theeagleman5 Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 ORU down 3-2 in the 2nd inning....good guys jumped out to the 2-nil lead but UALR has come back with 3 in the 2nd and still batting....looks like a high scoring affair tonight at JLJ.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted April 14, 2010 Author Share Posted April 14, 2010 Good guys back in the lead 5-4 and still batting in the bottom of the 2nd.....this could be a long night at the ball yard....these teams have played over an hour and still in the 2nd inning..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted April 14, 2010 Author Share Posted April 14, 2010 Make that 6-5 UALR back in front now......looks like a lot of pitchers will be used tonight........for those who like a lot of runs.....they'll get their money's worth at JLJ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted April 14, 2010 Author Share Posted April 14, 2010 UALR up 9-5 now in the 4th....does ORU have a pitcher who can get some outs?...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted April 14, 2010 Author Share Posted April 14, 2010 9-7 UALR ahead with ORU still batting in the 7th.....rally time for the good guys?..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted April 14, 2010 Author Share Posted April 14, 2010 ORU put up a 3 spot in the home 7th and has tied UALR at 9-9 heading to the 8th now ....looks like we could have a 4+ hr game tonight.....it's a marathon at JLJ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted April 14, 2010 Author Share Posted April 14, 2010 A bad 13-9 loss to UALR last night at home....this ORU team just can't get any consistant pitching.....anybody at the game for some commentary?..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 I left at 10:30 - bottom of the eighth (!!!), score was tied at 9, runners on the corner, one out, Furmanek at the plate, UALR changing pitchers. I thought sure that we were about to score the winning runs; by the time I got to the car, ORU was out of the inning without scoring. It was the longest, slowest game I've ever been to. Both teams managed to put a lot of players on base every inning, both teams pitched poorly and played sloppy. The later innings went along a little more quickly, but obviously things fell apart in the top of the ninth, and ORU failed to answer. As others probably experienced, ELIve dropped the broadcast at 11:00, so I didn't get to hear the end of the game, but at that point UALR had scored three runs in the top of the ninth, with only one out. In one of the early (and in this game that was a relative term) innings Seth Fermanek hit what appeared to be a home run - I say "appeared" - I actually lost sight of the ball, didn't see where it went, and apparently neither did anyone else - we had two on base, Seth takes off running, but slowed to a stop at first base and started to head back to home plate, but was waved on by the first base coach. Fans cheer, base runners touch home and head for the dugout, next batter headed for the plate. But then the umps huddle, the home plate ump calls Rob Walton out, and they talk for several minutes, with lots of arm-waving. It goes on so long that the UALR fielders start tossing a ball around. Finally Walton came off the field, the base runners head back to their bases and Furmanek back to the plate. Seth hits a line drive single on the next pitch that scores two, but we were unable to plate any more runs that inning - thankfully that snafu didn't cost us the game. I don't really know what happened there - I didn't have my radio, so I don't know if Geoff gave any indication of the issue. Anybody able to fill us all in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsSmith Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 The fans around me thought that one umpire signaled HR, but the other 2 said it hooked foul. You lasted a lot longer than I did. Good student crowd. They had thunder sticks and I had a headache! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 The fans around me thought that one umpire signaled HR, but the other 2 said it hooked foul. You lasted a lot longer than I did. Good student crowd. They had thunder sticks and I had a headache! Late in the game, as the student crowd thinned, a group of 6-8 boisterous guys were left entertaining themselves. They loved yelling the name of the UALR pitcher - over, and over, and over again!! One of them would yell, "ANTHONY!!!", or "Scholarship . . . MONEY!!!!" and the guys around him would die laughing! I don't know what they thought was so funny about that, but they did! I think it's funnier this morning thinking about it than I did last night listening to it. I'll say this, though - while it really wears on you to have to listen to that going on and on and ON, it was not as malicious or inappropriate as some of the taunting that has gone on in the past. Hope those guys had a good time last night! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 One fun thing last night - I managed to pick up a foul ball on my way in (thanks, OT ), which was my first since the change in name (and logo) to the Summit League. I took it home, removed the rainbow-emblazoned Mid-Continent Conference ball from the stand in my office, and replaced it with my new mountain-peaked Summit League ball! Sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 Clarifications: 1. TMH's souvenir foul ball literally rolled to my feet as I was chatting outside the ticket office just after the first pitch Tuesday night. All I had to do was bend down, pick it up, and hand it to him. Well, that and knock down a couple of 8-year-olds who wanted it, but it was all in good fun. 2. Furmanek's "homer" didn't hook foul - it was never fair, and landed twenty feet or so left of the foul pole, behind the batting cages. I seriously doubt Larry Wagner (the third base ump who called it fair) ever saw the ball, and he gave one of the most tentative "fair ball" signs I have ever seen. Let me put things in perspective: Larry was calling ORU baseball games when I was in school 30 years ago. Dude's gotta be in his late 60's, maybe even 70 or so. Whenever a baserunner got on first last night, it took five minutes for him to get in position over by second base. He looked like he could have benefited from a walker. And binoculars. 3. It ain't just the pitching - worst defensive team I have seen at ORU in over a decade, and frankly I can't say that I remember any of Sunny's teams being this bad in the field, either. Last night, they couldn't field bunts, they couldn't defend the lines, they couldn't even catch a towering infield fly in front of the plate on a windless night. Might be comical if it were another team, but unfortunately it's us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 One fun thing last night - I managed to pick up a foul ball on my way in (thanks, OT ), which was my first since the change in name (and logo) to the Summit League. I took it home, removed the rainbow-emblazoned Mid-Continent Conference ball from the stand in my office, and replaced it with my new mountain-peaked Summit League ball! Sweet. Please note correction of spelling of "Continent" in my previous post . . . All that OT says is true. Thanks for taking out those kids for me last night . At times it did look like a comedy of errors last night. Made you do this when the ball pops up at home plate, then falls to the ground between four fielders, and a last minute dive to catch it apparently injures your first baseman. Didn't know the background, but agree with the description of the third base ump. Some of these guys leave you shaking your head. The guy behind the plate seemed like a basket case as well. Rob, on his first or second visit to the mound walks out and starts talking to the pitcher. After thirty seconds or so the rotund home plate ump comes barreling out there and lays in to Rob (or at least it looked like it). Rob either walked back to the dugout or signaled for a new pitcher, I can't remember which, with this guy still giving him a tongue-lashing and shaking his head all the way back to the plate. I don't know what his deal was, but it was actually pretty funny. Rob didn't respond to any of it. Thanks for the clarification of Furmanek's "home run". I lost sight of it almost immediately after it left the bat - probably because it was headed north - and certainly never saw it go over the fence. Guess it was the right call, but hated to see us lose that extra run!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 Clarifications: 1. 2. 3. It ain't just the pitching - worst defensive team I have seen at ORU in over a decade, and frankly I can't say that I remember any of Sunny's teams being this bad in the field, either. Last night, they couldn't field bunts, they couldn't defend the lines, they couldn't even catch a towering infield fly in front of the plate on a windless night. Might be comical if it were another team, but unfortunately it's us. Why limit it to Sunny's teams, OT? Rob has been head coach at ORU for five seasons - do you remember any of HIS other teams that have struggled so mightily defensively? I am amazed at the plays these guys DO make - their skills are incredible - but sometimes they make errors that we rarely saw from teams in the past. I'm still expecting to see things improve - this is the team that Rob predicted in the preseason would take ORU back to the College World Series in the next three years - but I have to say, the play last night was pretty disappointing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 Why limit it to Sunny's teams, OT? Rob has been head coach at ORU for five seasons - do you remember any of HIS other teams that have struggled so mightily defensively? I am amazed at the plays these guys DO make - their skills amaze me - but sometimes they make errors that we rarely saw from teams in the past. I'm still expecting to see things improve - this is the team that Rob predicted in the preseason would take ORU back to the College World Series in the next three years - but I have to say, the play last night was pretty disappointing. I didn't limit it to Sunny's teams: I said this was the worst defensive team we've had in the last 10 years - which includes all of Rob's teams, which are typically excellent on defense - and then expanded it to possibly include all of Sunny's teams, which gave up a lot of runs early in his career, but which were also usually very sound defensively. Simply put: one of the worst defensive teams at ORU since the NAIA days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 Gotcha!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlue82 Posted April 15, 2010 Share Posted April 15, 2010 I must admit that I have not been to a game this year - but I have listened to Geoff's call of more than half of the games on Elive from 1500 miles away. That said, I have been following ORU baseball closely for some 30 years (dang, that makes me feel old) - and this team is very perplexing in ALL facets of the game. In the past, we have had always seemed to have GREAT pitching or hitting or defense, which allowed the other segments to be average/above-average - and some teams have been GREAT in more than one of those attributes in a single season. This season, we are average (or below-average) in each of those categories. We have had very inconsistent pitching, the previously described spotty defense, and the well-touted high-powered offense has NEVER shown up. We have the strikeout/hits ratio of a power-hitting team - but don't have the offsetting power stats! Most perplexing, though, is our consistent failure to EXECUTE on the fundamentals. Case in point: last night, on TWO separate occasions, we FAILED to advance base-runners in a sacrifice situation - in both cases by bunting directly to the pitcher. PAINFUL!!! I know the coaching staff had/has high hopes for this group - and will continue to push and pull the levers to develop this team into winners. If they are successful, we could still do some damage in the NCAA tourney come May/June. However, at the current level of play, I would not be surprised to see SDSU enter the Summit tourney as the #1 seed - and be the favorite to steal away a title at JLJ on Memorial Day weekend. THAT would be truly painful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.