Shocks v Hawks

[Rosewood]

WSU needs to throw a weekend starter at ASU to win that one. I haven't seen ASU play, but their offense is seemingly looking better than last year, which is extremely scary. They lost one big piece recently (Petey Paramore) for an indefinite period with an unknown leg injury (they've concluded there isn't a broken leg and now investigating the knee). I don't know how good their new DH will be, as the old DH will now be catching.

That said, Nebraska is scary, too. Those two will be tough.

Nice to get the win. Now on to ORU. Hopefully they get the game in tomorrow, with a 70% chance of rain forecasted for Wed. night. Should be close to 50 degrees and humid, so it should feel better than the KU game.

Unless there is some injury (hope not) that throws the rotation off, don't ever expect BK and Gene to put a "weekend" guy in versus a non conf opponent, no matter how good they are. BK has explained it many times but since some people still haven't figured it out...

The conference games are the most important games, period. You always put your three best out against them because those teams will put their three best out. Winning 3 against CU is more important then a loss to ASU.

Also, you need more than 3 in the post season, period. I want Tim Kelly and Hoch and the rest of those guys pitching against ASU, Nebraska, etc. Come Regional, Super Regional and CWS time the experience gained from ASU could very well be the difference that makes the difference.

[t7017s]

WSU needs to throw a weekend starter at ASU to win that one. I haven't seen ASU play, but their offense is seemingly looking better than last year, which is extremely scary. They lost one big piece recently (Petey Paramore) for an indefinite period with an unknown leg injury (they've concluded there isn't a broken leg and now investigating the knee). I don't know how good their new DH will be, as the old DH will now be catching.

That said, Nebraska is scary, too. Those two will be tough.

Nice to get the win. Now on to ORU. Hopefully they get the game in tomorrow, with a 70% chance of rain forecasted for Wed. night. Should be close to 50 degrees and humid, so it should feel better than the KU game.

Unless there is some injury (hope not) that throws the rotation off, don't ever expect BK and Gene to put a "weekend" guy in versus a non conf opponent, no matter how good they are. BK has explained it many times but since some people still haven't figured it out...

The conference games are the most important games, period. You always put your three best out against them because those teams will put their three best out. Winning 3 against CU is more important then a loss to ASU.

Also, you need more than 3 in the post season, period. I want Tim Kelly and Hoch and the rest of those guys pitching against ASU, Nebraska, etc. Come Regional, Super Regional and CWS time the experience gained from ASU could very well be the difference that makes the difference.

Not to mention the dividends it will pay off in future seasons.

[KC Shox]

WSU needs to throw a weekend starter at ASU to win that one. I haven't seen ASU play, but their offense is seemingly looking better than last year, which is extremely scary. They lost one big piece recently (Petey Paramore) for an indefinite period with an unknown leg injury (they've concluded there isn't a broken leg and now investigating the knee). I don't know how good their new DH will be, as the old DH will now be catching.

That said, Nebraska is scary, too. Those two will be tough.

Nice to get the win. Now on to ORU. Hopefully they get the game in tomorrow, with a 70% chance of rain forecasted for Wed. night. Should be close to 50 degrees and humid, so it should feel better than the KU game.

Unless there is some injury (hope not) that throws the rotation off, don't ever expect BK and Gene to put a "weekend" guy in versus a non conf opponent, no matter how good they are. BK has explained it many times but since some people still haven't figured it out...

The conference games are the most important games, period. You always put your three best out against them because those teams will put their three best out. Winning 3 against CU is more important then a loss to ASU.

Also, you need more than 3 in the post season, period. I want Tim Kelly and Hoch and the rest of those guys pitching against ASU, Nebraska, etc. Come Regional, Super Regional and CWS time the experience gained from ASU could very well be the difference that makes the difference.

Don't ever expect BK to throw a weekend starter in a mid-week game. I would agree, but there are always exceptions. In our 18-3 win over KU last year, Rob Musgrave started the game and pitched 3 innings and Capra threw 3 middle relief innings in that game as well.

Oh and don't go on to presume that because I haven't caught a game this year that I don't know what the heck is going on. True, I often rely on what Mike Kennedy describes on the radio and the stat sheets to tell the story, numbers over a period of time are true representatives of one's playing ability.

When I lived in KC from 2001-2007, I caught every WSU/KU game in Lawrence, and I have been to many a home Shocker game. Unfortunately, my current job position requires me to travel quite a bit. In fact, I'm typing this at a Mariott in Tulsa, OK. Too bad the game isn't in Tulsa tomorrow instead of up there. That's my luck.

So now you know that I typically travel 150-200 days out of the year, it is very difficult for me to catch a game. Get off my freakin back about it Mr. I Assume.

[t7017s]

200 days a year... No wonder your such a crabass all the time.

[Rosewood]

200 days a year... No wonder your such a crabass all the time.

Exactly what I was thinking.

It all makes sense now.

[ShockerFever]

LOL at some of the stuff on this thread..


Solid effort. KU isn't the same team as it was a couple years ago. This was a win we needed because let's face it, KU is not a very good team. Nice to know that we technically didn't allow an earned run this game in the midweek. Very impressive effort by our young tossers.

Also, liked our offensive execution and insurance additives. Sure, we left a few guys on, but we held very well.

No. 18 in a row. Wow.

We really, really need to win tomorrow night. That would be a good one... if we get it in..

:posterwsu:

[SB Shock]

Let's face it, I'm reaching the 2,000 post milestone and they haven't been all negative posts or comments made when something negative has happened. Gimme a break!

I just said there is a perception - sometime perceptions don't match reality (or sometime they become reality) It would take somebody to go thru all 2,000 post and tally them up to see what it really says.

Predictions huh? Here you are:
So, we go 5-6 for the remaining non-con mid-week games.

Sure hope your wrong. Thats probably won't be good enough for WSU to host a regional. But, then again I take all your prediction with a grain of salt because you have proven your not a prophet. For example taken earlier in this here chat room:

Be careful what you wish for, omitting last year's performance at their place, KU has played us pretty tough of late. I certainly hope our defense gets better. I think it will be tight game throughout and one bad play on defense on either side will decide the game. That is my prediction.

Good, thing were still not under OT law. They were not kind to false prophets.

I do find it interesting you attack the Shox D when most I have talked to think this is probably one of the better D teams of all time (plus they are ranked 19th in Fielding Pct in the nation) and some of the errors they commit are because they get to balls that a normal team wouldn't.

[Shocker85]

Bad. The cold I'm sure kept a lot of shocker fans home. Last year was much better but last year was also a year after KU mouthed off.

It sounds like you had a good time in Lawrence. The cold most certainly kept some Shocker fans away - i.e. ME and my kids. We were planning on heading up, but the forecast for low 30's overnight kept us home. Everyone is a little weary of sitting out in the cold for ballgames, and the idea of driving up and back for a couple hours to do it yet again didn't fly this time. We'll be at Manhattan and Lincoln though.

Also, you need more than 3 in the post season, period. I want Tim Kelly and Hoch and the rest of those guys pitching against ASU, Nebraska, etc. Come Regional, Super Regional and CWS time the experience gained from ASU could very well be the difference that makes the difference.

Small nitpick here ... with the current NCAA post season set-up, you can win a regional in 3 games. The route through the losers bracket does require 4 or 5 starters. Obviously, a Super Regional can be won with 2 or 3 starters. The CWS is so spread out, if you win-win-win, 3 starters is plenty, and really only 4 required.

I'd stack our #1, #2, and #3 guys up against any in the nation. Musgrave and Capra are looking right now like those two dudes from UC-Irvine and can carry us a long way. That said, however, developing the 4th and 5th starters is still very important. Any pitcher is an elbow, shoulder, or knee tweak from 2-3 weeks off, then the 4 & 5 guys become the 3 & 4 guys and being right in "Prime Time". Meaningful games are the only way to get meaningful experience.

Kelley did exactly what freshman pitchers often do and that's fail to overcome a mis-play behind him and giving up a bunch of runs. That's OK right now, but as the season goes along he'll figure out how to bear down and get that last out and keep the damage to a minimum.

It will be interesting to see if the coaches are tempted to use one of the top 3 vs. Arizona State. That game is "Big Time Prime Time" and it is followed by the Evansville series. Hmmm.

--'85.

[Born2Shock]

Whether one of the top 3 pitch against ASU will probably be determined by the conference standings. Gene has always preached winning the conference first. With any luck, that game wont determine whether we host or not, just whether its a national seed.

[1972Shocker]

Kelly doesn't have it.

KU 3 - Shocks 0.

Kelly unable to make a pitch after getting ahead in the count to the last two batters.

1972 Wins the jump to conclusions award for today.

I plead guilty as charged and I'm thrilled to have been off base on that observation.

[wooly]

Solid victory over a decent Kansas team. I think that they are better than their record and will turn things around. I was at the Missouri/Western Illinois game last night and the loudest ovation of the game came when in the 8th inning they announced the score of the WSU/kU game.

[KC Shox]

Here is a link where you can watch a small TV report for the game highlights. I like those black uni's. The link is on the left hand side of the screen.

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/apr/02/ku_baseball_falls_wsu/?sports

[Clarensauce]

Hey Rose, what was the attendance like at Hoglund?

Bad. The cold I'm sure kept a lot of shocker fans home. Last year was much better but last year was also a year after KU mouthed off.

I can't stress how great the pitching was tonight. I was sitting at an angle I'm not used to sitting at (1st base side) but I could tell that our guys were freezing the ump over and over again. Also Wetzle blew a call at first when he was not in position to see the play.

So really KC, until you come and say hi at a game or at least watch one on TV and see the stuff that Kelly, Hoch, and Flemming are throwing just drop the tired act. These guys have good stuff and they are learning by playing KU, etc. Even the best pitchers can get hit around, but I expect these guys to be just as money as they have been against all the teams you are so worried about. 0 ERs won't be the status quo but throwing good pitches and doing it the BK way will be.

I agree with your comments about the pitching.

As far as the crowd goes, I thought there were a good number of WSU people there, and I think we even outnumbered KU fans after the 7th inning. Granted, I've never been to a WSU/KU game at KU, so I don't know how it compares to previous years. But the KU people sitting behind me kept commenting on how many Shockers were there.

[Indy23]

There are always a lot of Shocker fans at the KU/WSU games in Lawrence. You guys represent very well.

[SekShocker]

There are always a lot of Shocker fans at the KU/WSU games in Lawrence. You guys represent very well.

I guess we do, TE and MK said that 9 of the 20 best crowds ever at Hoglund Maupin or whatever the hell it is called, are games vs the Shox.

So I guess thanks mainly to Shocker fans this is the reason. You would think with the quality of teams in the Big 12 that they would get good crowds for some of those games, but I guess the bandwagon only gets filled up when they are really really good, or K-State/Missouri or other teams that are fairly close just don't travel well.