Shocks Host Creighton

[1972Shocker]

I actually think the start of this game has a bad feel to it.

[shox1989]

It is sad when we all feel good about them not giving up a run in the first. It should be expected. This season needs to be over soon.

I think you may have jinxed them. Cu gets a single and a double in the second to go up 1-0.

[1972Shocker]

Well Doggett should now by now how to slide on the turf, but I hope the new coaching staff takes the turf out of the sliding pits around the bases and installs dirt cut outs.

[1972Shocker]

Finally some nice aggressive at bats for the Shocks. Eric jumping all over a 1st pitch strike for a double, Dayne with a nice job just going with the pitch to right and Mikel fighting off a number of two strike ptiches before tripling in Dayne and then scoring on a wild pitch. All with 2-out. Let's hope that is infectious.

[1972Shocker]

Great opportunity for the Shocks to break this game open leading 4-1 with the bases loaded and 1 out in the 5th.

Edit: Nevermind. Harbutz ahead in the count 3-1 hits into a double play.

[WuDrWu]

Shocks win, and so does ISU.

Shocks finish 15-6 and will be no worse than 2nd. If ISU sweeps their series next weekend, they win the conference. If they go 2-1, we tie and get the #1 seed. If they lose 2 or 3, we win the conference outright.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks hang on to win 4-1. As Shane Dennis said they won in spite of themselves. Fortunately the were able to ride the 3-hit, 3-run 2-out rally in the 5th to the win.

Another solid outing by Garrett Brummett and a good job closing out the game by Brandon Peterson, although not without a little excitement in the 9th.

In any case, the Shocks clinch 2nd place with that win. They will now have to wait for some help from SIU next weekend to see where they finish. One SIU win over ILS gives the Shocks a co-championship and the #1 seed and 2 wins give the Shocks and outright regular season championship. I'll take one win from SIU and count ourselves fortunate.

Edit: Doc, beat me to it. Not ignoring you Doc. I had 3 telephone calls while I was posting.

[SB Shock]

Shocks win, and so does ISU.

Shocks finish 15-6 and will be no worse than 2nd. If ISU sweeps their series next weekend, they win the conference. If they go 2-1, we tie and get the #1 seed. If they lose 2 or 3, we win the conference outright.

Woo hoo!

[Shocker85]

Edit: Nevermind. Harbutz ahead in the count 3-1 hits into a double play.

Harbutz will want to erase all memory of his final series vs. sCUm, for sure.

[ShockerFever]

I'm just happy we sent sCUm away from Eck with a loss. That at least made me smile today.

[WSUwatcher]

Great opportunity for the Shocks to break this game open leading 4-1 with the bases loaded and 1 out in the 5th.

Edit: Nevermind. Harbutz ahead in the count 3-1 hits into a double play.

I hate to keep dwelling on this, but how many times is he going to make me wonder -- is there any Shocker you'd less rather have up with the bases full lately than Harbutz?

[ShockerFever]

I hate to keep dwelling on this, but how many times is he going to make me wonder -- is there any Shocker you'd less rather have up with the bases full lately than Harbutz?

Then maybe you should talk to your all-star coach about playing and recruiting him.

[WSUwatcher]

sCUm raised their team BA by something like 40-50 points by changing hitting coaches from last year to this year. I wonder what it would be like if GS and Co. would have brought a guy on board who gets that the new bats demand a different approach on offense? sCUm has 3 guys with a dozen sac bunts or more. WSU's team leader has something like 5. College baseball in 2013 is different than college baseball up to about 2005 (or whenever the dramatic change in the bats occurred). There is a constant stream of drivel about how the hitters fail to adjust - well I'm telling you the COACHES have failed to adjust.
--'85.

I'm with you about the coaching staff needing to adjust to the new realities of offense in college baseball, '85 -- I've been wishing on the record fro some time now that WSU had a hitting coach other than JT. Gene's loyalty to his guys has blinded him to the need for accountability when it comes to recruiting and developing hitters. That's a serious leadership failing.

But I still have to laugh whenever I read about Creighton's small-ball juggernaut and all their sacrifice bunts (currently 71 on the year vs. 24 for WSU). The actual numbers are these: after pounding out 10 whole runs in three games vs. WSU, Creighton is now averaging 5.64 runs / game vs. 5.39 for the Shocks. That's one extra run every four games, on average.

The reason? Well, Creighton has slightly outhit the Shocks, .288 to .285. WSU actually wins the battle of slugging percentages by a bit, believe it or not (WSU is at .370 to .364 for CU); but Creighton has a substantially better on-base average (.390 to .367 for the Shocks), a difference that almost certainly has more to do with their extra run per four games than do 3x as many outs given away via the sacrifice. It's comical to talk about how WSU needs to bunt more to try to get more more runners into scoring position when their signature offensive weakness is the tendency to strike out or fail to get the ball out of the infield when they do have guys at third or in scoring position with nobody or one out. (WSU's hitters, for example, average over a strikeout per game more than Creighton's do, which can bog down an offense like nobody's business.)

Small ball guru Augie Garrido's Texas Longhorns are threatening to finish an embarrassing last in the Big 12 (they've already clinched no better than 8th) and thereby be the only team to miss their conference tournament, in large part because they average just under four (!) runs per game. Maybe the sacrifice isn't magic after all, and WSU would be better off not giving away more outs by bunting but simply by doing a better job of situational hitting, something at which they seem exceptionally bad this year.