237 COMMENTS

  1. So i must confess, i went to the Oregon/Portland game in Hillsboro last night. It started raining sideways in the 2nd inning, driving about 1/3 of the 200 fans home during a short rain delay.
    Later, another delay in the 6th sent pretty much everybody else home. There were maybe 50 fans who stayed to the end. Pretty sad attendance considering it was so close to the Portland fan base.

    • That would be the non-con game where whoreton used 8 pitchers in 8 innings?
      And then, Eckert throws 102 vs the Cougs.
      Hmmm.
      No rest for the wicked??

      And what’s with the 3 E’s by the good guys?

      • Yep, my cousin was 1 of the 8. Was my first chance to see him pitch live in a college game. Sucks he only got 1 inning though, but that was the plan going in.

      • I think Eckert is at a point he can handle that load for a game where he’s also at a point he needs to gain some confidence. Heimlich was a stress. He’s topping out at around 85. And if Eckert takes his confidence forward and gives about 85 efficient pitches from here on out, I think we have enough bullpen to carry 2+ innings per game.

        We’re just down on long relief and mid-week arms. I imagine Martinek will fill one or both roles to ease back?

  2. WSU pitcher having major control issues. Throwing way off the plate, multiple wild pitches, then over corrects and almost tags the batter. Not very entertaining to watch him struggle out there

      • It’s great for those two and for Scott’s program. I was hoping one of those two would end up with the local team, the defending champion Lynx. Jamie will get to play with Rachel Banham, who went #4 in the draft. She was a one woman team for the Golden Gophers. Jamie can teach her to play D. The coach here has an aversion to it.

      • Ruth could make more by turning pro as an engineer. Avg starting salary for a mechanical engineer is 60k.

        The low pay is why so many of the WNBA players also play overseas during the offseason.

        • I feel like that “Ruth builds rockets” talk was overblown. She built some little prototype, and probably with a lot of help from the entire department. There was never any follow up to see if she was the lone builder/designer, etc. The telecasters just rolled with that story. Really bad journalism to not ask more questions and instead portray her as a “rocket scientist”. Maybe she is that gifted, but I have my doubts. Someone that gifted gets recruited out of school and makes hundreds of thousands/millions or goes to NASA. My guess is she dabbles in rockets, had help, and is smart but not a genius as portrayed. Sorry.

          • There you go. So she was on a team. Who on the team actually made the rocket? They don’t say Ruth made it, but they do write, “Hamblin herself spent about 10 hours sewing the parachutes ”

            Sewing parachutes is actually hard, but it’s not the same as building a rocket. She also got a bunch of Bs in the classroom. Basically that article confirms my suspicions.

          • Why is it overblown? She chose one of the harder programs in the school and plays basketball. Doing engineering is tough but when combined with college sports, it’s nearly impossible. A 3.85 GPA tells me there wasn’t a bunch of Bs. She graduated Summa Cum Laude.

            Engineering isn’t one of those programs that will readily make accommodations for traveling athletes. Also knocks in the impression that athletes are handed everything in school.

          • Angry have you ever sat in an upper division mechanical engineering class at OSU? It’s very difficult, dense material.

            Considering that the rocket is built on the team, EVERYONE built the rocket. Someone designed and fabricated the fuselage, someone designed and fabricated the payload mechanism, someone did as such for the payload, launch apparatus, and data collection system, and it all has to be recovered. There’s a lot that goes into designing a rocket.

            Yes, ESPN did kinda overdo it but she is an active member of the AIAA team and does contribute.

            As someone who knows how it is, color me impressed. She has a 3.8 in ME, which is better than an A- average and she takes 15+ credits in some terms when she also has basketball commitments. Ruth is the real deal.

          • Also what would she have needed to do to make the story impressive?

            Build a rocket herself instead of sewing the parachute on it.

            It’s no offense to her. I’m sure she’s smart, but she was presented as a rocket scientist/genius, and she’s just not.

          • So what is your point?

            My point is very clear: she didn’t build a rocket and she’s not a “rocket scientist”, yet that’s how she was presented. I called BS and the article above proves that correct.

          • Angry the first time this rocket building was mentioned was when the team was in LA (I think). The first mention did say she was on a team of builders, and showed pics of the launch (the team was holding cutouts of Ruths face). That story was the same story as what I posted above. Once it worked thru a few games the story evolved into ruth built and launched it by herself. She never presented it, it was Espn and pac12 networks that screwed the story after the initial airing. But to come down on her about it is kind of lame.

          • Well said, Bandit.

            Bottom line for me:
            -Ruth is a smart, well-rounded young lady who will do well in life.
            -ESPN/Media is headline oriented and not willing/able to present any significant depth.
            Pretty simple, but I’m a simple guy.

          • It’s like a rumor getting passed around, it changes over time. But broadcasters are worse because the story gets tweaked or shortened over time to fill voids in play and so on. So from a short presentation during a 30 second time out, it becomes something that it’s not. But that’s no fault to Ruth.

          • Once it worked thru a few games the story evolved into ruth built and launched it by herself. She never presented it, it was Espn and pac12 networks that screwed the story after the initial airing. But to come down on her about it is kind of lame

            I covered that in the first comment, and it should be clear reading between the lines that I’m more annoyed at the story (presented by Pac12, espn, et al) than anything Ruth did. From the first comment: “The telecasters just rolled with that story. Really bad journalism to not ask more questions and instead portray her as a “rocket scientist”.”

            Later, this:

            “It’s no offense to her. I’m sure she’s smart, but she was presented as a rocket scientist/genius, and she’s just not.”

            What exactly is your issue? She’s not a rocket scientist. Period. We were told she builds rockets…she doesn’t. What is there to argue about?

          • Hold on there.

            There’s not a rocket scientist out there who is a Goddard figure as far as rocket scientists go. They build in teams because the tech demands teams of rocket scientists to make a rocket. An experienced one can probably do that project alone. But that person was once on a team just like that once upon a time. And it would be in their nature to seek advice on design and efficiency anyway.

          • Is Ruth a rocket scientist, as portrayed by the tv networks and media?

            Yes or no question.

            I say no. She’s someone who, as far as we know, sewed a parachute onto a rocket. If she did more, great, but I think that entire story was overblown and nothing in the article Bandit’s posted suggests otherwise (if anything it confirmed my hunch).

            Ruth is a great example of a student/athlete and a fine person, but she’s not completely what the media portrayed is my only point here.

          • I’m pretty sure Pat Casey was the staff member in charge of the rocket team. And he put Ruth in charge of the parachute’s cuz she was good at it, but she could’ve filled a number of roles.

          • Saying someone isn’t a rocket scientist when they aren’t is bah humbug?

            It’s reality. No room for participation trophies.

          • Yes. technically she is. Officially she’s a mechE. But she has worked on a team that built a rocket. That makes her a rocket scientist (on a remedial level, if you like). If she were to continue in that specialization, she would become much more proficient and be considered what you would call a rocket scientist because you would know she’s getting a paycheck for it.

            But it’s not like a rocket is a plug-n-play thing. These are not off the shelf guidance, tracking, sensors and relays that go into these projects. Hell, they have to develop sensors just to make the machines that machine parts correctly on the next level.

            It’s all rather silly.

          • The article says her role in the rocket was stitching a parachute to it. That’s not a rocket scientist, in my book.

            We all agree Ruth is cool tho so maybe best to agree to disagree on whether she’s a rocket scientist. I don’t see anyone changing anyone’s mind.

        • Angry-it’s your blog, but this is where I contrast the ban drama of this week versus your “rocket” statement.

          She didn’t build the rocket, she didn’t fly it to the moon, she didn’t write the stories about it.

          She did:
          Graduate with a 3.8 in ME
          Contribute to the rocket team project
          Play a key factor in getting her BB team to the final four

          Good thing AB.com wasn’t around when I was at OSU

          Kudos to Ruth-what she did was pretty amazing in this day and age!

  3. PAC12 is way down this year in baseball. I’d imagine only two teams will make the tourney. Cal and OSU. Beavs will have to win the conference to host a regional.

  4. OT: Tubby Smith gets another job. He has really gamed the system. Good coach, but not great and a lazy recruiter. Hope he can keep his kid Saul out of the bars on Beal Street.
    ESPN? – 1 day ago
    Texas Tech coach Tubby Smith is the new men’s basketball coach at Me

  5. Grenier hitting under .100 in conference play….needs to find his way soon. And it’s not that he’s striking out a lot, he’s just not squaring it up.

    Beavs in general are hitting pretty poorly in conference. Only .241 avg.

    But with the conference so bad this year, the Beavs are still a level above most teams.

    • Grenier, with last night, is now fielding just below the team avg. .933 vs .965. In conf even worse: .889 vs .959

      Noticed too, that the entire team lags opponents in fielding percentage, both in conf and overall.

      • The hallmark of our best teams was great fielding percentage. If I remember right, the Beav championship teams had greater than .990. Barney and Kunda/Wong….a thing of beauty.
        Pitching has been lackluster too. This team is good enough to be 2nd or 3rd seed in the tournament as is — need to get better at the fielding and pitching to make a serious run.

        • World’s a bit upside down. Beavs with a top slugging percentage and a not so top fielding/pitching record. Then there’s that small ball…………

    • Jake Thompson losing to lowly Washington. Eek.
      Pat Casey doesn’t make roster errors, so it’s all good — keep throwing Thompson out there!

      • Careful, the PC police are gonna grill you for that.
        To be fair, no pitcher would be in good shape tonight since WSU has a no hitter through 7.

        Speaking of grilling. Grilling up 8lbs of carne asada as we speak. Smells nice in my backyard right now…

  6. Wow…..outside of one timely home run, the hitting was below average, and the pitching and fielding sucked today — at this rate, Beavs gonna have to score 7+ runs to keep up.

  7. I just got a redirect with the old ICANN page. Low level stuff.

    Just thought you might want to know. It was from a google hyperlink. So I don’t know if it was in google or embedded. The easier hack ould be google.

  8. So way OT, but I need some new sneakers, and don’t want to go with Nike. Can you guys give me recommendations for a sneaker that has high build quality and will not fall apart under normal use?

    • I went to under armour from ASICS and nike. For me they last longer and I am on my feet 8+ hours a day for work. I also use an insert, don’t remember the name but they are bright green. My wife buys them for me . I go thru 2 pairs of shoes and 1 insert per year.

        • Yes, I have workout/sporting shoes, go through a pair a year. I have work sneakers (running shoes) I go through 2 pairs a year. And I have a pair of treadmill running shoes (they are 2 years old). All are under armour. shop for them online or in sports stores. Don’t get them in the outlets, they are outlet specific in most cases, or close variations of the normal shoes. They are the only ones I’ve had bad luck with falling apart. I usually try them on at Dicks, then buy from amazon.

    • Do you plan on exercising in these sneakers, and if so what is typical? Also wide or narrow foot? And lastly you have to figure if you over or under pronate.

      • I walk, cycle, and play catch/sports in them. I’m a size 11/M.
        I pronate but I don’t think overly so. I also strike with heal first (I’m basing this on my current wear pattern).

        Thanks.

        • Go with Saucony, maybe Puma or New Balance. You’re lucky. Sounds like any brand sneaker will fit that foot. Personally I’m very limited to brands that match my super wide foot and strong tenency towards the big toe.

        • It’s probable you strike heel first because some design moron who never studied podiatry decided putting an inch of wedge on the back of a shoe makes for super footwear. Think about where you want to strike as you move in a short space. It’s precisely the same for distance.

          You want to strike on the mid-sole with your weight being distributed across the toes, which can splay naturally only when you give them a properly sized toe-box. Pronation and supination could be manufactured by the very shoes you wear, not corrected by them.

          However, if you remove the wedge and are still a rearfoot striker, a lifted sole may work for you (not a heel wedge, but a 10mm+ gradient sole). Natural rearfoot strikers are rare, though. Most people would not strike with the heels first if there wasn’t that ungodly amount of extra baggage on their shoes.

          I don’t run for exercise any more. I do play hoops and run/walk trails. So I have only experience with shoes where you want to remain weight forward and balanced. In fact, there’s a need to not have a big stiffie heel with the amount of forefoot striking required for these activities. A heel wedge almost killed me one day. I will never ever wear one on a trail again.

          If you don’t care where they’re made and want selection, try Altra. I recommend SOM footwear. I’ve heard good things about Lems, but I don’t know how their uppers wear in anything but casual wear (as opposed to athletic and climatic stresses).

  9. Grenier comes up short AGAIN, fielders choice with 2 on & one out.
    And, after a Morrison line out the Beavs have left 5 in 4 innings.
    b4, 2-1 good guys.

    • Have you heard anything about Ryan Nall being injured? O-live is saying it could even impact fall practice. WTF? This team cannot buy a break.

      • On PAC-12 Network broadcast, the announcers kept saying coaches were holding him out because they already knew what he was capable of doing; no mention of injury.

      • It sounds like limit him in practice, to keep him fresher for games. Since they want him to run 25-30 carries a game, and he’s a bruiser, that might be a good idea.

      • Here’s the quote from Gina’s article mentioned

        “Though Nall is still the undisputed starter, Andersen said, the Beavers want three reliable ball-carriers. And with Nall expected to be “very limited” for the remaining three spring practices and possibly during fall camp, guys like Cook, White and incoming freshman Artavis Pierce will get meaningful reps before the season.”

        http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2016/04/oregon_state_spring_game_impac.html#incart_2box

        • There was another Gina article where she wrote that Nall “sat out with an injury”. I’m assuming not serious based on what you guys are saying. The information on Nall seems a little vague to my stunted intellect!

        • As I said above that sounds to me like coach speak for he’s injured so we can’t play him.

          Didn’t they used to say the same kind of thing about Storm Barrs-Woods and we found out after the season ended that he was injured?

          Edit

          I’ve just read the article and my first response is @#$%&! ….. 6 OL out injured!?!?!

          I’ll say it again… @#$%&!

          Then there’s the 3 RBs that were unable to go.

          Now I’m wondering how many of those injuries happened last season and how many since then? Perhaps this is an indication that conditioning and/or practices need to be reevaluated?

          Only one sack was made by a DL and that’s against mainly 2nd and 3rd string OL’s…. Hummmm

  10. LOL. Riley goes for realism and deja vu in Nebraska’s spring game.

    The defense wins the spring game, 46-41, on an interception on the final play, but fans at home missed it because BTN cut off*

  11. Remember a few weeks ago when i was questioning how they could hold a spring game on a field when there was an active construction site covering most of an endzone?

    And yet, they decided to hold the spring game on that field anyway so surely, they would put up padding around the construction area to prevent any players from running into it, right? I mean, it would only make sense to avoid any possibility of injury by making it impossible to run into the construction fencing, right?
    A few little orange cones 5 feet from the fence wouldnt be sufficient warning for players running full speed to stop running, right?

    Oh nevermind, fuck it, we’re Oregon State and this is how we role…..

    https://twitter.com/SBNation/status/721685908890619906

    • I wasn’t there but it sounded like they whistled the plays dead well before they got down that far. Maybe I was hearing things?

    • To be fair, two things to note here:

      1). That was a pick-6 so 99% of the offensive plays were going in the opposite direction away from the construction.
      2). That ‘end zone’ was actually moved up meaning the goal line started at the 10 yard line. Those soccer cones you see is the back is actually the back of the end zone.

      • Yet they still had a player run into and slip on the construction materials. Even on a full field, they pad any obstacles 5 feet from the back of an end zone (goal posts, tv camera stands)

        Maybe they thought they were taking enough measurs to prevent an accident, but they sure came close to having a guy get injured. The few hundred people in attendance know the full story, but the thousands who see this on social media see a program taking half-assed measures at player safety.

        • Sorry fellas but if a player runs 50 yards towards a fence and can’t stop in time I don’t think that’s a fence problem IMO

          • I think what nicebeaver is saying is that it’s a national perception problem. I’m sure the administration thought they had done enough to prevent injuries, but they didn’t think about how it would look to the rest of the world. That’s what’s still lacking with OSU athletics, understanding and managing national exposure and perception.

          • Wish I hadn’t read the comments in Jim Romes tweet. Someone responded with this:

            “@JaquesChris @jimrome @Pac12Network Oregon State is Oregon State. They run more pick sixes into construction than Leave It to BEAVERS reruns”

            I wonder how that guy thought he made sense, let alone how he thought that was funny. There are a lot of stupid people in this world.

    • I watched the video highlights and thought that was kind of bush league, unnecessary…..but in its own way so OSU…if it was player enthusiasm, well it went beyond that into stupid.

      Was hoping for a spring game report and perspective from SilverStream or other who might have been there in person.

      • I was at the spring game. I thought the team spirit was high, visible both on the field during the scrimmage, and afterward in the fan zone signing autographs–no repining. I’m of the opinion that in “games” like this there is really only one aspect that approximates real game action and that is play of the qb and his ability to read routes and hit receivers. As all the press reports indicate, Garretson was far and away the best, which was surprising only because the Hillsboro reviews were so discouraging. Honestly, it wasn’t a contest between him and Moran. Almost all of Moran’s throws were wobbly, but I only saw one of Garretson’s like that. Garretson was crisp, looked around the field in his check downs, and no long wind-up as reported by others, or, to offer another point of contrast, Sean Mannion. Villamin looked like a pro out there in terms of stature, and quite honestly, in his adjustment to the thrown ball. Bottom line: based on what I saw from QB play, if Garretson can stay healthy OSU has a shot at a 4 win season, minimum. Moran should definitely redshirt. He’s got a long ways to go. Looks the part, and is quite fleet afoot, but still, not the thrower Garretson is at this point. BTW: McMaryon looks both taller and more muscular from what I remember.

        • Good post, thanks for contributing that.

          Makes you wonder why people are saying Garretson is bad and Moran the best QB…

          From what I saw of their game action and/or film, Garretson is the best, then McMaryion, then Moran (good upside but raw).

          • Re: Garretson & Moran- some of us were saying that because that is how it looked at the Hillsboro scrimmage. Garretson looked bad and Moran looked great. I don’t think Moran has a single bad throw and showed a lot of poise under pressure when the pocket broke down.

            I’m glad to see Garretson putting it together, though. From that last scrimmage Moran looked far and away the best option.

  12. Saturday’s baseball game wasn’t as bad as Friday’s. We lost to a 10-20 team on Friday, but lost to a team with a slightly better record on Saturday

  13. Interesting to see OSU’s subsidy from the academic side go down this last year by more than half: http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances/

    Other notes of interest:

    – Revenue from ticket sales went up by almost $900K
    – Revenue from rights/licensing up by more than $6M–might explain reduced academic subsidy…
    – Pulled in more revenue than Utah and Wazzu

  14. anyone got a working live stream? Pac-12 and/or dish network is now screwing dish customers, we no longer get the pac-12 regional channels. When you try to watch on the pac-12 website it says you do not have access to this content, please contact your service provider. Absolute horseshit

      • Same here. I no longer get the regional feeds. Only the pac-12 main channel. I can’t even watch online anymore. Something changed recently and no one is saying shit. Dish tried telling me it’s blacked out in Oregon. Uhhh, no it’s not

          • Yep. I get the same message. You do not have access to this programming. Please contact your service provider.

            So I did. They were no help, telling me it’s blacked out and I can watch it on tape delay at 9pm. They refused to tell me what happened to the 6 regional networks and why I only get the main channel now

  15. Damn! Don’t y’all remember when a civil war was worth a thread of it’s own?
    Fehmel running out of gas with 2 down in the 4th, on comes Britton. 8-2 good guys, with runners on 1 &3 with ucks leadoff hitter up.

  16. Too late Nate, waits till Britton gives up three straight hits and a run to open the b6. 8-3 and on comes Hickey with two on and no out.

  17. Ya think Martinek would have been better prepared had he been given, say, 15 pitches vs UP when Eckert was going 102 with a big lead? Damn Straight!

    Gives up an RBI single and a FOUR PITCH WALK!
    8-7, on comes Austin Kelly…….good luck, kid.

  18. This has the feeling of one of those games that if we lose, which appears likely, puts the team in a total season long meltdown.

  19. Turned on Rockets/Warriors playoff game. Did not realize that JB Bickerstaff took over when Kevin McHale was fired. Guess I just assumed it was his dad

  20. Caleb Hamilton gives the Beavs the lead back at 9-8 in the 9th with a ground rule double driving in Cadyn Grenier. Do the Beavs have a fucking pitcher than can get 3 outs without giving up a run? Please????

      • I can’t comment as I only heard the call.

        Dish and Pac-12 network bending me over.

        Edit: Parker swears that Morrison and Hamilton both called each other off and they both stopped and the ball dropped between them. Should’ve been caught. Anyone else see it? Should it have been caught by one of those two?

        • I thought the ball should’ve been Hamilton’s all the way but Morrison looked like he was calling for it and waving Hamiton off and then at the last minute he bailed. Chalk it up to Hamilton’s first season as an outfielder. Give credit to Max, he didn’t let it get to him and he got Packard to pop out when Parkard had been the big stick of the night.

      • Official scorer is on crack. Here’s the replay. Parker was right, definitely should have been caught for the 3rd out. The left fielder should have called off the shortstop (maybe he did) as he was coming in to make the play and the shortstop should have backed off (maybe he didn’t). That is the left fielders catch to make. Total clusterfuck of an error.

        https://twitter.com/OregonBaseball/status/722293178116648960

  21. We need more Beaver Believers again. You babies act like the game was in question. We never trailed the entire game. We even spotted their best ever pitching staff 10 runs. Whatever. Ducks suck it. Go Beavs!

    • did you miss the two bad losses in Pullman over the weekend? Beavs pitching other than Travis Eckert hasn’t given much confidence lately

  22. I drove from Portland last night to PK park and watched the baseball game. I don’t think either team is going to win the conference this year, but it sure was an entertaining (and really long) game. Both of the teams showed some serious flaws.

    The ticket was reasonable price and parking was easy but I got back home so late that I’m going to be a zombie at work all day!

  23. Matt Damon, I mean Caleb H, with the pitch into the kneecap last night. That would hurt like a Mofo.
    Thank god they didn’t lose. They sure gave it the old college try.

  24. So, again I’ll ask:
    “Might a comeback win signal the opposite of the “season long meltdown” mentioned by beavergopher above?”

    Doubtful the win will do anything to improve the pitching (only Nate “pitching coach of some year” can do that??).
    But, will defensive focus and confidence at the plate be improved?
    To me, this game won’t turn things around, but an excellent (at least 2/3) series at Utah could be what does the trick.

  25. PITCHING:
    Just for grins, a (yes, small sample) comparison of the pitching performance by the Beavs/fowls:
    BB: 9/4
    SO: 4/4
    WP: 2/0
    BK: 0/1
    HBP: 1/2
    ER: 10/9

    Thanks to the “pitching coach of (what?) year”.

  26. One more, then I’ll give y’all a break.
    Regarding helmet stickers, Horowitz reports they are for practice helmets only and reflect achievement in areas beyond FB and academics. Another way Andersen emphasizes competition.

    Hunter Jarmon says, “With the old coaching staff (former coach Mike Riley) said ‘go volunteer’ but he didn’t push us,” Jarmon said. “Coach A pushes us. To be honest, no one likes to go volunteer, but when you get there it’s fun, it’s life changing, especially with kids.”
    http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/sports/2016/04/18/osu-utilizing-new-look-practice-helmets/83183080/

  27. Watched last nights game and it’s a microcosm of what this season is.

    Hitting will come through but the pitching staff doesn’t have the depth to close out games anymore. The current starters really can only go 7 at the max. More likely 5 or 6, which puts tremendous pressure on the bullpen. The depth just isn’t there. The freshman have been thrown in the fire and they are getting exposed.

    I’ve given up on this being a CWS team. They should make the tourney but there are no expectations of hosting or making any kind of run.

      • I’m amazed at the drop in quality pitches and counts. Not only that, but the key errors, and the late action of Yeskie to pull a pitcher, all contributing to rise in scoring.
        I can understand the ERA jumping a bit, not tripling. Before this last week, the ERA was hovering around 3.5 (gotta be around 5 or 6 in PAC play) — I’m afraid to look now, pushing double digits.
        Can’t control the pitching quality, but can still control errors to some extent, and pitch count. They are playing .500 ball on the road right now….I’d be surprised if they win the series in Utah — I’m not optimistic. Got Stanford, Schmucks, and UCLA at home — will lose those series if Casey can’t find a 2nd go-to pitcher.

      • Didn’t realize how young this team is….I see Travis Eckert is the ONLY senior. Jake is a bust, and Heimlich doing his thing. Don’t have stats, so not sure who is performing the least worst right now….

        Ryan Mets L/L LHP 6-1 210 So. Olympia, Wash. (North Thurston)
        Luke Heimlich L/L LHP 6-0 192 So. Puyallup, Wash. (Puyallup)
        Scotland Church R/R RHP/OF 5-9 187 Jr. Lubbock, Texas (Weatherford CC) (Lubbock Cooper)
        Christian Martinek L/L LHP 6-5 219 RFr. Beaverton, Ore. (Jesuit)
        Mitch Hickey R/R RHP 6-0 196 So. Morgan Hill, Calif. (Live Oak)
        Drew Rasmussen R/R RHP 6-1 226 So. Spokane, Wash. (Mt. Spokane)
        Bryce Fehmel R/R RHP 6-0 190 Fr. Agoura Hills, Calif. (Agoura Hills)
        Eric Parnow S/L LHP 6-0 203 Fr. Petaluma, Calif. (Casa Grande)
        Jordan Britton L/L LHP 6-2 195 Fr. Caldwell, Idaho (Caldwell)
        Travis Eckert R/R RHP 6-2 195 Sr. Austin, Texas (Clark College) (Stephen F. Austin)
        Max Engelbrekt L/L LHP 6-3 208 RJr. Seattle, Wash. (Bishop Blanchet HS)
        John Pomeroy R/R RHP 6-5 228 Jr. Mossyrock, Wash. (Mossyrock)
        Alex Smagala R/R RHP 6-0 186 RFr. Reno, Nev. (Galena)
        Tommy Paul R/R RHP 6-5 198 Fr. Sherwood, Ore. (Sherwood)
        Jake Thompson R/R RHP 6-2 205 Jr. Florence, Ore. (Siuslaw)
        Austin Kelly R/R RHP 6-3 224 Jr.

        • Guess we’ve been spoiled with guys like Jorge Reyes, Sam Gaviglio, and Andrew Moore….I don’t see anybody young on the list who has really stood out this year, they’ve all had good and bad showings and inconsistencies.
          I’d be pleasantly surprised if they won the PAC at this point….this may be one of those years where the team that does win backs into it.

  28. On the downside, it went as deep as Max on a mid-week game. And the D needs to come together. I liked the D more last year with Donahue at 2nd. Can Madrigal play 3rd?

    Any news on Cary’s rehab?

    On the upside, it’s how a mid-week game looks for P. They need the work. That’s what we’ve been saying. Now they need more. If games like this are what it takes, so be it. And remember we’re in the middle of a two week road stretch.

    Spit-balling here:

    What do we think of the insistence of putting Ice in the 4 hole for weekend series? I think it’s fine reasoning given he is one of the better bats. But I also see a tendency for our O to tire as he does over the weekend. He’s not as strong as Susac was. He’s not as technical as Jake was. I think he’s a prototypical C for the 8 spot. He can sacrifice on demand. He hits slap singles and can drive to the alleys on a fat pitch. As it is, he feasts on game one stats, does moderately well in game two then sets the mean with game three. I think less plate appearances in a series can extend his productivity. I also think he would make the back of the order more productive beyond just his abilities.

    The only solid line-up positions have been Madrigal and KJ at the 2-3. I think that changed in the two losses in Pullman. Grenier’s stale bat seemed to coincide with him being placed at lead off. But it’s hard to tell since it was only a couple games before we also met conference play. It’s probable both were major factors… along with him getting to play on the bottom of the order for all but (I think) one or two games in the 5. Can he just not hit the curve?

    Donahue at lead off seems a natural fit. And Anderson makes it seem like we never lost Hendrix. Those two as book-ends for Madrigal and KJ should be highly productive. And moving Ice back would make Nobach and Morrison more productive at the 6-7. And it looks like Casey has settled on Hamilton being in for at least his bat. His D has always been suspect, so I think he should be the DH at the 5 or 9. But if Grenier can’t hit, and Cary isn’t ready any time soon, then what’s Casey supposed to do? King and Gretler haven’t exactly stepped up… at least not consistently.

    But I do think the insistence of playing Ice at the top of the order and all the variable line-ups hurt productivity on both ends of the line-up over the weekend. We have P weaknesses that would benefit from the confidence gained from run-support. And they will get incrementally better as they get more such work.

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