HuskersNC949597

Hopefully he keeps the grades steady, as well.

Just now, Mavric said:

 

Just inconsistent enough to have a chance at the league title on the last day of the season.

 

Yes.  Because possibly winning your league when you lost half of your series is a mark of a very good conference.  Woulda-coulda-shoulda ran away with it with 3 senior starting pitchers, but spent about 2 months piddlyfarting at the plate.

3 minutes ago, SouthLincoln Husker said:

With our pitching, if we hit we are very good.

Obviously games like this show they're capable.  I (and I'm sure others) have wanted Erstad to do himself a favor and replace Mike Kirby and get somebody who can squeeze more out of the bats (bunting, baserunning, everything is more hit or miss than even "that's baseball " will usually allow), but he said last year replacing an assistant would be "taking the easy way out", so it's pretty hard to expect much other than continued inconsistency 

I expect Michigan to play dead in the nightcap, also.

Great job by Waldron in his last start at HP.

Shay Schanaman is a stud.

If Nebraska weren't hitting .255 and slugging in the .300s THIS LATE in the year, it'd be easier to give them the benefit of the doubt.  Either that, or they've wasted a lot of the last month or two, which is frustrating.

Meanwhile, Silva's guys are maniacs.

Just now, SouthLincoln Husker said:

Holy s#!t,  where did the power come from. 

ASU has walked at least 8, maybe 9, and hit a batter.  They're falling behind 2 or 3 balls in every count and forcing themselves to hang balls over the plate.

Superhuman pitching effort by Fisher and Palkert today.  Possibly Gomes (in progress) too.

Well that was a slog.

15-5 now :|

Erstad somehow managed to pull the #16 recruiting class in the nation.

Looks to me like the average B1G temperature today outside of Minnesota and PA/NJ ranged from the 50s-70s.  And same with that argument in football: good luck if you want to play MLB for New York, the Twins, Boston, et al this time of year.  You might have to play a month or two in the 40s-50s.

49 minutes ago, runningblind said:

The move to the B1G was great for a lot of sports, but it was a terrible move for baseball.  Not playing southward all the time is a huge detriment to the program.

That might make sense if we weren't talking about getting demolished in a series-loss-clinching game against a Northwestern team that came into this series in 11th place in the conference.  "The Big 10 is so bad, we shouldn't even expect to beat the teams in it" 

And you play more non-conference games than B1G games, so there are plenty of opportunities to play teams from the south and western US.  Erstad's scheduling is very astute, almost too tough at times.

I've seen enough wild comebacks not to call this one over yet, but the fact that the odds of pulling this one out are so low should give Bill Moos pause  Northwestern is not good.

7 minutes ago, Comish said:

I guess I'm not surprised ...since the bats have been dormant for a month now...

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.

1 hour ago, SouthLincoln Husker said:

Relief pitching continues to improve while batting continues to struggle.  We are going no where without something changing on offense. 

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