When I think back to this postseason later, the thing I will always remember is the unexpected way our 2 starters failed on the weekend. Nobody could have foreseen that. It's not just a matter of "finally getting exposed against good teams." The bullpen did about what you would have expected in those 2 games. And these 2 starters had just been the key reason we won series against Louisville and Duke earlier in the month, 2 teams that have cruised into the Supers already.
The 2 things I wish had been done differently. I really wish he hadn't jumped to Patel so early on Saturday. He wasn't going to go 8.1 innings to finish so you were always going to ride him until he fell off and then pretty much burn him for Sunday. I also wish Chicolli had come in earlier in the regional. I supposed initially he was being held for Sunday or Monday night, but I think he might have been the best option to replace Ballard yesterday.
But it's really hard to be able to have good pitching in these regionals. If you don't believe me, just scroll through the scores of yesterday. Pitching is always at a premium, and if you can have a deep staff, you're probably going to go far (unless you're Vandy this year). Obviously we've been trying for years to find the secret of how to improve it and haven't yet. But there was some progress made this year. It's also really hard to count on true freshmen pitchers as well. Just look at what we did to the Ole Miss starter yesterday. Hopefully some of our young arms will stick around and show some development, but it would be great to be able to get a proven starter in the portal.
