2024 Games of Interest

[SB Shock]

No matter if it is baseball or in the real world - u want guys and girls who want to be here (wherever HERE is). I hope those who left did find their joy, but they are dead to me.

[pogo]

No matter if it is baseball or in the real world - u want guys and girls who want to be here (wherever HERE is). I hope those who left did find their joy, but they are dead to me.

Except Tolle for me.

[molly jabali]

I sure wish I knew how this lineup with the current leadership would have done:


Camden Johnson SS
Chuck Ingram RF
Garrett Pennington 1B
Payton Tolle DH
Dayvin Johnson CF
Mauricio Millan C
Derek Williams LF
David Herring 2B
Jack Little 3B

Rotation of:

Tolle
Favors
Candiotti
Zang
Adler

Bullpen

Snead
Dobbs
Miner
Cranz
Tyner Horn

And a bevy of other freshmen.

But, I'm happy to roll with our guys.

Thanks for taking the time!!! That is a pretty solid team of former players…
still need coffee someday

[WuDrWu]

Conference Updates with games of note:


ECU is 10-4. They got a road sweep at an average Liberty team this weekend. They are done with the competitive part of the non con (had 2 games cancelled). Barring some kind of collapse, the Pirates should be ranked most if not all of the season.

Charlotte is 8-8 after losing 2 of 3 to a good Maryland team. The 49rs continue to struggle scoring runs.

Tulane is 10-6 after dropping 2 of 3 at a decent Louisiana side. 3 very close games.

FAU is 8-6 after taking 2 of 3 against both Stonehill and FIU. The Owls will be tested at home midweek vs Miami and next midweek at UCF. Miami is hitting a freaking ton so far. .310, averaging just shy of 10 runs a game and have hit 34 dingers so far. Good chance to boost the resume, or get pasted.

Memphis is 7-10 and have lost 5 straight including all 3 hosting a mini tournament vs Xavier, Jackson State & Presbyterian College. We close the regular season at Memphis and it's becoming a no win series that we must sweep, no matter what happens between now and then.

UTSA continues to spin it's wheels at 8-8. They lost 2 of 3 at Texas A&M-CC this weekend.

USF is 9-6 and solid if not spectacular. Took 2 of 3 vs a good NC A&T team over the weekend. The Bulls should win most if not all of their next 10.

UAB is 7-8 after losing 2 of 3 at Belmont over the weekend.

Rice is 5-10 and continues to struggle. They've lost 2 of 3 at Hawaii and have another game tomorrow before heading back to Texas.

Still think Memphis is the worst team in the league but Rice appears to want to fight them for it. Those are my early favorites to miss Clearwater.


Non Con Update:

Little Rock is playing better. 10-6 after a weekend sweep of Northwestern St.

Virginia opened ACC play by dropping 2 of 3 at Miami in a slugfest. 5-6, 12-16, 14-11. Cavs are 13-3.

Auburn is 12-3 and took 2 of 3 from a better than you might think Austin Peay team. The War Eagles will play their first true road game (12 home 3 neutral so far) Tuesday when they travel all the way to Madison Alabama to play Troy.

Iowa is 6-8 and is going to have a tough time building an at large resume barring a sparkling B1G record. And I mean SPARKLING like 21-3. They have 13 shitty non con games and they don't play either Maryland or Indiana during the regular season. Only Nebraska is really solid on their B1G schedule.

ORU is struggling at 7-9. Hope they can run the Summitt because otherwise they are no win must win. They dropped 2 of 3 vs UMass-Lowell at J.L. Johnson Stadium this weekend.

Utah Tech split 2 at Oklahoma State midweek, then dropped 2 of 3 at UTA. At least they are being competitive vs good competition.

Oklahoma is 9-5 and on a 4 game heater after sweeping UCF in Norman. The Sooners are up to 10 in the RPI.

Long Beach State is 10-3-1. Let's see if they can challenge UC Santa Barbara and Cal Irvine for the top spots in the Big West. The Dirtbags open conference play at UCSB next weekend.

Nebraska is 9-4 after taking 2 of 3 vs a good South Alabama team this weekend. The Huskers will be all we can handle midweek.

Gonzaga is 3-10 after taking 2 of 3 vs Minnesota in Spokane.

Oklahoma State is 10-6 after splitting 2 with Utah Tech and taking 2 of 3 in a tough series vs Mercer, all in Stillwater, where both teams scored a combined 9 runs in the 3 games.

Kansas State is 9-6. They bit off a LOT more than they could chew with a mid week trip to Tennessee (5-15 loss) then off to Clemson (3-8 loss), 2 teams that are currently 29-2 combined. They no hit Cincy 4-0 on Friday to open B12 play, then dropped Saturday's game 7-11 before taking the series today 14-13 in 11.

Kansas tried to get healthy winning 4 straight vs a terrible Texas Southern team, then surprised everyone taking 2 of 3 vs TCU in Lawrence, handing the Frogs their first 2 losses of the season. KU is 9-5.

[molly jabali]

Thanks!!! I look forward to these!

[WuDrWu]

Nate Snead is probably having the most success of all the departed Shockers so far this season.

Actually, there's no doubt he is. Sneader is 4-0 with save in 5 appearances for the 16-1 #6 Tennessee Volunteers. 1.80 ERA opponents hitting .200. Still learning how best to use his incredible talent. 18 Ks but 11 walks and 2 HBP so he's still struggling with control but the gun has him regularly over 100 MPH (although something tells me the Vols Data guys have their finger on the high side of the MPH stats...they always have multiple guys in the 99-102 range).

[WuDrWu]

Updates with games of note:


ECU is 14-4 after a 4-0 week. They got a mid week road win at Wilmington in 10 innings, overcoming 3 errors to win 8-7. They swept Columbia over the weekend although they tried to give away today's game.

Charlotte is 10-10 after a 2-2 week. Midweek win vs Winthrop then dropping 2 of 3 vs the same Wilmington team ECU beat. The 49rs gave up 30 runs in 3 games to Wilmington.

Tulane dropped a tough midweek game 8-7 at SELA who is really good. The Green Wave then took 2 of 3 from Pepperdine over the weekend and stand 12-8.

FAU picked up a very nice home win vs Miamah, 6-4 on Tuesday. A 3-0 sweep over a bad main team leaves the Owls at 12-6. They will make the 3 hour trek to Orlando on Wednesday to take on the Knights of UCF at John Euliano Park before returning home to open AAC play vs Charlotte.

Memphis had the sticks working in a 5 game week going 4-1 against average competition at best. The Tigers move to .500 at 11-11. They have a tough week as they remain on the road, traveling to Starkville on Tuesday for the Aggies of Mississippi State then to Tampa to open league play vs the USF Bulls.

UTSA continues to play .500 ball, losing Tuesday to Abilene Christian, then taking 2-3 from Northwestern, all at home in San Antonio. The Roadrunners will travel to Texas State on Tuesday before returning home to open conference play by hosting league favorite ECU.

USF run ruled Maine on Tuesday, but then dropped 2 of 3 vs a solid UNC Greensboro in Tampa. USF 11-8 and has a 5 game week ahead of them. At FGCU on Tuesday, back home for Florida A&M Wednesday and as previously mentioned, home for Memphis to open conference play.

UAB was run ruled at Jacksonville State Wednesday, then swept a BAD Lindenwood team over the weekend. The 10-9 Blazers will host a good Troy club on Wednesday before welcoming the Shocks to Jerry D. Young Memorial Field in Birmingham on Friday to open conference play.

Rice had a feel good series vs Houston Christian after returning from a tough Hawaii trip. 2 games at Reckling Park and 1 at Husky Field (all in Houston) and the Owls improve to 8-11. They have a tough home and home with Houston on Tuesday and Wednesday then host Tulane to open AAC play.

Nothing really has changed with what I've seen throughout the conference. Memphis & Rice look to be the bottom feeders. UAB and Tulane have a lot of holes. FAU & Charlotte and UTSA are capable but are struggling for consistency. USF has played a tough schedule and can really pitch but has struggled to score runs. ECU is by far and away the class of the league, and I would put us in a battle with USF, Charlotte and FAU (for now, UTSA is a step back imho) for 2-5.




Non Con Update:

Little Rock run ruled Ark State on Tuesday, then proceeded to drop all 3 to RPI 28 Murray State over the weekend. Trojans are 11-9 and a top 100 team.

Virginia is 16-4 after taking 2 of 3 at home from #7 Wake Forest.

Auburn is 13-6 after frankly getting roughed up vs Vandy in Nashville. Pattysboys swept the Tigers right out of town to start SEC play.

After getting roughed up at Georgia on Tuesday, Iowa returned home to sweep a bad Western Illinois team and are 9-9.

ORU dropped a hard fought 4-2 game in Fayetteville vs the #1 Razorbacks on Tuesday, despite out hitting Arkansas 9 to 6. Unfortunately, this good play did not carry over to the weekend as ORU was swept at home in J. L. Johnson Stadium by South Dakota State to open Summit play.

Utah Tech improved to 5-15 by taking 2 of 3 at home vs Sacramento State to open WAC play. They're playing better and could surprise the WAC a bit.

The Sooners had an odd week...OSU traveled to Norman on Tuesday and hammered OU 15-4. The Sooners then beat UTA on Wednesday, then traveled to Ft. Worth to take on TCU. OU swept the Horned Frogs 3 in a row and are 13-6 and will probably be ranked or close to it tomorrow. TCU is now 1-5 in the B12. OU is top 10 in the RPI.

Long Beach State is 10-7-1. Rough week when you're shutout at home 3-0 vs Dartmouth then you travel to UCSB to open conference play and are swept. The Dirtbags really need to turn it around this week, hosting USC on Wednesday and Cal St Fullerton over the weekend.

Nebraska is 13-5. After splitting their 2 game midweek series with us, the Skers swept 3 from a solid Nichols team at Haymarket Park over the weekend. Nebraska continues to be a top 5 RPI team.

Gonzaga is 3-14 after losing at SIUE and being swept by your Shockers.

Oklahoma State is 12-8 after splitting 4 vs top 10 RPI team. Beating OU and losing 2 of 3 at UCF.

Kansas State is 13-6 and will arrive Tuesday at Eck Stadium at Tyler Field on a 5 game heater where they've been averaging 12 runs a game. KState will be confident and full of themselves and have a ton of bandwagon fans in attendance. Let's get to the yard in droves on Tuesday.

Kansas gave back most, if not all their good will gained beating TCU 2 of 3 by losing to Missouri in 10 innings, then traveling to Cincinnati and losing 2 of 3 to the Bearcats. Ku is 10-8.

[WuDrWu]

Payton Tolle was spectacular last night. Complete game shutout at Okie State. 130 pitches and a ton of strikeouts. FB was 94-96 at the END of the game. Obviously meant a lot to him, being from the area. Robert Cranz pitched the back end for OSU and was also really good. In fact, the OSU announcers said something like "These 2, Cranz and Tolle, were on the same Wichita State team last season??!"

Feels good and hurts at the same time.

[ShockTalk]

Payton Tolle was spectacular last night. Complete game shutout at Okie State. 130 pitches and a ton of strikeouts. FB was 94-96 at the END of the game. Obviously meant a lot to him, being from the area. Robert Cranz pitched the back end for OSU and was also really good. In fact, the OSU announcers said something like "These 2, Cranz and Tolle, were on the same Wichita State team last season??!"

Feels good and hurts at the same time.

130 pitches!?! Save a little arm for later.

[Cdizzle]

There was a lot of talent on that team. Think it would've been a whole different ball of wax if Stewart had stuck around and stabilized the defense. Lotta weirdness all around last year.

[WuDrWu]

First weekend of conference play was interesting.

UTSA opens American play by taking 2 of 3 vs clear favorite East Carolina. The Roadrunners have been disappointing this season but played well and just hung on to beat ECU today 6-5 with JJC grounding out to end it.

Memphis committed 8 errors in losing 2 of 3 at USF after taking Friday's opener 17-6.

Rice salvaged a win at home vs Tulane today. Rice has a big time closer in Davion Hickson. He struck out preseason POY Teo Banks (no idea how he beat out JJC for ECU) to end the game and the 2 of them got into it verbally. Hope they're in the same half of the bracket in Florida, because I'll be watching.

Charlotte lost 2 really tough games at FAU before run ruling the Owls today 13-1.

And our Shocks took 2 of 3 vs UAB.

WSU, Tulane, UTSA, FAU & USF tied for 1st at 2-1 and ECU, UAB, Memphis, Rice & Charlotte tied for last at 1-2.

Not much has changed in my opinion of the league. Pretty solid baseball. I do think Rice is at the bottom. Memphis, UAB, Tulane are probably in the next tier with UTSA, FAU slightly in front of Charlotte and USF and all of them behind ECU.

Feel free to put the Shocks wherever you wish.

[ShockerExpress]

Feel free to put the Shocks wherever you wish.

But where do you put them?

[WuDrWu]

But where do you put them?

I think we've got a chance to finish 2nd. If we're consistent and healthy, we have the 2nd best team in the conference, top to bottom. Everyone has some holes in their lineup, but we've got the deepest pitching I've seen (outside of ECU) and by a fair bit imho. BUT, healthy and consistent are difficult to maintain.

Let's take 3 from Rice Thursday, Friday and Saturday and stay in first for another week and then see where we're at.

[ShockTalk]

I think we've got a chance to finish 2nd. If we're consistent and healthy, we have the 2nd best team in the conference, top to bottom. Everyone has some holes in their lineup, but we've got the deepest pitching I've seen (outside of ECU) and by a fair bit imho. BUT, healthy and consistent are difficult to maintain.

Let's take 3 from Rice Thursday, Friday and Saturday and stay in first for another week and then see where we're at.

Not bad for a first-year coach and a re-build.

[1972Shocker]

Not bad for a first-year coach and a re-build.

Indeed, a total re-build. The talent lost from last year's team that departed was the biggest exodus since Mose's led the Jews out of Egypt.