Obviously anyone can lose a baseball game at any time, but we couldn't be setting up better than we are now. We will throw Feole on Thursday against the #8 seed. Our entire bullpen will be fresh except for CJ, who may have to be held back because he threw over 50 pitches yesterday. If we win a game where Mason gives us 7, we won't play again until Saturday. Now you have the potential of 3 games in 24 hours, which is a challenge for everyone, but we will come into that stretch with a totally fresh bullpen and our #2 and #3 starters available for Saturday, while our opponent, even if ECU, will have used all 3 of their weekend starters and will have had their bullpen drained by an extra game. We would be able to throw Kersten on Saturday, Wang either the second game on Saturday or Sunday, and if it takes us to a fifth spot on the rotation just needing 2 lousy innings from Simeone and/or Dunlop on Sunday and then rely on our bullpen depth which matches up favorably with just about anyone's.
Anyone can win or lose this, but having gotten through game one in a way that doesn't require the use of a weekday starter until Sunday, without having stressed the bullpen yet (due to Kersten's ability to go 3 1/3 on his 40 "throw day" pitches) sets you up as well as you can hope for. Mason giving us 7 innings and a win Thursday will make our position even stronger.