Everyone says pitching depth is everything in the CWS. Anyone have insight into the quality depth of Virginias staff? I have to believe with their overall record they can't be that deep and have to be pitching on fumes right now.
From what I've seen they have a starting staff similar to ours in depth and quality, but their bullpen is not as good or as deep as ours. Regardless, I was hoping Virginia would tie it up and that game would go 15-17 innings. Wear 'em both out. Alas, it was not to be.
Texas will be the visitor for the first time in the tournament in this next game. Don't ask me how the home team is chosen, because it's too complicated for me.
The University of Virginia Most likely starter on Thursday: Mike Vasil 6'4" 205 lbs 7-5 4.82 ERA 65 SO 17 walks UVA's 3rd starter, he will likely start on Thursday against us (over Savino--see below). A control pitcher with few walks, who throws in the low 90s. More of a Rembrandt, painting the corners. Hopefully on Thursday, Vasil will be more of a Jackson Pollack... He also throws the curveball/breaking ball, slider, and changeup. Doesn't walk the opposing batters often. Makes the opponent put the ball in play--which many do, repeatedly... An emotional "heated competitor" who gets fired up easily. A solid, if not spectacular, pitcher. Looks like a CWS team's 3rd starter, which is precisely what he is. Mike Vasil Relievers we may see: Brandon Neeck 2-0 1.93 ERA 40 SO 11 walks This guy's pretty good. Top-100 recruit. Throws in the low 90s with good control, with a solid slider and changeup. Likes the fastball for his out pitch. The UVA fans online seem to realy like Neeck. Brandon Neeck Kyle Whitten 0-1 3.23 ERA 37 SO 18 walks Stephen Schoch -- closer 6'5" 235 lbs 4-1 2.52 ERA 8 saves A quality closer. Despite his size, Schoch doesn't throw real hard heat, but makes his living on breaking balls for strikeouts. Schoch is one of those guys that takes 7-8 years to graduate and has seemingly been playing college baseball forever. Before UVA, Schoch played at Appalachian State and U. Maryland Baltimore County. He's something of a comedian as well (gotta like that ). Check out Twitter @bigdonkey47 Nearly everybody likes this character. He's a pretty good closer too. https://twitter.com/bigdonkey47?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author Glove launches, head-punching and, yes, Dippin' Dots: The makings of Virginia's Stephen Schoch Nate Savino 6'3" 195 lbs 3-3 3.86 ERA 33 SO 15 walks Savino seems to be the most polarizing guy with the Hoo fanbase with posters either loving him or downplaying him, if not outright hating him. He has his fans, but also has many detractors. Left hander. Throws a fastball in the mid-90s. Mixes in a sharp-breaking slider. Against NC State (the new 500 lb gorilla in college baseball...), Savino allowed just 1 earned run in 4.0 innings and struck out 2 batters. The pro scouts see a lot of potential. Savino has the stuff, so we may see him instead of, or more likely along with, Vasil. Long on future potential, so-so results this year. Nate Savino Nate Savino Class of 2020 - Player Profile | Perfect Game USA Zach Messinger 3-2 4.31 ERA 63 SO 21 walks 2021 Virginia Baseball: The Pitching Staff Scouting Notebook: Virginia | Perfect Game USA Mack's Mets: Scouting Report - RHP - Mike Vasil
Would be nice if Texas came out scoring early and put pressure on Virginia to respond… That game Tuesday night in the way they lost it could be hard to overcome… By grabbing the lead 2-0 or 3-0 early could set the tone for a win and of course quality pitching and defense always helps
Bottom line: Vasil has a 4.82 ERA.... Horn bats need to feed on this !!!! Get runs early.... the closer is a beast.
I like going against Vasil (now that I said that, watch him throw a one hitter against us with 16 Ks…). Multiple sources are saying he’s got good control, keeps it in the strike zone, and makes the opponents swing their bats and hit him—which is precisely what they do, A LOT…! So he relies a lot on the fielding. Lukewarm bats or better and we take them. Hot bats and we could hit double digits on the scoreboard. It will be interesting to see who UVA brings in as their first reliever. Schoch is a good closer, but apparently he has been hit against well recently. A number of Hoos online are talking up Neeck. He looks real good on paper. Good stats. I bet we see him. Then there’s the lightning rod of controversy—Savino. He’s thrown some innings at the CWS already, I think. And he’s either awesome or he sucks depending on who you listen to ….
Horns Illustrated has preview up 3 storylines to watch when baseball faces Virginia Thursday - Horns Illustrated
Another interesting tactical decision we may see is: if we carry a lead of a few points or more into late innings (obviously a big “if”), does Pierce call in Gordon or Cole (or someone else) from the pen and save Nixon for the next game vs MSU?
The conventional theory is when you have one loss in a two loss tournament, the first order of business is not to hold back anyone other than the next game starter. What good is a rested reliever if you lose?
Yep. Although in our case, we have Gordon and Cole Quintanilla who have not yet thrown in the CWS and are both very, very good. Personally, I think Nixon is our best closer, but Cole and Gordon would each be the top reliever for many teams. Those are some good options to have.
Should be no motivation problems.. Win are your season is over.. for some could be the last time in baseball.
OMAHA, NE Thu 24 Hi 88 Lo 70 evening winds ENE at 5-10 mph Mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon and early evening. Some of the storms may become severe. Damaging winds and large hail with some storms. High 88F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Hope we dodge those storms.
Gotta like this comment coming from a UVA partisan: "How are we feeling about Vasil tonight? He really hasn't had a clean outing in a long time. I assume he'll be on a short leash but gotta admit I was surprised to hear his name called as the starter. Gotta hope he finds his stuff from the early part of the season. Either way, we're really going to need the bats to come alive. Probably will need to score 5+ to win." (emphasis in bold added). If they need 5+ to score, and going against Hansen + Nixon/Cole/Gordon... Gotta like where we're sitting. https://virginia.sportswar.com/mid/15604928/board/baseball/
There's some buzz among the UVA partisans that Neeck may have a lingering injury or something keeping him out... If so, then the Hoos' pen just got thinner. Their likely starter tonight has a 4.82 ERA. Their closer is good, but he's seen plenty of use lately and had some recent bad outings. Assuming Neeck is out, their next apparent reliever (Savino) is frequently ragged on by their own fanbase. There's usually a reason for that. Let's shell these guys Horns! This would be the perfect game for our offensive floodgate to open. Tonight we score from a low of 5 to a high of 12.
Dang, I just saw a 66% chance of heavy thunderstorms in the forecast for 6:00, which of course means a 100% chance of thunderstorms over 66% of the vicinity. weather.com Omaha
Goner rain! Should just play the game in the thunderstorms. I did that a lot as a kid and it was fun, especially when it's over 80 deg. Those metal bats might be lightning rods though. If it's rained out that means we probably face Abbott on Friday right? I'd rather face Vasil with Hansen over Abbott with Madden.
Yes, yes, and yes We want to bat against Vasil and their semi-decimated relief staff. And to do so today.
Currently in Omaha, light rain showers -- 4:54 pm. 6pm -- 40% chance of rain 7pm -- 44% chance of rain 8pm -- 33% chance of rain 9pm -- 16% chance of rain 10pm -- 23% chance of rain Might be a delay and a late start/late evening game... Or maybe we squeeze in a few innings, stop for a while, and resume. Another possibility that favors the deeper bullpen.
In the absence of weird s**t we are strong favorites in this game. BUT, here we have weird s**t. Me no likey.
Looking at the Wunderground radar on my phone; looks like there are several large storms heading toward Omaha; this might be a lengthy delay.
Looks like rain until 8:30-9. Then with warmup, barring any lightening, that's a 9:30 start? [Update: 7:15 p.m. Central] BON Radar now indicates that rain is forecast to persist in Omaha until about 10:45.
Main problem is lightning. Every lightning strike within an 8-mile radius delays the start another 30 minutes. That's a big fricking radius.
Why are they showing this ******** Moo State documentary when they should be showing Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach?
