Baseball tale as old as time . . .

[AuroraHawk]

Kudos to Coach Heller for nailing it on the head before today's game. Something to the effect of "Baseball is the sport where you see wins by the team with less talent on the roster than any other sport."

When pitchers struggle to throw strikes and there are defensive lapses, it is akin to playing with fire. And, today, the Hawkeyes got burned. Flirting with danger cost them in T5. And sometimes all it takes is an "excuse me" Texas Leaguer to find some OF grass to trigger a disastrous half inning.

Decent win on Friday.
Really nice win on Saturday.
And, damn, if today didn't slip away.

Here's hoping that it fuels some inner fires because the upcoming weekend will require Iowa to bring its "A game" all 3 days.

Cheers.

 

[QuadCityHawkeye1976]

That was a really bad loss today.

 

[GolfHacker1]

Team needs to face and conquer adversity. Last year’s team did it, but they can’t do it for them. This year’s team will get tested sooner than most of us anticipated.

 

[Randy Marsh]

With the level of coaching and the character of the players, I have a lot of confidence that this group will be fine.

 

[hawkjt]

Who started for Iowa?

 

[GolfHacker1]

Friday:

SS Michael Seegers
LF Sam Petersen
C Davis Cop
3B Raider Tello
1B Blake Guerin
DH Ben Wilmes
CF Kyle Huckstorf
RF Andy Nelson
2B Gable Mitchell

P Brody Brecht

 

[GolfHacker1]

Saturday:

SS Michael Seegers
LF Sam Petersen
C Davis Cop
3B Raider Tello
1B Blake Guerin
RF Ben Wilmes
CF Kyle Huckstorf
DH Andy Nelson
2B Gable Mitchell

P Marcus Morgan

 

[GolfHacker1]

Sunday:

SS Michael Seegers
LF Sam Petersen
38 Raider Tello
DH Davis Cop
1B Blake Guerin
C Reese Moore
2B Gable Mitchell
RF Kellen Strohmeyer
CF Kyle Huckstorf

P Cade Obermueller

 

[QuadCityHawkeye1976]

With the level of coaching and the character of the players, I have a lot of confidence that this group will be fine.

I agree. A lot of ranked teams lost to unranked schools over the weekend.

 

[AuroraHawk]

Team needs to face and conquer adversity. Last year’s team did it, but they can’t do it for them. This year’s team will get tested sooner than most of us anticipated.

Baseball is unique.

I ascribe to the 56-56-56 theory for MLB. A team will win 56 games. A team will lose 56 games. It's what happens in the other 56 that decides what teams are bad, good, or great.

College baseball is, of course, a different creature. But, even the Pittsburgh Pirates (unfortunately, I've been a Pirates fan for 50 years or so) will take a series from the Dodgers or the Braves.

Can't dwell on bad games. Press "erase" and move on to the next game on the schedule. Build on what is good; eliminate that which is bad.

Plenty of "good" to be had from the first weekend of games. And a fair amount of needed improvement in particular areas.

Can't underestimate the loss of Moss. He's an outstanding defensive catcher and possesses knowledge of what makes the pitcher's "tick." I liked what I heard about Cop but Moss' absence is notable.

Tomorrow should afford a good chance to get work in for a lot of the staff and hopefully some hitters can get on track. It's gonna take more than hot bats from Petersen and Tello to knock off Auburn and Virginia. Wichita State is no slouch opponent.

Working ahead in counts from the pitchers.
Patient approach/good plate discipline from the hitters.
That's what I'll be looking for.