#19/#23 UConn @ Memphis@ FedEx Park (Fri. 5/4@7:30p EST, Sat.5/5@6:40 EST & Sun. 5/6@2p EST) Updated

[hardcorehusky]

Wallace threw 15 pitches - he can be used tomorrow!!

Good efficient win.

 

[HawkHusky]

Love an angina-less win!

 

[uconnbaseball]

Quality performance by everyone. We look like a legit host caliber team out there.

 

[SAMCRO]

Great result for the good guys. Pretty dominant and comfortable from the get go.

UC finished off WSU
ECU 6- Tulane 5 T8

 

[Baseballguy]

This team has the consistency and grit previous years lacked. When Cate comes back, look out!

 

[dbmill]

I agree 100% which is why it drives me nuts. There are times when you just don't need to be so aggressive. Don't give them outs when they are struggling to get them.

So tell me, are you enjoying the season? It sure seems like you don't, as you rarely if ever say anything positive about the team or Penders in a year where they are doing so well that UConn could get a host seed. You are so focused on the mistakes that the team makes that you don't seem to enjoy or even acknowledge all the good things this team does, which includes winning a bunch of games.

 

[uconnbaseball]

ECU locks down the big win at Tulane.

 

[Baseballguy]

Warren Nolan is having a rough night.

 

[uconnbaseball]

Warren Nolan is having a rough night.

What are you talking about?

Are you implying LSU isn't the worst team in the country?

 

[dbmill]

Warren Nolan is having a rough night.

Warren Nolan is more or less back to normal, just took them all night.

 

[Guapo]

They certainly did their homework. Talked about:

- Our baseball history (CWS appearances)
- New baseball/softball/soccer facilities to come
- How we schedule and our quality road record
- Feldstein's absence and how Penders is an old-school kind of coach who holds everyone accountable (apparently Feldstein was late to a few team meetings)

I've never watched another school's broadcast where they were as knowledgeable and complimentary of the opponent's program. Really good stuff (and quality camera-work) by Memphis.

Hey, thanks!

 

[dbmill]

One thing that has become quite evident in recent games is that PJ Poulin and Jake Wallace are now co closers on this team. I've never been a fan of bullpen roles absolutely etched in stone and more a fan of bullpen use flexibility, so this certainly a positive development. It also helps for next season when Poulin is gone to the pros, the team will already have someone who is experienced in finishing tight games.

 

[HawkHusky]

It will be interesting to see how Bowlan pitches today after his record-breaking performance last weekend.

 

[uconnbaseball]

Bowland, the Memphis pitcher we face today has a 2.78 ERA and a 22-3 strikeout to walk ratio. He won both of Memphis's conference games (USF, UCF), and neither game was close. This game will not be a cakewalk.

On the bright side, we don't walk much anyway and he is extremely hittable (gives up over a hit an inning).

 

[dbmill]

Bowland, the Memphis pitcher we face today has a 2.78 ERA and a 22-3 strikeout to walk ratio. He won both of Memphis's conference games (USF, UCF), and neither game was close. This game will not be a cakewalk.

On the bright side, we don't walk much anyway and he is extremely hittable (gives up over a hit an inning).

UConn batters are doing ok on the walk stat. By my way of thinking, I always like to see a hitter have have a 10% walk rate per official at bats, realizing that walks don't actually count as an at bat. So if you look in the stats and see a player with 100 at bats, I like to see at least 10 walks. UConn has a total of 1406 at bats so far this season, with a total 133 walks. So with only 8 more walks UConn would be at the 10% total that I use as a guideline. Earlier in the season UConn hitters were way behind in the walk totals, so they have been gaining in recent weeks. So the news is not all bad on this front at all.

If UConn wants to add to their walk totals, Nucerino is the player to look at. It's a small sample size, but 41 official at bats, he has 11 walks, so he is way over my 10%, in fact he is over 20%.

 

[huskymedic]

Notes:

• John Toppa captured his second three-hit game of the season and 13th multi-hit game of the season.

• The Huskies are a season-high 13 games above .500 with a 26-13-1 record.

• UConn has 20 road victories this season, one away from tying a program record. (21, 2010).

• Jake Wallace has thrown eight-consecutive scoreless innings in his last five appearances.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[huskymedic]

The visual heading into today's action:

UCF and Houston have a double-header today.
USF is off this weekend.

 

[ATLDYKA]

So tell me, are you enjoying the season? It sure seems like you don't, as you rarely if ever say anything positive about the team or Penders in a year where they are doing so well that UConn could get a host seed. You are so focused on the mistakes that the team makes that you don't seem to enjoy or even acknowledge all the good things this team does, which includes winning a bunch of games.

I am enjoying the season. I leave the sugarcoating everything to you and medic. I like to take the coaching, teachable approach and point out the things they can do better to improve. I think myself and uconnbaseball take that approach. I do compliment and can tell you there is no bigger fan on this board.

 

[ATLDYKA]

Just because I don't agree with Penders coaching style doesn't make me a bad guy. As others have pointed out as well, if you don't clean up the little things that are coachable you often wonder why you are left out come selection Monday.

 

[dbmill]

I am enjoying the season. I leave the sugarcoating everything to you and medic. I like to take the coaching, teachable approach and point out the things they can do better to improve. I think myself and uconnbaseball take that approach. I do compliment and can tell you there is no bigger fan on this board.

Just because I don't agree with Penders coaching style doesn't make me a bad guy. As others have pointed out as well, if you don't clean up the little things that are coachable you often wonder why you are left out come selection Monday.

Glad to hear you are enjoying the season. There are some of us who worry that you may be about to blow a gasket with some of your postings.

Thank you for the comparison to my postings to that of @huskymedic. I consider that to be very complementary that anyone would even mention me in the same sentence as him.

As for @uconnbaseball, I believe he takes a much more balanced approach to conversation about UConn baseball and games then you may think.

 

[HawkHusky]

No mention of @HawkHusky's postings...

 

[dbmill]

No mention of @HawkHusky's postings...

Actually, in some ways that may prove to be the ultimate compliment.

 

[uconnbaseball]

Glad to hear you are enjoying the season. There are some of us who worry that you may be about to blow a gasket with some of your postings.

Thank you for the comparison to my postings to that of @huskymedic. I consider that to be very complementary that anyone would even mention me in the same sentence as him.

As for @uconnbaseball, I believe he takes a much more balanced approach to conversation about UConn baseball and games then you may think.

Proud to say that I am not one of the Rice fans on csnbbs that Wayne Graham's wife has publicly ripped for being overly critical (and yes, that is actually happening)

As for your point on walks, Nuc is doing a great job being a pest and finding ways to get on. He is having the production we needed to get out of Aaron Hill last year.

I am OK with our aggressive approach -- it does seem to cut down on strikeouts -- but I wish we were more patient on 2-0 counts against bad pitching. Against pitchers like Perez from Cincy, I like the approach, but not vs untested freshman bullpen arms.

 

[uconnbaseball]

Just because I don't agree with Penders coaching style doesn't make me a bad guy. As others have pointed out as well, if you don't clean up the little things that are coachable you often wonder why you are left out come selection Monday.

Or in this case, wondering why we are not hosting

You and I were furious about the baserunning last year, and IMO the criticism was totally justified. To Pender's credit, we have mostly cleaned that up this year.