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Wake Forest 2023 baseball season thread (Deacs end historic season with extra inning loss to LSU: Final record 54-12 and top 4 finish nationally)

I don't see the problem.

Skenes has given up 2 runs in 4 of his last 5 starts.

Lowder has started 17 games this year and the opposing team has scored 2 or less total runs in 10 of those games. In games vs. ranked opponents that Lowder has started they've scored 0 (#17 Miami), 0 (#8 Louisville), 0 (#17 BC) & 2 (#8 Stanford.)

Score the 2 runs that Skenes himself has given up more often than not the past month, and based on Lowder's starts this year that will be enough.
 
Verse 1:
The ballparks come alive, the sun shines so bright,
It's time to celebrate, under the floodlights.
Wake Forest Baseball, a team with great might,
Led by their pitcher, Rhett Lowder, pure dynamite.

Chorus:
One shining moment, it's Wake Forest's time,
Rhett Lowder on the mound, his pitches so sublime.
From curveballs to sliders, he's got it all,
Striking out batters, he'll make you feel so small.

Verse 2:
Inning after inning, Lowder dominates,
His fastball's blazing, he leaves opponents in their wake.
Batters swing and miss, their hopes start to fade,
Rhett Lowder's presence, a force not to evade.

Chorus:
One shining moment, it's Wake Forest's time,
Rhett Lowder on the mound, his pitches so sublime.
From curveballs to sliders, he's got it all,
Striking out batters, he'll make you feel so small.

Bridge:
Through sweat and tears, they've worked so hard,
Wake Forest Baseball, a team that's unmarred.
And in the midst of the game, Lowder's on fire,
His passion and skill, a true diamond's desire.

Chorus:
One shining moment, it's Wake Forest's time,
Rhett Lowder on the mound, his pitches so sublime.
From curveballs to sliders, he's got it all,
Striking out batters, he'll make you feel so small.

Verse 3:
As the season goes on, victories pile high,
Wake Forest Baseball reaches for the sky.
And in the championship, Lowder takes the stand,
His final pitch, a perfect strikeout command.

Chorus:
One shining moment, it's Wake Forest's time,
Rhett Lowder on the mound, his pitches so sublime.
From curveballs to sliders, he's got it all,
Striking out batters, he'll make you feel so small.

Outro:
Wake Forest Baseball, champions so grand,
Rhett Lowder's legacy forever will stand.
In the annals of baseball, their story will be told,
A shining moment, a triumph to behold!
 
if we want to talk some baseball:

the "just gotta swing!!" contingent is pretty uninformed, imo. that's just not how successful hitters approach their at bats.

i know hank aaron aways gets quoted, "Guessing what the pitcher is going to throw is 80% of being a successful hitter. The other 20% is just execution," but it's largely true. there is a reason that hitters perform so much better in hitters counts than pitchers counts

i think there are definitely some improvements to our approach we can make, and being more protective with 2 strikes and with men on base does make sense (although it's not like we didn't pick up several strikeouts swinging at balls out of the strike zone)

but in an 0-0 count, you are always gonna look for one pitch -- and if you are looking for a slider but get a FB right down the pipe, swinging is not gonna do you any good. same thing with swinging at pitcher's pitchers in advantageous counts. interestingly, a huge part of our success on the mound this year has been our ability to throw offspeed pitches in typical fastball counts.

i do think we've been guessing the wrong pitch pretty often, but walter did say in his press conference (and i agree) that it seems like LSUs pitchers either throw balls or really good pitchers pitches.

at the end of the day, despite cold bats, we still left 12 men on base yesterday, which is usually just a function of luck. small tweaks to our 2 strike approach probably makes sense, but otherwise i think our offense will still produce moving forward.
 
buckets said:
didn't LSU pitch counter to the scouting report last night as well?
Click to expand...

definitely sounded like it when the freshman threw the first pitch fastball down the pipe to brock, who was obviously sitting on slider. which makes sense because that's exactly what i was hoping brock would do in my head.

which kind of speaks to the point about baseball being like chess, not just fast reaction times.


even the most notorious "see the ball and hit the ball" type hitters have a pretty clear at the plate when you hear them talk about it in detail.
 
Last edited:
IAppreciateIt said:
if we want to talk some baseball:

the "just gotta swing!!" contingent is pretty uninformed, imo. that's just not how successful hitters approach their at bats.

i know hank aaron aways gets quoted, "Guessing what the pitcher is going to throw is 80% of being a successful hitter. The other 20% is just execution," but it's largely true. there is a reason that hitters perform so much better in hitters counts than pitchers counts

i think there are definitely some improvements to our approach we can make, and being more protective with 2 strikes and with men on base does make sense (although it's not like we didn't pick up several strikeouts swinging at balls out of the strike zone)

but in an 0-0 count, you are always gonna look for one pitch -- and if you are looking for a slider but get a FB right down the pipe, swinging is not gonna do you any good. same thing with swinging at pitcher's pitchers in advantageous counts. interestingly, a huge part of our success on the mound this year has been our ability to throw offspeed pitches in typical fastball counts.

i do think we've been guessing the wrong pitch pretty often, but walter did say in his press conference (and i agree) that it seems like LSUs pitchers either throw balls or really good pitchers pitches.

at the end of the day, despite cold bats, we still left 12 men on base yesterday, which is usually just a function of luck. small tweaks to our 2 strike approach probably makes sense, but otherwise i think our offense will still produce moving forward.
Click to expand...
Yep. The only one I’m baffled about from yesterday was Brock watching strike 3 in that AB with a runner on 3rd and 1 out. We had to get that run in.
 
P. Bennett back to the 2 hole would be good, he's been swinging it well, though seems like more of a potential double play possibility.

Mentioned it yesterday, but my maybe a little out of left field lineup adjustments would be either Corona behind Wilken giving us L/R through the first six (potentially through 8 if you move Bennett to 2 and play Cecere), which always just seems nice.

Or I'd be tempted to move Kurtz to 2 and everybody up a spot. But I dunno. We had opportunities.
 
In less than six hours, Demon Deacons from here will join others from around the world, and you will be watching the most important baseball battle in the history of our university.

"University" - that word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can’t be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interest. Perhaps it’s fate that today is Rhett Lowder day and you will once again be fighting for our freedom. Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution, but from annihilation. We’re fighting for our right to live, to exist.

And should we win the day, Rhett Lowder day will no longer be known as a Wake Forest holiday, but as the day when the world declared in one voice, we will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We’re going to live on! We’re going to survive! Today, we celebrate Rhett Lowder day!
 
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