Home Baseball Baseball conference opener, SPRING FOOTBALL

Baseball conference opener, SPRING FOOTBALL

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Big weekend all around, FB spring game Saturday (PAC12 has blocked out 1-3pm for broadcast), WBB plays at 2pm Friday, and of course, Baseball today at 6 on PAC12 from Arizona State.
The conference schedule seems favorable in that the arms should be rested and have no mid-week game before hosting Arizona next weekend. Also seems nice to face the weaker of the two AZ schools first.
GO BEAVS!

169 COMMENTS

  1. Against TCU they struck out a team high of 13, but also gave up a team high of 4 homeruns. Not sure if that was in the same game or not.

  2. ASU pitcher at 52 pitches and plenty of pick-off throws; does ASU have the counterpart to “Too Late Nate”? Not suggesting the hook just now but this guy isn’t likely to last past 5?, 6?
    Beavs follow their recent trend of LOB=Hits or nearly so. After 2 they have 3 hits and 4 LOB.

  3. I can understand trying to get a good batting matchup against a certain pitcher….but Kwan shouldn’t be batting 2nd with a .214 avg. His OBP is so low it’s not in the PAC12 stats log.

          • Considering the Beavs staff had a team ERA of 1.20 going into tonight’s game and have only given up more than 2 runs in 3 of their 16 games? Fat chance of that happening

        • Of course it doesn’t matter as long as the staff puts up zeros. While pitching is the obvious strength of this team there are bound to be “off” nights, I don’t think Casey is pinning his hopes for Omaha on the idea that there is no reason to be concerned about leaving an average of 10 or more on base over the last 5 games.
          Nice to see some of the middle of the order get hits tonight; here’s hoping Adley gets going soon.

          • Sometimes the other teams pitcher is very good too. OSU is lucky he had a shaky first inning. It’s good to have a Friday night guy that you can consistently count on to put up zeroes and keep you in the game. Heimlich’s ERA after tonight is now 0.25.

            I doubt ASU’s next two starters are as good as the guy they rolled out there tonight. Bottom line to take the conference title is to win every series. Take two of three on the road and get a few sweeps at home against the bottom feeders. I like their chances after tonight’s win.

          • I think you’ve put your finger on the key to this season…….very few teams are gonna have better Sat/Sun guys than the Beavs.

          • LOB for the last three seasons combined was 88.4% of hits; so far this year it is 90.9%. The last few games have been worse.

            Things do seem to run in streaks, so maybe the trend over the last five games will soon return to a more typical mean. But, yes, if the pitching staff can never give up more than 2 runs then it isn’t worthy of concern.
            A big “if” IMHO.

          • Seems like leaving alot of guys on base at least means we’re getting guys on base. I’d imagine teams that play alot of small ball, strand more guys than more of the power hitting type teams. Would be nice if we had that Conforto/Davis type cleanup guy out there, but that doesn’t seem to be a big part of this year’s team.

    • They won, have a 15-1 record and 10 game winning streak. They aren’t going to rap out 15 hits and 10 runs every game. What more do you guys want? Complaining after a win? Sheesh.

        • No it’s not. It’s just unreasonable to expect it. I think they can do it all year long then flub two games in the post-season.

          I call it the Gonzaga Syndrome.

      • I agree with your points above Whiskey on ways to win the conference and get to Omaha, but remember we have a biased selection committee, so need leave all doubt out of it. Heinrich had more than his share of tight situations last night (at least for his standards), he is one walk and a long ball from being tied up. Don’t get me wrong, the pitching is stellar, but the clutch hitting is below average. I look at it this way, for every two hits, you should have at least one run on the board — Beavs had 8 hits last night so should of had 4 runs. The RBI production has been subpar.

        • Fuck the selection committee. Win the conference and you get the automatic berth. Then the decision is already made

    • Until tonight, the middle of the order was the primary problem; the bottom of the order was doing pretty well. Guys like Gretler and Grenier have usually been in the bottom of the order and each have 10 RBI’s.
      It comes down to timely hitting when opportunities are there.

      As far as “complaining after a win” I think many fear a luck o the beavs scenario where the pitching slips up and other areas of the game aren’t able to cover that up.

  4. Donohue doubles in a pair, Harrison with an infield single drives in Donohue after he advanced on a passed ball. I guess they decided to hit with RISP today for some of you. 6-0 Beavs in the 6th.

    Edit: 7-0 now. Beavs rolling this ASSU pitcher and their 3rd baseman

      • Sure hope Kwan can contribute at the plate at some point, because he’s a dam good outfielder. Glad to see another hitter in the two hole (Donahue with 2 RBI) in there tonight, really kept the base runners moving and crossing home plate.
        Three of the runs were unearned, but overall lots of hits and good at-bats.

        • Donahue is a smart player, I think Casey often uses him as an example of a guy who is always focused and giving it his best. I remember him doing a good job at 2nd last season. Both he and Kwan can be valuable in the short game (once Kwan settles in).

          I’m still waiting for Adley to live up to his potential with the bat, was hoping that triple vs Ball St would open the dam. Gotta believe he’ll come around….sooner or later.

          Lots of good at bats tonight, and lots of smart baserunning.

    • “Will he play in the spring game, today? If so, maybe he’s too spread out for now . . . ” On Saturday, 18 March 2017 – I would say it’s nearly impossible.

  5. I missed most of the game, but fuck Carter Aldrete? dropping a sure double play and then a pick off throw. He’s embarrassing his Dad, and me as a Giants fan.

  6. At spring game now. Would say at first glance there are more recruits/families here than actual fans in the seats.
    (Meaning not very many fans in this place right now)

  7. Went to Pac-12 Oregon and the game isn’t working. They have aome stupid replay of commercials every time you launch it then it goes to Pac-12 Sports Report. Barnes’ first fail IMO. Team is coming iff a strong finish and they couldn’t even het coverage on the Pac-12 National neteork and the Oregon one isn’t even showing it when you log into Pac-12 Now and select it. Big wasted opportunity for Oregon State. What a mess.

      • Its in now but wasn’t up to 1:40 when I kept trying. So a bunch of Luton and others soing pretty good offensively was missed. This was thru Pac-12 Now. When I finally had it on the first half just ended so missed the main show. 2nd half is much more 2nd and 3rd string.

        Seems like it was a Pac-12 Network Larry Scoyt pronlem but doesn’t help Oregon State. These games need to be on National Channel. We got pushed aside for gymnastics. How does that get Oregon State more recognition and taken seriously as a program that wants to be on the rise?

        In the future Barnes needs to insist all Spring Games are on the main Pac-12 Network. I don’t even see any replay later in the day or anything unlike Colorado who will be on at 3pm.

  8. Someone keep me updated on the spring game, the streams aren’t working. Been seeing tweets that luton is lighting it up though

  9. Beavs win 4-0, sweep ASSU in Phoenix. 1 run in 27 innings? I guess it’s unreasonable to expect the great pitching to continue? And I guess Jake Thompson still stinks

  10. Biggest test of the season next week for baseball. Top ten Arizona comes rolling into town.

    This is where the season went off the rails last year.

  11. Jake got into a couple jams and did not have his patented meltdowns. Mental catching up to the physical? Good so far.
    Gambrell last night had some nasty stuff. Team is loaded.

    OT: Nike U fired their volleyball coach and his wife who is his asst. coach. Rumors? He was supposed to be a meanie at prior jobs.

  12. Anyone else notice D1baseball.com scores presentation change? They used to display scores for top 25 in order of ranking. But now that the Beavs are closing in on #1 again, they’I’ve changed to display the top 25 scores by game start time? Wtf. Beavs were ranked 2 this week yet I have to scroll to the bottom to find them. Wtf

  13. #1 Florida State has dropped 3 out of 4 since the last D1 baseball poll came out, Beavers all but guaranteed to move up to the top rank. Nice work Beavs!

  14. Beavs 17-1 in baseball. Sweeping a historic powerhouse like ASU is always a great thing, even if they stink this year. 3-0 in PAC is a huge start. Could be a magic season. Thompson is fine so far, but I think he will be an issue once we play better PAC teams. Casey better have a good Plan B every game he starts.

    • Better PAC teams? Look whose coming to Corvallis next weekend.
      U of A put 19 on the Bruins today and the latest stats I found shows they have 5 everyday hitters batting 400+. Their pitching looks good (so far) too, a couple starters under 1.4 ERA.
      This weekend is gonna be a good test, glad it is at Corvallis.

      Sorry, didn’t read Bill and jockitch above before I posted.

      • UCLA lost to UA 4-3 tonight. Guess how many LOB UCLA had…. that’s right 11, ….to UA’s 6. UA is gonna be a real good series. I think Beavs take it 2-1, the last game will be huge.

  15. I don’t care how you slice it, the pitching has been f-ing unbelievable through 18 games. I still think they are playing with a Casey inspired chip on their shoulder from that unfathomable snub last season. Go Beavs!

    • I think you are right, he won’t let anyone forget how they felt last year. Just hope the team isn’t so tight that they don’t do well in Seattle in April.

  16. Went to the spring game today. Didnt get to see every snap because I was with my toddler today, and if you’ve never tried to watch a game that way, let me just say I don’t recommend it.

    My impressions:
    Very low fan turnout. It was a wet morning but dry all during the game. Even sunny at times. But the fans just didnt turn out. Is it spring break? Didnt see many students even.

    Game was worth watching if they out it on replay on the Pac12 network (sounded like there were issues with the live broadcast?)

    Luton and McM both ran the offense the majority of the first half. Defense wasnt allowed to make much contact with qbs or ball carriers, so it was tough to get a read on how well the QB’s would perform under real pressure, since they knew they had a safety bubble around them today.
    That being said, Luton’s arm is legit. He does a good job of getring rid of the ball quickly and he seemed to be good at spreading it around the field. That TD catch early by Hodgins was pretty spectacular. Kid has great hands and snagged a ball that most guys wouldnt catch. He also showed great technique. He just looks like a D1 football player already.
    The offense with Luton moved more quickly and efficiently from what I could observe, although it was more pass heavy.
    Whem McM was in control, the offense was more methodical and run based. He seemed to have a good day throwing. I havent looked at stats yet, but i dont think he turned it over. Came close a couple times though.
    Honestly, the offense just felt more effective with Luton at QB, but it wasn’t bad with MCM at QB. I think he would be best in those situations where we wsmt to control time of posession.
    Luton turned it over twice i think. The first one was inexplainable. He was under duress and dropping back, amd instead of throwing it away, he just chucked it up in the air at mid field. It basically had a 50/50 shot of being picked, and the defense got it.
    The next INT was a deep throw for the end zone before halftime that Grant picked off nicely.
    The first TO was just careless, but easily fixable, so I don’t think it’s a sign of things to come.
    The second seemed to be a risky pass but likely because time was running down on the half.

    Nall is a beast. But contact against him was very limited. Pierce also looked good.
    Jarmon really made some nice plays downfield, plus had a gimmee wide open TD drop (at least i think it was Jarmon)
    He should have a huge year, based on what i saw today.
    Also, Xavier Hawkins is abit of a forgotten name, bit i though he made some nice plays at receiver. Guy has some great speed.
    Our tight ends are all really big guys. Matagi especially. He looked like an extra blocking lineman more than a TE.

    Hard to get a read on the defense because they had to hold up on so many plays. Receivers were often open though. Not sure if that is a good sign for our offense or a bad sign for our defense.

    Garretson got some first team reps. He was serviceable too, but also looked like he still not(understandably) 100% physically.

    Oline had a few false starts, but otherwise I didn’t see anything particularly good or bad that stood out.

    Craig Evans should add to our Dline when he arrives, but our current Dline got pretty good pressure against our 2nd string OL. Didnt notice it as much against our 1st string.

    Saw Brian Grant at the game. My dad didnt realize it but was taking a leak side by side with Grant at the urinals. Brush with fame?

    Lots of recruits at the game. Hodgins commited today. We may get another today or tomorrow.

    Also, at the end of the game, a guy walked by me and commented that my kid was cute, then introduced himself as MCM Sr. Just a random interaction. Really nice guy. You could tell he was proud to be there watching his son play in person.

    His son is in for a battle this summer though. Luton really did look legit to me today, and if I had to guess who starts at Game 1, it will probably be Luton. But McM is a really solid option #2. In other words, I think we are going to be feeling spoiled by our QB play this year compared to our past 2 seasons. These guys might just give McGiven some job security.

    (Sorry for any typos in the above, i’m on my cell and typing quickly.)

    Oh yeah, i sent angry a construction pic of the front of valley. It’s bigger than i was imagining and should look cool when finished, but right now it’s hard to picture how they will hide some of the older surfaces so they dont detract from the new facade.
    Also, the valley roof is still an eyesore. The rest of the new patio area looks nice and clean with white paint on the walls and black graphics, but then that rusty colored roof with the tied down black banner covering it just look incomplete.
    Paint it white or black and be done with it. Skip the orange.

  17. OT: Did any AB’s apply to be on the fan experience group?
    The Beav website needs an event calendar where one can see all the events going on at a single glance. They have made their site worse the past few years.

  18. It sounds like both QBs can run the offense pretty well, with different styles and tempo. That seems like a good thing but I’m a little concerned that GA will get sucked into the idea of using both QBs rather than focusing the offense around one of them. Didn’t we have that same situation early in year one?

  19. Few locals went to the Spring Game for a couple of reasons. Weather, maybe, but we’re used to the rain and that’s not a real deterrent. Mostly I think it’s a lack of connection with the team and fans. Practices are closed, there’s been no exposure to the community, and so kids and locals just don’t know the team personally like we did with Mike Riley. Fans used to be able to go to practice, stand right on the sides with the players, hear everything, ( not always good) and feel like part of it. Going to practices was an event in itself. I live a mile from Protho/Truax and haven’t seen hide nor hair of our football team since the Civil War.

    The Spring game also used to be a bigger deal for the community, a 5/10 k family run, lots of game day kids games set up, autographs and pictures before the game and no raunchy rap music blaring forth over the PA. I like Coach Anderson and I’m glad he’s here, but whether he realizes it or not, he’s destroyed the Spring Game experience.

    • Having it early in the spring doesn’t help attendance, but so what. He has a better reason then 5k runs and playgrounds for kids by doing it this way.

    • Was the music raunchy?
      I feel like the ac/dc lyrics that got played were every bit as raunchy as any of the rap music. Run DMC/Aerosmith isn’t exactly edgy anymore.

      I do think the weather played a part, and I’m sure having closed practices is annoying to a handful of fans, but it’s not like those practices ever drew a huge crowd back in the Riley days.
      The last two Andersen era spring games had much better attendance. The big difference was this year it was cold and rainy all week leading up to game time. Also, having the game on tv probably makes it easy for people to plan to skip it

  20. Recruits are usually photographed with cheerleaders. I would like to see them photographed with some of OSU’s just as beautiful women athletes.Although, perhaps the women athletes have chosen not to do that.

    • I think the women athletes are busy playing in the ncaa tournament or on the road in a softball series. What does that leave? Valleyball, golf and swimming? T&F?

    • not today but here are the re-broadcast schedule for the Spring game

      Mon 3/20 2:00-4:00pm 778 P12ORHD

      Tue 3/2 14:00-6:00am778 P12ORHD

      Tue 3/21 9:30-11:30pm 778 P12ORHD

      Wed 3/22 6:30-8:30am 778 P12ORHD

      Fri 3/24 3:00-5:00pm 778 P12ORHD

      Fri 3/24 10:00-12:00am 778 P12ORHD

      Tue 3/28 7:00-9:00pm 778 P12ORHD

  21. My thoughts on Luton,

    He has the best arm on the team. Can fit ball into tight spaces.

    But the int he threw was awful. In a real game that would have cost most likely a touchdown. So it appears his issue will be decision making. I’m guessing the plan will be run the ball on first and second and hope for a short 3rd down.

    MM looked steady, a lot more confident in his reads. But you can see a noticable difference in arm strength to Luton.

    Hard to project Luton to live game action since the spring game was fairly light. But if he’s shown good decision making in practice then he’ll get the nod. I still feel MM has earned the right to start the season.

    • I also don’t think that Luton would have won any games that the team lost last year. He’s not that much of a difference maker.

      The biggest difference maker will be two things. Defense and the health of Nall.

      Nall would have made the difference in the Utah game.

      • Luton’s arm makes us a deep threat team. Last year, most of the season , any pass over 15 yards felt like a wasted attempt. Remember those wobblers Garretson would throw?
        If Luton can stretch the field, that will make Nall even more dangerous as defenses wont be able to stack the box on us as easily.
        Mcmaryion was ok on the deep ball, plus his legs make him a bit more of a run option threat, so that is definitely a plus with him at QB

    • He doesn’t have a lot of experience throwing the ball but for the past season in JC.

      Luckily, there’s some good OSU defenders to help him adjust to PAC-level play. Then he’ll have to adjust in league with whatever playing time he gets. But, he’ll get to go up against a FR all-american CB, anbd others.

      He’ll throw picks in PAC play if he starts or gets significant playing time, but his JC experience suggests he’ll learn and improve along the way.

      And if McM is the starter, great. Give it t the guy who makes the best decisions.

  22. Am I late to the party? Did anyone else know that Luton had been suffering from a stomach ailment? I don’t think it’s insignificant that the problem caused him to lose 20 lbs. Sounds like it has been resolved? I am in the camp with others who have said this team will probably need all three QB’s at some point during the season. Good to have the experience with McM and DG and even Luton has played in D-1 games.

  23. Snapping didn’t seem to be an issue but there was a clear difference between Houston and the backup. Houston’s snaps had a nice velocity on them. The backup was more of a flip where the ball hung up in the air for a split second longer.

    There were not too many bad snaps.

  24. I was at the spring game as well. The atmospherics (literally and figuratively) were down from previous years. I too was struck by how few people were there, but then in the morning it was cold and rainy and I’m sure that depressed turnout. Count me among those who did not appreciate the constant blare of pop music. Yes it helped “fill” a mostly empty stadium but it was quite distracting.

    As for the football, which is the main thing, Luton only helped his prospects to emerge as the starter by the time the season starts. He has the physique reminiscent of DA and Mannion but far more agile afoot that both and a quicker release than both. Accurate throwing with nice zip. it’s clear that he already has good rapport with Hodgins. You could see his first pick coming from a mile away, or in my case, thirty yards away as he was flushed out of the pocket to his right and then threw back across his body to his left to the middle of the field where football canon tell us an LB or DB will be laying in wait to pick it. Check. Poor judgment, as someone above noted, but hardly a trend at this point.

    McMaryon has very much improved as a QB as well. He’s very adaptable and makes better reads and throws than heretofore. Spread the ball around more than Luton who seemed to be looking for Hodgins a lot, though I don’t mean to suggest he was “locking on” with his reads.

    Garretson looked tiny out on the field. Was the least accurate in his throws but damn he is a good runner to the outside. In sum, I think we’ve come a long way from this stage two years ago when QB’s leaving the programs in droves, or were being driven out, as the case may be. Andersen has lots of options, which are always good to have, and in case of injury we’ve got serviceable depth.

    I feel better about reaching a 6 win threshold based on what I saw yesterday.

  25. From L to R:
    Brandel, Delp, Houston, Lavaka, Moore

    On pass pro, Moore was broken down once, but he looked pretty good. Most of the breaks came in the A gap, so Houston has some work to do. But the team as a whole looked really good on run blocking.

    Hodgins is better than advertised. He looks like an upperclassman ready for a breakout season.

    I know it’s just spring ball, but a forward flip onto your tailbone at a 3/4 trot? Really? Your capacity to avoid injury is what?

    Both QBs held the ball a count too long about half the time. MM has stopped his start-stop-reset routine, though. Now he just squeezes the ball until he sees his throw. And he looks lighter in the pocket and quicker on the run. He needs to spend the summer working with his K, learning how to slide.

    Luton makes up for his timing with a strong arm. But he will be that much better when he just trusts his receivers, all of whom looked solid.

    AP stood out as someone who can’t go less than full speed. I love the attitude, but there were a couple times when he played past the whistle and ran full bore at a defender who was stopping on the whistle. As I cringed at both impacts, he bounced off the defender and ended up on his can like he ran headlong into a brick wall. Both those incidents got chuckles.

    It was pretty obvious the D was holding back. They’re going to be really good this year. And it looks like that’s because of their size and speed. They look more and more like a machine. I can see them playing downhill a lot this season.

    And the O is the same on the size part. DA was broader than Luton is now. But Luton isn’t a small person. And he didn’t look like DA did with his O, towering above the huddle. Maybe that’s because of the visual effect of having skill players like Nall, Villy and Hodgins standing around him. But even the O-line looked bigger and more athletic than DA’s O-line.

    • completely concur with Jack that Hodgins is better than advertised; even as a four star guy. In fact, I can’t remember a newcomer looking this polished/comfortable in role in a spring game in the past decade or more.

  26. An immovable object is about to meet an unstoppable force.

    Arizona leads the nation in batting avg and runs scored. OSU leads the nation in ERA.

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