Austin Super Regional - Game 1

Discussion in 'Baseball' started by Dionysus, Jun 9, 2018.

  1. Dionysus

    Dionysus Idoit Admin

    Texas Longhorns (40-20) vs Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (52-10)
    Game 1: Saturday, June 9 — 2:00 pm on ESPN2
    Game 2: Sunday, June 10 — 2:00 pm on ESPN2
    Game 3 (if necessary): Monday, June 11 — 12:00 pm on ESPN2

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    From the D1Baseball.com link above.

    How Tennessee Tech Got Here: The Golden Eagles are not a Cinderella team, just so we can get that out of the way. Matt Bragga’s club was one of the nation’s most consistent throughout the spring and entered the postseason in the latest D1Baseball Top 25 Rankings. TTU beat Missouri State to kick off the Oxford Regional before losing to Ole Miss. However, the Eagles fought back with an elimination game win over MSU before double dipping the heavily-favored Rebels to advance to the supers for the first time in school history.

    How Texas Got Here: The Longhorns finished the regular season on a high note and carried that momentum into the NCAA tournament. Texas made easy work of Texas Southern to kick off the Austin Regional before beating rival Texas A&M to get into the driver’s seat. The ‘Horns then closed out the Austin Regional with a thrilling win over Indiana. Texas has that magical feeling as it enters the supers.

    The Edge

    Starting Pitching: The Golden Eagles might not have overly impressive numbers from their starters from an overall standpoint, but these guys have thrown well in the postseason. Righty Travis Moths (3.86) leads the charge. He has struck out 104 and walked 36 in 95.2 innings, while also attacks hitters with a fastball ranging 90-94 and up to 95 mph. He also has an average breaking ball that he works with. Marcus Evey is another talented arm to watch, and he has a 4.26 ERA in 76 innings, along with 86 strikeouts and 29 walks. Evey, too, can pound hitters with a fastball in the low-to-mid 90s, along with fringy breaking stuff. Meanwhile, Alex Hursey put together a strong start against Missouri State last weekend, striking out five and allowing just a run in a complete game performance. As for the Longhorns, righty Nolan Kingham is primarily a two-pitch guy with a fastball in the low-90s, along with a low-80s slider that sometimes can be a plus offering. Blair Henley (3.22) put together a strong start last week and can throw four pitches for strikes. He’ll sit in the upper-80s into the low-90s with his fastball, and typically keeps his pitches low in the zone. Shugart is another power arm, sitting low-to-mid 90s with the fastball, while also showing feel for a wipeout slider at times. EDGE: Push

    Bullpen: The Golden Eagles definitely don’t have a load of high quality pitching depth, but they do have one of the absolute best in our game in 5-foot-11, 170-pound, junior righthander Ethan Roberts. Roberts sits 88-92 with his fastball and will obliterate opposing hitters with a filthy cutter. Devin Lancaster is another quality option to watch. Lancaster (5.63) doesn’t have overpowering stuff, but he pitched well in the Oxford Regional last weekend, starting one of the games and keeping the hard-hitting Rebels off balance with his curveball. As for Texas, it will have an advantage anytime Chase Shugart is on the mound. Shugart, who was up to 95 with his fastball last weekend, has recorded two saves this season and has a 4.36 ERA in 84.2 innings. The Longhorns would like to bring him out of the bullpen in the series opener before turning the ball over to him to start the final game of the series should it go that long. Parker Joe Robinson (1.39) has become a funky-armed contributor, Andy McGuire (2.03) pounds the zone with strikes with an 88-91 mph fastball and lefty Josh Sawyer can be an effective setup guy with a fastball up to 95-96 mph. EDGE: Texas

    Offense: What an impressive offensive lineup the Golden Eagles have. Some would say they’d expect them to go to the plate hacking, but nothing could be more false. The Eagles are experienced and show consistently strong approaches. TTU ranks 1st nationally in batting average, home runs per game (2.16), slugging percentage, on-base percentage and scoring. They also rank 10th nationally in doubles per game. Whew, that’s impressive. Chase Chambers is the ringleader of this offense, hitting .404 with 17 homers and 82 RBIs, while Kevin Strohschein has been terrific with a .386 average, 18 homers and 67 RBIs. There’s also Brennon Kaleiwahea, who’s hitting .376 with eight homers and 53 RBIs, while John Ham (.321), Nick Osborne (.319) and Collin Harris (.319) each have double digit home runs, while outfielder Alex Junior (.318) has 13 doubles, seven homers, nine hit by pitches and a whopping 52 walks. He’s also struck out 55 times this season. This is a balanced offense and the Golden Eagles have four sluggers with 40 or more walks. As for the Longhorns, everything starts with hard-hitting lefthanded hitter Kody Clemens (.346), who’s hitting 14 doubles, three triples, 21 homers and 68 RBIs, while Zach Zubia (.286) is another power surge waiting to happen with 11 homers and 43 RBIs. Also keep an eye on Petrinsky, who doesn’t have a high average, but who also can put a charge into the ball and give the Horns some power production. EDGE: Tennessee Tech

    Defense: The Longhorns have a clear advantage from a defensive standpoint. Texas ranks 21st nationally in the fielding department, while the Eagles are ranked 133rd with a .970 fielding percentage. For the ‘Horns, they are excellent up the middle with Hamilton and Clemens leading the charge. Hamilton is instinctual, makes all the tough and routine plays and has an accurate arm to first. Clemens is consistent as well. McKenzie is stable at first and Petrinsky has been a more than adequate backstop for the Longhorns. In the outfield, Ellis is athletic and can run balls down and Shaw is a steady center field. The Longhorns aren’t going to beat themselves. As for TTU, it is certainly not a flashy defensive club, but as one coach said in our scouting reports, it tends to make most of the routine plays. EDGE: Texas

    Experience/Intangibles: The Golden Eagles are playing with house money right now, and that’s scary for any opposing team entering a winner takes all three-game series. TTU looked very good at Ole Miss last weekend, but wil they emulate that performance against this weekend? We’ll find out. As for Texas, the Longhorns have been very good at home down the stretch and had a flare for the dramatic last weekend at Disch-Falk Field. The atmosphere in Austin last week was fantastic, and I’d expect that to continue this weekend. Texas gets the edge in this department. EDGE: Texas
     
    • Like Like x 1
  2. Dionysus

    Dionysus Idoit Admin

    Factoid: Tennessee Tech is in Cookeville, TN — birthplace of Mack Brown.
     
  3. Dionysus

    Dionysus Idoit Admin

    ESPN 3 I guess
     
  4. Sangre Naranjada

    Sangre Naranjada 10,000+ Posts

    Up
    Updates for us poor schmoes who can't watch live, please.
     
  5. Dionysus

    Dionysus Idoit Admin

    I found a stream, will PM you
     
    • Like Like x 1
  6. Dionysus

    Dionysus Idoit Admin

  7. Dionysus

    Dionysus Idoit Admin

    • Like Like x 1
  8. Sangre Naranjada

    Sangre Naranjada 10,000+ Posts

    Well, probably not, bit I haven't been able to try yet. Just got slammed at the store.
     
  9. Dionysus

    Dionysus Idoit Admin

    HR Kody Clemens, 3-2 Horns
     
  10. Dionysus

    Dionysus Idoit Admin

    5-3 TTU

    No surprise from the best hitting team in the country
     
  11. LonghornCatholic

    LonghornCatholic Deo Gratias

    Teams that win game one make it to College World Series 79% of the time.

    Lets go Horns! :hookem:
     
  12. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    Need to get to their starter out to get to their bullpen.
     
  13. Driver 8

    Driver 8 Amor Fati

    Horns getting exposed
     
  14. Driver 8

    Driver 8 Amor Fati

    Wow, got out of a big jam there :hookem:
     
    • Like Like x 1
  15. Hideo Gump Jr.

    Hideo Gump Jr. Summer Soldier and Sunshine Patriot

    Bases loaded, one out, game on the line.......
    Okay, it’s a reach. But this came to mind.
     
  16. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    Starter approaching 100 pitches. He’s about done. 7 straight balls. Going to come down to bullpen.
     
  17. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    I would say TT pitching is about to get exposed. 8 straight balls. Can their bullpen hold?
     
  18. Dionysus

    Dionysus Idoit Admin

    Two on base, no outs. We need to make something of this.
     
  19. Driver 8

    Driver 8 Amor Fati

    I'd like to object to the strike zone
     
  20. Dionysus

    Dionysus Idoit Admin

  21. Dionysus

    Dionysus Idoit Admin

    5-4 TTU after 7
     
  22. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    Pitching and defense by horns has been a bit spotty.
     
  23. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    I would like to tie it up against Peter Pan.
     
  24. Run Pincher

    Run Pincher 2,500+ Posts

    Certainly a game we coulda won, but needed to be at least close to prefect. 2 errors and I don't understand Kingham's pitching. 4x he had an 0-2 count and 4x he threw a pitch right down the middle resulting in 4 hits. That just baffles me. I've never seen that before.
     
  25. SabreHorn

    SabreHorn 10,000+ Posts

    I never knew Bob Uecker was a poster on HornFans :hookem2:
     
    Last edited: Jun 9, 2018
  26. Texanne

    Texanne 5,000+ Posts

    We talked about that endlessly at the game. You can’t throw a fat pitch to a guy who you know will be swinging to protect the plate.

    That’s where we lost the game.
     
  27. Wishbonemac

    Wishbonemac 250+ Posts

    The Golden Eagles attacked the ball while we waited for Umpire Mercy too many times. We let WAY too many hittable pitches go by for some reason.

    Their 2nd pitcher, Roberts, totally intimidated us. Hopefully he's done for the next 2 days.

    Something is going to have to change by tomorrow and I'd start with replacing Reynolds. He's terrified of (hitting) the baseball right now.
     
  28. SabreHorn

    SabreHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Start with staying up past midnight fielding ground balls
     
    • Like Like x 1
  29. Chinstrap

    Chinstrap 1,000+ Posts

    I did not get to watch all of the game but I have have seen some of the Texas batters watching and hoping that the umpire will help them get on base. That is what kids in Little League do. They can’t hit and so they put their hopes in the hands of the umpire.

    It’s infuriating to see batters judging a pitch they should be able to hit when it is a matter of inches (and often over the middle of the plate) as to whether or not it is a strike. Then they commit the biggest sin by getting a third call strike in a game deciding situation. Put the ball in play and move runners! I saw the the run ptoduction of the TN team and knew the Texas “pitch watchers” were in trouble. The other team knows how to hit.

    This same hoping for balls attitude in bb players tends to follow another another common deficiency in players, they can’t even put a bunt down.
     
  30. STHAustin

    STHAustin 250+ Posts

    After Clemens' home run it seemed pretty obvious that he was not going to see another pitch he could hit, unless the pitcher made a mistake--Zubia either. Three consecutive Ks after walks to Clemens and Zubia were a killer. Hibbeler and Reyolds have to step up or we're toast.
     

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