Miami

[TheRealVille]

The Cards in this game have been a victim of some unlucky hitting while Miami has benefited from it.

Three times the Cards hit rockets only for Miami to get just to it and make the play. One was a line drive double play.
Miami's hard hits have just got by Louisville defenders, leading to a couple of runs.

 

[Bardman]

One bad play by Jack and it really put our guys behind the 8-ball. Solid comeback so far - showing grit.

 

[Bardman]

Big, soft, loopy, hanging breaking pitch by Phillips and UM has the lead.

 

[TheRealVille]

I really thought Benson had a stronger arm than that. Maybe the throw was against the wind?

 

[TheRealVille]

Big, soft, loopy, hanging breaking pitch by Phillips and UM has the lead.

I know. I hate that our pitchers can't pick what they want to throw. Fastballs were needed there. Should of left Corbett in.

 

[Bardman]

I really thought Benson had a stronger arm than that. Maybe the throw was against the wind?

Think it just wasn’t a great throw for him.

 

[Bardman]

Here we go. An UofL get the clutch hits for a win? Going against one of the best closers in the country per the announcers.

 

[Bardman]

Jack NOT showing patience and got lucky with his pop-up going foul. Come’on - make up for that poor throw from. earlier. Edit. Second cut wasn’t much better

 

[Bardman]

Best hitter at the plate, bases loaded and…nothing.

 

[Thecycle27]

He had 2 terrible at bats. Trying to do way too much in key spots.

This season is very similar to the year after Covid. No big hits and way too many strike outs. Finding ways to lose.

 

[TheRealVille]

They're just not that good. They're an incomplete team. There's a pretty good nucleus of talent, but not enough around the edges. Pitching is micromanaged with no true ace starter.

Dan McDonnell is most excellent when he has the horses, but when he doesn't, he's no different than most coaches dealing with sporadic performances.

I often wonder how many world series titles we would have won if we hadn't lost so many future stars before they ever showed up? There was a stretch there where we did everything but win the world series. The program was red hot!

Now, we have to wonder if McDonnell will eventually utilize the transfer portal.

Tough times.

 

[earsky]

Idk. I think they're closer than 2 weeks ago.
One freaking play and we're talking about getting the series tomorrow. @ Real,you said it yourself: I watched them barrel up half a dozen balls earlier in the game that were right at people. The ball on the hit and run- that ball is thru if the ss isn't moving to take the throw.
We're starting to swing a better bat-it's slow but steady improvement. Take away the bad throw, get a few balls that were blistered getting through,we win going away.
We're getting better,but time isn't on our side. Gotta start getting some bounces...soon.

 

[2330859]

These recent losses have all been close, and in hindsight you can pick out a few reasons for each one …… yesterday it was the one error that resulted in 2 of the Miami runs, and then I go back to ill-timed late inning walks that so often result in runs.

Rather than focusing on the bases-loaded strikeout by Jack in the ninth; I really felt at the time that stranding our lead off double with no outs in the 7th inning was going to haunt us by the end of the game. I understood why Dan elected not to go “small ball”, given the power hitters coming up; but I believe that we still lack the required discipline at the plate to wait for the right pitch. I get the attraction for hitting a HR, but just a ground ball to the right side of the diamond, or a deep fly ball would have advanced the runner to 3rd. A lead going into the 8th would have been huge; instead, Miami executes perfectly when they have the runner in scoring position.

Sean Moth said it several times, our hitters were letting fast balls in the heart of the plate go by, and then having to swing at borderline pitches that were less than optimum for moving the base runner.

 

[jpa2825]

Wow. The beat goes on. Losing close games is brutal.

Reconstructing the important plays, T5, 1st & 2nd w/ 1 out and Payton throws it away. It should have been 2nd & 3rd w/ 2 outs. (Also, McCoy has to smother that ball any way he can so, at worst, it's bases loaded w/ 1 out.) Next hitter singled off Farone so you could argue 2 of those runs would have eventually scored any way but it was a huge momentum shifter. DP gets them out of the inning.

As mentioned, B7 was brutal. Kilen leadoff double. Benson (who was bad) grounds out without getting Kilen over. (Agree I don't bunt there but at least try to move the ball to the right side. McCoy fouls out on 1st pitch. Payton swinging K on 3 straight pitches.

T8 4 pitch leadoff walk, new P, WP moves to 2B. We've seen this story before. It's maddening.

T9 Phillips was awesome. 1st pitch strike on all 3. Not a coincidence.

B9 scrappy but Payton caps off a brutal night w/ a K.

 

[jpa2825]

BTW - Cards are now at risk of not making the ACC Tourney. Need to dig deep.

 

[earsky]

Not sure if everybody saw Kilen's double. I was at the game standing on the 3rd base line,watching Coach Snider waving Kilen to 3rd Base. Problem was,Kilen was looking at the outfield. That ultimately cost us a run,and we all knew it would be huge.

As far as Payton, he was really gripping it hard after the throw,trying too hard to make up for it. What I love about him is that it won't fester long. He will bounce back.

 

[TheRealVille]

I also don't like swinging at the first pitch just for the sake of it. There are times when doing that is a good strategy, but we have too many guys who want to do it no matter what.

Guys on base, pressure on the pitcher and we swing at a first pitch, usually popping up or grounding out. Make the pitcher groove one when he gets behind the count.

 

[2330859]

If we can take this Miami series we should be fine; if not ...... it could be troublesome. I would suggest however, that everyone watch the rest of the ranked teams each week, as we are not on an island ........... so many of these rated teams are also losing, and both the ACC and SEC interconference conference loses can actually improve ones's RPI.

This mid-week alone witnessed several non-P5 conference teams and a few SEC teams rated in the top 15 losing. It will be interesting to see how the rankings on Monday reflect those outcomes. For example, UK losing 7-0 at home to UL may not hurt UK much, but it will definitely raise our RPI significantly.

 

[earsky]

These next two as big as it gets...

Fwiw,I thought Biven was fairly impressive after settling in. This Freshman class of pitchers are impressive as a unit and we still haven't seen West.

 

[Thecycle27]

Kind of a bridge year. A lot of young hitters and the better pitchers are young.

Hitting has always been a concern because they do a lot of guessing. That is why you see fastballs being taken. They simply guess wrong. It isn’t what they are taught but it happens. As soon as you start playing mind games with a high school or college pitcher your inexperience will cause mind games. Pro players guess all the time but they seen enough to adjust and not get their mind twisted.

Young players sit fastball and fight off the off speed stuff.

 

[2330859]

No way I could know if any of our hitters are guessing on fast balls, but our kids are well aware in advance of getting into the box, as what these opponent pitchers are capable of throwing as most have history of comfort with at least 3 options.

Swinging for the fences against a 90+ mph fastball is a challenge for most college players; just making solid contact in that 7th inning could have changed the outcome.

 

[Bardman]

Jack does what Jack does - good plate discipline and drives a pitch into right. Then McCoy and Forbes display very poor plate discipline. 🤯

 

[TheRealVille]

Anderson has the power, he just chooses to cut his swing to achieve more contact. That's why I've liked him since the season started and advocated for him to play every game.

I think once he's a firm fixture in the lineup, we will see more home run swings from him. We have a nice assortment of young stars in the making, we just need more pitching.

 

[TheRealVille]

It's just unreal the bad luck we continue to have with these seeing eye hits. Every team we play have such good fortune with lucky placement of batted balls.

Here in the 3rd inning, Hawks has gave up three ground balls in a roll that just had perfect placement. It's maddening!

 

[Bardman]

I love our 6-0 lead. Hate the high number of Ks. Just Wayyy too many.

 

[earsky]

Jack does what Jack does - good plate discipline and drives a pitch into right. Then McCoy and Forbes display very poor plate discipline. 🤯

One guy I'm not worried about

 

[earsky]

Another night of barreling up baseballs, but this night they're getting thru and getting some bounces.
Slowly but surely, this offense is trying to get where we thought they'd be. Nice win,now go get the series. Huge game today.

 

[earsky]

McCoy catching today 😳
Who knew?

 

[Bardman]

He caught the last inning last night. Can’t believe both backup catchers are hurt.

 

[earsky]

He caught the last inning last night. Can’t believe both backup catchers are hurt.

If you count the Freshman Bamburg, that's 3😵‍💫

 

[Bardman]

Wheels are falling off the bus at the moment. 6 unanswered runs by Miami. Miami’s pitcher is not very good and our guys are not being patient.

 

[Bardman]

Can’t win when your bats go dead and you commit Multiple errors.

 

[Bardman]

We need pitching help from the portal. NOT Jucos - but a couple (at least) proven P5 pitchers.

 

[earsky]

At some point,I think we believe we have to question some of the coaching moves. I already expect to be criticized for this take,but Miller calls the pitches. When they get on your sequence, you need to change it. Benson gets moved to the bottom last night and responds with 2 hits,sits today.

Idk,never would've taken Kuehner out. He's the best we had left. None of this could've stopped the defensive collapse, still..

Fire away. I don't care after watching that today.

 

[Bardman]

I think your takes are fine. The pitches have come from the dugout as long as I am aware. So, is it not calling correct pitches or are pitchers just not able to execute? This is the third year in a row out staff has been - average. To be where this program has been - pitching needs to be above average to excellent. Right now this team could go on a massive run. IF some guys get healthy. And, this team just can’t shoot itself in the feet.

 

[Birdie King]

Next weekend at surging Cemson and following weekend at UVA with Vandy looming on Tuesday May 9. It doesn't look good 🥺

 

[2330859]

I agree 100% Earsky: this is the first time this year that I have felt like our coaching staff lost control of the game and perhaps beyond. Having an early 4-0 lead get away is one thing, but failing to recognize the importance of this series given our situation not only cost us the game, but another critical series and quite possibly any chance of tournament opportunities.

Despite Liggett’s success all season, it was evident from the very start that he simply “did not have his stuff” Saturday and his 0-2 mistake that led to the one HR screamed there was a problem. The rest is history.

I have defended CDM and Roger Williams all season when folks on this site questioned why they refuse to make pitching changes when the struggles are clearly leading to trouble. Regrettably that negligence has gone on too long and this team is paying the price.

Lastly, at what point does this staff start asking these power hitters to focus on making contact for base hits, rather than swinging for the fences?

 

[Bardman]

The hitting for contact is something I have screamed for all along. At times…they do this very well. Other times, several guys, swing the same way on every pitch - McCoy, Forbes, King, Hawkins, Not picking on those guys but they swing and miss A Lot. King has progressively gotten better for sure. Payton, Humphries, Kilan, Anderson - these guys drive the pitch and don’t just to pull everything.

 

[the artist FKA zipp]

There’s a chemistry and confidence issue with the team right now. Too many problems mushrooming at the same time.

We have the right head coach to address that. If he doesn’t, we lose too many remaining games and don’t make the tourney. Nor should we…

 

[2330859]

Good reminder Zipp