[ballcoach15]

I think I rode by it once.

[BJWilliams]

Well sounds like we should just play out this weekend and just roll over and let ourselves get swept out of the tournament. No chance for our pitchers to maybe put together a little magic and get us 4 wins (or is it 5) next week because they are overworked.

(that is said with a lot of tongue in cheek and a dose of sarcasm so some people won't jump down my throat)

[SuperJon]

Well sounds like we should just play out this weekend and just roll over and let ourselves get swept out of the tournament. No chance for our pitchers to maybe put together a little magic and get us 4 wins (or is it 5) next week because they are overworked.

(that is said with a lot of tongue in cheek and a dose of sarcasm so some people won't jump down my throat)

It doesn't matter what tone it was said. It was dumb and shouldn't have been said because no one is implying that.

[ballcoach15]

Our lack of hitting worries me more than the pitching staff.

[ATrain]

We could just win the tournament and remove any doubt.

With five overworked pitchers?

The game has to be played and anything can happen. I don't expect a magical tourney run like basketball had a couple years ago, indeed, nothing of the sort...but there's always a chance, until there isn't one.

[BJWilliams]

I think I rode by it once.

So you just assume that we should own them in every sport without ever having been on their campus? Their women's basketball team, up until this year, has routinely had our number. Their men's basketball team has as well (with a few notable exceptions, including the 2004 Big South final). The men's track and field/cross country team has beaten ours as well. Up until this season, our women's lacrosse team had NEVER beaten theirs.

Point is, you can't just unilaterally expect us to beat someone without having at least some decent reason as to why. Not to mention, it would be kinda helpful to at least have seen their campus and their facilities so you at least can make some form of informed comparison.

[LUDad]

Bye bye regionals.

Win the series and we are in.

Not happening. We're in the mid 40's now. We had to sweep this weekend to have a chance.

I disagree. As shown in a previous post, average rpi for midmajor bubble team to make the field as an at large over the past five years is 44. We are there or better with series win. A series win over a top 100 team will not knock us out.

[huntandfish]

Not a chance the BSC get three teams in. Why not just win the tournament? That would fix everything.

[flameshaw]

Overworked pitchers? Laughable. With the exception of Lyons against Coastal las t week, haven't seen it all year. I wouldn't have taken Lyons out that game either. He was our best chance to win, he wanted to go, to take him out just wan't the right thing to do. We needed to make sure we won that first game for momentum, if nothing else. If a 20 year old kid can't completely recover from throwing 143 pitches in 6-7 days, he shouldn't be playing D1 ball.
I could go on and on about MLB pitchers throwing every 4 games many years ago and having no pitch count, with a lot less arm trouble than today. Nolan Ryan threw over 200 pitches several times. I don't remember it hurting his arm or velocity at all. I threw 12 innings in HS and came back and pitched another complete game in less than a week. Velocity was never a problem or concern. Played shortstop when I wasn't pitching. This pitch count thing is fairly new and a psychological crutch in my mind.
After watching so many conference games the last couple of years, we don't seem to get any tighter than any other team in the conference ie. CCU in the first game of the series last week.
We got a lot of breaks and timely hitting last year, we are just not getting the same this year. It was almost predictable. AP is not nearly as good in relief this year as last in closing out games. Parker Bean has been a major disappointment as well. No need to keep blaming coaches because you don't like them. I don't know of anyone who could get any more out of the talent we have. Hopefully we can win the next two and have a great tournament. We can win it all, but will have to start getting some more timely hitting and good pitching.

[ballcoach15]

If LU wins tournament, BSC will get 3 teams in. They're not going to leave Radford and CC out.

I am still "on the fence" as to whether or not we can get in without winning tournament.

It be great to win tournament and take all doubt away.

[SuperJon]

I don't know of anyone who could get any more out of the talent we have.

Gary Gilmore.
Joe Raccuia.

As for overworked: we have six complete games. Coastal and Radford don't have one between them.

Radford's weekend starters have been left to pitch solely in starting roles. We've used our weekend starters in relief appearances 15 times.

It's not only the amount of pitches thrown or the innings pitched. It's when they're thrown, the extra bullpen throws, and the types of throws (i.e. slider, slider, slider).

[LUDad]

If LU wins tournament, BSC will get 3 teams in. They're not going to leave Radford and CC out.

I am still "on the fence" as to whether or not we can get in without winning tournament.

It be great to win tournament and take all doubt away.

Hey Cider Jim, ballcoach is still on the fence as to an at large bid. Where's the Kool Aid flametrain?

[ATrain]

I think I rode by it once.

So you just assume that we should own them in every sport without ever having been on their campus? Their women's basketball team, up until this year, has routinely had our number. Their men's basketball team has as well (with a few notable exceptions, including the 2004 Big South final). The men's track and field/cross country team has beaten ours as well. Up until this season, our women's lacrosse team had NEVER beaten theirs.

Point is, you can't just unilaterally expect us to beat someone without having at least some decent reason as to why. Not to mention, it would be kinda helpful to at least have seen their campus and their facilities so you at least can make some form of informed comparison.

Their men's bball team was winless in the Vines from the '04 season until Dale Layer. They didn't "have our number."

[ballcoach15]

I have very little respect for HP, Radford or Longwood because they are non football schools, that weaken the conference in my opinion.

Put on some shoulder pads and helmets, then I might think of them as a D1 school.

[JakeP50]

I have very little respect for HP, Radford or Longwood because they are non football schools, that weaken the conference in my opinion.

Put on some shoulder pads and helmets, then I might think of them as a D1 school.

Gonzaga

[BJWilliams]

I think I rode by it once.

So you just assume that we should own them in every sport without ever having been on their campus? Their women's basketball team, up until this year, has routinely had our number. Their men's basketball team has as well (with a few notable exceptions, including the 2004 Big South final). The men's track and field/cross country team has beaten ours as well. Up until this season, our women's lacrosse team had NEVER beaten theirs.

Point is, you can't just unilaterally expect us to beat someone without having at least some decent reason as to why. Not to mention, it would be kinda helpful to at least have seen their campus and their facilities so you at least can make some form of informed comparison.

Their men's bball team was winless in the Vines from the '04 season until Dale Layer. They didn't "have our number."

Thanks for the correction ATrain...my point still stands.

[Cider Jim]

I have very little respect for HP, Radford or Longwood because they are non football schools, that weaken the conference in my opinion.

Put on some shoulder pads and helmets, then I might think of them as a D1 school.

Tell that to Winthrop during the Greg Marshall years.

[SumItUp]

Overworked pitchers? Laughable. With the exception of Lyons against Coastal las t week, haven't seen it all year. I wouldn't have taken Lyons out that game either. He was our best chance to win, he wanted to go, to take him out just wan't the right thing to do. We needed to make sure we won that first game for momentum, if nothing else. If a 20 year old kid can't completely recover from throwing 143 pitches in 6-7 days, he shouldn't be playing D1 ball.
I could go on and on about MLB pitchers throwing every 4 games many years ago and having no pitch count, with a lot less arm trouble than today. Nolan Ryan threw over 200 pitches several times. I don't remember it hurting his arm or velocity at all. I threw 12 innings in HS and came back and pitched another complete game in less than a week. Velocity was never a problem or concern. Played shortstop when I wasn't pitching. This pitch count thing is fairly new and a psychological crutch in my mind.
After watching so many conference games the last couple of years, we don't seem to get any tighter than any other team in the conference ie. CCU in the first game of the series last week.
We got a lot of breaks and timely hitting last year, we are just not getting the same this year. It was almost predictable. AP is not nearly as good in relief this year as last in closing out games. Parker Bean has been a major disappointment as well. No need to keep blaming coaches because you don't like them. I don't know of anyone who could get any more out of the talent we have. Hopefully we can win the next two and have a great tournament. We can win it all, but will have to start getting some more timely hitting and good pitching.

Great post.

[Cider Jim]

As long as we are telling pitching stories, it was not uncommon for Cy Young to pitch both games of a double header.

[flameshaw]

I don't know of anyone who could get any more out of the talent we have.

Gary Gilmore.
Joe Raccuia.

As for overworked: we have six complete games. Coastal and Radford don't have one between them.

Radford's weekend starters have been left to pitch solely in starting roles. We've used our weekend starters in relief appearances 15 times.

It's not only the amount of pitches thrown or the innings pitched. It's when they're thrown, the extra bullpen throws, and the types of throws (i.e. slider, slider, slider).

We will just have to agree to disagree, you don't like Toman, and that is your prerogative. We have discussed this situation privately, but I think he is doing much better and deserves some credit for the strides he has made.
Just because 2 teams don't have any complete games, means nothing. They have better relievers than we do, we have been forced to use our starters more. They both have better records than we do. I am not going to look it up, but I suspect they scored enough runs, they didn't have to use their starters as long/much. We have had quite a few close games. It is not a good situation when your best two relievers are also position players and play every day. Types of throws do matter, but I don't agree that we throw too many breaking balls. Lefties are known to be junk throwers and we do have a few lefties.
We can go on and on, just don't think it will be productive. Personally, I believe your criticisms are more personal than based on baseball activity. I have been around the game for 50+ years, maybe that makes me senile, I will concede that to be a moderate possibility. Respectfully, several MLB scouts and baseball people disagree with your perspective on our pitchers and how we use them. Maybe, they know more than either one of us, since they make their living doing so.
Hopefully we can win the tournament, but in reality we don't have enough depth anywhere on the team to go any further than that. We lost some good impact players last year, (thinking Sieze sp?) that has had a big impact on our ability to score runs and play defense. AP has been a major disappointment in relief as well, he was much better last year.

[SuperJon]

Where you've heard scouts like our guys, I've been told just as many won't touch our guys. We can find anyone to back whatever message we're trying to get across. I've got my "sources" telling me information and you have yours. I have no problem with Jim Toman the person, I just don't think he's a good coach. He's a top 25 recruiter but not a developer of talent.

[ballcoach15]

Score update

[Flamepop]

0-0 in the 6th.

[BJWilliams]

I less think of it as finding scouts that match the message they are trying to "get across", and more the idea that two scouts can look at a prospect (or school's prospects) differently. What one scout may call "overworked", another may see as a valuable asset...an innings eater that can be a spot starter who can preserve a thin pitching staff.

[krh44]

Down 2 to 0 in 8th