HuskersNC949597

I don't feel like they were ever doing that great. Even in the much hyped wins over Texas Tech and Baylor, 2 of those 3 wins were by scores of 2-0 and 2-1. With Northwestern being 11th in the conference, and that being the average ranking of the 3 series wins Nebraska has in conference play, I figured 4 or 5 runs would be doable in each game at least. But oh boy, did I overestimate this coaching staff's ability to keep a team mentally focused

Never in my weirdest dreams would I have predicted that kind of game 1. Still a winnable series, obviously, but man, the excuses are wearing real thin.

On the board. Game not over just yet.

Altavilla is just one example of a lack of development/progression, I can't really blame him. By my count, Illinois issued 29 walks this weekend? Oy. edit: miscounted walks. And for the heck of it: 4 HBP by Illinois pitchers as well. 33 free baserunners.

I thought Gomes was gonna wiggle out of that, dude has a great career ahead of him. Illinois walking people left and right in the 9th, still a great way to blow a game.

Illinois' pitching is doing everything they can. Walking 2 or 3 runners with less than 2 outs, falling behind counts and forcing themselves to throw fastballs over the plate, it's a great way to lose games

Did the entire recruiting class decommit yet?! No? Oh, good. It sucks, but the coaches responsible for it are gone.

Because it's like pulling teeth? 10+ free passes, this should have been over sooner. At least 10 more runners stranded, etc. This is probably a blip more than anything, based on precedent, and that's frustrating.

Hey, they won a game

8 walks by Illinois for the game so far (15 for the weekend), tied up at 3 in the bottom of the 8th

Well that was a worse game than I anticipated, and I've been pretty negative for a while now

Waldron did pretty well to last 6 innings. But again, saving the bullpen is irrelevant if your offense can only score runs when the other team gifts them to you (i.e. Purdue.)

The justification is that it's the first game, so you can't get into your bullpen so soon. It's all pretty irrelevant as this team has no offensive identity anyway, and haven't for a few years (I don't count "let Schreiber hit the ball 450 feet". Even though he was damn good at that.)

I'm at a point where I'd almost be willing to tolerate Ted Silva being promoted to head coach, since pitching has been more or less good enough to win 90% of the time anyway Just quit letting people with absolutely no coaching experience run the offense, it's not ****ing working.

I missed that. Well, I guess we have to give him several years to prove himself But really, all the experienced assistants out there you could look at, even in the JUCO ranks. . .this program is determined to continue sabotaging itself.

I mean, I'm not surprised, but good god.

It's like the Pelini or Tim Miles era. Doing just enough to skate by and appease some, but generally gagging in the games that "matter", in this case, Big 10 series against teams with a pulse, Big 10 tournament games, etc. And don't get me wrong, I don't expect CWS every year, or even ever again. But this is the same formula we've seen since 2015. Pitching will carry them as far as they can. Which probably means a top 6 finish in the conference, another quick departure from the conference tournament, and if they make a regional, another loss to some 4 seeded team who manages to shut us down while losing their other two games by a combined 26 runs (Western Carolina did that in 2016.) It is uncanny how consistent the bats are at letting the team down against any and all comers.

In case anyone missed it.

Better than being swept, I guess.

Also worth noting: 8 total games won in the Big 10 tournament in 2012 (1), 2013 (4), and 2014 (3). 1 between 2015 and 2018

17-9 was the final score, if anyone needs to know.

I'm afraid they peaked in March against Texas Tech and Baylor. It happened a couple years ago with a sweep against Texas, that team didn't end with much else to hang their hat on. I'm sure the youth excuse will fly hot and heavy among the tradition coalition that loves Erstad, but it's baseball, young players contribute everywhere as they don't need to physically develop as much as other sports, for crying out loud But on the other hand, Illinois and Northwestern aren't great either, so series wins against those two teams are probably doable, meaning NU will probably finish somewhere in the 3-6 range in conference standings, make the B1G tournament, probably go 1-2 or so, get a token bid from the NCAA. This will be viewed as progress and we'll never know if we can do any better.