NCState

[2330859]

Tennessee is still playing superior college baseball right now, but you can see a lot of the same flaws in the top 25 college baseball teams, as we are witnessing here in Louisville in terms of fielding errors and pitchers struggling with location.

Covid gets a lot of responsibility for much of the decline that we see in so many aspects of the world around us, but if you think about it ………. that 2+ years of interruption in team sport activities could explain why HS and College athletes may have lost much of their sharpness.

 

[earsky]

ACC baseball is a huge stage. I was talking to someone towards the end of the game yesterday about just this

College athletes may have lost much of their sharpness

You can watch these guys take infield and they look every bit the part. You also see guys making some really outstanding individual plays. It's the routine ones that boggle the mind,the ones they'll probably make 99 out of a hundred. They just have to grow into the stage. And yes,I saw the same thing with NCSt.

 

[earsky]

Their bullpen is weaker than ours. Weird thing is…someone will come in, do well and then just lose it. Great win today…very exciting.

Lol,usually between innings.

 

[Bardman]

Lol,usually between innings.

So true. Pitch well…come back the next inning and throw four straight balls 🤪

 

[earsky]

So true. Pitch well…come back the next inning and throw four straight balls 🤪

That was Ligget,right?

 

[Bardman]

I believe so. He may have actually gotten a strike within a 7-pitch stretch. Others have certainly had similar issues.

 

[2330859]

I never pitched, I was a catcher, so my thoughts are just that …..thoughts. Perhaps the control issues our pitchers are having is a result of trying to catch the corners of the plate rather than simply staying in the strike zone. The consequences from just focusing on throwing strikes as a way to avoid walking the hitters may have been on full display by Phillips‘ first inning performance where he gave up 5 runs on 3 home runs. Those strikes were “belt high” in the center of the plate; clearly perfect for the hitter.

I was at the FCA dinner last night and spoke with CDM for just a few minutes, but used the opportunity to ask if he had ever experienced a first inning like that before, and he quickly acknowledged that he had a few years back at Clemson. He added that experiencing that as the visitor is much different than being at home …… he was confident Sunday that we would be able to come back.

 

[earsky]

I stopped over at practice yesterday and Coach Williams was working very closely with Red and Corbett. We're getting into the thick of this thing. Both guys seemed to be working on their pitching motions and follow throughs.
Most of the issues from our staff seem to revolve around not having faith in the off speed stuff.
While there are obviously guys struggling a bit,there are others getting it going. All hands on deck!
Meanwhile,it appears that Rushing and Usher are having much better at bats,starting to heat up. Need to get a couple other guys going over the next month and we could really have something special offensively.