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Arizona @ Oregon State

165

Tough two series to end the season. Anyone have confidence in Mitch rallying the boys? We need to at least break even vs these two top 15 programs. 4-2 would be a win. I think 2-4 is the most likely outcome.

May 21 (Fri) 6:00 PM Home Arizona Corvallis, OR

May 22 (Sat) 6:00 PM Home Arizona Corvallis, OR

May 23 (Sun) 12:00 PM Home Arizona Corvallis, OR

165 COMMENTS

    • Doesn’t seem like a loss with his injury history and lack of conditions. He was mostly about potential as opposed to results.

      Wish him well, maybe M will motivate him, but I suspect he’s little more than a bit player there.

  1. 4
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    This team beats itself pretty often. If they put it together for 6 games they could win all 6. Based on the last 4 games they could also lose all 6. Just enjoy the rollercoaster I guess.

  2. Looking at the pitching stats for AZ…looks like Yeskie’s boys are having a down year. Hopefully the beavs get some momo going this weekend.

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    Hard to argue with “2-4 is the most likely outcome”, but this could get uglier very quickly. Tonight is the key and Yeskie’s old students** are one of the big factors. As posted previously, AZ has been HBP more than any PAC12 team; and they come in with a BA 50 pts higher than the Beavs (against a schedule rated 20pts more difficult than what the Beavs have faced).

    Oh, and they’ve scored an avg of 2.8 more runs/game.

    Anything but a solid win tonight and I’d say that 2 wins total over AZ/Tree is tops.

    **Mully, Abel, Pfennigs, Burns, Mundt, Verburg……did I miss any?

  4. 7
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    2-4 is the most likely outcome. 1-5 is also possible.

    Despite what other posters think the Beavs are currently a solid 2 seed in a regional due to conference RPI, team RPI, SOS and honestly? Some clout for being a national power.

    2-4 puts them at 16-14 in a top heavy conference with a high RPI. They’ll be solidly in. 1-5 slips to bubble but still probably in. Lose them all things get dicey. A 7 game losing streak and losing conference record would not help matters.

    In the end it doesn’t matter as this team is not getting out of any regional and 2 straight losses is the most probable outcome.

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    need to go 4-2 or risk not making tourney. 3-3 on the bubble. 2-4 staying home. i’ve been high on this team all year… maybe overly optimistic because i truly believe they’re talented enough to have won the conference. had they taken one more from UCI and Ducks, won the first game against UCLA and ASU, and not lost against UP, they’d be a lock for the tourney and still in contention to win P12. Easy to say they could have 5 more wins with better management of pitching staff or base coaching. but that’s baseball and it’s a fine line between good, great and disappointment. shoulda, woulda, coulda. my hunch is we’ll go 3-3 at best and be left on outside looking in. we’ve left the SEC/ACC/ESPN selection committee too many reasons to leave us out of the field… that said, i’d love to see us make the tourney and get placed in regional with Ducks. i’d love to see us playing them again with house money

  6. Would Abel be a better reliever at this point? Not sure who a better starter would be but he doesn’t have the stamina.

  7. once again, Dorman leaves a faltering starter in too long. Should have pulled Abel after the second walk. We can point to Kevin’s shortcomings I suppose, but the more important point is that he has no business being the Friday night starter (that’s on Canham). His Friday starts put the Beavs in a hole every series.

  8. It has become axiomatic on this site about how Beav baseball fans were spoiled by those teams from 2016-19, and that’s usually followed by a reference to Madrigal, Larnarch, Rutschman and the like. All true. But following this year’s crew, and suffering through game after game where bases on balls are more common than peanuts shucks on the stadium floor, I think it’s the likes of Andrew Moore, Drew Rasmussen, Luke Heimlich that we miss more.

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    Someone earlier wrote that this team just kills themselves.
    Nailed it. Three walks led to a 4-1 deficit after all 3 scored. Get it back even and the same thing happens again. I’m sorry but if you’re walking guys with reckless abandon? You shouldn’t be out there.

    Thanks Mitch. Thanks Rich. You buttholes got handed the keys to a Ferrari with one simple instruction. Dont crash it.

    FFS

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        He inherited a Ferrari, with 2 blown tires and an empty gas tank. It’s not like the roster was anywhere near the quality of the 2018 season after the interim coach Bailey period.

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    Ballgame right there. 10 runs on only 6 fucking hits?

    Dorman needs to be shown the door at the end of the season. And if Mitch doesn’t have the balls to do it,, he needs to go. The amount of walks and HBP is ridiculous and has killed them all season long.. its not getting better.

    Thanks, but no thanks.

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    Nate Yeskie must be loving this pitching performance from the other dugout. Dorman’s staff this year is the worst in the modern era of Beaver baseball. Just awful. They almost seem to be playing bad out of spite. It will be interesting to see if Canham cuts him loose.

    • Thats the frustrating part. Abel, Mulholland, Verdberg. All vets. And all have regressed and gotten worse. Thats not by accident and tells you all you need to know about Dorfman.

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        I’m starting to feel that way too.

        The better question to ask though is why did Oregon St hire a pitching coach from Geand fucking Canyon? Or wherever it was he came from.

        This is Oregon St. A national power and top 20 program. Thats the best you could get??? Cause I’m not buying that.

        Color me not impressed with this coaching staff.

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    Yeskie looks so much more cool, calm and collected when he visits the mound compared to Canham. Mitch visits the mound, puts in his guy, and two pitches later the other team is scoring 3 runs on a stand up double and then a few pieces later a home run. 4.runs score before the team can get 1 more out to end the inning. Becoming a bad joke.

    • I remember when walks weren’t tolerated. Now you can walk three in a row late in the game! Maybe Dorman gives participation trophies so the kids feel good about themselves?

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        I remember a certain time when we had a pitching coach worth two squirts of piss came out to the mound during a game, took the ball from a struggling pitcher and said…

        “Get your head in the game clown shoe”

        Pitcher then was then promptly removed for someone else.

        I know how nickname was too late Nate, but I long for those days…

  13. From azdesertswarm:

    “ The Wildcats drew 11 walks against the best pitching staff in the Pac-12, with seven of those free passes coming around to score in a 12-4 win at Oregon State.

    Arizona had only three hits through the first seven innings yet still had a 6-4 lead. That’s because the Wildcats loaded the bases with walks three times, bringing all three home in the fifth to take a 4-1 lead and plating two more walked baserunners in the seventh.“


    The game was a homecoming for UA pitching coach Nate Yeskie, who spent 11 seasons at Oregon State before coming to Tucson last year, and his impact on the Wildcat pitching staff was in full effect. Relievers Randy Abshier, TJ Nichols, Riley Cooper and Dawson Netz combined to allow two hits and a hit batter with six strikeouts over the final three innings, with the UA pitchers fanning 10 in a game for the 25th time this season.

    Arizona, which has not lost the middle game of a Pac-12 series this season, can clinch its eighth conference series with a win Saturday at 6 p.m. PT. The UA last won a series at OSU in 2012.

  14. Any chance a former beav pitcher under Yeskie would have any interest in being a pitching coach/motivator?

    If we’re gonna go the incestuous route on coaching positions might as well keep it in the fam!

        • Yeskie was never shown the door though. OSU decided he wasn’t head coaching material. Yeskie took the lateral move on his own.

          • True enough, in his mind it WAS his job though. His wife told me all about how OSU stabbed NY in the back and showed no loyalty. I’m sure they are loving this series.

          • Yeah and that makes me question his ability to be a head coach. Won’t know if OSU made a mistake or not for some time… and maybe never. UA could have no real intention of ever making their associate head coach the actual head coach.

          • You think OSU ignored Casey’s recommendation or you think Casey didn’t think his former pitching coach was HC material? Anyone ever hear the back story on that?

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            I can totally relate. My wife was pissed when Tesla passed me over for their CFO role last year, despite me thinking it was my job.

          • Truth be told, every coach’s wife that I’ve talked to, after their husband was let go, had some salty words about OSU; Jay John’s being the worst.

          • jay john was terrible, his practices were giant clusters, and thats a nice way of saying it, also who’s ever happy to be fired, or in Nate’s case being passed over

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    I agree with the general sentiment. Pitchers are not progressing, pitching management is bad. Wash repeat week to week. Pitching coach needs to go.

  16. I get the #ShowDormanTheDoor sentiment, but may as well sit back and enjoy the show, he’s not going anywhere at least until the end of the season.

    • I agree I mean there have been some head scratchers but the Beavers are 2nd in the P12 in ERA and at the end of the day earned runs are probably the most important stat to most people.

        • I don’t know college baseball stats are hard to track down. Though HBP and Walks factor into earned runs. I also imagine there is still time for the Beavers to drop a spot or two in the stats if they keep giving up over a run an inning.

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    Agree Dorman has been a letdown. Knowing what I know of Canham he isn’t going to can the guy after 1.5 covid seasons.

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    I heard the ASU announcers last week say that OSU pitching staff is leading the nation in hbp, at around 58. Combine 58 free runners with an abnormal amount of base on balls, throw in some bad fielding for unearned runs, and it explains why the Beavs are currently top ten ERA staff but not as dominant as the number seems to portray.
    In the past, a top 10 era pitching staff meant a dominant staff that could wins based on a few bunts and timely hits for a 3-2 win over and over.

    This year, the Beavs have been behind so much based on the extra runners that aren’t often reflected in the era as much.

    It was flagged early on by a few that this penchant for hitting batters is a concern and it will likely be the main reason for Beavs not making the post-season, if the next 5 games don’t go well.

  19. Anyone know what Dormans contract is? The good thing is that college baseball coaches aren’t nearly as expensive as football or basketball coaches so the buyout couldn’t be too bad.

      • Does that mean you just add to the deficit? I think when you’re leading the nation in walks, hbp, wp (not sure where they’re at in all of those) that is a big part of why the team is losing. While I don’t think mitch has been impressive that’s the biggest problem with this team and has been responsible for quite a few of the losses.

        • Oh I was just saying it as a general statement. I may be remembering wrong but I believe that baseball is our most expensive sport most years. Basketball and Football are the only profitable ones usually. That’s mostly cause they have decent tv contracts. The Basketball run this year should be a good boost

          EDIT: I think women’s basketball has also been solidly profitable with Rueck. Haven’t confirmed.

  20. You can tell Dorman wanted to pull Fritsch there after the walk but just couldn’t pull the trigger. Comebacker might have saved things.

  21. one other role reversal–back in the good ol’ days, OSU just kept putting the pressure on the other teams waiting for them to fold. Now it’s the other way around.

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    Boy did they really need that win yesterday. And always with drama. Moved them off the bubble for now.

    Secured at least a 500 record in conference play. A win today secures their spot in the tourney, no matter what happens vs Stanford. Lose today and they’ll need to win at least one vs Stanford to stay off the bubble. But in most cases they are in the tourney with the possibility of falling out vs needing to win to get in. Other teams need to do some work to be considered.

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      With an RPI of 21 and SOS of 19, this team is nowhere near the bubble and only playing teams above them in RPI.

  23. Nice win yesterday. Holding the Cats to just a run was an unexpected surprise.

    Hjerpe pitched his best game to date as a beav. Thought Mully was gonna blow it for him in the 9th.

    Cmon beavs. Prove me wrong and win this series today.

  24. Pfennings with a brilliant outing. However he got hung out there too long. Should’ve been pulled after the first or second hitter got on base.

  25. 2
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    5-1 lead blown in the 8th. Tied 5-5 headed to (edit: Bottom 8th).
    Parker sounds like he’s going to have a drink tonight.

  26. Fuck. Tied at 5.

    I would’ve gone fucking ballistic on these umps after that horseshit call in the 7th that took 2 runs off the board.

  27. And now we’re down a run. What an epic collapse this 2nd half of the season has been if we lose this series. Watkins getting pummeled. Dornan leaving him in. Time to show Dorman the door man.

  28. I started listening in B7 just soon enough to hear the Meckler double and AZ appeal to take away the 2 runs. Downhill ever since, this one isn’t on me, but I probably didn’t help, all I hear is AZ destroying poor Beaver baseball team.

  29. 3
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    Beavs lose. Terrible managing.

    Joe Casey fitting Ks to end the game. Both have been problems since game 1 (that I spotted), yet should be cemented for all to see today.

  30. Well I was expecting to go 2-4. This hurts though. Shouldn’t be losing a 5-1 lead in the 8th. The way Stanford is playing, we might not get a win down there.

  31. Whether Meckler touched first base or not, what is truly upsetting is that if you are the OSU coaching staff, Barney at first, or Canham, you have to object to that call. Get tossed out of the game. Show your team you give a damn. That’s was Arizona did, TWICE. In last night’s game, that foul pop that Claunch caught for the second out in the ninth, replays showed that the ball didn’t come with a FOOT of screen, but the Zona dugout and their head coach erupted in protest. They came close to getting the call. They caught lightning in a bottle by protesting Meckler at first.

    • The entire staff were great competitors under Casey but are unsure of how to lead college players as competitors. THey are too genteel and player oriented rather than wanting to win and allow winning to be the goal. This isn’t the first game where you wonder why there wasn’t more argument on behalf of the team/player in the face of a bad call.

      Canham should set a goal of getting tossed at least once in conference play. Lou PInella would purposely get tossed out of games to fire up his teams. I watched him lead a Reds team to a World Series and it was an us against the world mindset that serves great teams well, and even mediocre teams become much better as it can unify the focus.

      Canham has a trust issue with the team and staff if they won’t argue such egregious calls and Meckler was the only one who would know and the only one arguing but Barney and Canham were silent. UNbelievable…

  32. I expected more fire from Canham in general, not just that play. Unfortunately, looks like he’s a golly geez kind of guy. Meckler the only person showing any emotion out there.

  33. Beavs need to be on the hunt for a new pitching coach and football needs a d coordinator. Tibs and Dorman aren’t working out.

  34. What intrigues me is how many fans are ok with being avg. I’m not ready to get rid of Mitch yet, think he deserves another year at least, but I’ve seen enough of what Dorman doesn’t bring to the table to say a switch up is due in that role. I think of my job and if I made as many mistakes as this group of coaches have so far I’d be looking for a new job. So many bit batters. So many walks. Too many people left on base. Getting picked off and base running issues. Just not the attention to detail we were used to which is quite surprising given that most the staff went through the steps under Casey to learn the details. Hope they can turn this around next year instead of being middle of the pack for the first 3 years of the Canham era. yes, last year was a short season but I saw these same issues then that we’re having now.

    Are they only concerned with analytics? If so, it’s not been paying off. Not sure what analysis tells you to put a 5+ era guy in a spot with bases loaded then continue with him the next inning after he have up runs. Feel sorry for Watkins, he shouldn’t have been in that spot when you have other options in the pen.

    Still can’t quit venting. Lol. Someone has to show some emotion i guess cause the coaches sure don’t. It’s unfortunate. Gotta have your players’ back and when you don’t, they sure as hell notice. Might’ve not been the best time for Mitch to get tossed but Barney being at first could’ve taken one for the team.

  35. So, baseball, the former OSU flag bearer of high standards, is trending steeply down. Football may be on slight incline from low Riley/Andersen eras, lacks difference-making D playmakers, WBB may trend up a bit w/recent recruiting potential.

    Irrelevancy doesn’t seem far away. Leadership paying attention? This is hard to come back from.

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      Even worse seeing what ducks have done with their first year head coach. Lol. We’ve got people making excuses cause this group is new and needs to learn but damn, he’s taken that team to a top 15 ranking and we’re sitting at 6th in the PAC and 1 win above Cal. Luckily for us, Cal plays Oregon so I think we’re OK in 6th place but we likely won’t go to the tourney unless we win the Stanford series and that seems highly doubtful. And yes, if we keep staying in the middle of the PAC for another year or two, we might’ve sunk our battleship and someone truly has a rebuild on their hands.

      • Suppose lots of coaches want a job where they know they are likely to be fired if they only have a +600 regular season/+500 conference record their first year?

        • First full year. Record in the short season wasn’t great. Being in 6th place and only 1 game ahead of Cal isn’t great either. Lucky for us, Cal plays the Ducks otherwise I could see us dropping to 7th in conference after the Stanford series. I’m not on the letting Mitch go train yet, but if you have 3 or 4 season in a row where we finish mid PAC and miss the tourney you’ve got to move on. This wasn’t like a complete rebuild where someone should get 5 years to move the dial. Obviously lost Adley, some other talent to xfers, the pros, and decommits from the coaching change but that happens to good programs and yet you still see Arkansas, Miss State, and so on at the top. It should be expected that the coach of a top program deliver results. That’s part of the game, that’s why they get paid the money they do, so yes, we should expect results and they should expect to deliver them.

          If we get swept by Stanford, which is very realistic, he will be exactly .500 in conference and either in 6th or 7th place in the PAC. Also might get us knocked out of the tourney. I guess my question is, how long are you willing to go by being 6th or 7th in the PAC and not making the tourney?

  36. Apart from coaching decisions I’ve noticed an increase in the following issues:

    hit by pitch
    walks
    passed balls
    wild pitches
    batters taking called 3rd strikes
    lack of small ball bunting
    lack of clutch hitting
    bad base running

    All details that are on the players to change beyond coaches decisions but definitely reflect coaching emphasis on other things than fundamentals of the game.

  37. I remember the criticism (when there was criticism) of Pat Casey was that he overmanaged and didn’t let the players play. Oregon State still has the top fielding percentage in the conference and good defense is always a good indicator of solid coaching. They also have the second best ERA in the conference. It really does come down to the offense (where they are middle of the Pac). Second in walks earned, but dead last in number of Ks. Is this the major league philosophy of whiffing or homering that they’ve adopted?

    • I think the ERA was padded by the weaker first half of the season. If you look at the runs allowed starting with UC Irvine, we’ve been averaging 6 runs allowed per game. I haven’t ran the numbers since giving up 12 on Friday. So on paper the ERA looks good, but dig deeper and you’ll find we made hay with the sub .500 group and have been mostly outgunned when it comes to decent to great competition. Also, the amount of walks and hit batters this year has been astounding. I don’t recall us, even in our worst years under Casey, plunking and giving so many free bags to teams. Hard to win giving up at least 6 runs a game and 5+ free runners.

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