Home Baseball ASU series, how’s Mitch doin’?

ASU series, how’s Mitch doin’?

187

Anyone notice that Mitch paid a visit to the mound late in the loss to GCU? A first?
Bet he shared thoughts similar to this quote from the GT: “Our biggest thing is conviction and knowing you can dominate as opposed to hoping, … there’s obviously work to be done there. They know it. I know it. So that’s what we’re going to do is work.”

So, is that the biggest thing? Have he and Dorman shown you that they’re on the right track?

How ’bout the series this weekend vs ASU? Is a sweep the minimum we should expect? Before you answer, remember it’s a HOME series. And consider these #s, ASU(OSU):
SOS 69(38)……….RPI 149(12)………..winning %  44(80)

But, yeah, the true test is how the team is playing at the end of May.

Still, it’s often pointed out that good teams win the games they are supposed to.  There are tougher games ahead, and on the road.

187 COMMENTS

  1. More numbers for ya, offense is supposed to carry this team so here are the hit totals for the last 3 games: Beavs 34, Opponent 46
    Anyone heard when Pfennings will be back??

  2. The pitching is my biggest concern. Despite not having 2 of our 3 top starters, this team is still winning. If the young pitchers mature as the season progresses, the team can win P12 and get to Omaha. If not, they’ll struggle to get a top 16 seed. I’m still optimistic because this offense is good… defense too. Need to win series against ASU. Sweep is definitely possible but with our pitchers already taxed from GCU and the fact our Sunday starter is suspect, I don’t expect a sweep. I’d say there’s a 40% chance of a sweep. Mitch and Dorman have done a good job IMO… pinch hitter decisions have paid off, no stupid mistakes, aggressive base running has manufactured some runs, pitching changes have made sense

  3. I think a sweep would be great but ASU is a good baseball school and still has plenty of talent there. They might be down this year but a series win would be adequate especially given the pitching situation.

    • Listed at 6’6″ 327 lbs…thanks for the link, that was a good video, I like the players just being themselves. “What do we need to work on?” Kipper: “Punching.” Like that. Isn’t Kipper likely a guard at the next level?

      Wonder what it would take to make Michalczik highest paid Oline coach in the PAC? There were times last year when watching that line work together was amazing. Was Michalczik credited as “run game coordinator” last year too? They really need to hold onto him as long as they can. Having a line that performs as well as his is I think one key to recruiting skill players…just need Lindgren/Smith to be able to close on QBs…

    • Thing about this years team, is they pass without a purpose or so it seems. Previous teams would pass to set up easy/ open looks. This year it seems random with the only intent of running time off the shot clock. A lot of the TO’s are from careless passes vs. the old bugaboo of pressure D. SR needs to strike gold in the portal and get a true PG.

  4. Baseball needs to add more scholarships. Especially in the NIL era where football already has 85 plus all of the potential for shady side NIL deals to get walkons money for school.
    Yet an entire baseball team shares something like 11.7 scholarships split up among the roster?
    In a sport where an injury to a pitcher is often season ending or longer, there needs to be a way to build a more well rounded bullpen. 2 pitching injuries and your hopes of a postseason run are pretty much non existent, given the whacked schedule teams are forced to play in the post season.

  5. You all talk about Urban Meter and the NIL at Ohio State? Taking the shadiness to the next level. Going to pay kids for charity appearances so donors can pay them salary and write it off on the taxes.

  6. Pitching is gonna be the test this year. Having several of the few returning pitchers we had on this roster being hurt and Verberg not having his best stuff for the closing spot really hurts. Even if they’re all healthy this was a really top heavy staff for experience and was my major concern for this season. I thought I was taking crazy pills as all the pundits were saying it was our strong suit but recently it’s showing to be the weak spot with all the young arms. Plenty of time in the season for growth, etc but game 3 will be a serious coin toss and putting so much more pressure on game 1 & 2 knowing that we’ll need arms later. Sweeps are tough to begin with and I don’t see that happening vs ASU even being a home series. Would definitely be glad to take 2/3.

  7. Mitch and Dorman are doing great. Sitting at 12-3 with some solid wins against GU and UCI. Need to get 2/3 this weekend.

  8. Lineup shows McDowell gets another start, Boyd batting 2nd, Melton 3rd, Forrester cleanup. Guerra starts at 3b.

    If you’ve decided to be satisfied with 2/3 this weekend better hope for a good performance by Hjerpe; save your L for later. This is a must win.

  9. Hjerpe ends the first on 11 pitches with 3 faced. Bazanna opens the 1st with a grand slam

    4-0 with 2 outs and none on.

  10. 1
    1

    Bazanna got another try with loaded bases. 2 RBI single for his 6th RBI in the game. 6-0 Beavs, 2 out, 2 on B2nd. Tulloch gets pulled with 77 pitches in 1.66 innings. He had 13Ks last week and was the P12 pitcher of the week.

  11. Laffer? Laugher? either way

    Hjerpe averaging 12 pitches per inning…..hmm, maybe rest him at 60 and bring him back Sunday?……….JUST KIDDING

  12. Normally I’d say, let the bullpen take over from here but they are so taxed, it would be beneficial for them to throw minimal innings tonight.

  13. Bazzana at it again. 2 RBI single followed by Logan with a RBI single right after. 2 on, 1 out T4th, 15-0 beavs.

    Bazzana 3-4 with 8 RBI, holy shit lol
    Logan 2-4 with 3 RBI.

    Bases loaded again after Guerra hbp, hes 3-3 on the night reaching base 4 times. Micah Mcdowell with the bases loaded, last year he could never deliver at times like these, hoping he turns the corner now.

          • I get it but its still shocking against a P12 powerhouse like Arizona State. I don’t really expect to see any league game this lopsided ever.

          • Agree, won’t see any league game this lopsided. That’s why I’m looking for a sweep; not likely to see a weaker opponent and at home this season. ASU won’t be this weak for long, you’re right they are a traditional powerhouse program but rebuilding now.

            How ’bout Guerra tonight?……4/4 with 3 RBI’S

          • The two Freshmen are playing out of their minds at the plate tonight. Combined 7 hits, 11 RBI and reached base 8 times…in 5 innings.

      • I agree. Hes still absolutely fanning the guys but it would be nice to get some of the young guys out there. Id love to see Copem Grewe, Larson, Case, Quinn, Stuhr and Nelson to start getting some time. They are all really young and we will likely need them by the end of the season.

        Hjerpe 1 hit, 12K, 2BB on 102 pitches. 4.86 pitches per out and 8.5 pitches per K. If anyone wants to take the P12 pitcher of the week title from him they will need a hell of an outing.

  14. ASU goes to their 5th pitcher with 203 pitches on the night.

    Logan almost gets a double but a good defensive play stops his 3rd hit of the night.

  15. Trosky with his 2nd hit of the night for an RBI. 2 on 1 out B7th.

    Parker just said we had a, “three touchdown lead” lolol!

  16. If we can stack in 9 more runs this in We can have more runs than the basketball team had losses. That would be an absolutely stunning achievement

  17. Pretty incredible win but even bigger. ASU with 247 pitches and burned 5 pitchers. We burned Hjerpe as Lawson and Hibbard were only in for light duty.

    I think our odds of a sweep are way up with so many pitchers still ready to go.

  18. https://d1baseball.com/analysis/friday-digest-louisville-osus-bazzana-sec-opening-night-take-center-stage/

    2 — Player of the Day: Oregon State’s Travis Bazzana
    Let’s give a hat tip to our esteemed colleague, Coach Michael Patrick Rooney. Coming into the season, he was sky high on Oregon State freshman second baseman Travis Bazzana for a good reason. Bazzana has made a smooth transition to big-time Division I Baseball, and he was explosive Friday night in a ridiculous 21-0 win over Arizona State. Bazzana got the Beavers started in perfect fashion in the first with a grand slam, and he finished the night with *checks notes* eight RBIs and three hits. Meanwhile, how about OSU lefthanded pitcher Cooper Hjerpe? He struck out 12 and allowed just one hit in seven scoreless. That’s about as dominant as one game can be.

  19. ASU pitcher should be pretty good today. Averages about a K per inning. 25 inning, 24k, 4BB, 8 ER. Shouldn’t be getting a 15+ free passes

      • Problem is; if you go 2/3 vs one of the weakest teams in the league then you have to go 2/3 vs the best teams. Sweep and you may get by with a lost series later.

        • Sure but my expectation for league games is still a win not a sweep. I think we will win today but if we lose I’m not going to be upset.

          My expectation is also making the post season not hosting a super. If it was hosting a super then we definitely need those easier wins.

  20. This team offensively just has no weaknesses. They’re relentless and haven’t hit their peak yet with Forrester just hitting his first XBH of the season. Once he gets going hitting for more power, the offensive will be even more scary. Only real weakness on this team is starting pitching depth. Will Frisch injury really hurt. He may have ended being the team’s best pitcher. Pfennigs getting back soon will help a lot though. Hjerpe/Pfennigs/Kmatz is a real good top 3. Beyond them it gets a bit dicey but that really won’t be a huge factor until the postseason if those 3 stay healthy once Jake is back.

  21. A sweep would be big here as it gives more room for effort. ASU has to be deflated. First getting crushed and then after showing signs of life early in game two, get hammered again.

    Bullpen guys need a confidence building game. Can Townsend or another step up to be the Sunday guy, without the huge offensive support?

    • Every Sunday and weekday game is a real hard test. The starter in those games is max five innings and relievers are max 3 in best case scenarios. As the GCU series saw, the Beavs can run out of pitching quickly. The offense won’t always bail out the pitching.

      If the weekday series require a lot of arms, that affects the weekend series depth. And if the weekend starters don’t give a lot of innings, the bullpen is taxed and the weekday games suffer as well. Pretty easy to see how a vicious cycle could derail the team quickly.

      Luckily for the first two games of this series, the starters provided quality outings and only had to use three relievers so far.

      • Good points. Add in the fact that Kmatz and even Hjerpe could easily have an off night in the next several weeks. They’re not certain to keep the opponent down every time they show up.

    • Stanford? Probably, but only cause they come up before Arizona and UCLA. Those two are likely the most difficult series and they come at the end of conference.
      BTW: Stanford is a real disappointment so far. They are committing errors at three times the rate of the Beavs while scoring half the runs.

      Still hoping Pfennings returns vs Stanford. Word seems to still be “couple weeks” till he is available.

  22. stanford looked like hot garbage last night, poor base running, poor fielding and awful decisions. HC for furd is over rated.

  23. Battery today: AJ Lattery – Tanner Smith
    I’d like to see Tanner a little sharper on D than last outing; hope AJ returns to form from earlier this season.
    Go Beavs!!

  24. 48 pitches and Dorman pulls AJ, we’ll see how that works out.
    Now, can Ferrer repeat his performance vs the Anteaters?

    EDIT/ADD: Ferrer looks good, Smith gets a chance to throw to 2nd and does so with a quick transfer, avoids the high toss we saw last game.

    • Good outing for AJ, 3 free bases and 4 strikes with his longest stint at OSU so far.

      Absolutely sick throw from Smith on the strike out double play.

  25. Dorman made the right call replacing AJ with Ferrer; not sure pulling Brown and putting in Carpenter is as wise a move. Brown looked decent and Carpenter has no room for a slow start.

    • I think the frustration is that sweeps were very possible against mediocre teams and a 6-0 start would have been a hell of a lot more impressive than 4-2. The losses may not end up mattering, but then again they could.

      • SHOULD be 6-0. Back to back 9th inning meltdowns against conference bottom feeders.

        Verburg should not be the closer going forward. He’s looked terrible so far.

      • Hey mckalk….. Without divulging anything you are not comfortable with. Are your boys still involved in high school baseball? I noticed the games have started with a lot of teams in spring break tournaments.

        • Unfortunately not, my youngest switched to Rugby for a spring sport to compliment Football. He claimed it was getting too hard for him to hit a curveball this past fall season! The oldest gave up baseball before high school and focused on just soccer. He’s working out with an NAIA team currently, we are hoping he gets offered a spot. I’m really hoping there is some scholarship involved, these private school tuitions are shocking! Breaks my heart, baseball is my favorite sport.

    • 5
      1

      WBB blitzes the Pilots in the 4th quarter, so on to the WNIT sweet sixteen for what it’s worth. Seemed like a decent crowd and they get another home game.

  26. I’ll take that Sunday outing from the bullpen every time.

    Winning the series is always the primary goal. Sweeps are nice though.

    Another big game coming up in the mid week game. Can’t lose these but also they will be working with a short bullpen.

    • Bullpen shouldn’t be tooooo bad. Only guys who will be out are Kmatz, Hjerpe, Ferrer, Lattery, and Reid.

      Should be able to put something together with Lawson, Hunter, Verberg, Townsend, Carpenter, Brown, Grewe, HIbbard, Quinn, and Case. I’m sure Case would like to get rid of his 99 ERA.

      Theres a 8 game streak in 10 days after the Seattle game where we will be up against Cal, Nevada and Stanford so if we can get through Seattle with 3 or less pitchers that would be ideal. We will be missing most of the best pitchers we have though.

  27. So who is the original member?
    How’s my bracket looking? I’m just watching tape from last year’s tournament.

    Beavers>Peacocks

  28. Answering the questions above:

    Yes first user who is still an active member (though we don’t see him too frequently). It’s not Jack, and I’m not counting myself.
    Winner gets an AB coffee mug.

  29. 6
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    OT: women’s gymnastics took 3rd at Pac Championships (Utah first, Cal second) and are #13 nationally.

    FR and Olympian Jade Carey took first in all around at the meet, and is #1 nationally in all around.

  30. Top 10 oldest registered users:

    1. GWH
    2. beantownbeav
    3. GoBeavs20
    4. Joebeav
    5. dirtybeaver
    6. Eric_Beaver
    7. BeavBuff
    8. gladbeav26
    9. osbeavs
    10. Beavocalypse

    Jack didn’t even crack the top 10.

    #13 all time is still very active and might even be in this thread.

  31. Crap, so those are all the first registered users. Looking in the comments, there are older people.

    So let’s try this again: first person to ever comment on AB. There are some trolly early posts that I think might have even been a friend of mine, so I’m going with the first verified person. Hint: it’s not Jack. This guy got mad at me and left. I bet most won’t even recognize the name. The #2 earliest commenter is in this thread. Automatic legend because he moves up to the oldest active commenter.

    • 2
      1

      Number 2. Of course I am.

      Not quite but I’m probably in the top 50? I started lurking around here in 2011 or so I think.

      I started at pure-orange (hate) back in the mid 2000’s but eventually wore out my welcome there and got banned. I know, you’re all shocked.

      Guess they didn’t like the truth about Simple Jack.

      • Appropriate number for you -) Haha
        Good call on your answer to the online dating question I asked here a year ago, BTW.
        “Rule 1) If it seems too good to be true, it is.
        Rule 3) See rule #1”
        LOL is that the truth!
        You’re better than Dr. Phil…

    • Registered: December 26th, 2012 at 10:10 pm

      Fairly early date, but you’re in the low 100s. I was surprised to see NiceBeaver Oct 6 2011. Didn’t realize he was that early, but as “NCAA_Violation”.

      • If my parents donate a LOT of money to Angrybeavs, can I get a top ten ranking?
        I’m trying to get admitted to a more prestigious blog!

  32. 2
    1

    Okay, first comment that’s not a troll was by “brownale9000” who said, “I wish I could disagree. Our line play on both sides is awful. We can’t get any penetration on D and we can’t properly block on the offensive side. At this point, I’d pencil us in for 5 wins. But then again, we’ve been in this position before and come up with 9 or 10 wins. Hopeful but realistic. Yikes.”

    Pretty classic.

    There is one before it, but I don’t recognize this person so I’m not sure I’m counting it. “Erik” said, “Saying we have a pash rush, but it’s not very good is like saying. i have a great penis, but it’s only 2 inches long. what good is it?”

    Pretty classic, too! But Brownale is the guy I was referring to above since I don’t remember Erik. Brownale was good, but he got really mad and left. That was a bummer.

    FrustratedBeav, SadBeav, and G Joubert round out page 1 of comments.

  33. Mannion re-signs with the Vikings for another year. Weird quote about him:

    “So starting QB Kirk Cousins stays for 2022 and now so does Mannion, whom Cousins values.”

    Is the Kirk Cousins Whisperer?

  34. Watching the tournament I just don’t see how OSU can’t put together a better program than all of these much smaller schools. I question Tinkles eye for talent. There are some really talented kids on these mid major teams that should be able to get to a pac 12 school.

    • Tournament performance can be deceptive, though (as we learned last year). Just because those teams have looked good in the game or two you’ve seen of them doesn’t mean their programs are multi-year juggernauts.

      Lucky for WT, he’s coaching in an era where he can do a total roster revamp in one season and enter next year with a different team. Then again, he took his one window with massive recruiting cachet and blew it on a bunch of other team’s scrubs who couldn’t shoot.

    • RE: talent, there’s this new recruit:
      “Oregon State added another high school recruit to its 2022 class when Mississippi guard Nick Krass committed Tuesday to the Beavers.

      Krass, a 6-foot-4 point guard who attended St. Patrick High in Biloxi, Miss., had known offers from Mississippi, Oregon State and Southern Mississippi. In March of 2021, Krass committed to Ole Miss, but decommitted last November.

      Krass was rated as a three-star prospect by On3, and unrated by 247 and Rivals.”

      https://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/2022/03/oregon-state-lands-a-commitment-from-mississippi-guard-nick-krass.html

      • A guy who can shoot! Looks very different from typical WT recruit. Basically just a perimeter guy with good size. Pretty consistent scorer in HS, but the limited offers after an SEC commitment tell me he might be a one-dimensional player.

        Light offer sheet other than Ole Miss, who might have pulled their offer.

      • Checking back in with our current class, it’s not a total train wreck. Top 2 guys seem to have starter potential. Not sure why we’re taking the other two when you can pick up experienced depth easily in the portal. Hopefully we add another PG who can spell Davis at some point.

        Bilodeau- 6’8 PF and WA Mr. Basketball. A bit undersized at PF. WSU and SLU offers.

        Rataj- 6’9 wing with good athleticism. It’s hard to judge international guys, so he could be hit or miss.

        Stevens- Super skinny, athleticism-first wing with unimpressive offer sheet

        Krass- looks like a 3pt specialist who will come off the bench.

          • That’s not because the player didn’t work out. Assuming you’re referring to JaQuori. Great kid that got time in the NBA this year. He struggled to process the terrorist attack the team experienced in Spain and WT basically told him to suck it up. Plus the family dynamics on the team with the coaches sons was not healthy in his opinion. He got along great with Tres and Stevie but WT was a total POS. JM was also all business… no alcohol, weed, unhealthy food. No girls or late nights. Go to class. He didn’t fit in to the party culture on the team.

          • WT recruited JM twice – recruited him initially, JMc committed to Washington but WT convinced him to decommit to come to OSU. Perhaps Tinkle can spot talent but he seems to thwart it at best or ruin it at worst.

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