Now that they didn't score, I think Feehan pitches the 9th and then (assuming no runs here for Brown) Oberg goes up to 3 innings if that's what it takes. Can't lose this game.
Even if a guy doesn't have speed it seems it is automatic that Penders will try to have a guy steal second with 2 outs. At this point the opposition has to know it is coming and as a result the majority of the time we are getting caught. I can see it if a guy has speed but to do it just for the sake of doing it doesn't seem to make sense. Throwing outs away?
The ball was in the dirt and he tried to take 2nd as a result. Judging by the radio announcers it was a horrible decision by the runner. It has nothing to do with Penders.
Infield single/error (sounds like it was a bad hop while Verdi was charging, could be scored either way, was scored a single) to start the inning. This is how 5-23 teams win games late. Sac bunt executed. The irony is we have had a lot of trouble executing sac bunts. 1 out, runner on second. They just bunted with a guy that was 4-4 on the day to give guys that are 1-4 and 0-3 shots at winning it. Questionable but we'll see. Feehan just had the runner picked off at second but Verdi couldn't handle the throw.
Base hit to RF. Runner held at 3rd. 1st and 3rd with 1 out. I would bring Oberg in. Edit: Here he comes Brown has 17 hits. SEVENTEEN
Lose 8-7 to Brown. Season over!! Must win BE tourney now. Somebody said earlier that we had 7 runs so they would n't be concerned about the offense, however when you stike out 10 times you're not advancing runners and getting additional runs in. This is just very upsetting heading into a big weekend against St. Johns.
Walk off single. Oberg got out in front 0-2 after a failed squeeze attempt but it didn't matter. Hangs a slider on a 1-2 count. Disaster of a game. They pretty much need to run the table OOC now and needs to win the Big East in the regular season to even have a shot at an at large bid. Coming into the season, I wasn't expecting them to make the tournament. I thought they had a shot if the young kids played well. It really hurts that they have played well in the Big East and a loss like this might be the reason why they don't make it. If they beat the teams they were supposed to beat and then finished like 5th in the Big East, I would have brushed it off and said it was a building year, because it basically is. But to show that you can beat Big East teams (albeit bottom half teams) and then lose a game to Brown is really heart breaking.
Butler had 2 or 3 really good games in a row and just not sure what happened today. I guess this is why he never cracks the weekend rotation.
I'll go back to my initial comment....Blood was a huge loss...He used many pitchers..got them experience.. Feehan and Oberg have been great..but they are using them when they should be resting them..example WVU ..8-1 put Oberg in? That will all catch up over time....Over the weekend both pitched all 3 games..sore arms and all..then when it's time to go to the pen for someone else your pulling kids in that have been sitting for a week or two.....what kind of message are you sending to those pitchers?? As noted ..We need to win the Big East to move on...That will require the whole pitching staff to step up when they are called upon...which means get them their work/experience so we have a chance...Just my 2 cents.
We have our big 3 relievers - Jolin, Feehan and Oberg - and are working Cross into the mix it seems. This isn't the MLB with a 162 game season and 6 games a week. This team will play roughly 50 games and 3-5 games per week. 4 solid relievers is enough to take the majority of the big innings out of the bullpen. Hurvul picks up a lot of innings as well. Furthermore, once Ward works out his issues, one of Tabakman, Dettman or Fischer will probably move to the bullpen to be the long man. The rotation will be Ward, Marzi and one of those 3 on the weekend with Butler and one of the remaining two pitching during the week. The bullpen will be plenty deep at that point. That's just how I see it working out in the long run this year. I think it'll work out. Having said that, I think Blood was a great pitching coach (results speak for themselves) and a great recruiter (from what we read and hear) and the program would be better off with him than without him. But I think that the way things are shaking out with this staff is pretty similar (in terms of usage) to how it would have been with Blood on the staff. I think the biggest issue with this team - and I doubt anyone would argue with this - is obviously the fielding. Way too many errors and poor decisions in the field. That will also hurt the staff, both mentally and obviously in terms of how many pitches they throw and outs they need to get.
We played better defense for sure. Butler did not have it and we had only nine hits. We can't get fundamental bunts down and we can't hit 8 different pitchers. We gave a 5-21 team their sixth win and a staff that has a 8.30 ERA beats us. 22 games left no way you can get there from here unless we win the Big East Tournament.
Regular season BE winner this year doesn't mean much. The league is brutal compared to the other top 8 leagues in the country. Lville and UConn with SJU/ND/USF are all the league has this year and the last 3 are not that great compared to anyone in the ACC. BE may be a auto bid plus 1 if its not lville. UCF will be a nice add next year....
