarely starts?

Why no reliever in the ninth?

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Why so many pitches for a freshman who rarely starts?

Why no reliever in the ninth?

As you probably already know, Kelly and one other - can't remember who, maybe Jameson Dunn - started warming up by the seventh inning.

I think all you can say is that Walton took a gamble and lost.  It's a little surprising, considering he's a guy that normally coaches a pretty conservative game.

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There seemed to be a lot of "storylines" going on in this game.  Why have sub-.230 hitters in the game (Duffy, K. Price) when you have Barbosa on the bench - even in late innings?  Is a tired Drew Bowen (who pitched a great game) better than a fresh arm out of the bullpen?  To add insult to injury, the three runs for Arkansas were all earned.  I didn't see the game, but it sounded like Geoff talked about Duffy dropping the ball (which would have made all the runs unearned).  Sounded like a catchable fly ball for most outfielders (although it was hit long and to the warning track).

Pretty tough game to let get away.  Although it seems that we can play with the bigs, it still doesn't count unless you close the deal.  Memories of Clemson became vivid last night.....  :cry:

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I watched when it happened and then the replay - both times it appeared that Duffy ran back to the track but either the wind caught the ball or he just took the wrong angle, and the ball was coming down to his right shoulder from where he was.  He tried to rotate his body around to where he could reach the ball, and just fell down - and the ball hit him. 

Is that the way others saw it?

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177 pitches from a lightly used thrower is nearly insane.  I'd love to know what Rob was thinking.  Must have been some masterplan somewhere.

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Since Rob has allowed several pitchers to finish games recently, I wonder how much he's guided by the thought expressed in the article Terry posted a couple days ago:

"The practice of counting pitches has all but eliminated the aesthetically pleasing complete game performance. "

You've got to admit complete games ARE esthetically pleasing.  And if Duff had ranged over and snagged that fly we would have been reveling in the brilliant performance and endurance of Drew Bowen.  In reality, we still should.  It was an incredible game he pitched, right down to the last pitch.  For 176 pitches the sixteen ranked team in the nation could not find a way to score against him.  In anybody's book that's impressive. 

I wonder if, at this point in the season, when pitchers have been working out and developing for months, Rob feels they're capable of going to higher pitch counts than earlier in the season.  If you're TJ Kelly, you're wondering when you're going to get a chance to see the mound again.

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I frankly don't understand having a lightly-used freshman throw that many pitches, only to leave him in gassed at the end of an otherwise spectacular performance to suffer a crushing defeat.

Wouldn't an 8-inning, three-hit win with 12 K's feel just as satisfying as a complete game?

I know it sure beats the hell out of an 8.2 inning loss...  :|

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It's definitely strange after reading Coach Walton's comments in the paper yesterday.

Maybe because of the limited number of starts to go around this season, he wants guys to go longer distances to prepare for regional play?

That's just about the only thing I can think of-- kind of like some weird conditioning exercise in a hostile environment? I have no idea... it's not like we had 4 or 5 runs to work with.

I assumed Drew was done after 6, and then for sure after the 8th inning when Arkansas batters made him work to get out of that AND T.J. was warming up....

but after he gave up the 2 back-to-back singles in the 9th he should have been done.

A shutout win would have been huge for the team last night, especially if we have to go back to Fayetteville and play them in a regional.

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It does leave one wondering...

Did Coach not want Arkansas to get a good look at Kelly, in case we end up facing them in the regionals?

Is he worried that a potential bad outing by Kelly might damage his psyche leading into the postseason?

Did he figure Bowen was pitching as well as anybody we could bring in from the pen?

Or did he decide to simply let the chips fall where they would, figuring that - win or lose - it's just a freshman, and this is just a mid-week game?

One thing's for sure:  Bowen deserved a better fate. 

Baseball is cruel enough as it is; to see such a great outing wasted was doubly painful...

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Sorry boys but TheEagleman strongly feels as a old baseball umpire that this loss gets hung directly on Coach Walton's shoulders....no way....NO WAY....any pitcher should be tossing 177 pitches in a game...that's just plain stupid....sorry, but TheEagleman is just calling it as he sees it....where was Kelly?....he's the closer...that's what he does....it's his role in a close game during the late innings.....unless someone with an inside track to the coach and has some info to add, this is a really bad managing blunder and what's with the pitching coach here?....how can you send a young 19 year old arm out there and have the lad throw what with pregame and each inning warm ups had to be well in excess of 260-275 pitches?...tough way to lose against a ranked team and questionable to say the least decision making in the dugout.....if someone out there in the know can tell me why I am off base, TheEagleman is willing to listen......that loss hurts in more ways than one!..... :-P

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Couldn't agree with you more, Eagleman.  Coach owns the results of this game.  When Bowen was visited in the 9th after the two singles, I thought that there was a change coming and he left the freshman in.  Just showed me that the Coach's confidence level in the pen is very low right now.  Any time a 160-pitch pitcher is better and stronger than what you have warming up, there seems to be a problem somewhere.

As for the boys, there is something about the chemistry of this team that is amiss right now.  This group doesn't seem to respect Rob as much as in past teams.  I don't know if they feel neglected because Rob coached Team USA last summer or what, but Rob has done a great job with what he has had to work with (talking about injuries and weather here - not the character of any players).  I don't know what it is, but the players need a good, old-fashioned team meeting and get everything aired out.  The important part of the schedule (tournaments) is coming up and we don't need to be taken out by SDSU in baseball like we were in basketball.  It's time to finish strong!

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Lose to SDSU in the tournament?....oh gosh, perish the thought....we'll never hear the end of it.....this loss isn't the end of the season but it sure is strange when a manager and pitching coach leave a freshman in the game after 170 pitches and he is in clear trouble and in danger of losing the game...which he did!.....What's the deal, Coach Walton?.... :|

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Not meaning to throw fuel onto the fire, but here's an interesting article about pitch counts in the Major Leagues from a few years ago:

The Magic Number

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The Yahoo Rivals Board has piped in a couple of discussions on the ORU-Ark game.

http://collegebaseball.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=2308&tid=123077557&mid=123077557&sid=1169&style=2

http://collegebaseball.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=2308&tid=123061698&mid=123061698&sid=1169&style=2

rb585 makes a point not brought up yet:  "It's also going to come back to haunt Coach Walton in recruiting."

Will it??  Or is this stretch of complete games a microcosm of his pitching philosophy.  Or should we just celebrate the 4 touchdown victory today and move on. 

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