* Vandy was no hit yesterday by A&M. They apparently had one runner reach and A&M made a couple great plays behind the pitcher to salvage the no hitter.
* Vandy looks like they have Johnnie All Staffed their last four midweek games so you'd think they maintain that pattern against us. It's usually someone starting for three or four full, then three plus pitchers behind that.
* Corey Ray heated back up for a good series this weekend. Solak cooled down going 1 for his last 10. McKay had a good weekend and Tiberi hit into some tough luck but really stung the ball all weekend. Alot of good at bats for the weekend so we're now looking against Vandy at a fourth consecutive game against a Top 15 foe with a weekend home series against a Top 10 foe in NC State who put up 20 runs Saturday at Clemson. If we can go 3-1 in that stint against what are two teams that we are bookended with in most of the Selection Criteria (at least according to Warren Nolan's Nitty Gritty report) we are in perfect position to be in the middle of the National Seed mention...getting the 7th or 8th slot among the national seeds would be tough, in part because for whatever reason the Baseball America and D1Baseball people are in love with the two Mississippi schools and they are in the hunt for that 9th and 10th slot. You want a softer opponent at home.
* I've been a little skeptical of Burdi in the past, in part because I've seen him get shelled in person (the three run homer from a to that point weak hitting pinch hitter to spoil a great performance from Josh Rogers against Wake Forest to setup Corey Ray's steal of home), in no small part because like many flamethrowers he seems to fall in love with his slider...but Friday was as dominant a performance as I've seen from a college reliever. The strength of UNC's lineup looked like children waving feathers at his stuff. Once they got up 6-0 going into the bottom of the ninth I thought he would just get the one inning, and it may have cost us Saturday.
...but good late inning clutch hitting Friday put us in that positive position; I'd say the same thing Saturday especially from Lyman. Colin has really had a very good last month and was just about left for dead by many I'm sure back in March, and no less in the field than at the plate. Having Logan Taylor get off the sneid yesterday with a 3-3 was a big boost also. Taylor in CF with Lyman in RF gives us the flexibility of matching up with pinch-hitters in late inning situations since Ray can play all three outfield positions. Ellis and Mann against a late inning lefty is something a lot of teams don't have.
We're trending well...the remainder of this week will tell much...have we gotten through one remaining demon of winning against a quality team on the road? Vandy will have something to say about that, though their midweek pitching certainly won't be a great barometer to go on vs. a three game series. NC State at home would seem to give our 1 loss at home record a challenge and tell us if our weekend rotation is as good as it's seemed the last three weekends. If we get through the stretch 3-1 I think we're all but the ink being dry on being the fifth or sixth National Seed at worst.
* Vandy looks like they have Johnnie All Staffed their last four midweek games so you'd think they maintain that pattern against us. It's usually someone starting for three or four full, then three plus pitchers behind that.
* Corey Ray heated back up for a good series this weekend. Solak cooled down going 1 for his last 10. McKay had a good weekend and Tiberi hit into some tough luck but really stung the ball all weekend. Alot of good at bats for the weekend so we're now looking against Vandy at a fourth consecutive game against a Top 15 foe with a weekend home series against a Top 10 foe in NC State who put up 20 runs Saturday at Clemson. If we can go 3-1 in that stint against what are two teams that we are bookended with in most of the Selection Criteria (at least according to Warren Nolan's Nitty Gritty report) we are in perfect position to be in the middle of the National Seed mention...getting the 7th or 8th slot among the national seeds would be tough, in part because for whatever reason the Baseball America and D1Baseball people are in love with the two Mississippi schools and they are in the hunt for that 9th and 10th slot. You want a softer opponent at home.
* I've been a little skeptical of Burdi in the past, in part because I've seen him get shelled in person (the three run homer from a to that point weak hitting pinch hitter to spoil a great performance from Josh Rogers against Wake Forest to setup Corey Ray's steal of home), in no small part because like many flamethrowers he seems to fall in love with his slider...but Friday was as dominant a performance as I've seen from a college reliever. The strength of UNC's lineup looked like children waving feathers at his stuff. Once they got up 6-0 going into the bottom of the ninth I thought he would just get the one inning, and it may have cost us Saturday.
...but good late inning clutch hitting Friday put us in that positive position; I'd say the same thing Saturday especially from Lyman. Colin has really had a very good last month and was just about left for dead by many I'm sure back in March, and no less in the field than at the plate. Having Logan Taylor get off the sneid yesterday with a 3-3 was a big boost also. Taylor in CF with Lyman in RF gives us the flexibility of matching up with pinch-hitters in late inning situations since Ray can play all three outfield positions. Ellis and Mann against a late inning lefty is something a lot of teams don't have.
We're trending well...the remainder of this week will tell much...have we gotten through one remaining demon of winning against a quality team on the road? Vandy will have something to say about that, though their midweek pitching certainly won't be a great barometer to go on vs. a three game series. NC State at home would seem to give our 1 loss at home record a challenge and tell us if our weekend rotation is as good as it's seemed the last three weekends. If we get through the stretch 3-1 I think we're all but the ink being dry on being the fifth or sixth National Seed at worst.
