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#2 Wake Forest @ #10 UofL

J

jpa2825

One-Star Poster
Feb 15, 2021
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Thread can be use for preview, updates during the weekend and analysis afterward.

Wake has been consistent all year. They are strong on the mound (SP and closer) and have lots of offensive tools. Given the small park they play in, will it translate to JPat? May depend on which way the wind blows and how hard.

Cards need to be dialed in for this one. Knap needs to keep his recent form as a "table setter." Payton needs to be the steady force and a few guys need to have consistently good ABs. Suspect we'll see Phillips on SAT to go RHP, LHP, RHP on the weekend. Farone will need to embrace his role in the pen and bolster that need. Gotta have some RHPs down there step up to run with Tate, Webster, Campbell and now Farone. Hopefully the Bellarmine outing boosts their confidence (other than Koger).

Let's go!
 
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CardX said:
Back to back to back, yet, Hawks remains.
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Well, McDonnell needs to get some innings out of his starter. It's usually walks and no control that gets a pitcher pulled. Hawks has always thrown a bunch of strikes and that can lend to some home runs. I think pitch selection is again suspect and it's not Hawks who's deciding what to throw.

Plus, those 3 home runs happened so quickly, there wasn't time to get anyone up in the bullpen. Good thing that 3rd out at the plate for Hawks. If he gives up more hits and runs next inning, he will then will be pulled.
 
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WF is good; they have the pitching and the hitters! I expect them to 10 run us early and give us time to think about tomorrow.
 
Pitching aside, we really aren't getting much out of McCoy in the 4 hole. Look for something different there tomorrow. Hate to single one guy out, but that spot really needs to get it going.
 
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Hawks wasn't a good matchup for WF. He challenges hitters with fastballs which limits walks but very good hitters see him well.

I think Phillips and Ligget can have more success because their fastballs have a bit more movement. I've felt all season Hawks is more suited as a 3rd starter and would have been a weekday starter during the McKay, Miller, Detmers era.

I wonder if McDonnell eventually moves Ligget to Friday as he's clearly the best starter.
 
Mac said after the game Hawks not able to throw his off speed stuff for strikes. That doomed him.
 
We have not had the great arms we have had in the past. Other schools have surpassed us in pitching.
 
WF has only 5 transfers on their roster, one however was Sullivan (Nortwestern) who was their starter last night. It appears WF has a way of keeping their roster from leaving the school early, and I believe that explains much of their success this year.

I know there are reasons to assign criticism to our pitching rotation, and I have been one of the most critical about our inability to throw strikes at critical times; yet 5 runs in this college baseball environment is generally insufficient if expecting to win in the ACC. We had runners on base several times but failed to execute. Pop up when bunting, watching call strike 3 and for some simply failing to get a hit in opportune times results in falling behind.

The early 5-1 lead required a response in our bottom half, and we failed to produce …….. just saying, the pitching may be struggling, but our offense has failed to respond at times like last night, and it contributed to the loss.

UK & LSU combined for 23 runs last night, and 22 the night before. WF did their part with 11 last night; our 5 was very disappointing.
 
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Down 5 to 1, Davis was robbed of a 2 run HR which would have kept the Cards in the game. Last night was going to be a loss once WF got to Hawks early like they did.

This Louisville team is missing just a few parts that keeps them from being elite. A consistent power hitter and a dominant closer. Two things McDonnell could have gotten in the portal.

My expectations for this team is super regional at best and I believe we will fall short of that. Hope I'm wrong.
 
Those 2 plays in left field were huge and the Cards trying to comeback from just a couple runs late was the result. Hats off to their left fielder.
 
This WF team may be even better than their #2 ranking. SS and LFer are as good defensively as I have seen so far this season. Pitching in these two games has been close to perfect.
 
2330859 said:
This WF team may be even better than their #2 ranking. SS and LFer are as good defensively as I have seen so far this season. Pitching in these two games has been close to perfect.
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WF is a very good team. I am green with envy, but I will get over it. They may jump to #1 because UK won the series against #1 LSU.
 
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Very nice to get the bounceback win today, despite Wake Forest self-imploding with 3 errors and multiple HBP's. Big homer by Benson to get us the lead and great pitching by Liggett and Kuehner to hold Wake to two runs. 2-2 on the week sounds a lot better than 1-3.

On the road this week against two unranked but good opponents who are battling to stay in the NCAA field: Indiana (25-11) and Duke (23-12).
 
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Anybody know what was going on with the WF bench yesterday? I'm sure there's a back story,but it was a weird vibe yesterday at the game for sure. Carson Ligget is my new hero,regaining his composure after the early runs scored and the momentum fully against him.
 
UK gave LSU ”all it wanted in Baton Rouge”, but it was the Tigers and not the Cats won the series, 2 games to 1.

I doubt WF jumps to #1, but I agree they are deserving and will be a legitimate contender to win an NC at his year.
 
I disagree. I forsee WF not even making the world series. Pitch around Wilken which the Cards did after game 1 and besides the long haired Jacob DeGrom wannabe, the pitching looked average at best.

WF hasn't played much of a schedule and their remaining schedule is also not strong. They will have a gaudy record and high seed, but in my opinion will be knocked out in the Super Regional.
 
TheRealVille said:
I disagree. I forsee WF not even making the world series. Pitch around Wilken which the Cards did after game 1 and besides the long haired Jacob DeGrom wannabe, the pitching looked average at best.

WF hasn't played much of a schedule and their remaining schedule is also not strong. They will have a gaudy record and high seed, but in my opinion will be knocked out in the Super Regional.
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Predicting WF not making the CWS isn't putting your neck on the line. UT failed to make it last year, and they were dominant. Wake is damn good, but they are a little mouthy, similar to last year's UT squad. If they focused on baseball, they can make a deep run.

Wake's RPI is 5th. That includes SOS. They bullied the Cards up until the 6th inning yesterday.
 
CardX said:
but they are a little mouthy, similar to last year's UT squad. If they focused on baseball, they can make a deep run.
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Didn't sense it over there Friday, but definitely Saturday and Sunday. What's up with that? I was on the third base line around the 7th inning yesterday and distinctly heard the 3rd Base umpire tell their bench loudly to "knock it off "
 
TheRealVille said:
I disagree. I forsee WF not even making the world series. Pitch around Wilken which the Cards did after game 1 and besides the long haired Jacob DeGrom wannabe, the pitching looked average at best.

WF hasn't played much of a schedule and their remaining schedule is also not strong. They will have a gaudy record and high seed, but in my opinion will be knocked out in the Super Regional.
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Respectfully disagree. They are strong in most aspects of the game. All 3 SPs have sub 2.00 ERAs. Until 6th and JT blast their SUN guy was mowing us down. Premier closer and other good bullpen arms. Lots of offense from lots of different sources (remember Kurtz only played SUN and was clearly not 100%).

Defense looked a bit suspect on SUN but solid on FRI & SAT.

Barring a complete collapse they will play all games in Winston-Salem with their short fences to get to Omaha. It's a huge task for any team to make it to Omaha (as mentioned UT last year) but they have as good a chance as anyone.
 
WF is the real deal ............ it will not be more than a few more weeks before we will witness firsthand where they end up.
 
earsky said:
Didn't sense it over there Friday, but definitely Saturday and Sunday. What's up with that? I was on the third base line around the 7th inning yesterday and distinctly heard the 3rd Base umpire tell their bench loudly to "knock it off "
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I noticed some Wake hitters trying to stare down our pitchers. Also, when the Cards finally punched back in G3, I think it flustered the Deacs.

Wake didn't have a great record at Patterson, so breaking through seemed like a big deal to them. Plus, whenever you can win a series against a top ten team on the road, I guess emotions can get the better of you.

But, at the end of the day, Wake is good and they know it.
 
CardX said:
Predicting WF not making the CWS isn't putting your neck on the line. UT failed to make it last year, and they were dominant. Wake is damn good, but they are a little mouthy, similar to last year's UT squad. If they focused on baseball, they can make a deep run.

Wake's RPI is 5th. That includes SOS. They bullied the Cards up until the 6th inning yesterday.
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Wasn't trying to put my neck on the line and I agree they are very good baseball team. They have a lot of upperclassmen. However, I wasnt as impressed as others here except for a few players. They are much better than Louisville I admit that.

Their schedule is the main reason for their gaudy numbers. That's bound to happen with a experienced team. Baseball can be a fickle game and a couple of bad losses and extended slumps and suddenly what looked like a juggernaut flames out before Omaha.

Plus WF is not exactly used to this kind of baseball success and the pressure of post season tournament play may have an impact?

I watched all three games and Wilken is a pro no doubt. After game one I said to myself we should pitch around this guy. The hippie pitcher was very impressive and is a sure fire number 1 starter. The rest of the players I saw didn't stand out, other than hitting a fastball down the middle for a HR.

They were up for Louisville and we allowed them to gain even more confidence with that first game. It could have been different if Ligget was the Friday starter?

I wouldn't mind seeing them again in the ACC tournament, assuming Louisville is playing well.
 
TheRealVille said:
The hippie pitcher
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The hippie pitcher 🤣🤣🤣
Dude was good wasn't he? Hell,they basically slapped us around for 2 days until 2 or 3 guys decided they weren't getting swept.
Hippie pitcher- trying not to sound like Henry from Goodfellas,that was funny Real.
 
Had hair down to my shoulders in the late 60's until Uncle Sam came calling.
 
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