Southern vs Minnesota

[MRJ]

Matyas buckles down after the lead-off man reaches and overpowers the final two guys to seal it 11-8.

If there is such a thing as a disappointing win, this was it. But hey, at this juncture, a win is a win and we get to play another day. Still, the guys made that one much harder than it should have been.

 

[MrGopher]

nice job guys!! scared me there for an inning or two... but im past that

 

[MRJ]

Okay, so Ohio State won 6-4 and we win 11-8.

As for Indiana? they're getting smoked 10-0 by Vandy in the eighth. Ouch!!!

Well, at least there will be two Big Ten teams still playing tomorrow.

 

[Lincoln gopher]

The bats came to life, nice to see the win. The annoucers on ESPNU were talking about Baylor diring the Georgia/FSU game. Kyle Petersen, who is the best when it comes to college baseball, said Baylor is a scary team. They have played very poorly for a good chunk of the season, but they have a ton of talent. They were rated for the first 60% of the season. He still picked LSU to advanced. I like the Gophers chances tomorrow if they play Baylor for some reason.

 

[BoogeyMan]

Good win for the Gophers. A win is a win at this point in the year. Seems to be a lot of second guessing Anderson's coaching at this point. The guy has won 1000 games, I dont care who you are, please stop 2nd guessing every decision he has made (this is basically directed towards you MRJ). Of course the game was closer than we are all hoping, but after Southern ties up the game, you have to play to get a run there and not trying to break the game open. Our bullpen has been pretty solid all year, so if we can take the lead, you do that and hope your bullpen can keep the lead. Playing to break the game open is not what we needed. Rasmussen and Fern struggled a little, but if you score just a single run and put some pressure on, chances are Southern won't keep up, they really aren't that great of a team. I agree that for some reason, I really like our chances tomm. if we get Baylor. They have tons of talent, but have been so inconsistent that I do not think they will put together 2 good games against us. Go Gophers, I know it is a long shot to take this regional by winning tommorow and then having to beat whomever twice in the title game, but at this point in the year, you just have to take it game by game and hope your pitchers can get some outs and the guys can keep hitting.

 

[MRJ]

Good win for the Gophers. A win is a win at this point in the year. Seems to be a lot of second guessing Anderson's coaching at this point. The guy has won 1000 games, I dont care who you are, please stop 2nd guessing every decision he has made (this is basically directed towards you MRJ). Of course the game was closer than we are all hoping, but after Southern ties up the game, you have to play to get a run there and not trying to break the game open. Our bullpen has been pretty solid all year, so if we can take the lead, you do that and hope your bullpen can keep the lead. Playing to break the game open is not what we needed. Rasmussen and Fern struggled a little, but if you score just a single run and put some pressure on, chances are Southern won't keep up, they really aren't that great of a team. I agree that for some reason, I really like our chances tomm. if we get Baylor. They have tons of talent, but have been so inconsistent that I do not think they will put together 2 good games against us. Go Gophers, I know it is a long shot to take this regional by winning tommorow and then having to beat whomever twice in the title game, but at this point in the year, you just have to take it game by game and hope your pitchers can get some outs and the guys can keep hitting.

You can be mad at me all you want. As a trained sports writer, that's what I do. I don't just accept every decision that's made as being the right one. If you want to, that's great. More power to you. I have praised coach Anderson and the team when they have deserved it. And I have never said coach Anderson isn't a good coach, no matter how much you want to imply that's what I'm saying.

I'm going to raise legitimate questions when they arise. If you don't like it, then tough.

 

[MRJ]

Good win for the Gophers. A win is a win at this point in the year. Seems to be a lot of second guessing Anderson's coaching at this point. The guy has won 1000 games, I dont care who you are, please stop 2nd guessing every decision he has made (this is basically directed towards you MRJ). Of course the game was closer than we are all hoping, but after Southern ties up the game, you have to play to get a run there and not trying to break the game open. Our bullpen has been pretty solid all year, so if we can take the lead, you do that and hope your bullpen can keep the lead. Playing to break the game open is not what we needed. Rasmussen and Fern struggled a little, but if you score just a single run and put some pressure on, chances are Southern won't keep up, they really aren't that great of a team. I agree that for some reason, I really like our chances tomm. if we get Baylor. They have tons of talent, but have been so inconsistent that I do not think they will put together 2 good games against us. Go Gophers, I know it is a long shot to take this regional by winning tommorow and then having to beat whomever twice in the title game, but at this point in the year, you just have to take it game by game and hope your pitchers can get some outs and the guys can keep hitting.

I thought since Boogeyman was so offended by what I wrote, I will clarify. Here was my thinking: We had entered the seventh inning holding a nice 8-3 lead and had Seth on the mound. The leadoff man gets on and Anderson makes a pitching change, which was absolutely the right call. Rasmussen comes in and two more guys get on, and with no outs, we're facing a bases-loaded situation. Coach Anderson makes another move to the bullpen, again the correct call since Rasmussen was clearly struggling. Fern comes in, gives up two big hits and we end up giving up five runs without recording an out. We finally make it out of the inning tied 8-8.

Now we go to the top of the eighth. We get the leadoff man on and play for one. My thinking was this: based on what we just saw from the bullpen, I didn't think one was going to be enough, which was what my point was. Based on bullpen performance and our situational hitting earlier in the game (mostly due to failing to get Gominsky in after a lead-off triple along with getting a guy thrown out at home on a double-steal attempt), I thought playing for one was risky. And it looked as though we weren't even going to get that until a two-out single scored the go-ahead run from second.

Then comes the bottom of the inning in which Fern retires the first guy and the next two get on, creating a similar situation in which it looks like trouble brewing. Then Anderson makes another pitching move, getting in his best reliever in Scott Matyas, who slams the door. That was my thinking on that inning. And taking everything into account, I would have still had the same questions for Anderson, if I had been interviewing him after the game.

In this case, it worked out. A similar attempt against Penn State did not. That is the basis for the question I raised from a professional stand point.

The tone I used, which was harsh, came from the point of view of a fan. But from a professional standpoint, that was why I was questioning the move.

 

[BoogeyMan]

Who cares if your a trained sports writer, it was a stupid question either way. Of course you play for the lead late in a game. The bullpen struggled and blew the lead, but what happens if you don't get any runs there? Now you tied with one less at-bat, and any momentum you may have had left is gone. In a game like that you do not want to worry about busting the game open, you play for the lead again. Maybe thats just a differences of philosphies here I guess. I suppose maybe I was harsh earlier, I have no problem with people questioing coaching moves, but I just couldn't disagree with you more in this situation.

 

[MRJ]

Who cares if your a trained sports writer, it was a stupid question either way. Of course you play for the lead late in a game. The bullpen struggled and blew the lead, but what happens if you don't get any runs there? Now you tied with one less at-bat, and any momentum you may have had left is gone. In a game like that you do not want to worry about busting the game open, you play for the lead again. Maybe thats just a differences of philosphies here I guess. I suppose maybe I was harsh earlier, I have no problem with people questioing coaching moves, but I just couldn't disagree with you more in this situation.

Stupid to you perhaps, but as someone who has seen many college baseball teams lose games on this strategy, I would have asked this question regardless. The rest of your point is fair though. Differences in philosophy is probably the best way to describe it. One man's stupidity is another man's thoughtfulness.

But on another level, that's what makes sports in the United States so fun (or painful as the case may be). Everybody has a different philosophy on the correct way to play different situations.

My main reason for being concerned was the game against Penn State, in which we didn't get that one run we played for after losing the lead and ended up ultimately losing the game. If the strategy had worked in that game, I may have thought differently, but I saw similar parallels happening and I responded with an overly emotional response. And I readily admit that Anderson's decision worked out this time; that's what makes him a great coach and me a sports writer. But even Anderson admitted in the Star Trib this morning the team didn't play a very good game and won "in spite" of themselves, so I wasn't the only one who saw problems. Kudos to him and his team for persevering. I, on the other hand, questioned some things and will continue to do so.

You are right, it all comes down to perspective though. You have your point of view and I have mine. Hopefully we can come to some kind of middle ground in future posts.