Home Baseball Baseball: Washington @ Oregon State

Baseball: Washington @ Oregon State

362

With Washington having a 125 RPI and the Beavs at home, this has to be a sweep. Anything less will be considered Mitch-the-out-athleting-extraordinaire…choking.

Speaking of which, some people chose to go pretty dark in the past thread…pretty dark. Lighten up, Beavos.

Go Beavs!

362 COMMENTS

  1. 19

    Credit to Mitch: the aggressive baserunning thing is showing up on the stat sheet.

    Beavs lead the conference in SB’s, 2B’s, and 3B’s.

    • 20

      Aggressive baserunnig, as promised (by Mitch), puts pressure on the opponent which goes beyond the easily quantified. So far it has proven out on a cost/benefit basis.
      Doesn’t hurt that Mitch has recruited several “plus speed” players.
      One of my favorite aspects of the game.

      • Yup, Melton turned a single into a triple when Zaga errored trying to prevent the steal.

        Gipson has the offensive reigns this year and that trust has been rewarded big time.

      • After watching/listening to nearly every game I’m confident in my statement: So far it has proven out on a cost/benefit basis

  2. 18
    2

    Actually Angry, it seems to me that you’ve been somewhat on the doom and disaster train here lately and particularly after Mitch. Perhaps I’m wrong.

  3. Townsend had a crap first inning but hung tough and gave up only 2 hits in 3 innings after that. Only 2 hits given up by the relievers as well. Maybe they’ve found a few more guys? Once Pfennings builds up some arm strength, we will have some depth. Hopefully we can get some of the less experienced pitchers some action against UW and Utah.

  4. A player I’d forgotten about with the defensive side of the ball is Shippen. Is he going to contribute this year? I had high hopes for him but haven’t heard his names mentioned much.

    • Shippen was listed in Carter Bahns two deep projection after spring. McCartan and Chatfield could both have breakout years at each end. Fisher and Speights in the middle and the corners have good talent. I really like our D. With 2-3 scholarships open, hopefully we’re snooping around for an O and D lineman to add before fall.

      • 35
        2

        You might want to get more informed. Your entrenchment on your Mitch opinion is leaking you look silly.

        If we were just out athleting everyone then why do the bats go silent for long stretches. Wouldn’t supreme talent always bat well?

        Our starting pitchers at the start of the year were Hjerpe, Pfennigs, and Kmatz. We have lost 2 games (Stanford for Hjerpe and Cal for Kmatz) with our starting pitching. All the other loses are Sunday or midweek where most teams will struggle. In fact the best team in OSU history lost three regular season games that were games 1 or 2 in a series.

        The only stat you can really directly attribute to coaching is errors, welp were #1 there and not by a small amount.

        You projected that the program would continue to slide under Mitch and we would become a foot note as we stopped being of any national significance. Well we’re consensus top 5 all season with a strong RPI so seems like that one doesn’t track.

        Out athleting? Seriously? We lost 9 pitchers to injury or moving on that were significant to our success last season. Claunch, Ober and Froemke all move on which you said was Mitch losing the team. Weird that a dude that is fading into obscurity and has lost the team can bring in upgrades to those three players. I guess being a great recruiter is a negative? If we are out athleting that’s a credit to Mitch.

        We are losing midweek and Sunday games because we lost our 2nd best pitcher and have been developing a bullpen in a serious hurry. Most of our losses have been Verberg or Townsend who you would have thought would be ready to fill that void.

        Guess the players are just super athletes winning in spite of their shit coaches that they don’t respect.

  5. 22
    1

    One thing to say about the Mario comparison is that he did actually win the conference 2 times, a Rose Bowl appearances/, a Fiesta Bowl appearance in 4 years.

    If Canham wins the conference and gets to Omaha several times in less than 10 years, he would be a great success, and a great successor to Casey-warts and all.

    Angry can gripe as we all do about Mario, but he did produce results that were far superior than OSU in the same timeframe. I think Angry has a convenient villain in Mario, whom none of the readers care for, and in the process Angry is trying to taint Canham by association. Let Canham stand or fall on his own merits.

      • 18

        Nah. He was 5-9 in year 1 and finished 5th last year. He recruited well so he’s out-athleting teams so he’s doing well this year. Bad in-game manager, though. Players coach. In his own head, etc.

        That’s all reality. If people can’t deal, it’s on them. I’m not complaining. I’m describing reality.

    • There’s nothing to say about the Mario comparison.

      It’s apples to oranges.

      Are we seriously going to compare a shit Pac-12 football conference to baseball?

      Compare Cristobals accomplishments to Canham’s?

      PAC-12 football is garbage. PAC-12 baseball is not.

      Its a comparison in analogy only.

    • Out athleting is a red herring from the get. Baseball is not about pure athletic ability like football or basketball. Baseball is a skill and mental game. Michael Jordan was the GOAT in basketball and looked foolish in a run at Baseball. There are many examples of pitchers in the Majors that have been pedestrian for a few years then have a Cy Young season. And there are others that have done the exact opposite.
      I enjoy reading this site for football as there are many out there that know a tremendous amount more than myself, including Angry. However, I do get frustrated often during Baseball season because people on here, including Angry apply there knowledge from pure athletic sports to a sport that isn’t. That is not to say that recruiting is not important, it is important to get guys into the program that is able to execute the strategy.
      Pat Casey was a sport psychologist and a strategist and a great one. I think Mitch is growing in both and is also able to lean on the past success of the program.

  6. 9
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    Angry I think you’ve lost it. Super thin skin and irrational. There’s some really good posts here that are well thought out and logical. I don’t see them as dark or lacking a sense of humor. I’m sorry but maybe you’re just trying to be provocative and stir things up… get under peoples skin. LOL

    • 3
      3

      It isn’t a great look for a blog. Usually a blog has a primary content creator and then people who follow it and comment. Lately it’s more like a poorly formatted forum. I miss the passion and analysis but life moves on and there’s plenty of healthier pursuits than watching big money college sports slowly descend into winner takes all end game capitalism.

      Angry has been talking about it for about a decade and I’m sure it is tiring to watch it happen in slomo while trying to give a shit on a blog.

        • Nah. Didn’t even do any for 4/20.

          AB went downhill the day football season ended. Same as every year. It’ll be back soon. Though, there has been a huge demand on my time in the past couple years.

  7. Did anyone go to the Spring Game, and if so, what were your impressions? I’m trying to catch up on the YT clips this morning. Not much info there, though.

    • 4
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      From YT highlights:
      -Nolan still can’t throw a catchable deep ball
      -Both Nolan and Gebbia throw wobbly passes
      -Nolan forced a lot of passes into double/triple coverage. Maybe just scrimmage psychology and not wanting to throw it away, but it was a trend.
      -Receivers really struggling to catch anything
      -OL doing a good job opening holes for the run game
      -Collins is really explosive. Not a big guy, but he gets up to top speed in a hurry.

      • Gulbranson can throw a good ball and makes good decisions but is taking to long to throw and is not experienced at reading the defense. Against the ones he probably would have been sacked a bunch.

        • First four games will say a lot about this team: v. BSU, @ Fresno, Montana State @ Portland (a highly ranked FCS team), then v. USC.

          All are winnable given a healthy beaver squad. With coaching gaffes, maybe 2-2 is realistic?

          If a bowl game becomes out of reach, i suggest starting Gulbranson the rest of the season w/a strong emphasis on using that stable of running backs.

        • 2
          1

          One of my gripes with Lindgren is sometimes he calls plays that take too long to develop. Incorporate more quick outs, wr screens, etc. You can’t always wait for guys to get down the field 20 yards.

          • It was really effective when they used Harrison on WR screens and let him use his moves to make tacklers miss. That seemed to happen more toward the end of the season. The only thing I can think of is Lindgren was trying not to overuse it.

    • Defense looks like they will be MUCH better this year. That was the main impression. Offense is more difficult to gauge. But they are returning a massive amount of experience in the QB room and are loaded at RB. We know the offensive line will be good for as long as Coach M sticks around. The biggest ? is WR and it looks like Bolden could be the guy to step up this year. But on defense they have a lot more size and length up front and a 4 man front makes WAY more sense with our personnel. You have to have huge disruptive nose tackles to run a 3 man front and we have just never really had those type of guys. Not to mention they have some really talented freshman coming in on D in the fall. I am going to risk my non-existent reputation on saying that barring a catastrophe, this will be their best defensive year under JS.

  8. 1
    1

    https://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/2022/04/oregon-state-guard-jarod-lucas-down-to-six-transfer-targets-including-washington-state-texas-am-alabama.html

    Sounds like there is potential for Lucas to come back to Oregon State. He sounds really uncertain on what he wants. But it also sounds like he wants the ball in his hands more which will happen if he stays given the lack of experience at guard. I for one am totally fine with him playing more at the point, but he has to get better at distributing. He draws a lot of attention from the defense and he needs to get better at translating that into buckets for his teammates IMO.

    • Eh, while we need bodies and experience I’m not sure this is a look the school wants. Just come hang out and even if you don’t want to be here you can always come back if you don’t find a better option. Kind of a pathetic position by Tinkle’s part and sends a bad message IMO. No problem if players want to xfer but I think it needs to be a clean split and no “takebacksies”. Seems like a liability for Tinkle too. IF he were to come back, and was unhappy again a few weeks into the season and says, nah I’m not playing anymore, really puts Tinkle in a bind.

        • Perhaps it will be common practice. Seems like having part-time players not truly wanting to be here and being bought into the program was a large part of the problems with the team this year and so why would you want to double down on it? Personally think it’s a bad message to send to other players on the team or prospective recruits.

  9. 4
    2

    Expecting for a sweep is calling for disappointment. While the Beavs are the better team, it’s never easy to sweep a conference opponent.

    Beavs pitching is still not on solid ground which reduces the chances of sweeps. The path to a sweep is for the starters to go deep into their outings. Hjerpe has shown he can go the distance. Kmatz hasn’t pitched into the 7th yet. Pfennigs is probably a 2 inning max. So at minimum the bullpen will throw 3 innings Sat and 7 innings on Sunday. If Hjerpe has a short outing, it makes the Sunday game a lot harder as they will have to go deeper into a shallow bullpen and depend on the offense the bail them out.

    • Most of us have come to expect around 6+ innings from Hjerpe; but it isn’t unusual for even an ace to have an off day. Just sayin’.

      OTOH, maybe Pfennigs can come along faster than we expect. Anyway, for the foreseeable future it seems the bats are gonna have to make up for the BP.
      Bats and base running!
      And D

      • I’m alright with Pfennigs taking his time. I’d much rather him winning games in the post season than on Sunday. If he soaks up even 2 innings that’s two innings of work Sebby, Lattery and Ferrer don’t do.

  10. As for the Mitch debate, I’d say the jury is still out with this season still going. But looking like a step forward from last year. I wouldn’t change my preseason prediction that the ceiling is supers. May change once the reg season is complete.

    • I mean even the best teams are basically never favored to make Omaha over the field in the supers so that is always a safe bet.

        • Decent chance 2 pac 12 teams get top 8 seed. I could see Beavs and Stanford. I’m not one to get carried away with a loss here and there but I really believe if we sweep UW this weekend, we’ll win the P12 which would give us a top 8 seed. Obviously a lot of tough games to end season but we could finish 7-5 in league games after UW sweep and still finish 20-10 in league play and 1-2 in non league games and finish 39-15 overall with high rpi. Plus win 1 in conference tourney and get 40 wins. That should get you a top 8 seed. This weekend is huge

          • Oregon has a very good chance to be a top 8 national seed. They’ve already played Stanford and UCLA. Their toughest series left is OSU at Goss and Arizona in Eugene to end the season. 10-5 (and tied for first) they have a very realistic chance of winning the Pac-12. Better than OSU imo due to schedule.

            They also just swept Washington in Seattle. Which is why anyone that believes OSU sweeping UW at home is an unrealistic expectation is FLAT WRONG. UW is not very good. I don’t expect OSU to sweep everyone. But sweeping the conference bottom feeders isn’t an unrealistic expectation. But whatever.

            Like it or not Mark Wasikowski was a very good hire for them and is light years better as a coach than Fatty McBurrito.

          • You’re right. Could come down to the series vs Ducks in Corvallis. I like our chances to take 2 of 3 vs Ducks because of Cooper. Looking at Ducks schedule, I’m guessing they finish 9-6 in conference in second half. I think the Beavs will finish 10-5.

  11. Angry, I lost the guitar and banjo we were talking about. Damn I hate auctions. They’re like watching Beaver football. You get invested and you think there’s a good chance things will turn out in your favor, and someone swoops in at the last minute to snatch away that victory.

  12. 1
    1

    Any of you guys who own a business seeing any signs of recession? Everyone seems paranoid about it, but I’m not seeing much data to support it other than paranoia over rate hikes (from -5%!).

    • Busier than ever in structural engineering. There is some people panicking over rates trying to get projects out fast but most of my bussiness is being driven by young families moving from big cities to central oregon and eastern Washington now that remote work has set them free. Central Oregon in particular is disassociating from the local economy with prices being driven by what people from out of the area are willing to pay. 800k for a small family home looks damn good to people making 200k plus moving from cali or Seattle.

      Seems more like panic over inflation and rates than actual economic issues driving the recession idea. Ukraine/Russia could actually be a huge help to American agriculture. I also see spending/investing on renewables absolutely exploding world wide just when big technology advances and investment in sustainable battery technilog my is kicking off. My guess is we have 2 or 3 years of weird instability followed by an interesting period of economic adjustment to new tech and ideas.

      • This, metal fabrication mostly in support of brewing, cannabis and distilleries has never missed a beat.

        I get a lot of random projects and construction based work also. People are still out there making and spending money.

    • My employee benefits firm is as busy as ever. Everyone is still hiring and there aren’t enough folks available to fill them.

      • Commercial construction is booming and doesn’t have an signs of slowing down for at least a couple /few years. More work on our books than ever before and the furthest out we have ever had project lined up

        • Shoot we’re trying to get our master bath remodeled, can barely get anyone to give us a quote,and so far the one we have had out quotes $80k. We didn’t ask for a gold plated bidet! And the other two people we have scheduled to talk to can’t get to see it until mid may.

          • Right!?!

            10 x 12 closet and bath space, rip out existing shower enclosure, replace with tiled shower, new vanity and shitter. Tile floor, reconfigure closet.

            I should have known when he walked in and dropped the name of one of our mutual customers who is one of the wealthier old timber money folks in town.

            We’ll see what the other two bids come in at.

          • Been getting bids for a basement remodel the past several months. They’ve been all over the map, but $80k seems really excessive considering ours includes a full bathroom remodel among the 1000sqft project and ours includes significant concrete cutting and plumbing reconfigurations. I feel your pain though, every contractor comes back saying materials just keep going up so its tough to bid work accurately

            Youre in Hawaii though, right? I bet everything is 1.5x what it is here in Oregon, at least

          • No, we’re in Corvallis. Just seems absurd. Seems more like “I don’t want the job’ pricing.

            I’ll be curious to see what the other two bids come in like.

      • When does behavior like this qualify as assault?

        Maybe if in the judgement of the umpire, the pitcher has intentionally thrown at a batter, the game should be stopped, and the pitcher immedialy ejected, w/batter required to stay at plate until pitcher is gone(?).

        That was quite the punch. I expect legal action will ensue.

        • I think all fighting in all sports (not including boxing and MMA of course) should be heavily discouraged through hard repercussions. I am a huge hockey fan and have to admit I enjoy a good fight once and a while in hockey. The NHL was made it a part of the game. But honestly I wish it wasn’t. What I see happening in hockey is fights for advantages. The top players become targets in an attempt to get them out of their game or out of the game altogether. College football is good about all this. You shove a guy and bam, here comes a penalty. In pro sports the penalty for fighting should be suspension and loss of pay. It is a hard thing to manage for sure. Fans love it until one of your guys gets hurt.

          • my worthless two pesos on the matter……………..

            The ruthless trash talking has gotten out of hand. Couple that with many of these athletes being thin skinned pussies that can dish it out but can’t take it and instances like this are bound to happen.

            Whatever happened to letting your play do the talking?

            “Be gracious in victory, be gracious in defeat. Without the opponent, there is no game.”

            Some of these athletes need a reminder of that statement.

        • This was a fun video to analyze.

          Both pitcher and batter were chirping after the hbp and both walked toward each other. I think the pitcher was saying the batter leaned into the pitch or had started to swing. Batter disagreed. Batter lands a big blow. Pitcher goes down. But then he gets up and attacks the runner from third who was trying to break up the fight. Then the pitcher is the one on the ground at the end with a leg injury. In summary, pitcher chirps at batter, gets punched and ends up with a leg injury.

          I’d say 90 percent of the blame is on the pitcher. Chirping after the hbp and the batter was going to first with no issue. Then for some reason attacking someone who was trying to break up the fight.

    • As of today that pitcher has been booted from the team and may be expelled from the school.

      Also I have not seen this anywhere else except from a news station in Houston that obtained a copy of the umpires report from the game……

      The batter said fuck you to the pitcher as he was between 2nd and 3rd. This is when you see the umpire pointing and walking towards him telling him to shut his mouth. The report also noted that the batter got into a verbal altercation with another pitcher after striking out earlier in the game.

      Sounds like a hot head to me.

      Not that I’m exonerating the pitchers behavior.

  13. remaining opponents current RPI (Beavs sitting at 6th)

    UW – 120
    Utah – 72
    Portland – 66
    Oregon – 4
    Arizona – 30
    UCLA – 42

    The good news is after this weekends games vs UW, there aren’t any current RPI killers left on the schedule.

  14. Is this supposed to be impressive that MBB is watching the same talent as these three other schools?

    IUPUI, Mercer, Oregon State, McKendree University are among the schools watching Griffin Elite Bordas and 94 Feet Elite.

    God help us….how much longer does Big Tinks buy out last again?

  15. Listening to the pregame interview with Mitch was maybe the most interesting coach interview I have ever heard. Here are my 3 takeaways.

    1) Mitch takes the long view on development, in game strategy and approach to the game. The way he talked about hitting and adjusting to strike zones without compromising their overall hitting strategy was fascinating. Also the way he talks about what he is watching for in players on defense and how they conduct their position when the ball is NOT in play.

    2) Mitch knows more about baseball than most people ever will. Its very obvious he is an absolute student and even researcher of the sport. His answers to Mike were detailed, instant, coherent and frankly really generous. No coach speak bullshit, all about the gears and cogs of how to play the game successfully.

    3) Mitch knows his players very very well. He knows what they are doing right now, what their potential is, how hard they are working and when they are slacking. He sees them as people first and his priority is helping them get all they can out of their career.

    if theres anyway to listen to the KEJO archives or something and take a listen everyone interested in beaver baseball should, absolutely fascinating.

  16. Gutsy or very informed call to send the runner home. Left fielder had the ball before Dukart rounded third. Terrible throw. Run on that guy all night.

  17. The shadows between the mound and home plate are pretty unforvorable right now. Ball travels from sun to shade to sun again before crossing the plate

  18. Take what the environment gives…..anytime.
    Huskies use the sun to turn it around, 3-2 dawgs……b6

    Hjerpe at 94, Dorman with a decision.

  19. If they end up dropping this series opener, oh boy. Only lost 3 straight and 6 conference games all year. Goodness. 6 outs to make a comeback.

  20. Brown is becoming pretty dependable. Nice to see at least one arm emerging in the bullpen. Too bad we had to use him up tonight.

  21. Baseball gods even out the Beavs bad luck early in the game but killer for UW as it happens in extras.

    It’ll be an interesting game tomorrow to see who is still mentally in it. Lots of emotions spent tonight by both teams. UW knocked out one of the nation’s best pitchers but could not finish the job. Beavs deflated by bad luck when Hjerpe was dominating. Having to come back in a game where they didn’t think UW had much of a chance.

  22. Watching the replay of the walk off, in the rush to get Forrester, someone got trampled and injured…they were wearing a jacket so didn’t see the name. Could not tell the severity.

  23. 4
    1

    Great win. Hot takes:

    1) Hjerpe with another outstanding game. The 3 runs were on Meckler imo, tough drop in the sun. Coop with 100 strike outs on the season.
    2) Sebby struggles and Carpenter comes in and delivers like he works for DHL. Guy was nails with amazing stuff and 87% strikes.
    3) Brown solid again.
    4) Never disrespect the Donkey, ever.

  24. Any issues with people being blocked from posting should be fixed. If that happens, don’t be a Darren and send me an indignant message. Just fill out the form and assume you got flagged by the bots for some reason.

  25. 1
    1

    Should the Beavs stop with the Reser construction and put that money into NIL deals? No way they come close to competing in the pac 12 once things really get out of hand.

  26. Good game so far. 4-0 beavs.

    Kmatz was sharp for 6.1 innings and Verberg had a really nice outing so far to clear out the 7th.

  27. Any news on who it was that got banged up in the celebration on the field last night?

    EDIT/ADD: Celebration today much more sedate than last night; more “been there”. Remember the “only one dogpile per season” team?

    • Complete with bat flip and soft jog around the basepaths………very different from Meckler’s last night. Nothing wrong with Melton’s approach given that he’s been slumping lately, but I enjoyed Meckler’s more.

      • 1
        1

        I mean. Meckler averages like 4 a season and that was a huge solo shot to tie up a game when bats were dead. Hell if a lot more exciting haha

        Speaking of wade he had 3-doubles today.

        • I may be reading too much into it, but seemed to me Meckler’s hustle around the bases was an example of joy of the game and desire to get back with his mates to celebrate.

          OTOH, Melton had more of an “it’s about me” vibe. That said, I don’t begrudge him, he’s been going through a dry spell.

          You make a good point, the circumstances of the two HR’s was night and day different.

          • 1
            2

            Melton does tend to just look bored unless he’s stealing. Idk if he’s just really reserved or kinda a dbag. Hard to say! Anyone ever talked to him?

          • Outfield is so good. Meckler been lookin the best of the 3 the last few weeks which is crazy with how well Boyd has been playing. Great problem to have.

      • I don’t care if he’s mediocre the rest of the way, glad Verburg had a strong outing in front of a good home crowd. The guy has been through a lot.

      • Parker said on one of the Gonzaga broadcasts that Verburg and the coaches were looking at film of him from a couple years ago and comparing it to film from this year. Might be something as simple as an adjustment in mechanics.

        Or something close to that.

  28. 4
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    We got to stop winning. We are becoming too much like the mariners! Pretty nice to see both teams on top of their divisions.

    • 6
      3

      Comparing us to the Mariners is quite the insult. Our trophy box actually has things. Mariners are the only team in the MLB to never play in the World Series.

          • 3
            2

            Checks out. If you aren’t following the Mariners, might be the time. Damn fun team, with a real bullpen. I think folks like you may be surprised. I like seeing good baseball and both teams are bringing that.

          • I’ve just been burned by Mariner and Giants early records soooo mannnyyy timmmeessss. I don’t really look at the mlb tell college is done.

            I also don’t really like sports with no financial parity. It’s driving me away from college football and basketball too.

  29. 1
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    Of course Craig Robinson has to do this now when we can’t even win a game. Makes our program look bad by association. Tinks suuure has his work cut out! Everyone linking him to osu wtf

  30. 3
    3

    heading into tomorrow the Beavs are all alone in first place. However, it’s Stanford’s division to lose based on remaining schedule imo…..

    at UW
    vs Cal
    at Utah
    vs USC

    Pretty weak.

    Based on the remaining schedule, I do not expect the Beavs to be a national seed. But I do expect them to be a regional host. I also agree with another poster that the super regionals is the ceiling of this team. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

    • A lot of people keep mentioning the remaining schedule but IMO, they already played their toughest opponent in Stanford and if not for Verburg struggling, they likely win that series. Arizona on the road is tough but they’ve been very shaky for a while now and UCLA hasn’t been very impressive lately either. Utah might be a stiffer test at this point. Oregon will be the toughest remaining series but they aren’t even top 75 in ERA. Beavs should be favorites in that series.

      College baseball in general doesn’t have any great teams beyond Tennessee and the Beavs have flaws but with Pfennigs back and Verburg slowly returning to past form, the CWS is absolutely this team’s ceiling. They’re the country’s second best team IMO. Other than Tennessee, there isn’t a team who match them offensively and on the mound in a series. Anything can happen in baseball and players can slump but they’ll be significant favorites in any regional or super regional. This isn’t like 2019 where the team was a 1 man show that had significant issues up and down the roster.

    • 6
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      The concept of a ceiling is weird. There no ceiling on any team that makes the post season.

      I’d say it’s a regional is expectation for our team year to year. Reasonable expectation to make a super based on our teams performance now. Omaha is fulfilling our hopes as fans but expecting it before the post season starts is just unreasonable. It’s baseball, weird shit happens all the time. Teams get hot, teams get cold.

      Finishing any season top 3 in conference and with a post season bid is a great season.

    • Definitely not Stanford’s to lose IMO. If the Beavs win today, they’d have a 2 game lead with 12 to go. If the Beavs finished 7-5 (I’d expect them to do better but let’s say they slump), Stanford would have to go 9-3 to win p12. Possible but I’d say this is the Beavs division to lose and if they win p12 they’re a lock for national seed. I’d put the Beavs odds to win p12 at >50%

  31. Dernedde returns to starting at ss today; be nice to see him shake out of the slump at the plate.
    Pfennigs gets the start, how many pitches are ya lookin’ for from him today?

  32. 11
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    Ha! Ducks lose in extras to drop the series at home to the Cougs.

    Had they not couged it in the 9th Friday night? Wazzu would’ve swept them in Eugene.

    • 15

      11-1 in the past dozen games with only loss being against #12 team in the country. Obviously a very good team. Pitching depth is a concern, but they look like a solid Top 10 team, and maybe even Top 5 to me. Mitch has made some adjustments from last year. He is moving away from the Pro model of bringing in hitters or pitchers simply based on probabilities and riding the hot hand instead. Also huge improvements in pitching with a lot fewer walks and HBP. I think he deserves a ton of credit for these adjustments, don’t you?

      • 1
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        Beside Gonzaga and Maryland, the Beavs have played the fewest games against top 50 RPI teams of any team in the top 25 and they have only gone 5-4 with all 4 losses coming at home. Over the next month we play 11 games against the Top 50 and a road series against Utah #67.

        Right now all we know is this team is winning the games it should, 25-4 against 50+ RPI teams, which is really good, but based on our recruiting that’s what we were should expect. I’d much rather be in this position than UCLA which is an impressive 10-3 against the Top 50 but lost 9 games outside the top 50.

        I think it is fair assessment by Angry to say we are “out-athlete” teams when you breakdown the wins/lose by RPI, but does an additional win against Stanford or a mid week game against Gonzaga really change the outlook of this team? or my opinion of Mitch? No, I view this team like I do a 6-0 SEC team Arkansas team ranked in the top 10 that hasn’t played Bama, LSU, Auburn or Georgia yet. End up going 11-1 and you are truly top 5 team, go 8-4 and you were over hyped.

        • These next 4 weeks will tell us who the Beavs really are. Every game from here on out…………..(current RPI in parenthesis)

          11 games vs top 50 RPI teams

          Utah (67)
          Oregon (8)
          Portland (75)
          Arizona (38)
          UCLA (40)

    • 6
      2

      Stop. It’s clear you know nothing about baseball, just stop talking about it, you’re making yourself look like an idiot.

    • Not defending the actions of the Yanks fans but that was a really stupid move by the Cleveland player climbing the wall to confront someone.

  33. This may seem to many of you a “Well, Duh”, but watching the team I think I’m seeing more confidence — more we Will beat you attitude.

    • Another thing Mitch has preached since the beginning of the season. Nice to see coaches calling their shots and then seeing them come to fruition.

      • Do I remember correctly that even Goodman could have played another year (and yes I understand that students sometimes want to get on with their lives). The fan base can kiss national championship aspirations goodbye. It ain’t going to happen with the turnover and hodge-podge teams. Rueck’s “WBB family” is not a reality in this current college hoops environment.

        • Heard Rueck was a jerk on multiple occasions this year, one in particular when a local gal from Albany was visiting. It could just be parents/players throwing dirt on him. Anyone else hear anything similar?

  34. I guess you can call this officially the beginning of the stretch run,

    at Oregon – a big preview of what’s to come. How the weekday staff holds up against a good hitting team with lots of pop is the big question. Like the second Zags game, Canham plays to win here. Will play all the starters. Outside Ferrer, all the top bullpen arms will be ready. Have to wonder if Lattery is hurt as he hasn’t pitched in over two weeks. Coin flip between Hunter and Townsend on the start. Both are coming off poor outings.

    at Utah – A team on the bubble for earning a postseason bid and at home. They define the bubble team perfectly. Swept by Oregon, lost series to UCLA, won series against UA, UW, WSU and USC. Has one of the best named players I’ve ever seen, Dakota Duffalo.

  35. 3
    1

    Despite being all over the map on predictions (too many napkins)……

    Reality is this. Just win every series 2-1 going forward. Beavs do that and they finish 21-9. Stanford would have to go 10-2 (albeit against weaker competition) to win the conference title. While they certainly could, it just doesn’t SEEM likely. Of course I say that and Stanford could go 12-0 against the bottom feeders.

    I’m a little nervous for this Utah series. They’re playing better and just took 2 of 3 at SC. I’d be happy with a series win in SLC.

    BTW, I looked at the schedule for the 3 game series.

    Friday – 10am
    Saturday – 10am
    Sunday – 6pm

    Huh? Why such a late start on Sunday????

    First, beat the fuck out of the ducks on Tuesday. Please

    • I remember a late start road Sunday game at WSU a few years ago screwed the Beavs because they had an agreement to end the game early if it got too close to time to flight time.
      WSU was ahead when they called it, but the Beavs had momentum and were poised to take the lead soon.

    • Utes share a stadium with a AAA team and have to schedule around them. Anyway, that’s Parker’s explanation for the unusual schedule; he also said that the team will stay overnight on Sunday.

  36. Lots of reasons for this Utah series to go sideways. Utes are middle of the PAC and should be a really good road test.
    I don’t see this year’s Beav team as a top 8….hope I’m wrong and they keep trending, but lots of good teams left on the schedule. That Friday night game against the Huskies is exactly what can happen to anyone at anytime — just a tough grind-it out game — which I could see the Beavs being on the losing end in at least three of the upcoming series.
    BTW, Beavs have a losing record against the top 25, so there is that.

      • 1
        1

        Kinda.

        GCU – mid week (Split the 2 game series), bubble ranked team.
        Zaga – mid week (3-1 this season against them)
        Stanford – weekend so much more weight.

        Against current D1 top 25 we’re 4-3 with one of those losses being a midweek where we threw the bottom of the bullpen.

        We won’t know for sure for a couple weeks when we face the back of the PAC schedule against very motivated teams.

        • Yeah I went off of D1Baseball. But it looks like .500 ball at worst against the remaining “tough” schedule. The Beavs were very fortunate to have the bottom half of the conference loaded at the beginning of the season to get time for recovery of the injured starting pitchers. And guess the other bright side is we know what the backups are capable of — and good experience with live fire. With Pfennigs getting stronger each game, the chances of going 2-1 each series looks really good…..
          Fluky things happen in baseball all of the time, gotta make your own luck, out-athlete AND out-coach, and this team will be fine.
          I’m OK with Mitch — he has shown that he is learning from mistakes AND not afraid to mix things up to keep opposing teams off balance. Probably the last piece for him to become great like Casey, is the psychological aspect of the game. I’m not sure on if or how Mitch is implementing this vital aspect of the game, hopefully as he matures, the psychological approach will bear fruit as it is the only piece keeping the Beavs from another Natty!

  37. 2
    1

    I’ll be happy if we close the season undefeated and by 10 run rule every game but in the event that doesn’t happen winning the remaining series will suffice. I may also be good with losing the Zona series in exchange to sweep the Ducks…cause FTD.

    The Yucks games seems like a ton of runs are going to be scored. Should have the nod in pitching but those asshats have hit 57 homers to our 33 but we draw quite a few more walks. Plate discipline will be needed for sure. Gotta get the free bags and take advantage of them cause they will hit dingers even against our top 6 or 7 pitchers. Feels like it could be a bloodbath on our relief pitchers. Interestingly, for a team with that many homers, they don’t strike out much. Best in the pac in strike outs while the Beavs are 9th. Those 2 categories are the major differences…runs, hits, etc are pretty close. They hit homers, singles and don’t strike out. We hit doubles, draw walks, swipe bags or strike out.

    • Wonder what oregon’s HR count is for home games vs away?
      They moved their fences in 10-15 feet this year, which might be aiding in their high HR count

        • Ducks: Left – 335 ft (102 m) Center – 400 ft (122 m) Right – 325 ft (99 m)

          Beavs: Left: 330 ft (101 m) L. Center: 365 ft (111 m) Center: 400 ft (122 m) R. Center: 365 ft (111 m) Right: 330 ft (101 m)

          Google didn’t give me more detailed info so not sure about left center or right center for the Ducks. Maybe it’s there but, I’m too lazy to go further. Right field is shorter I guess so in theory that could help our line-up. Regardless, 24 more is pretty significant. Really have to capitalize with our runners. Can’t strand 8 or 9 guys a game vs their offense. Might be hitting philosophy more than anything. They are also last in fly outs while Beavs are in 5th…so kind of points to focusing on power vs getting on and aggressive running. Both strategies seem to work as we’re 1 & 2 in runs with the Beavs getting 16 more. Will be interesting to see the different styles. I think in past years I’d feel much better about the Beavs since the bullpen was so strong. That’s the clear weakness in this team once you get past the top 3 relievers.

          • Those were the pk park distances they listed last year before the remodel, so wonder if some of those come down a little?. Cant find any specific info, but looks like it would be comporable to Goss. But point taken, Beavs wouldnt have better numbers in PK Park based on the dimensions

  38. Prospects Live has Hjerpe going #13 overall in their latest mock draft. Gotta love the recruiting pull of pumping out high draft picks on a yearly basis.

    Cooper Hjerpe, LHP, Oregon State

    “The Angels went awfully hard on pitching in 2021 and we expect that to take place once again in 2022. Ideally, the Angels would like to find a college arm for this spot, but as things currently stand, it’s not the most robust talent pool at the top. Still, Hjerpe is a bit of a data-darling with unicorn-type metrics in his low release and elite approach angle. He’s a polarizing prospect who will require advanced player development techniques, leveraging his unique ability to maximize his future impact. There’s an above average slider and a solid average changeup here too. If the Angels are convinced Hjerpe can start, this is a good spot and a good value. Gonzaga RHP Gabriel Hughes makes sense here too, as does Brebeuf Jesuit RHP Andrew Dutkanych if they’re willing to dip into the prep ranks. “

  39. Their March top 200 list has Melton as the #90 prospect and they say he has some of the best upside of any college upperclassmen prospect.

    • Clearly a great talent and size/frame to boot. Meckler has probably been more valuable on both sides of the ball over the last month. Kind of reminds me of Kwan in that the other outfield guys get more recognition yet clearly more than capable of being the top dog of the group.

  40. OT: USC @ OSU next year ought to be entertaining, with OSU hopefully possessing a healthy D and some confidence after last year’s victory. USC spring scrimmage:

    “In two 15-minute halves where he switched off drives with backup Miller Moss, Williams completed 10 of his 12 passes for 98 yards and threw two touchdowns. He also ran the ball twice for long gains. But it was the way he looked — from his poise, to his control in and out of the pocket, to the ease with which he did things — that bodes well for USC’s fall.

    “I don’t really get nervous,” Williams said with a chuckle when asked about his first USC appearance. “It was awesome. … We’re not even close to what we’re going to be.”

    Transfer RB Travis Dye and WR Williams apparently looked good.

  41. 1
    1

    Eggers mentions: Tuesday’s Civil War matchup between No. 2 @BeaverBaseball & No. 25 @OregonBaseball
    in Eugene is a non-league affair but will still have meaning. It’ll be interesting to see how the Beavers fare against a rival that dominated them last year, winning 5 of 6 & outscoring them 25-9.

    Guess I flushed that memory.

  42. OT: Wilner:

    “Since the end of the regular season, 243 football players have passed through the transfer portal on their way out of or into the Pac-12.

    And more could follow.

    With the May 1 transfer deadline fast approaching, we expect a handful of transfers — and perhaps multiple handfuls — in the final days before the window closes.”

    • 243 incoming transfers amounts to nearly 3 full rosters or 25% of the conference players on scholarship have changed due to transfer alone.

      It doesn’t seem sustainable. How can the schools adjust to the chaos and force some amount of sanity?

      Possible remedies/responses by schools/ADs:

      1) no more scholarships,
      2) total free agency,
      3) NIL deals for each player at signing day with strings attached and timeline penalties
      4) Conferences must either dissolve or come to agreements on trying to limit player migrations
      5) Conferences dissolve and reconfigure based on haves/have-nots as new landscape of college football
      6) College football departs from school affiliations and exists as semi-pro leagues, players are no longer amateurs
      7) Coaching staffs add NIL coordinators, General Manager, and lawyers staff to deal with transfer players, player signings and legal documentation
      8) Behind the scenes collusion among the elite coaches schools to stop the mass movement of players by not signing them once they transfer
      9) Formation of a players union of college athletes begins to demand more direct payments from school endowments

      I wonder how many of these things will happen within a few years or have begun happening behind the scenes already. College football is in trouble, other sports will not be far behind and the shine is now off of all major college athletics. I blame ESPN, SEC, and NCAA for most of the damage, but there have been uninformed people calling for players to be paid for decades and they don’t realize what it will reap/destroy in college athletics.

      Pay for play doesn’t really work for college since the variations from school to school are so vast. I suppose we can always have fond memories of a better and purer era, which can also be tainted in its own way. NIL and the transfer portal are changing college football in ways that cannot be stopped, nor does anyone really see where it will lead.

      Sports are only a diversion, and even the diversion is in peril now.

    • Football players.

      Throwing in basketball, wbb, and other sports, holy moley. Teams will look different every year. Curious to see what coaches can navigate that flux. Will money actually drive success if the coach is clueless about assembling pieces?

  43. 2
    1

    “Sports are only a diversion, and even the diversion is in peril now.”

    Agree. I said something similar a decade ago.

    One of the problems you’re pointing out is a fatal lack of leadership. Nobody can identify where this is going and lead it there in a productive way that sustains competition.

  44. 1
    2

    Conforto out for the season with shoulder surgery. Probably should have taken the qualifying offer from the Mets? Hope he bounces back and get one more big deal.

    • There’s gonna be a ton of runs scored regardless and with this pitching crew, anything outside 6 or 7 of them, is enough to cause some major nervous twitches. Hunter has had issue keeping the ball low and against a team that hits dingers that’s not a good place to miss.

  45. Ducks SS Grant was a beav signee back in 2017. Not sure if he ever made it to campus.

    Utah also has a former Beavs signee, Carter Booth. He didn’t play either.

    Both guys were in the 2019 class. Guys still with the team include Gretler, Mundt, Pfennigs, and Fuchs. Phillips was also part of the class but left for the pros after one year.

    • Sebby was shakey but got the flout. 7 balls on 10 pitches. Nice work getting the 3rd out though even if he made it more interesting by walking a guy.

    • Who’s going to be better? They ride or die with sebby for a few innings. Will need a couple more insurance runs to win this game.

      • I think Dorman is doing the right thing by pulliing Sebby even after he finally gets a K. Would be different if Beavs had a 5+ run lead.
        Carpenter on but not likely to go to the end, so another arm will be needed.

    • Sebby hits low outside corner though he doesn’t serve them up. This is a big game I think Reid had more in him.

      Where is Lattery is he going to close? I’d figured he’d start?

      huge RPI implications today

  46. OK, Beavs win. Any downside to using 6 arms? Especially both Brown and Verburg? Did the quacks make smart moves by holding back arms we’ll see later. Will seeing Brown and Verburg tonight be an advantage for quacks later? Opinions??

    • The only arm that is really done for the weekend is Hunter. Verberg can go 60+ pitches to and Sebby barely pitched. Carpenter might be shutdown but the rest can help out.

      • Agree only Hunter would be unavailable but could go Sunday in an emergency.

        Everyone else should be available on Friday.

        I wonder if Hjerpe and Kmatz go deep into their starts and Pfennigs goes a little bit longer, maybe Ferrer gets the weekday start.

    • Ducks never got the lead so they weren’t necessarily being “smart” and holding back arms. They just pitched to the situation as did the Beavs. Doesn’t impact Beavs chances vs Utah. Still lots of good options available. All but Hunter. Good road win against strong opponent. Staff held one of the P12s best offenses to 2 runs in midweek game. Beavs now 5-3 vs current top 25 teams. If Mitch could actually coach and not just win with superior athletes then we’d be 40-0.

  47. Another college sport that will become an arms race. Bummer.

    Kendall Rogers
    @KendallRogers
    I’ve said for a while baseball is going to look much different in 2-3 years.

    The NCAA transformation committee wants to 1) eliminate scholarship caps on baseball 2) eliminate coaching caps on baseball, conferences decide.

    Incredible, ground-breaking news if it happens.

  48. The scholarship caps is an interesting thing. Many MLB clubs throw in money to complete a college degree to get players to sign after their junior years in any event. And they’ve pared back the minor leagues and drafted fewer players out of high school because they would rather have more data points against stronger competition before committing to a player.

    11.7 scholarships among 27 players on a max 35 deep roster is ridiculous. Better to have 10-15 full-rides and another 10 you can portion out as players develop. Shoot, maybe MLB will even kick in some with the money they’re saving on the minor leagues now. Considering the time demands on baseball players (its pretty much a year-round sport when you include fall ball and the college summer leagues) – it’s overdue.

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