ReplacementDeac
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- Oct 21, 2015
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i dont like you
Baseball So Far:
Not seeing much different than last year. Probably 7-9 teams in ACC better than USC, IMO. Two wins out there with one being strong or a blowout would have made me more optimistic for the season.
Walter has been saying for 2 years how strong of a batting line-up we possess. Numbers just don't back it up. We average 5.26 runs last year in ACC games. This year, we've failed to really ring up an impressive run total even against non-P5 completion. I understand that baseball has more parity and it's a matter of who would win more in a series to determine the better team. But by comparison, look at some of the offensive output by fellow ACC teams so far: Clemson 19 vs Maine, FSU 19 & 23 vs Rhode Island, GT 13 vs W. Mich., NCSU 13 vs ODU 18 vs VMI (mutual opponent), ND 13 vs Incarnate Word, Pitt 19 vs Niagara, 16,14, & 18 vs Grambling, and UNC 14 vs #9 UCLA on their field (took series 2/3, as well).
After starting the first game with 2 HRs, freshman Aiello has been ineffective, batting only .167. This is not that surprising being a freshman. Breazeale (.174) and Fairchild (.150) are more concerning, especially compared to last season's avg. (Fairchild was well into the .300s IIRC).
Regarding pitching: We gave up a truckload of hits and runs vs USC. In their 9 run win, we gave up 16 hits and they left another 15 on base. Hit total for the series: WF 21, USC 33
Last year our inability to win mid-week games was telling. And look at how we finished our last 6 conference series games:
05/08/15 vs. NC State Winston-Salem, NC L, 19-1
05/09/15 vs. NC State Winston-Salem, N.C. L, 3-2
05/11/15 vs. NC State Winston-Salem, N.C. L, 9-6
05/14/15 at Duke Durham, N.C. W, 3-1
05/15/15 at Duke Durham, N.C. L, 7-0
05/16/15 at Duke Durham, N.C. L, 8-1
Gave up 19 to a mid-range ACC Pack team and lost 2 of 3 to a lower level ACC Duke team. One more Duke win would have put us in the ACC Tourney and we weren't close in the last 2 games.
So, in conclusion, right now I don't expect us to finish any better than 2015. I was hopeful after the VT and Clemson series last year, but the second half of the season was really a disaster.
remains to be seen how the season plays out of course but this offense should be pretty stout barring injury. Taking one of three on the road against a top 25 team isn't bad at all. Winning yesterday would have been nice but it was encouraging to get a solid start.
Five very winnable games in a row Wednesday to Sunday all at home before a set against Coastal on the road and then Clemson at home next weekend to kick off ACC play. A 9-3 start (going 4-1 this week) heading down to Myrtle would be a solid beginning to the season
Our pitching looks better. Hopefully we will hit like we did last year.
Our pitcher has given up 4 walks in his first 8 batters faced.
ETA: and we just yanked him
Lost to Harvard 6-3.