Shocks @ Louisiana Tech Feb 18, 19, 20

[1972Shocker]

Earl Weaver: I love 3-run homers!

Eric Wedge: I hate 3-run homers!

FIFY

[ArtVandalay]

Watching the stream, assuming it's still 90ft bases, the outfield fence appears to be about 240 to left.

[WstateU]

Watching the stream, assuming it's still 90ft bases, the outfield fence appears to be about 240 to left.

Shane said it’s a small ballpark. IIRC, he said 350 to center.

[shocks02]

Watching the stream, assuming it's still 90ft bases, the outfield fence appears to be about 240 to left.

315 in left, 380 to center, 325 right.

[ShockerFever]

Watching the stream, assuming it's still 90ft bases, the outfield fence appears to be about 240 to left.

Like Florida State’s softball err.. baseball stadium.

[ShockerFever]

And now the wheels have fallen off.

On to tomorrow.

[WuDrWu]

And now the wheels have fallen off.

On to tomorrow.

Literally true. Mistakes and poor play everywhere.

[WuDrWu]

Thought about the game and rehashed it over night and this morning. Not trying to put lipstick on a pig here, but there were some good things to take away from the opener.

Clearly Jace didn't have his best stuff, but he wasn't terrible either. Cruised through 3 innings. 4 hits in 3 and a 1/3, 6 Ks 1 BB and 1 HBP right before he was lifted. Not sure what happened in the 4th to be honest. Whether he lost focus or something else, he let a lead off single unravel his effort. The HR probably doesn't leave Eck and he gets through the 4th with the lead here but anyway, he didn't.

LJ comes on and pitches well. The run he gave up in the 5th was kind of a joke. A seeing eye single with one out turned to a 2 out and runner still on first situation. LJ caused his own problem by not keeping Young closer at 1st and gave up the steal. Then a barely hit ground ball just out of XC's range to Stewart, and Andrew decides to go to 1st instead of holding it or throwing home (Taylor got a big jump again because LJ wasn't paying attention) and Taylor scores from 2nd on a ball that barely got to the infield dirt. 4 of 5 outs for LJ were Ks. Tough way to get saddled with the L.

Ketelsen was a bit of a surprise to me but again, thought he pitched ok. Got dinged for 2 runs in 1.2 inning but his stuff looked ok to me. With one out he hit Young (who leans into everything). Still, 1 out and runner on 1st isn't a big problem. Then a ball hit down the 1st base line that everyone thinks is foul except the ump (Cadena who has the best look at went ballistic at the call) and it's 2nd and 3rd with 1 out when maybe nothing should have happened (not like it was a double off the wall). A sac fly scores 1 which would have done no harm if the previous call goes our way. Foster comes in and inexplicably issues his 3rd walk of his career. Then a single scores 2 when Stroh kicks it in the outfield for his 1st error of his career. Little bit of a death by paper cut inning when you get 3 runs from 2 hits, neither of which would blacken an eye as Shane would say.

We strike out 14 while walking 3 and "hitting" 2.

Offensively not the best performance, but we did get 10 hits against their ace All American and relief pitcher and took a 3-0 lead that easily could have been 4. But also struck out 14 times and walked zero times, getting hit once. Hard to tell on the limited tv coverage, but biased reports from the field weren't thrilled with the plate umpire's zone. And our last 3 innings at the plate, minus doubles by Rodden and Cornblum (who played a nice game) were pretty piss poor efforts, mostly flailing at balls outside the zone while watching others down the middle.

I feel like we lost to a team that is used to winning, while we're still trying to find out how to win consistently. They made 3 plays and we didn't make about 4 plays. The one thing is I believe this program will hang it's collective hat on being a prepared and sharp and disciplined defensive team. I don't expect the 2 missed ground balls (one that may well have been foul) the kicked ball in the outfield, the not holding runners on etc to be regular problems. We could have easily only given up a couple or 3 runs and that's good enough to win most days. And we played at a team that hosted last season and looks to host again. La Tech ain't chopped liver.

Rodden and Thornhill both acquitted themselves nicely I thought. Stroh and Ingram both struggled, and that was a disappointing surprise to say the least. Not trying to make excuses, and certainly no moral victories, but it isn't like the Shocks didn't belong there last night.

I will add that most of the last decade plus, a game like last night against a team like La Tech would mean a 9-1 type loss today for the Shocks. While I certainly have my concerns (with plenty of history to validate those concerns), I don't believe that's how this program responds now.


But we have to win at some point to validate the efforts. Evening the series today would go a long way towards that validation. Go Shocks.

[Shockm]

Questions that I have that Wuzee or Doc may know some answers to or maybe these questions will be answered in the next games.

I thought that Thornhill was brought in as an infielder (middle). Didn't he only play the middle infield in the fall? Is he an outfielder now, or is he going to play both? Is Stroh only going to play against righties, or has he not looked good early in practice?

Siegrist, and Ingram had 3 SO each, and Rodden had 2 (he also had 2 hits). I don't remember how many Strike outs were with a runner in scoring position, and less than 2 outs. Of course, that is a "cardinal sin", if offenses want to keep the "line moving", but Ingram had a strikeout problem last year. Hopefully, Siegrist adjusts.

Also, Tolle didn't get an AB, and I thought that hitting was a strong point for him. Why? That 380 Centerfield wall, and short fences all around, should have been nice for his game. A deep fly ball out everywhere else, is a home run this weekend.

[shoxlax]

This schedule is ambitious to say the least. Not sure I wouldn’t have mixed in some beatdown teams early on.

[WuDrWu]

A couple of changes to the lineup today:

DH Sigrist
SS Rodden
2B Thornhill
1B Kocis
3B Casserilla
LF Ingram
RF Cornblum
C Cadena
CF Stroh

P Tolle

[WuDrWu]

Questions that I have that Wuzee or Doc may know some answers to or maybe these questions will be answered in the next games.

I thought that Thornhill was brought in as an infielder (middle). Didn't he only play the middle infield in the fall? Is he an outfielder now, or is he going to play both? Is Stroh only going to play against righties, or has he not looked good early in practice?

Siegrist, and Ingram had 3 SO each, and Rodden had 2 (he also had 2 hits). I don't remember how many Strike outs were with a runner in scoring position, and less than 2 outs. Of course, that is a "cardinal sin", if offenses want to keep the "line moving", but Ingram had a strikeout problem last year. Hopefully, Siegrist adjusts.

Also, Tolle didn't get an AB, and I thought that hitting was a strong point for him. Why? That 380 Centerfield wall, and short fences all around, should have been nice for his game. A deep fly ball out everywhere else, is a home run this weekend.

Well Thornhill is at 2nd today. I think you'll see him where he's needed but it seems Sigrist is to be limited in the field for now.

Not terribly concerned about Sigrist and hitting. Ingram is another issue. Too many swings and misses last season and he certainly looked bad last night. Let's see how the rest of the weekend goes. He was really good in the fall and early practice this spring.

As for Tolle, a couple of things. First, it's fair to say that while he crushed the ball last fall, he's not the quickest runner on the team. Mirrabelli would easily beat him down the line by a couple of steps, so that's a bit of a liability. And this is just a guess, but I'd speculate that the coaches want him locked in on today and didn't want to mentally (or physically) overload him 2 days into the season. Now, if we get past Frisco and he has just a couple of ABs, then I don't know what to tell you.

[shocks02]

3-0 Shockers after top of first. One hit and two walks. Wild pitch and two productive outs brought the runs across.

[Kung Wu]

Is this on the radio? What station?

[shocks02]

Is this on the radio? What station?

KFH 1240 AM/97.5 FM

best place to listen online is the Audacy app