Purdue vs Shox - DH (gm 3 & 4)

[tru2thaduce]

Hopefully this will have some carry over.Pitching was awesome today.If you get ahead of Purdue hitters,they really have a hard time.BTW,did anyone else notice how deep the Boiler OF played Coy?They should have been charged admission for the hill they were so deep.

[shox1989]

Lambert with a standup triple to lead off the 7th

I think there is a chance he could have turned that into an in the park home run. Gene gave him the STOP sign, Lambert went way past third and really had trouble turning around and getting back to third. It probably would have been a close play at the plate, but I think there is a chance he could have made it.

[shox1989]

Hopefully this will have some carry over.Pitching was awesome today.If you get ahead of Purdue hitters,they really have a hard time.BTW,did anyone else notice how deep the Boiler OF played Coy?They should have been charged admission for the hill they were so deep.

Yeah I did notice that. That shows a lot of respect for his power.

I hope the hecklers on the hill gave them some good natured ribbing over it.

[shocker3]

As much as I thouroughly enjoyed beating Purdue from start to finish in the first game 8-2, I think I liked the second game even better.

The first game was great because we took that 3-0 lead in the first inning (Tyler Doggett hit, Johnny Coy homer and Casey Gillaspie homer) and then just kept pouring it on while our pitching kept their hitters in check, cruising to a 8-2 win.

Those kind of games are certainly easier on my ticker, although with Purdue's hitters even a 6 run lead doesn't feel very safe. Josh Smith and Foster Vielock kept their good hitters off balance all game.

But I liked the second game better because we came back from behind twice to win.

Purdue started ahead 2-0 and we didn't give up. We tied it at 2 and then when Purdue took back the lead at 3-2, we fought back and took the lead at 4-3 (on a nice timely 2 out hit by Kevin Hall). We then added to the lead and held on.

Starter Kris Gardner pitched well, but AJ Ladwig was just plain nails. He kept the potent Purdue team from scoring. Cale Elam did his usual fine job in the ninth to earn the save.

All in all just a totally awesome day at the Eck.

[1972Shocker]

Thanks for they eyewitness reports guys.

Hope Eric Harbutz' shoulder tenderness is just some soreness that will resolve itself.

With our pitching we can win a lot of games with the kind of offensive production we had Saturday.

It will be interesting to see if Tobin Mateychick can step up and give us some effective innings this year. Should be a good chance to get him some work against Alcorn State.

[KC Shox]

Our next two years look bright in terms of pitching, A.J., Cale, Albert, Foster, and Kris are either FR or SO's. We lose two senior pitchers this season, but we have replacement guys already on the roster, but who will fill the role of mid-week starters next season is an unknown. (I say this assuming our present guys make the jump to weekend starters next season mind you.)

Anyone know which pitchers on the recruiting trail might fill in this gap for next season?

Hitting, well that continues to be the main issue. I like what Doggett is displaying and I have confidence that Gillespie will eventually turn into what we all expect. These freshman need to get all the playing time they can. Let's face it, at this point in the year, nothing leads me to believe the Shox will earn a regional bid, so get our young guys valuable playing time this year and break em' in.

Any other FR and SO's that are currently on the roster look to be the guys who can rejuvenize this program?

[shox1989]

Our next two years look bright in terms of pitching, A.J., Cale, Albert, Foster, and Kris are either FR or SO's. We lose two senior pitchers this season, but we have replacement guys already on the roster, but who will fill the role of mid-week starters next season is an unknown. (I say this assuming our present guys make the jump to weekend starters next season mind you.)

Anyone know which pitchers on the recruiting trail might fill in this gap for next season?

Hitting, well that continues to be the main issue. I like what Doggett is displaying and I have confidence that Gillespie will eventually turn into what we all expect. These freshman need to get all the playing time they can. Let's face it, at this point in the year, nothing leads me to believe the Shox will earn a regional bid, so get our young guys valuable playing time this year and break em' in.

Any other FR and SO's that are currently on the roster look to be the guys who can rejuvenize this program?

I disagree with you. I think our chances of making a regional are pretty decent right now. Warren Nolan has our rpi at 36 right now. If we can do well in the Valley we should have a good shot at an at large bid.

We have played a tough schedule (SOS is #15 right now) and that should help our rpi at the end of the season.

Our pitching is excellent, if we can play good defense and get some timely hits we should be fine. When we don't make errors this year we win, even against very good competition.

[shoxlax]

Need to win our non conference series with LBSU and Dallas Baptist. We also can't lay an egg in our midweek games like we have some of the past years.

[KC Shox]

I disagree with you. I think our chances of making a regional are pretty decent right now. Warren Nolan has our rpi at 36 right now. If we can do well in the Valley we should have a good shot at an at large bid.

We have played a tough schedule (SOS is #15 right now) and that should help our rpi at the end of the season.

Our pitching is excellent, if we can play good defense and get some timely hits we should be fine. When we don't make errors this year we win, even against very good competition.

Our SOS will nosedive once we hit the Valley schedule. I don't see us getting an at-large for that reason. But you're right, there is still a chance if we win the MVC Tourney.

[Ta town]

Our next two years look bright in terms of pitching, A.J., Cale, Albert, Foster, and Kris are either FR or SO's. We lose two senior pitchers this season, but we have replacement guys already on the roster, but who will fill the role of mid-week starters next season is an unknown. (I say this assuming our present guys make the jump to weekend starters next season mind you.)

Anyone know which pitchers on the recruiting trail might fill in this gap for next season?

Hitting, well that continues to be the main issue. I like what Doggett is displaying and I have confidence that Gillespie will eventually turn into what we all expect. These freshman need to get all the playing time they can. Let's face it, at this point in the year, nothing leads me to believe the Shox will earn a regional bid, so get our young guys valuable playing time this year and break em' in.

Any other FR and SO's that are currently on the roster look to be the guys who can rejuvenize this program?

Immediate impact pitchers next year?

I think that Brandon Peterson should help. Just started pitching last year at Des Moines CC. 93-94 fastball and had 49K/13bb in 36 innings. Has 11K/2bb and 0.00 ERA in 6.2 innings so far this year. I believe he was a SS when he got to Des Moines and made the switch to closer there. So he has a lot of upside yet.

The other "immediate" pitcher would be Blake Logan. Another JUCO out of eastern Oklahoma. Ridiculous amount of SO's to innings pitched but 4.40 ERA last year. He had 67K/14bb in 45 innings pitched. Played with Parker in high school and apparently was offered by both OU/OSU but chose WSU due to Kemnitz. Looks like he still struggling a bit this year with an 4 ERA. Hopefully he gets some of that figured out.

I agree this years freshman class seems to have a few hitters who will be nice down the road. Doggett and Gillespie now and eventually Baker, Mucha, and even Knight. Sophomore class has a couple guys too in Bayliff and Parker.

[shox1989]

Our SOS will nosedive once we hit the Valley schedule. I don't see us getting an at-large for that reason. But you're right, there is still a chance if we win the MVC Tourney.

In the past that has been very true. But this year several MVC teams are doing well in non-con play. In fact we have the worst record of any Valley team (but the best rpi).

While we usually have some Valley teams near #300 in the rpi this year the 2 worst are: UE at #168 and Cu at #165 (lol).

Several Valley teams are in the top 100: MoSt #43, Illinois St #68, Indy St. #79, The remaining 2 teams are decent: Bradley #109 (that is amazing, they are usually near #300) and SIU at #123.

So if this trend holds, the Valley should not be a rpi killer this year.

[shocker3]

I still think it is too early to be stating RPIs. I am not going to start looking at the RPI for a couple of weeks.

But our strong early schedule (every team we've played except North Dakota is probably going to be in the top 100 and some of them in the top 50) and the good showing by Valley teams (they are all above .500) will help our RPI at the end of the season when it does matter.

I think with the tough schedule we have played so far we are in a good position to make post season play if we can take care of business in the Valley and win our fair share of our remaining non-conference games.

There is absolutely no reason to panic. Our pitching is very good. If we play good defense and get timely hitting everything should be fine.

[shocker3]

Any word on Harbutz (shoulder) or Baker (maybe pulled his hamstring)?

[shox1989]

What happened to Baker? I didn't know there was anything wrong with him. He played the second game yesterday.

[shocker3]

When Baker ran to first on his SAC in the bottom of the 8th he had a grimacing look on his face. Halbert was put in to replace him at 3rd base in the ninth. After the game, Baker was walking with a little bit of a limp.