I don't know why I torture myself going to these midweek games. Iona beat us 12-3 and today a 2-10 Princeton team beat us 6-5. Kevin Welsh had a horrible game striking out 3 or 4 times and made a throwing error leading to 4 unearned runs to put us behind 4-1. Jawuan Harris got thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple ending one rally. Earlier in the game Mike Nyisztor stole third and Harris was thrown out trying to steal second. I don't know if he didn't realize Mike was stealing third or not but he is supposedly our fastest base runner How could he get thrown out? Was he thinking no throw would go to second or did he get a bad jump? That play cost us a run as well. It was bad enough that we were losing to a 2-10 team but in the bottom of the 7th we had the bases loaded with no outs and we were trailing 6-5. Welsh came up. I thought we should squeeze in the runner on third to tie the game as Welsh had only struck out to that point. Of course we didn't do that and he struck out again. The next guy also struck out and that was followed by a ground out to second. The Princeton relief pitcher shut us down and did the same thing in the 8th and 9th innings. I just don't understand why we don't force the issue and try to make something happen. Our pitchers walked way too many guys. It was 4-4 and our freshman relief pitcher walked I think 3 guys and hit a batter. One walk forced in a run and a small ground out gave them a second run without even one hit. They scored 2 runs without even a hit. That is atrocious as we are a college team not a middle school team. We have already blown 3 games in the 9th inning to Boston College, Old Dominion and Florida Gulf Coast. We are now 13-9 and we could have easily been 18-4 without the 3 blown games in the 9th and the losses to Iona and Princeton. If we keep blowing these games we will finish with another losing record. I don't see enough team spirit and enthusiasm during these games. It really is frustrating.
Princeton 6 RU 5, What an awful loss.
- Thread starter knights1212
- Start date
Let’s me stop you with the whole, we could be 18-4 if it wasn’t for the blown leads and the bad losses. Stop. We’ve had comeback wins late in the game. Everything evens out. Blown leads happens. Three may seem like a lot, but we’ve also stole a few games. Yes, we blew 9th inning leads verse ODU and FGCU. But had we won those games we would had swept both of those series. You’re basically asking for every break by being upset with those losses and saying we could be 18-4. 18-4?!? Think about what you’re asking for. As for the mid week games, we don’t have the pitching. It’s that simple. I didn’t see the game. It sounds like it was sloppy. Frankly, I’d only pay attention to conference play. Once again, we have people on this board talking RPI and tournament talk just like some people did after the Seton Hall win in basketball. The MSU games are more important
I am not saying we should be 18-4 but that we could have been. The BC loss and the Old Dominion were really blown games. We led BC 6-2 and lost by giving up 7 runs in the top of the 9th. We also completely fell apart against Old Dominion. What games did we make an outstanding comeback in the 9th inning to win? I don't care how bad our pitching is we should not lose to a 2-10 Princeton team. Iona was really bad as well and they pounded us 12-3 on March 6. We have our regulars in there during these games. We should have scored much more than 3 against Iona. Why do we only have 3 pitchers that we can trust? We have 12 pitchers that have pitched in games. Some could argue that Rutkowski, Heatter and Kiernan all of who are freshmen could be our most reliable pitchers so far. Why is that? Why can't our veterans be more reliable? Princeton played a few guys today who had hardly played at all in their first 12 games. We are in the BIG 10. We should not be losing more than we win against these mid major teams. I don't know if we take them seriously enough or not. These other teams also play weekend games in their own leagues.
Give it a rest. It’s a mid week game verse Princeton. Worry about conference play. I never said we had comeback wins in the 9th. I said we had a lot of comeback wins. Should be 18-4 and could be 18-4 is kinda the same thing. Either way, you have to get every break. It doesn’t work that way. We trailed in both games that we won against FGCU. I’m pretty sure they were decent size leads. We were fortunate to take two and you’re complaining about not sweeping. Sports do not work that way. Just because you have the lead late, that does not mean you’re going to close it out. Just be happy we made an adjustment who our closer is. I don’t know why we don’t have more pitching. It happens
1) gotta save the best starters for the weekend, period, HOWEVER
2) you have GOT to ****ing sacrifice down 1, nobody out, bases loaded, in the bottom of the 7th, right? How the hell do you NOT bunt??? Very, very frustrating!!!
2) you have GOT to ****ing sacrifice down 1, nobody out, bases loaded, in the bottom of the 7th, right? How the hell do you NOT bunt??? Very, very frustrating!!!
I’m not sure why everyone is saying bunt with the bases loaded down a run? Who the heck squeezes with a force play at home on a turf field? I don’t get it. Honestly, swinging away and grounding into a double play is easier. I don’t understand the thought process behind the safety squeeze here considering it’s a force at home.
I'm with you knights 1212. To me you have to be able to have a 4th starter for mid-week games that can beat Iona and Princeton, both bad teams based on their records on our field. To get blown out by Iona doesn't make sense. Sloppy teams with multiple baserunning mistakes and failing to score with the bases loaded and no one is how you lose a one run game to a bad team at home. Discipline, killer instinct, focus and motivation can help you wind these mid-week games against inferior teams. If a guy comes up with the bases loaded down one late in the game and he is struggling, you hit for him.
I'll tell you why: we're NOT a good hitting/run-producing team, that's why! And, guess what, we went 0-for-3 (that inning once the bases were loaded) so what does that say?
You make the safety squeeze sound so simple. It’s not. I actually would love to see our fan reaction if we tried a safety squeeze and failed. No one squeezes. And our first 22 games, we’ve actually done a good job scoring runs and busting open innings. We went 0-3 once the bases were loaded. Want to know what that tells me? It’s tells me we went 0-3. Pretty small sample size to conclude we should have squeezed. Prior to the PSU series we were averaging 7+ runs a game. You can’t blame the coach for your line up going 0-3 once the bases were loaded. Now, if there’s a guy that should have been pitched hit for that I can understand having a gripe about.
I disagree. You get the damn tying run across the plate in the 7th...and you know me I’m NOT an anti-Joe guy I don’t agree with the call here that’s all.
I guess where you and I disagree is that I don’t think the safety squeeze is that easy. I just think grounding into a DP is easier.
Two different philosophies. I would also have squeezed earlier in the game & neither would have been safety squeezes.
Last time I checked we had a number of guys with good averages. And I believe that we score ok. We are not, however, a home run or probably even a power hitting team. Then we have to run & run aggressively to put more runs on the board. Need to play very good defense & get some decent pitching. A winning formula.
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Biazza, You should give it a rest. You are wrong. We never trailed FGC in our 6-3 win. We did fall behind 6-2 in the "3rd' inning of our 13-9 win over FGC. We tied the game by the top of the 6th by a 6-6 score. We did not come from behind late in the game. We lost to Iona that was 2-7 and Princeton that was 2-10. That should not happen if we want to be a good team. The league games are most important but every game counts if we want to have a winning season and gain respect and improve our recruiting. As for losing to Boston College we did completely fall apart by giving up 7 runs in the 9th in a game we had led by 6-2. The ODU loss we led 3-0 going into the bottom of the 9th and gave up 4 runs after we had 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th to lose 4-3. We have not had a win late in the game as you claim.
As for not scoring yesterday with the bases loaded, our leadoff man who had been up 3 times had struck out all 3 previous at bats. He was not having a good game. We needed to get the runner in from third. It didn't have to be a squeeze bunt. A bunt placed down either line should have easily scored the tying run. If the coach had no faith in our batter he should have pinch hit for him. I put that on the coach. Why don't we have at least one more decent starter? Why are our top 3 pitchers all frosh? This speaks volumes to me. I was at yesterday's game and I go to almost all of our home games. It would be nice if we could once again have a winning team. A BIG 10 team should not be struggling with teams from much smaller conferences. I could see us losing one of these games every once in a while but not the way we are doing this way too often.
As for not scoring yesterday with the bases loaded, our leadoff man who had been up 3 times had struck out all 3 previous at bats. He was not having a good game. We needed to get the runner in from third. It didn't have to be a squeeze bunt. A bunt placed down either line should have easily scored the tying run. If the coach had no faith in our batter he should have pinch hit for him. I put that on the coach. Why don't we have at least one more decent starter? Why are our top 3 pitchers all frosh? This speaks volumes to me. I was at yesterday's game and I go to almost all of our home games. It would be nice if we could once again have a winning team. A BIG 10 team should not be struggling with teams from much smaller conferences. I could see us losing one of these games every once in a while but not the way we are doing this way too often.
I didn’t say say we came from behind late against FGCU. I said we trailed. Trailing 6-2 to a team like that and pulling out a win is not bad. Yes, we fell apart against ODU, BC, and FGCU late. However, we beat PSU in two very close games where hitting was not going to be easy in the cold. Point is, we’re not going to win every close game and we’re even going to blow some. I may have been wrong about our late wins, but here are some of our wins where we trailed. Miami we trailed 5-0, ODU trailed 4-0 after one took the lead in the 8, ODU win number two we trailed in the 8th and put up 5 spot and swept an army team that took two out of three verse Maryland. I admit we have some bad losses, but when you look at the overall body of work it’s a better team than last year. We have two pretty good freshmen starters and young hitters. As for the bunt with the bases loaded, frankly he probably should have been pitched hit for if he was playing that poorly. Hitting into a double play or a sacrifice fly is easier than laying down a bunt down the third base line. You make it sound so easy. Guys don’t bunt anymore. It’s a lost skill. I wish we had more pitching depth. Brito was supposed to be a starter, but he’s slid into the closer role. We have five games next week. Maybe someone steps up
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Bunting should be taught. I believe our coaches do it. These guys know how to lay one down, I believe.
Not a comment about Rutgers, but about sports in general. I'm sure these guys know how to bunt, but it still takes practice to keep the skill sharp. At any level, if I were a coach, I would do at list minimal drilling on stuff like this to keep the skill fresh. I'm pretty sure major leaguers still lay a few down in batting practice on a regular basis.
(I'm intending to agree with you, RUDAD, hope it came off that way).
Yes dconifer, I used to lay several down at every batting practice, both for a sacrifice & for a hit. At other times I'd ask a guy to pitch to me & just practice bunting--sacrifice, and as a righty hitter dropping one down third for a hit & push bunting past the pitcher toward the 2nd baseman into no-man's land[with a lefty pitcher falling off the mound toward the 3rd base line]. Wouldn't bet that big leaguers practice bunting.
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You are what your record says you are at the end of the season.Losing games at home that should be wins has to do with overall talent and the lack of pitching depth.Its been a long time since a NCAA bid for the baseball program which like other sports is related to recruiting.
I would never consider a safety squeeze with bases loaded. Force play makes defending a suicide easier as well.
You'd never get a force play on a suicide squeeze. If the guy lays it down at all the guy is home.
Really, then why don’t they do it every time bases are loaded?
Whose they? The big leaguers, for the most part, can't bunt. At RU it's probably just not their style of ball. Or sometimes the situation doesn't call for it or lend itself to it.
You make it sound like it is virtually a gimme to score on a bunt when it’s not.
I’ve been trying to figure out why some of these posters make bunting with the bases loaded sound so easy
No. Your batter has to know how to bunt & you have to execute it properly. The runner can't break too soon. Has to wait until the pitcher is into his delivery so that he doesn't give it away too soon & the pitcher can knock the batter down or just throw a high hard one off the plate- tough to get down. The batter should also not bunt a sharp one right back to the pitcher, though even then it's tough to get the out. If your club has been coached properly the squeeze has a high probability of success. rubaseball78, if you don't wish to accept this it's fine with me.
Bunting your lead off hitter shows zero confidence and a suicide squeeze is just dumb.
Kid puts the ball in play anywhere but to the pitcher and the game is tied and possibly gets him out of his slump to boot. Didn’t work out that way, that’s baseball.
Kid puts the ball in play anywhere but to the pitcher and the game is tied and possibly gets him out of his slump to boot. Didn’t work out that way, that’s baseball.
Yeah, I guess that was a naive thing for me to say, looking back at the times I watched BP before major league games.
