Gopher Baseball 2020

[DarrenTheGreek]

Here's a breakdown of the pitching staff.
Top 6 pitchers (Schoeberl, Horton, Culliver, Kapala, Meyer, Massey)
Combined: 3-1, 2.87 ERA, 37.2IP, 24H, 17BB, 14HBP, 12ER, 50K, 1.46WHIP

Remaining 8 pitchers (Thoresen, Davis, Duffy, Anderson, Ireland, Burchill, Fredrickson, Theisen)
Combined: 1-3, 11.41 ERA, 32.1IP, 42H, 46BB, 6HBP, 41ER, 41K, 2.90WHIP

 

[Gopherlife]

Good start to the weekend with a 4-1 victory by the Gophers over North Carolina.

 

[Goldy Gopher]

Nice performance tonight. Max was great. Hopefully we can see a couple more good Gopher starts this weekend.

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

What a beautiful pitching performance. 9 IP, 5 H, 14 K against the #18 team? Max Meyer is special.

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

Sounds like they changed the ground rules at USB Stadium to require a ball to go over the black fence in right instead of above the line.

 

[SomeGopherFan]

I was wondering about that too...the hit in question last night seemed (from my view) to be well above the line, so I assumed the umpire didn't miss it. However, I was wondering then what the North Carolina coach was questioning...

 

[WoodburyTim]

It would be great to get one out of the next 2. Both Duke and NC State will probably be tourney teams. Piling up wins over quality opponents will get the RPI up. Don't want to have to win the Big10 tourney to get in.

 

[Gopherlife]

What a beautiful pitching performance. 9 IP, 5 H, 14 K against the #18 team? Max Meyer is special.

Definitely. If they qualify for the postseason, a dominant pitcher like Meyer will make the Gophers a very tough out in the regionals, and especially the super regionals where it is best of three.

 

[Goldy Gopher]

Frustrating loss. Not very good offensive execution. Had plenty of opportunities just didn't convert. Duke didn't hit a whole lot hard until very late and just had some things fall in perfectly combined with a few Gopher miscues.

 

[Goldy Gopher]

Back and forth battle but just too many mistakes and not enough clutch hits. Played solid at times this weekend but gotta be more consistent to beat really good teams.

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

Back and forth battle but just too many mistakes and not enough clutch hits. Played solid at times this weekend but gotta be more consistent to beat really good teams.

I was only watching the live stats for this game but it seemed like Ireland might have been left in too long. Really wish we could have picked up that 2nd win this weekend.

 

[Goldy Gopher]

I was only watching the live stats for this game but it seemed like Ireland might have been left in too long. Really wish we could have picked up that 2nd win this weekend.

Yeah I really kinda figured Thoresen would come in and start that inning.

 

[Goldy Gopher]

Bad loss to a bad team. Can't afford performances like tonight. 14 runners left on base for the Gophers. Just awful offensive execution. No excuses it has to be better.

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

With 2 bad losses and a 4 game skid you can pretty much kiss an NCAA bid goodbye unless things are real soon. What a disappointing start.

 

[LesBolstad]

10-8 loss to the Jackrabbits? What the hell is going on out there? Pretty much have to win B10 Tourney to make NCAA; and I dont see that happening.

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

This stat says it all:
Meyer/Schoeberl/Massey
48.1 IP, 33 H, 17 ER, 19 BB, 63 K, 17 HBP, 1.42 WHIP, 3.17 ERA

Everyone else:
67.2 IP, 78 H, 71 ER, 68 BB, 91K, 12 HBP, 2.35 WHIP, 9.44 ERA

There are some junior pitchers that need to play better. I count 3 experienced juniors that all have ERA's above 10, and another one is hovering just below 8. Time to pick it up.

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

The bright spot is that there are a few underclassman who are really stepping up.
Raabe, Wilhite, Massey and Schoeberl come to mind.

 

[Goldy Gopher]

10-8 loss to the Jackrabbits? What the hell is going on out there? Pretty much have to win B10 Tourney to make NCAA; and I dont see that happening.

Those are two really really bad losses but it is way too early to think they are gonna have to win the B1G Tournament just to make the NCAA's. Plenty of time left just gotta play more consistent. Got some good wins but gotta take care of business against the teams you are supposed to beat.

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

Take 2/3 against Utah
Take 4/5 against Creighton & AirForce
Take 1/3 against Texas Tech
That gets us to 12-12 before conference with wins over Texas Tech, UNC, TCU and Arizona. That's not bad.

It all starts tonight. Gotta beat Utah when Meyer is pitching.

 

[Goldy Gopher]

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

In other Big Ten baseball news, Penn State lost to Navy 1-2 in 11 innings despite not surrendering a hit.

 

[WoodburyTim]

Meyer is impressive. Won't see another in a Gopher uniform like him for awhile.

 

[ClassOf98Gopher]

Meyer is impressive. Won't see another in a Gopher uniform like him for awhile.

Meyer is just awesome. How does he compare to what Glen Perkins did at the U of M?

 

[Lincoln gopher]

Meyer is just awesome. How does he compare to what Glen Perkins did at the U of M?

I think they are pretty close in talent. Perkins last two years were as good as you can get. 19-5 overall and a perfect 15-0 in B1G play.

 

[ClassOf98Gopher]

I think they are pretty close in talent. Perkins last two years were as good as you can get. 19-5 overall and a perfect 15-0 in B1G play.

Wow! That was good. I wasn’t paying as close of attention to college baseball at the time and that performance must have been extraordinary to track in real time. I have been blown away by how good Meyer has been over three last three years. If he can just avoid another injury, I expect some good things for the rest of this season. Maybe then the Twins can take a chance on him.

 

[Goldy Gopher]

Pretty poor performance tonight. Offense started decent then went missing after not being able to cash in on bases loaded nobody out in the 2nd as Chase Stanke and Noah Berghammer had back to back absolutely unacceptable at bats in that situation as both struck out and a groundout ended the inning. Gophers rallied late but couldn't get the big hit. Pitching was really a struggle tonight. JP Massey only threw about 1/3 of his pitches for strikes. Some questionable bullpen use late as well results in 2 runs in each the 8th and 9th for Utah.

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

Pretty poor performance tonight. Offense started decent then went missing after not being able to cash in on bases loaded nobody out in the 2nd as Chase Stanke and Noah Berghammer had back to back absolutely unacceptable at bats in that situation as both struck out and a groundout ended the inning. Gophers rallied late but couldn't get the big hit. Pitching was really a struggle tonight. JP Massey only threw about 1/3 of his pitches for strikes. Some questionable bullpen use late as well results in 2 runs in each the 8th and 9th for Utah.

Just got back home. Ugh. For being a close game it just felt like we were struggling to stay afloat. The 2nd inning at bats you mentioned were frustrating but turning a lead off double in the 3rd to getting thrown out going for 3rd was unacceptable too. I continue to hound this point but you can't give up 9 walks and expect to win.

 

[Goldy Gopher]

Just got back home. Ugh. For being a close game it just felt like we were struggling to stay afloat. The 2nd inning at bats you mentioned were frustrating but turning a lead off double in the 3rd to getting thrown out going for 3rd was unacceptable too. I continue to hound this point but you can't give up 9 walks and expect to win.

Yep can't make the first out at 3rd. I appreciate the aggressiveness but especially with the middle of the order coming up you gotta just play it safe. Think that was a play that was partly pushed by the failure of the inning before and how poor the Gophers have been situationally. Just situation where a guy tries to do a little too much.

 

[Goldy Gopher]

8 different guys pitched and none of them did it well. 14 walks today. Defense was really bad. Think they credited 4 errors and should've been at least a couple more counting mental errors like letting a fly ball drop in the middle of a triangle of defenders. Lot of work to be done and done fast with the pitching staff.
The lone positive was the offense and it has seemed to improve from week to week. Still need to come through with a few more of those 2 out hits though as we are leaving too many on base.

 

[ClassOf98Gopher]

I thought I read that at the start of this season John Anderson speculated that he never had a pitching staff this deep in talent. I assume that is technically right, it is just that so many of our pitchers (Meyer of course excluded) have the toughest time throwing strikes.

I know it is fun to think about a pitcher throwing serious gas or with great movement but the first rule is to hit the strike zone isn’t it?