All Things Gopher Baseball

Donate To GopherHole
SomeGopherFan said:
Iowa coach Rick Heller said in a recent news article the Big 10 will move to a 30 game conference schedule next year, with protected opponents each season (guessing that means Iowa and Nebraska for us). Sounds like divisions were desired but they were told that wouldn't be happening in any sport for 2 years. He also mentioned the conference tournament would likely expand to either 10 or 12 teams with some of it being single elimination (ala SEC/ACC tourneys).
Click to expand...
I know last year there was a push to expand the conference tournament and follow the ACC model of 4 pools of 3 teams.
 

Goldy Gopher said:
I know last year there was a push to expand the conference tournament and follow the ACC model of 4 pools of 3 teams.
Click to expand...
I like the ACC tourney format over the SEC format. Every team gets at least two games, only 4 teams suffer 2 losses, and a maximum of just 4 games in 4 days doesn't thin out the pitching so much.

In regards to the 30 game schedule, I would like that more if the season started a bit later than it does now. Next year, the season starts on Valentine's Day, meaning 5 conference series will be played March 7th (in a best case scenario), and 8 series per weekend starting March 14th and beyond. Los Angeles is fine and I think Seattle and Eugene are a bit more mild too, but still seems some conference games are going to be played pretty early up against weather and at a time the Big Ten Network has shown zero interest in baseball while basketball and hockey are going on. From the Gopher's perspective, it seems they will need to either secure a weekend at US Bank Stadium for a conference series, or they will start on the road for at least 2 conference weekends and still hope for good weather in week 7.
 

Wietgrefe named 1st team all-conference, Fitzgerald 2nd team, and Spanier all-Freshman team.
 






Instead of taking a risk and going with an outside hire, Coyle played it safe and chose mediocrity.🤷‍♂️
 




WayOfTheGopher said:
Instead of taking a risk and going with an outside hire, Coyle played it safe and chose mediocrity.🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...
I'd wager it had more to do with Anderson's recommendation of him. They'll give him a chance and if it doesn't work out, a new era will start.
 

I'm willing to give McDevitt a chance. He's an internal hire so he's familiar with the program, the challenges that it faces and the local prep scene.

However, I do have concerns. The pitching staff since he came aboard in 2019 has been a mess. There is also a decent amount of homegrown talent that is leaving. I'm not talking about guys going to the SEC (the East Ridge trio) or Clemson (Morris). But Guerin (Mounds View) going to Iowa; Jones (Cretin) going to Maryland; Lieser (Centennial) going to Nebraska...we need to not lose in-state guys to fellow Big Ten schools if at all possible.

I'm not an insider but I'm around HS/Club baseball circles enough to know that Minnesota gets VERY little attention from the local kids.

Ty has his work cut out for him and continuing with the status quo will not work. Missing the Big Ten tournament for 3 consecutive years is simply not acceptable.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
I'm willing to give McDevitt a chance. He's an internal hire so he's familiar with the program, the challenges that it faces and the local prep scene.

However, I do have concerns. The pitching staff since he came aboard in 2019 has been a mess. There is also a decent amount of homegrown talent that is leaving. I'm not talking about guys going to the SEC (the East Ridge trio) or Clemson (Morris). But Guerin (Mounds View) going to Iowa; Jones (Cretin) going to Maryland; Lieser (Centennial) going to Nebraska...we need to not lose in-state guys to fellow Big Ten schools if at all possible.

I'm not an insider but I'm around HS/Club baseball circles enough to know that Minnesota gets VERY little attention from the local kids.

Ty has his work cut out for him and continuing with the status quo will not work. Missing the Big Ten tournament for 3 consecutive years is simply not acceptable.
Click to expand...
Thank you. This is why I'm here.

I'm hoping it was more of an Anderson issue and not a position coach issue. We'll see.
 

My hope is that, after a thorough search, Coyle concluded that promoting McDevitt was the best mix of continuity and new energy to restore the program to the top tier in the conference.

My fear is that, after a thorough search, Coyle concluded that his budget doesn't allow for a splashy hire and that an internal candidate, recommended by 14, is the best option to try to maintain the modest gains made in the last couple of years.
 





DarrenTheGreek said:
I'm willing to give McDevitt a chance. He's an internal hire so he's familiar with the program, the challenges that it faces and the local prep scene.

However, I do have concerns. The pitching staff since he came aboard in 2019 has been a mess. There is also a decent amount of homegrown talent that is leaving. I'm not talking about guys going to the SEC (the East Ridge trio) or Clemson (Morris). But Guerin (Mounds View) going to Iowa; Jones (Cretin) going to Maryland; Lieser (Centennial) going to Nebraska...we need to not lose in-state guys to fellow Big Ten schools if at all possible.

I'm not an insider but I'm around HS/Club baseball circles enough to know that Minnesota gets VERY little attention from the local kids.

Ty has his work cut out for him and continuing with the status quo will not work. Missing the Big Ten tournament for 3 consecutive years is simply not acceptable.
Click to expand...
I was a little surprised with the hire but had noticed the staff still recruiting pretty hard so thought something like this may happen. I had my eyes on Dan Fitzgerald who makes more than Anderson did, Skylar Meade who makes about the same, Marc Rardin, Josh Jordan, Nate Thompson, and a few other assistants but I think they really valued 14s recommendation. I am much happier to see Ty get the job rather than Brian Raabe who Charley Walters had reported. I saw Reusse report that he was a favorite of some alums but the U never contacted him.
Ty took over as pitching coach in 2017 and had a couple very good years to start, technically he was the volunteer assistant but he was the one working with the pitchers pretty exclusively. The two seasons previous to this Ty was dealing with lyme disease and not even around the program a whole lot.
Didn't really come after Guerin at all with his brother already at Iowa and the Gophers having not recruited him at all. I have heard the uncertainty on the next head coach played a deciding factor for a couple kids in the last year who were pretty interested in staying home.
 

2nd Degree Gopher said:
My hope is that, after a thorough search, Coyle concluded that promoting McDevitt was the best mix of continuity and new energy to restore the program to the top tier in the conference.

My fear is that, after a thorough search, Coyle concluded that his budget doesn't allow for a splashy hire and that an internal candidate, recommended by 14, is the best option to try to maintain the modest gains made in the last couple of years.
Click to expand...
“Splashy hire”? To Minnesota Gopher baseball? That is not going to happen. It would never happen.
 


ClassOf98Gopher said:
“Splashy hire”? To Minnesota Gopher baseball? That is not going to happen. It would never happen.
Click to expand...
Fair enough. By "splashy" I meant an experienced head coach from a lower level program that might excite the baseball people or a recognizable name that might generate some interest among the more general population. Could have used a different adjective.
 

Nebraska comes all the way back through the losers bracket after losing the opener and edges Penn State and win the tourney. Bubble teams get a break with that result and we will see where both Nebraska and Illinois are sent for regionals.

Big Ten also announced the tourney will remain at Omaha for next three years.
 

Indiana gets an at-large bid (it pays to have an athletic department member on the selection committee). The Hoosiers are the 3 seed in Knoxville, and Illinois the 3 seed in Lexington (...ouch - top 2 seeds in tourney).

Nebraska is 2 seed in Stillwater and plays Florida in opener.
 

SomeGopherFan said:
Nebraska comes all the way back through the losers bracket after losing the opener and edges Penn State and win the tourney. Bubble teams get a break with that result and we will see where both Nebraska and Illinois are sent for regionals.

Big Ten also announced the tourney will remain at Omaha for next three years.
Click to expand...

I'm not a fan of this at all. They really need to rotate it amongst AAA ballparks in the footprint or (my preference) go back to having the regular season champ host.
 


Gophers picked up another JC infielder yesterday in Jack Mosh of Johnson County a Mizzou bounceback. With everyone so focused on the portal I like trying to target the Juco ranks.
 

In the Fayetteville regional, Arkansas sending out Hagen Smith to face Kansas State tonight at 8 o’clock
154 strikeouts in 79 innings
 


Some nice results yesterday.
Dallas Baptist eliminates Arizona in Tucson.
UConn beats Oklahoma in Norman.
Kansas State beats Arkansas in Fayetteville.
Oregon beat Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara.
 



McDevitt sounded like he wants a faster more athletic offensive style
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom