@UVa Baseball

[GTNavyNuke]

Big time ACC baseball this weekend. Last two ACC series they have won 2-1 (UNC & @L'Ville) So I think we'll take one. But we are 1-6 against Quad 1 teams, so that's a stretch. We are 1 below 500 in ACC (7-8) but that is against largely less capable teams. If only we had the UVa coaching staff ............. No game notes on RamblinWreck yet, but the game isn't till tomorrow.

I'll be there Friday night Games 6PM, 4PM and 1PM. Most likely no weather delays.

 

[GT33]

We crush Cavwoman. Sweep. GT rapes, robs and pillages. Leave behind what we don’t want.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

 

[GT33]

Well, 10 of 17 still have a chance to be right. I'm the lone 3 win pre-dicktor, but I think we lay the wood on Cavwomen all weekend. Good start tonight with the run rule win. Dem bitches know who's the boss.

 

[Killerbees]

Best we have looked all year

 

[gtbeak]

Best we have looked all year

It would be hard for any team to look much better than the Jackets did tonight. About the only negative was the number of hits allowed, but several were hit softly. Got a little shaky in the 7th, but answered that loudly in the 8th.

 

[CINCYMETJACKET]

Solid attendance in the chat room today! Great to see.

Unfortunately I won't be in tomorrow, as I'm helping a friend get ready for a short term move to Michigan.

My heart and mind will be with GT Baseball though.

Go Jackets!

 

[Bogey]

First time I picked 0 wins so I am predicting no more wins for us the rest of the season.

What a win!

 

[GTNavyNuke]

I was at the game and it was marvelous. I am not an enlightened baseball fan; my appreciation goes up largely proportional to whether we win. So I'm very appreciative this morning.

We won. Convincingly. Finateri threw lots of strikes (73 of 99!). Many of the UVa hits were soft and fortunate.

But we were lucky. Does anyone else ever remember one team out hitting (12-13) the other AND getting run ruled? We got hits in bunches and it was a desert in between. I've always believed that RISP is mean reverting and last night didn't change that view. (Last night we were 600 RISP and 343 BA.)

A few miscellaneous notes:

• Both teams players were mostly physical specimens. I can see the difference every couple of years when I go to games. Players today are just much more agile and stronger than they used to be. It comes through more to me in person than on TV.
• Lackey is the real deal as catcher. His throws to second were always spot on when warming up. That throw out in the second to pick off the lead off hitter was massive. There were two more singles in the inning and UVa would have taken the lead and momentum.
• Burress throw from CF in B6 was a highlight reel throw. Burress put absolutely everything into the throw and was a perfect strike. Watching him warm up he can throw the ball a mile (some hyperbole but further than others). That play is the one I'll remember for them game the most. All 30 of the GT fans in the stadium were going crazy (or at least I was).
• There was great poetic justice in the 6th when Yunger stole second. That was after at least 20 pickoff attempts; even the UVa fans were complaining since most of the pickoff attempts were silly with Yunger only a few feet off the bag. Why the hell have a pitch clock when the pitcher can do that ****? We are now 55 of 59 in SBA for the year. Deadly.

Don't get too liquored up Charlie Brown. Last @UVa series I went to, we won Friday and then lost Saturday and Sunday. But this is a different team and we'll go as far as our pitching takes us; our team never gives up. I won't be going today or tomorrow but last night was worth it. (Great day in the mountains too clearing trees with hand saws, ropes and rollers. Doesn't get much better.)

We are back to 500 ACC with a 61 RPI. Bad news is we would not make NCAAs today IMHO. Good news is we control our destiny and play a lot of good teams that can improve the RPI. Here's the RPI of the ACC teams we play (UVa first - 17, 87, 4, 22, 5). I still think we need to finish over 500 ACC and RPI<=45. But given the RPI of the ACC teams left, I think if we end up over 500 ACC the RPI will be less than 45. So just win.

 

[FredJacket]

Best win/game of the season. Entered game at 7-8 ... the difference in a W or L to start this series is huge. And 13-2 the way it happened was a thing of beauty. It's baseball and we can beat anyone. TBD if we can beat anyone more than 50% of the time going forward; but I agree that should result in a regional appearance somewhere. The few 'projections' I've noticed (all year) have consistently had Ga Tech on the outside. The latest from D1 Baseball didn't even include GT in the "last 4 out" list. Plenty of time to win our way into the discussion.

[Bah Humbug alert] I still can't quite put the BC series behind me / out of my head when I look at the record and the trends of the season. This team lost 6 ACC games in a row (at UNC... then BC at home). The record is 5-2 since the BC series. Had we managed to win just 2 in the UNC/BC slide, the record would be 10-6. I suppose you can always look at the other side of that coin and think about games/series where we stole a game or 2... but I'm not doing that.

 

[MWBATL]

[Bah Humbug alert] I still can't quite put the BC series behind me / out of my head when I look at the record and the trends of the season. This team lost 6 ACC games in a row (at UNC... then BC at home). The record is 5-2 since the BC series. Had we managed to win just 2 in the UNC/BC slide, the record would be 10-6. I suppose you can always look at the other side of that coin and think about games/series where we stole a game or 2... but I'm not doing that.

I’m still doing that.

Until our pitching improves. We have gotten 2 great starts and 2 horrid starts in our last 4 games. Don’t necessarily expect a lot more great starts, but this group MUST find a way to stop the horrid starts.

 

[GT Bravo]

From D1

 

[awbuzz]

Finateri Pitches Tech to Run-Rule No. 10 UVA

Pitching stymies Cavs; Tech has two six-run innings in 13-2 win

ramblinwreck.com

 

[gtbeak]

I was at the game and it was marvelous. I am not an enlightened baseball fan; my appreciation goes up largely proportional to whether we win. So I'm very appreciative this morning.

We won. Convincingly. Finateri threw lots of strikes (73 of 99!). Many of the UVa hits were soft and fortunate.

But we were lucky. Does anyone else ever remember one team out hitting (12-13) the other AND getting run ruled? We got hits in bunches and it was a desert in between. I've always believed that RISP is mean reverting and last night didn't change that view. (Last night we were 600 RISP and 343 BA.)

A few miscellaneous notes:

• Both teams players were mostly physical specimens. I can see the difference every couple of years when I go to games. Players today are just much more agile and stronger than they used to be. It comes through more to me in person than on TV.
• Lackey is the real deal as catcher. His throws to second were always spot on when warming up. That throw out in the second to pick off the lead off hitter was massive. There were two more singles in the inning and UVa would have taken the lead and momentum.
• Burress throw from CF in B6 was a highlight reel throw. Burress put absolutely everything into the throw and was a perfect strike. Watching him warm up he can throw the ball a mile (some hyperbole but further than others). That play is the one I'll remember for them game the most. All 30 of the GT fans in the stadium were going crazy (or at least I was).
• There was great poetic justice in the 6th when Yunger stole second. That was after at least 20 pickoff attempts; even the UVa fans were complaining since most of the pickoff attempts were silly with Yunger only a few feet off the bag. Why the hell have a pitch clock when the pitcher can do that ****? We are now 55 of 59 in SBA for the year. Deadly.

Don't get too liquored up Charlie Brown. Last @UVa series I went to, we won Friday and then lost Saturday and Sunday. But this is a different team and we'll go as far as our pitching takes us; our team never gives up. I won't be going today or tomorrow but last night was worth it. (Great day in the mountains too clearing trees with hand saws, ropes and rollers. Doesn't get much better.)

We are back to 500 ACC with a 61 RPI. Bad news is we would not make NCAAs today IMHO. Good news is we control our destiny and play a lot of good teams that can improve the RPI. Here's the RPI of the ACC teams we play (UVa first - 17, 87, 4, 22, 5). I still think we need to finish over 500 ACC and RPI<=45. But given the RPI of the ACC teams left, I think if we end up over 500 ACC the RPI will be less than 45. So just win

Thanks for the report, Nuke. We know from last weekend that having a great Friday does not guarantee a good weekend. Keep the ball rolling, guys!

I agree that if we keep winning and finish with a winning conference record RPI will take care of itself, and if not it won't matter. BUT I'm gonna keep beating this drum in hopes that someone who can do something to correct it reads the post. Our RPI should be higher than it is, and UGa's should be lower than it is. The NCAA is counting the Sunday CoolRay Field game as being played at RCS. It shows as a home loss for us and a road win for them. I assume this is because CoolRay is showing as being in Atlanta and since that is where our campus is the computer is calling it a home game. Last year the NCAA records showed CoolRay correctly as being in Lawrenceville. It would only be a marginal improvement, probably just a couple spots, but the margins may be important come Memorial Day weekend.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

I’m still doing that.

Until our pitching improves. We have gotten 2 great starts and 2 horrid starts in our last 4 games. Don’t necessarily expect a lot more great starts, but this group MUST find a way to stop the horrid starts.

We and Miami are similar this season. Talent but not results.

Our pitching (and posting) has been bipolar. Either we become consistent in pitching (in a good way) or we don't make the NCAAs again. Nothing MUST happen, IIWII. Of course I'm manic after the win but will not be surprised when the depressive sets in. But tomorrow is Liege-Bastogne-Liege so there are alternative entertainment venues.

 

[gtbeak]

Best win/game of the season. Entered game at 7-8 ... the difference in a W or L to start this series is huge. And 13-2 the way it happened was a thing of beauty. It's baseball and we can beat anyone. TBD if we can beat anyone more than 50% of the time going forward; but I agree that should result in a regional appearance somewhere. The few 'projections' I've noticed (all year) have consistently had Ga Tech on the outside. The latest from D1 Baseball didn't even include GT in the "last 4 out" list. Plenty of time to win our way into the discussion.

[Bah Humbug alert] I still can't quite put the BC series behind me / out of my head when I look at the record and the trends of the season. This team lost 6 ACC games in a row (at UNC... then BC at home). The record is 5-2 since the BC series. Had we managed to win just 2 in the UNC/BC slide, the record would be 10-6. I suppose you can always look at the other side of that coin and think about games/series where we stole a game or 2... but I'm not doing that.

Agree, Fred, about the BC series. If we take care of business that weekend I think we would all be pleased with how the seaosn has progressed. Just taking 2 of 3 against them would put us at 10-6 in ACC, 25-11 overall, and with an equal SoS as Virginia Tech our RPI would be a little higher than their's which is 39 right now.

 

[Techcaster572]

I was at the game and it was marvelous. I am not an enlightened baseball fan; my appreciation goes up largely proportional to whether we win. So I'm very appreciative this morning.

We won. Convincingly. Finateri threw lots of strikes (73 of 99!). Many of the UVa hits were soft and fortunate.

But we were lucky. Does anyone else ever remember one team out hitting (12-13) the other AND getting run ruled? We got hits in bunches and it was a desert in between. I've always believed that RISP is mean reverting and last night didn't change that view. (Last night we were 600 RISP and 343 BA.)

A few miscellaneous notes:

• Both teams players were mostly physical specimens. I can see the difference every couple of years when I go to games. Players today are just much more agile and stronger than they used to be. It comes through more to me in person than on TV.
• Lackey is the real deal as catcher. His throws to second were always spot on when warming up. That throw out in the second to pick off the lead off hitter was massive. There were two more singles in the inning and UVa would have taken the lead and momentum.
• Burress throw from CF in B6 was a highlight reel throw. Burress put absolutely everything into the throw and was a perfect strike. Watching him warm up he can throw the ball a mile (some hyperbole but further than others). That play is the one I'll remember for them game the most. All 30 of the GT fans in the stadium were going crazy (or at least I was).
• There was great poetic justice in the 6th when Yunger stole second. That was after at least 20 pickoff attempts; even the UVa fans were complaining since most of the pickoff attempts were silly with Yunger only a few feet off the bag. Why the hell have a pitch clock when the pitcher can do that ****? We are now 55 of 59 in SBA for the year. Deadly.

Don't get too liquored up Charlie Brown. Last @UVa series I went to, we won Friday and then lost Saturday and Sunday. But this is a different team and we'll go as far as our pitching takes us; our team never gives up. I won't be going today or tomorrow but last night was worth it. (Great day in the mountains too clearing trees with hand saws, ropes and rollers. Doesn't get much better.)

We are back to 500 ACC with a 61 RPI. Bad news is we would not make NCAAs today IMHO. Good news is we control our destiny and play a lot of good teams that can improve the RPI. Here's the RPI of the ACC teams we play (UVa first - 17, 87, 4, 22, 5). I still think we need to finish over 500 ACC and RPI<=45. But given the RPI of the ACC teams left, I think if we end up over 500 ACC the RPI will be less than 45. So just win.

I agree with almost all of what you have said above.
I will say though that UVA had walked very few batters all season and tech got multiple walks last night which is a great strength of this team to hit for power and also work counts.
You could see it was affecting UVA's pitching last night.
The at bat by Trey Yunger last night was awesome. I think he fouled off like 6 pitches and saw 13 pitches that ab and finally came through with a base hit that led to our 7th run.

As for our hitting in bunches and Aeden spreading theirs out, I think that is how Aeden pitches. He pitches to contact.
Last night is a perfect example of Aeden.
He is constantly in the strike zone and he pitches to contact so he needs to miss barrells of the bats along with his defense playing well. Both occurred last night and you saw the result of what Aeden is capable of.
That's why he is the Friday night guy. Not because he has electric stuff like Chase Burns at Wake but because he is more often than not in the strike zone.

Aeden gives up solo hr's vs 3 run hr's more often than not cause he just doesn't walk too many. Ideal college pitcher imo...Be in the zone. Minimize damage. Pitch to contact.

 

[Techcaster572]

Best win/game of the season. Entered game at 7-8 ... the difference in a W or L to start this series is huge. And 13-2 the way it happened was a thing of beauty. It's baseball and we can beat anyone. TBD if we can beat anyone more than 50% of the time going forward; but I agree that should result in a regional appearance somewhere. The few 'projections' I've noticed (all year) have consistently had Ga Tech on the outside. The latest from D1 Baseball didn't even include GT in the "last 4 out" list. Plenty of time to win our way into the discussion.

[Bah Humbug alert] I still can't quite put the BC series behind me / out of my head when I look at the record and the trends of the season. This team lost 6 ACC games in a row (at UNC... then BC at home). The record is 5-2 since the BC series. Had we managed to win just 2 in the UNC/BC slide, the record would be 10-6. I suppose you can always look at the other side of that coin and think about games/series where we stole a game or 2... but I'm not doing that.

Fred,

I agree with the BC and UNC series comments above and possibly taking 2 of those 6 vs losing all 6; however, I don't think we would've done that vs BC. BC rocked our pitching in games 1 and 3.
UNC similar in games 2 and 3.
Our chances were in game 2 of the BC series and Game 1 of the UNC series.

Game 2 of the BC series really sticks out to me as I was there and still have a hard time believing we lost that game. We left nearly 12-13 runners on base. Loaded the bases multiple times and left 6-7 risp and only had two runs to show for it especially when Logan Maguire pitched great through 5 innings. We had every chance to win that game and we just couldn't get a hit and finally lost the game in extra's.

Game 1 of the UNCheat was also a lost opportunity not because we had bases loaded in the 9th down 1 and failed to produce but because we got a pitching effort from Aeden and similar to the BC game, we left lots of runners on base. (Been a theme this year)

So i feel we should've won one of the above games to make us 9-7 in conference and 24-12 overall. You could argue these things work out and maybe we stole one from nc state but the team has done that all year to rally late so I think the 9-7 and 24-12 is more likely.

The game that hurts the most, as has been pointed out by several others, is the Uga coolray game where we blew a 9-3 lead going into the 7th. Logan pitched an outstanding game but that 6 run lead should've EASILY been 10 or more. Being at that game with my son, we blew so many chances to increase the lead. Left the bases loaded twice with no runs. 2nd and 3rd with no outs and no runs. That game totally sticks in my craw....That is a huge reason why our RPI is so messed up imo...
If we win a neutral site game against the mutts, we are likely top 50 right now. Also the goofy rpi computers screw us over and benefit uga on a road win and a home loss for us which any one without a uga degree knows was a neutral site game...

 

[Techcaster572]

What an outstanding way to start the UVA series.

A+ on nearly every facet of the game for tech.
Defense (minus the throwing error)
Pitching
Offense- loved that the offense was relentless when uva picked up 2 cheap runs, they came back with 6 unanswered

I see our rpi is up 5 to 61 but it should , at a minimum, top 60.
That is an excellent team we beat in their house

Nothing more you can say about Aeden except that is exactly who he is and when he hits his spots, very few can hit his palm ball. He pitches to weak contact and batters swinging through his breaking stuff with a sneaky fast ball and that's exactly what happened last night.

He shut down an outstanding uva offense

We are now in 9th place in the acc tied with louisville and if duke were to sweep va tech, we could certainly be within striking distance of 8th place if we were to take this series.

Lots on the line over the next two days.
Winning three straight acc series would be huge and especially over two ranked opponets.

BTW- another reason i can't stand rpi is nc state keeps rising up rpi and they may sweep # 11 uncheat....and i'd like to remind the rpi computers we swept that wolfpack team....IJS

Anyway...Go Take the series boys and win three straight acc series and make that Miami series become even bigger

Go get em Jackets!!!

 

[FredJacket]

Fred,

I agree with the BC and UNC series comments above and possibly taking 2 of those 6 vs losing all 6; however, I don't think we would've done that vs BC. BC rocked our pitching in games 1 and 3.
UNC similar in games 2 and 3.
Our chances were in game 2 of the BC series and Game 1 of the UNC series.

Game 2 of the BC series really sticks out to me as I was there and still have a hard time believing we lost that game. We left nearly 12-13 runners on base. Loaded the bases multiple times and left 6-7 risp and only had two runs to show for it especially when Logan Maguire pitched great through 5 innings. We had every chance to win that game and we just couldn't get a hit and finally lost the game in extra's.

Game 1 of the UNCheat was also a lost opportunity not because we had bases loaded in the 9th down 1 and failed to produce but because we got a pitching effort from Aeden and similar to the BC game, we left lots of runners on base. (Been a theme this year)

So i feel we should've won one of the above games to make us 9-7 in conference and 24-12 overall. You could argue these things work out and maybe we stole one from nc state but the team has done that all year to rally late so I think the 9-7 and 24-12 is more likely.

The game that hurts the most, as has been pointed out by several others, is the Uga coolray game where we blew a 9-3 lead going into the 7th. Logan pitched an outstanding game but that 6 run lead should've EASILY been 10 or more. Being at that game with my son, we blew so many chances to increase the lead. Left the bases loaded twice with no runs. 2nd and 3rd with no outs and no runs. That game totally sticks in my craw....That is a huge reason why our RPI is so messed up imo...
If we win a neutral site game against the mutts, we are likely top 50 right now

Funny you mention that about "neutral" site game. According to Warren Nolan... that was a home loss. We haven't played any neutral site games. SMH. RPI drives me crazy. It's a joke.