WSU vs Oklahoma State (Mar 26), vs OSU (Apr 9), at OSU (Apr 30)

[BSB4LF]

lol I don't think this came down to hitting as much as it did just gifting OSU run after run without swinging the bat. WSU outhit OSU 14-8 and lost by 4. I think nothing else needs to be stated.

Went to the game. Wasn't much fun from pitch 2 and on. Just never even gave ourselves a chance. If it wanted to watch a walk-a-thon, I would've stopped by Two Rivers and watched a 9 year old kid pitch softball game.

Have lost 4 in a row; couldve been 6 in a row if not for the KU miracle.

Expectations can finally be adjusted to what Doc was saying. Really frustrating. I do like our freshmen. Our pitching needs to improve substantially or we'll stay in medocreland forever.

Why does out pitching coach always make a mound visit to pull a guy but never to settle him in or talk about making adjustments. He’s like a mechanic that always wants to put on new parts instead of fixing the problem, costing me a lot of money & walking away with the same problem.

[Shockersdad]

Why does out pitching coach always make a mound visit to pull a guy but never to settle him in or talk about making adjustments. He’s like a mechanic that always wants to put on new parts instead of fixing the problem, costing me a lot of money & walking away with the same problem.

100% agree. Way to many guys have gone backwards. Zang and many others look like they have zero confidence and are looking into the dugout every other pitch waiting for the hook. I have yet to see him pat a guy on the shoulder or do anything positive on a visit.

[Cdizzle]

OTOH, maybe you shouldn't need an in-game pep talk to throw a strike.

[ShockBand]

100% agree. Way to many guys have gone backwards. Zang and many others look like they have zero confidence and are looking into the dugout every other pitch waiting for the hook. I have yet to see him pat a guy on the shoulder or do anything positive on a visit.

Reading this made me think of this article a colleague shared with me recently.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/nextvoices/2024/03/14/college-students-fragility-anxiety-resilience-chicago-next-voices-maham-khan

[Shockm]

A few of my thoughts that I saw last night, which are worth zero.

Our hitters actually hit the ball fairly well last night with 14 hits. However, It's not uncommon to see pitchers digress toward the end of a long season, and both sides pulled the same number of pitchers, and I neither pitching coach was doing much coaching. In the middle of a game, a coach can work a little on the mental side, but Zang is a good example of a pitcher who was losing confidence several games ago, when he started aiming pitches, and had no clue where it was going. His first two games were good to very good (less competition from the opponent too), and down hill after that.

Tommy Lapour has been an example of a pitcher who is getting better.

The arm talent that I saw last night for OSU was quite a bit better than ours, and I don't think these were their best pitchers. Their pitchers were throwing 92-95 mph consistently (occasionally 96-97), while ours were consistently pitching 85-88 and occasionally 90-92.

OSU pitchers pitched 3 walks, while WSU pitched 12 walks so we had no command of the strike zone with our slower armed pitching. OSU scored a lot of runs when we had two outs. Our pitches just couldn't end innings.

Both sides had 7 pitching changes. WSU pitched 205 pitches while OSU pitched 190. It was a long game.

[BSB4LF]

OTOH, maybe you shouldn't need an in-game pep talk to throw a strike.

It's not a pep talk. It's called coaching. And the coach's job is to adjust mechanics for success, not just see if the next guy "has it."

[BSB4LF]

100% agree. Way to many guys have gone backwards. Zang and many others look like they have zero confidence and are looking into the dugout every other pitch waiting for the hook. I have yet to see him pat a guy on the shoulder or do anything positive on a visit.

Yep! It's almost like they know if they walk one guy, their day is done and they can't shake it to get themselves out of it.

[BSB4LF]

Reading this made me think of this article a colleague shared with me recently.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/nextvoi...ces-maham-khan

Or there's this article that CNN just posted today: Suicide rates among college athletes have doubled, study finds | CNN

[Kung Wu]

A few of my thoughts that I saw last night, which are worth zero.

Our hitters actually hit the ball fairly well last night with 14 hits. However, It's not uncommon to see pitchers digress toward the end of a long season, and both sides pulled the same number of pitchers, and I neither pitching coach was doing much coaching. In the middle of a game, a coach can work a little on the mental side, but Zang is a good example of a pitcher who was losing confidence several games ago, when he started aiming pitches, and had no clue where it was going. His first two games were good to very good (less competition from the opponent too), and down hill after that.

Tommy Lapour has been an example of a pitcher who is getting better.

The arm talent that I saw last night for OSU was quite a bit better than ours, and I don't think these were their best pitchers. Their pitchers were throwing 92-95 mph consistently (occasionally 96-97), while ours were consistently pitching 85-88 and occasionally 90-92.

OSU pitchers pitched 3 walks, while WSU pitched 12 walks so we had no command of the strike zone with our slower armed pitching. OSU scored a lot of runs when we had two outs. Our pitches just couldn't end innings.

Both sides had 7 pitching changes. WSU pitched 205 pitches while OSU pitched 190. It was a long game.

Interesting observations.

Also our first three pitchers were:

True Freshman
True Freshman
True Sophomore

Those three gave up 5 runs.

Setting the tone against #21 in the country with underclassmen seems like it's gonna put you behind the eight ball more often than not. The good news is those guys will just naturally put on 15 pounds of muscle and maybe even increase their arm length slightly by the time they are juniors, so I would expect the average clock speed will come along with it.

OSU's first three pitchers consisted of:

Junior
Sophomore
Junior

Which gave up 2 runs.

Thinking pitching experience came into play last night.

[Shockm]

Interesting observations.

Also our first three pitchers were:

True Freshman
True Freshman
True Sophomore

Those three gave up 5 runs.

Setting the tone against #21 in the country with underclassmen seems like it's gonna put you behind the eight ball more often than not. The good news is those guys will just naturally put on 15 pounds of muscle and maybe even increase their arm length slightly by the time they are juniors, so I would expect the average clock speed will come along with it.

OSU's first three pitchers consisted of:

Junior
Sophomore
Junior

Which gave up 2 runs.

Thinking pitching experience came into play last night.

Good points. OSU had lots of walks and not that many hits during our first three pitchers (and later pitchers too). Those younger pitchers need to get stronger, throw harder, and hopefully, they become better strike throwers because they walked too many hitters. Hopefully, they don't transfer.

This is why our mid week games are often unsuccessful. Our team arm talent/depth needs to improve. Last year we lacked pitching depth too, and then we had a lot of transfers, so we started over.

[Shockersdad]

A few of my thoughts that I saw last night, which are worth zero.

Our hitters actually hit the ball fairly well last night with 14 hits. However, It's not uncommon to see pitchers digress toward the end of a long season, and both sides pulled the same number of pitchers, and I neither pitching coach was doing much coaching. In the middle of a game, a coach can work a little on the mental side, but Zang is a good example of a pitcher who was losing confidence several games ago, when he started aiming pitches, and had no clue where it was going. His first two games were good to very good (less competition from the opponent too), and down hill after that.

Tommy Lapour has been an example of a pitcher who is getting better.

The arm talent that I saw last night for OSU was quite a bit better than ours, and I don't think these were their best pitchers. Their pitchers were throwing 92-95 mph consistently (occasionally 96-97), while ours were consistently pitching 85-88 and occasionally 90-92.

OSU pitchers pitched 3 walks, while WSU pitched 12 walks so we had no command of the strike zone with our slower armed pitching. OSU scored a lot of runs when we had two outs. Our pitches just couldn't end innings.

Both sides had 7 pitching changes. WSU pitched 205 pitches while OSU pitched 190. It was a long game.

All good points. That's why i just don't understand why they didn't use Zang and Geraghty right away after good outings vs UAB. Two guys who throw mid 90's with elite arm talent. Instead of using them again in blowouts vs Rice, you bring Zang in bases loaded vs OSU?

[ShockerExpress]

All good points. That's why i just don't understand why they didn't use Zang and Geraghty right away after good outings vs UAB. Two guys who throw mid 90's with elite arm talent. Instead of using them again in blowouts vs Rice, you bring Zang in bases loaded vs OSU?

This was my thought exactly.

No idea what the plan is with pitching. Not giving yourself a chance by just throwing whatever at the wall. I get rotating guys and am here for it, but this seems so random.

[Cdizzle]

When you've issued 30 free passes in 24 innings, I don't think an in-game mechanical coaching moment is going to do the trick.

[Shockersdad]

When you've issued 30 free passes in 24 innings, I don't think an in-game mechanical coaching moment is going to do the trick.

I agree you never bring up mechanics in game, that's for film and discussion at practice or even bullpens before a game. But you can say hey I believe in you go get this guy, the stuff looks great let the defense work for you.

[Cdizzle]

I agree you never bring up mechanics in game, that's for film and discussion at practice or even bullpens before a game. But you can say hey I believe in you go get this guy, the stuff looks great let the defense work for you.

Oh, I get you. Like a pep talk?