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Men 2022 UConn Baseball @ NCAA Tournament’s College Park Regional (6/3> 6/6). Winner Take All - Monday 6/6 @7p v. Maryland on ESPNU. Audio Mixlr/97-9 ESPN
- Thread starter huskymedic
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I know it's the UConn philosophy to be aggressive, but last night and now tonight is not that time. We let them off the hook last night. We were pressing all night. For example, when our guys had 2 strikes on them, I know you have to protect the plate, but swinging at pitches 2 feet off the plate or down in the dirt and fouling them off to stay alive is bailing them out. Need to be able to know what is close enough to be called a strike and what is not. If we take those, we turn the 1-2 count into 2-2 or 3-2 counts and advantage goes to batter and then you will see a better pitch. We have 3 reliable pitchers (Cooke/Choduba/Affhrim) who haven't thrown a pitch yet. MD will need to either throw reliable pitchers who have already thrown or unknowns. In either case we need patience tonight.
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Samoo
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Chudoba, Cooke and Afthim all fresh. That's three quality pitchers to chew up some innings. Can Willis come in for a final out if needed or does it fall to someone else?
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This is awesome, thank you!
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Willis should be available since we didn't use him yesterday, my guess would be for around 30 pitches if needed
jrazz12
BEast mode
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CL82
NCAA Woman's Basketball National Champions
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Well, I wouldn’t of minded a win last night, but otherwise agree.
It should be fun tonight, but I have to admit I’m already nervous about it. This team was unexpectedly great. I’d really like their post season to reflect that by getting to a super regional (at least). It’s good to still be playing. If our guys have their A game, I like our chances.
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Do we know that for sure? I haven't seen anything reported on who won the coin toss
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Great schedule
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Obviously, the game still needs to be played, but I like our chances. I can tell you that the boys are looking forward to a large and loud crowd. They feed off that. Maryland having to use Ramsey last night was the best outcome we could have hoped for sans the W. And Falco threw a ton yesterday as well. We've seen pretty much everyone they are going to throw at us. Cooke and Chudoba - especially as a grad student - will be more than ready for the daunting challenge tonight. #RollSkies
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Not a coin toss. NCAA parity. We are 100% the home team.
FfldCntyFan
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I could be wrong but I thought as winner's bracket team, we had the choice of being home for last night or (I'd necessary) today.
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I could be wrong, but my understanding was since we were home for the 1st Maryland game on Saturday and Maryland was home yesterday that it's a coin flip for game 7. I'm not 100% sure though, I remember reading something a few days ago when I was searching for host site rules
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Thanks for putting this together. I don't see using any of the starters again and Coe or Kirby. O'Donnell doesn't seem mentally sharp so I would almost have to say he's not available unless emergency. I say Willis is available to close if necessary 1 inning. That leaves 4 guys that are available (Cooke/Chudoba/Afthim/Sullivan). 3 of them are Freshmen and are the future of the program. I think Pender's needs to trust Afthim and Sullivan before going to a starter again. This will be everlasting experience that should only brighten their futures.
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Mojo - Worked last Saturday
I'm pumped for tonight's game!
As one well known Husky has said, "We Plan to Shock the World Today!"
I'm pumped for tonight's game!
As one well known Husky has said, "We Plan to Shock the World Today!"
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That should be the way it is, but is has already been determined. We are home team. I wouldn't have posted if I didn't know for certain.
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Pretty much on the same page. If I were drawing up a game plan I'd say 3 innings from Cooke and Chudoba each (and ride either one longer if they're dominating). Afthim and Sullivan the 7th and 8th and bring in O'Donell as a bridge for the lefty batters, go to Willis for an inning to close it
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Yes, if you are watching any of the games today you'll see that the visiting team from Game 6 is the home team in Game 7. We are home.
UConnSportsGuy
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This is awesome, thanks for putting this together.
If everything goes according to plan today, this is my guess:
3.0 IP - Cooke
3.0 IP - Chudoba
1.0 IP - Afthim
0.1 IP - O'Donnell
0.2 IP - Peterson
1.0 IP - Wills
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Cooke, if on, is not being pulled after 3 innings. When he's on, he's way better than that.
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Agreed. I don't think the staff is going to lay it out like this with a certain number of innings each guy (and to be fair I'm not sure if anyone is really suggesting that or just predicting how it will turn out). I think they have a list of guys available for different situations and they'll use as needed until they can't. If Cooke or Chudoba is struggling after 1, they will make a quick hook to try to get to someone else. If Cooke is cruising they might ride him for 5 or 6 innings easily.
Agree great to be home team….let’s hope last team to actually hit in the game is Maryland!
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FfldCntyFan
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I believe the thinking is that everything prior to what was last night's game was preliminary, just to get to that point and the last two games (if needed) will have each team as home team once.
It has been decades but I had played in numerous double elim tournaments in my lifetime and normally what would have happened was prior to last night's game, the winner's bracket representative (in this case us) would be given the choice of which game to be home team. Nearly always they pick home for the second of two games.
FfldCntyFan
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I'm thinking Penders is hoping for a combined eight innings from Cooke/Chudoba. I personally want each to pitch well and for our bats to feast on the fumes that Maryland will have in the way of pitchers.
A few random musings on UConn baseball and this Regional.
UConn so far has played three games against Maryland and Wake Forest, the two top seeds in this regional. The Huskies have certainly shown that they can compete with both these teams, that's for sure. In essence, both Maryland and Wake Forest are very much souped up versions of Xavier and Georgetown, teams that play in small ballparks that can really whack the ball on offense. UConn should certainly be getting used to playing these sort of offensive minded teams by now.
The only player in the everyday lineup who doesn't really have good walk totals is Korey Morton. Of course, when you spend a decent amount of the season hitting around .500, that is a sort of counter balance, plus at times he has really put his speed to good use on offense this season. I'm inclined to think that since Morton came back from his hamstring injury that he isn't quite the same player, but then again, it is hard to keep an average around .500. Also wondering if some of Erik Stock's batting problems of late may be due in some part to his leg injury that seems to be keeping him from playing the outfield.
Overall, UConn has had a solid unit on offense all season, even though it has shown it can be prone to getting into stretches where the offense just doesn't produce as well. I suspect most teams have similar peaks and valleys, as that just seems to be the nature of baseball itself. Producing on offense just always isn't an easy thing for most teams.
As much as people talk about the hitting, to me the real key to UConn's success has been the pitching, especially the starting pitching variety. It is really what has kept UConn competitive in games this season, when the offense gets productive it really adds the icing on the cake so to speak.
To me the big keys for this game for UConn are Ian Cooke and Cole Chudoba. One of them is probably going to start (everyone seems to think it will be Cooke, and so do I), and the other will probably be the first out of the pen. Neither one of them have gotten a ton of starts, so we'll see what happens. I expect the coaching staff will go with either one of them for as long as they are effective. Hoping the starting pitcher can go 5+ innings, but that is obviously dependent on effectiveness. Other probables out of the pen would be Sullivan and Afthim, and perhaps O'Donnell getting into the game to face his usual lefty hitter or two. If all goes right, Justin Willis gets to close it out, I would expect him to be available for an inning or two. But like I said, the big keys to this game are Cooke and/or Chudoba. If they are on their game, UConn should be in pretty good shape.
One more thing, playing a post season tournament at one of the top 16 seeds home fields is never going to be an easy thing that's for sure. On the other hand, UConn baseball has certainly shown this season that they are not an easy out, that's for sure. I agree with what Coach Penders has said in interviews recently, about this team having the best depth it has had in some time, and it certainly helps in these situations.
UConn so far has played three games against Maryland and Wake Forest, the two top seeds in this regional. The Huskies have certainly shown that they can compete with both these teams, that's for sure. In essence, both Maryland and Wake Forest are very much souped up versions of Xavier and Georgetown, teams that play in small ballparks that can really whack the ball on offense. UConn should certainly be getting used to playing these sort of offensive minded teams by now.
The only player in the everyday lineup who doesn't really have good walk totals is Korey Morton. Of course, when you spend a decent amount of the season hitting around .500, that is a sort of counter balance, plus at times he has really put his speed to good use on offense this season. I'm inclined to think that since Morton came back from his hamstring injury that he isn't quite the same player, but then again, it is hard to keep an average around .500. Also wondering if some of Erik Stock's batting problems of late may be due in some part to his leg injury that seems to be keeping him from playing the outfield.
Overall, UConn has had a solid unit on offense all season, even though it has shown it can be prone to getting into stretches where the offense just doesn't produce as well. I suspect most teams have similar peaks and valleys, as that just seems to be the nature of baseball itself. Producing on offense just always isn't an easy thing for most teams.
As much as people talk about the hitting, to me the real key to UConn's success has been the pitching, especially the starting pitching variety. It is really what has kept UConn competitive in games this season, when the offense gets productive it really adds the icing on the cake so to speak.
To me the big keys for this game for UConn are Ian Cooke and Cole Chudoba. One of them is probably going to start (everyone seems to think it will be Cooke, and so do I), and the other will probably be the first out of the pen. Neither one of them have gotten a ton of starts, so we'll see what happens. I expect the coaching staff will go with either one of them for as long as they are effective. Hoping the starting pitcher can go 5+ innings, but that is obviously dependent on effectiveness. Other probables out of the pen would be Sullivan and Afthim, and perhaps O'Donnell getting into the game to face his usual lefty hitter or two. If all goes right, Justin Willis gets to close it out, I would expect him to be available for an inning or two. But like I said, the big keys to this game are Cooke and/or Chudoba. If they are on their game, UConn should be in pretty good shape.
One more thing, playing a post season tournament at one of the top 16 seeds home fields is never going to be an easy thing that's for sure. On the other hand, UConn baseball has certainly shown this season that they are not an easy out, that's for sure. I agree with what Coach Penders has said in interviews recently, about this team having the best depth it has had in some time, and it certainly helps in these situations.
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I've been watching the Florida/Oklahoma game a bit. Players are going all out to make plays. Some nice grabs in centerfield. I expect nothing less tonight. Should be fun.
HuskyNan
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Meanwhile, the other guys…
Because of the exhausting night on the mound, Maryland will now face the challenge of a scarce pitching staff moving forward in the tournament. Vaughn said he may try starter Jason Savacool for an inning and will work in a couple of guys to fill in the blanks.
“We didn’t have the luxury of saying, ‘Oh, we got to save somebody to start tomorrow,’ because if we don’t get that done today, there is no tomorrow,” Vaughn said.
dbknews.com
Because of the exhausting night on the mound, Maryland will now face the challenge of a scarce pitching staff moving forward in the tournament. Vaughn said he may try starter Jason Savacool for an inning and will work in a couple of guys to fill in the blanks.
“We didn’t have the luxury of saying, ‘Oh, we got to save somebody to start tomorrow,’ because if we don’t get that done today, there is no tomorrow,” Vaughn said.
Nick Robinson, Ryan Ramsey helped Maryland baseball overcome bullpen woes against UConn
Robinson’s stellar start alongside Ramsey’s late surge furthered the Terps’ historic season despite a late bullpen breakdown.
dbknews.com
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