Oklahoma State at Wichita State Feb 21 & 22

[1972Shocker]

Zach Cable pitching the 9th for OSU. Bringing his fastball at 97-98.

Final Line Score:
OSU 14 - 17 - 1 - 11
WSU 6 - 10 - 1 -10

The Shocks were 3-10 (0.300) with RISP today which is much better than yesterday's 1-13 (.077). For the 2-game series they were 4-23 (.174)

.300 yesterday with RISP may have won that game.

Pitching was actually very good yesterday. Not today. Offense a little better today but not nearly enough to match the OSU explosion.

[ShockerFever]

So are expectations adjusted after this series or is it still full steam ahead?

[1972Shocker]

So are expectations adjusted after this series or is it still full steam ahead?

I don't think that I had really formed any expectations for this team. Obviously, this was a disappointing 2-game set vs OSU. But losing 2 to OSU to open the season doesn't necessarily condemn the season but it does indicate the Shocks have a ways to go. Sweeping SIU-Edwardsville next weekend is needed but won't necessarily mean were on the right track. OTOH, losing a game or 2 to SIU-Edwardsville would not be good. Let's see how we fare in mid-March in the 4-game series with Arizona. Might be able to set some reasonable expectations by that time. Way to early to throw in the towel on the season but these two games with OSU were a bit of a downer and perhaps a bit of a reality check. We'll see how the team responds.

[WuDrWu]

Was there a decent turn out of fans for a cold day baseball game?

Given the fact that snow is all over the stadium, and it was cold as balls, there were some fans there yes. I'm hoping for a lot more today.

I thought Liam was nails after the first.

Shocker pitching struck out 13 and walked one.

Certainly we struggled in key spots at the plate, but we did have at least 11 hits, more than OSU. And we face a good solid starter, and 3 LIVE arms that were 92-96 out of the gate....that freshman that closed is a monster.

I think OSU is a good team. So do most ranking services. If they are a top 20 team, then we just aren't that far away, and it's possible we're better.

I've seen too many effing games in the last decade that I not only knew we couldn't win that day, but that we couldn't win any day. Yesterday was NOT like that.


Now, yesterday wasn't good. But I'm not sure about the lineups, especially the pitching. I am NOT questioning anything, I'm just not sure.

I believe we're miles ahead of where we were last season after 2 games. I still think this is more likely a tournament than not, but it's not necessarily an expectation and that's where I've always been since the fall.

[Coach K]

Need to give some players that stood out in the fall an opportunity

[ShockerFever]

. I'm hoping for a lot more today.

Is there a game today?

[SB Shock]

The good, the bad and the ugly from the OSU series

Good
Corrigan Bartlett 5 for 7, 1 RBI
Jack Sigrist 4 for 9
Ross Caden 4 for 9, Triple, 2 RBI (missed having a 2 RBI double by inches)
LIam Eddy (after his first inning)
Ryan Stuempfig 2.1 Inning, 0 run (2 BB only black mark)
Tommy Barnhouse 1.2 inning, 0 run

Bad
Hunter Gibson and Paxton Wallace (Combined for 3 for 18 - can't have that for top of lineup)
Spencer Hynes 13.50 ERA, 2.40 WHIP
WSU pitching in game 2 (Todd Butler dejavu with 6 walks, 2 HBP and 17 hits)

Ugly
WSU Pitching Staff ERA of 7.00, 1.78 WHIP
WSU hitting slash line 0.280/0.349/0.320 (Avg/OBP/Slug)

[Kung Wu]

Did we face a top #20 team last year?

[SB Shock]

Did we face a top #20 team last year?

Last year we just a feel good story for what games they play.

Q1 Opponents - None

La Tech - which was 3 Q2 wins
NW State - which was Q2 and went 1-2

Q3 opponents - KSU, Texas Southern
Q4 opponents - Air Force, Hofstra, Nevada, Ark Pine-Bluff

OSU was probably a difficult opponent to start the season with. The OSU results are not the end of the world, but does show this program still hasn't cleaned the stain of the Todd Butler days off yet.

[Shockm]

Baseball is a sport where little things make all of the difference, and a Top 20 team will bring them out of us. There is a lot of coaching that has to happen from this series.

For example: (I haven't done research in these areas but remember thinking that we are going to get burned because we didn't handle these situations well)
-How many times did our pitchers have 2 Strike Counts (with 2 balls or less) on Cowboy hitters and then lose them, with the Cowboys later producing runs ? Happened numerous times in our Monday loss, and once on Sunday.
-How many times were our hitters ahead in counts and runners in scoring position, and less than 2 outs? Many times..
-How many times did we run ourselves into an out only to be followed by hits which resulted in no runs scored? Several times.

There are others that happened but my memory has faded after a couple of days.

[Kung Wu]

Last year we just a feel good story for what games they play.

Q1 Opponents - None

La Tech - which was 3 Q2 wins
NW State - which was Q2 and went 1-2

Q3 opponents - KSU, Texas Southern
Q4 opponents - Air Force, Hofstra, Nevada, Ark Pine-Bluff

OSU was probably a difficult opponent to start the season with. The OSU results are not the end of the world, but does show this program still hasn't cleaned the stain of the Todd Butler days off yet.

Yeah, so this is the first time we have played truly "elite" competition under Wedge. And our guys only got to play, what, not even quite half a season under him last season? That was probably a very tough team to kick off the season against, but it could also be great motivation if the Shockers understand that that's the level of excellence expected out of THEM as they grow.