The pitching match ups for the weekend look like this:
| Date | Opponent/Location | Pitchers | Time |
| 05/20 | Corvallis, OR | Sam Gaviglio (9-1, 1.85) vs Andrew Triggs (4-3, 3.68) | 5:35 p.m. |
| 05/21 | Corvallis, OR | Josh Osich (6-2, 3.46) vs Austin Wood (4-6, 5.48) | 2:05 p.m. |
| 05/22 | Corvallis, OR | TBD vs Logan Odom (4-5, 3.56) | 12:05 p.m. |
While the USC rotation looks unimpressive on paper, keep these notes in mind:
- Andrew Triggs has a 1.11 ERA in his last four Pac-10 Conference starts, allowing only four earned runs in 32 1/3 innings. He has allowed 24 hits with seven walks and 29 strikeouts during that time.
- Austin Wood is rated as the No. 26 college prospect in the nation by Baseball America.
- Logan Odom threw a complete-game three-hitter against No. 6 Arizona State on May 15.
USC has good arms, and that makes them a dangerous team.
The Beavs, meanwhile, still haven't figured out their rotation. It's discouraging to see "TBD" as Sunday's pitcher this late in the season. Nobody has stepped up and grabbed that spot. I'm still not convinced we have a #2 starter. Josh Osich has thrown just 4 quality starts in 13 tries. For perspective: James Nygren has thrown 4 in only 8 starts. It's hard to criticize Pat Casey since he has the team sitting at #2, but my knock would be that hasn't developed the starting rotation. Luckily, the bullpen has been dominant. Scott Schultz's ability to eat innings in long relief is a big deal.
Anyway, I promised not to talk about Osich and the rotation. I just can't help myself…grr.
As far as the National Seed…contrary to what some people are saying, it's still within reach despite the weak RPI. That decision will come down to humans vs computers, but as long as the polls and national writers like Fitt and Rogers remain on the Beaver's bandwagon, the committee will not pass them up. Beavs need to take 4 of 6 to cement that reality. Keep in mind that when the wins occur matters, too. The committee is biased toward teams playing well down the stretch, so losing a series would be precarious. In other words, the 4 wins need to be split between USC and Oregon. That's quite a bit of pressure (unless they're content hosting a regional). Curious to see how they handle it…
I will be watching every game as Beavers baseball is inspiring and well led under Pat Casey.
Also really want all of Beaver Nation to take special notice and appreciation of Laura Carlyle of the Women’s track team. She seems to be digging deep and could be a great track star and something of a women’s Prefontaine as she still has a lot of upside. Her spirit is starting to make me take notice and I hope she just goes for the stars as I am starting to find her one of the most inspiring and intriguing current Oregon State athletes. I will be wishing hard for her that she gives us all some incredible moments in her sport and with her true passion she continues to show Beaver Nation how even one person can shine a light for many.
Off-topic, but appreciated. I loved the coach’s comment in OregonLive noting that she hadn’t run track in high school at all and that she was having fun because it was all so new.
I’m a little worried about this series, I think they can sweep but I see USC winning a game and making things real interesting in the two wins by OSU. Ben Wetzler has been solid his last two starts. His start against Cal was great and the first 5 innings were really good against UW but then he lost some composure when they hit a couple balls hard and it became mental on the mound. He never calmed down from the beginning of the 6th until he was pulled. He needs to move passed his mental hurdles and just pitch. All season it’s been mental, it’s never been physical. He can dominate and he has shown that but other times he lets things get to him and throw him off his game. He needs to just focus and pitch. The Cal game he got over a rough first inning and gave up just 2 hits the next 7 innings. Other times he would have imploded and been rocked, he needs to show that same mental toughness each start from now on.
If Ben does have a bad outing and gets rocked on Sunday I would go with Schultz as the #3 starter. I want Ben to pitch consistently to his potential but you can’t keep waiting for that. Schultz has done a really good job with any role and would be a good starter who I would trust. Ben has been good as a long reliever though, so Schultz would be switching spots with him, which might be better when it comes to the postseason.
While he can’t do it all, now is the time for Brian Cain (the sports psych) to shine. If Casey is still using Cain I have no doubt that “young Ben” is one of the guys on his A list.
Its definitely worrisome that the starting rotation hasn’t been set by this point in the season. But more importantly the team overall needs to focus on having a killer instinct from game to game and not have anymore meltdowns like the last game at UW. USC and Oregon, despite their records, will be two of the toughest series of the season. I think they will be fine as long they keep their focus. All three games are sold out this weekend by the way. Good to see.
uh….. maybe he’s being secretive with the order and lineup? Why do you always interpret everything so cynically? Somethings things just are what they are…
Uh, because the 3rd starter has changed several times this year and there is no clear #3. It’s going to be a real shock to USC if Wetlzer pitches that game. I doubt they’ll know what to do; they’ll probably just forfeit. Yeah, that’s why the ledger reads TBD. *yawn*
If you want a none cynical reason: Casey probably is trying to figure out a way to get Gaviglio some extra rest, so he might switch the guys around.
The third starter has changed serveral times this year, it has?
The first few series of the year, it was Osich, only because he was on a pitch count. The starting three have been Sam, Josh, and Ben the overwhelming majority of the year.
There are two exceptions I can think of. 1) Easter Weekend, when Nygren pitched on Thursday to give Sam another’s day rest. 2) Not sure the series, but Shultz (Stanford maybe?) started for Wetzler on Sunday. Other then that, its been the same three all year.
The TBD on Saturday could simply be Casey wanting to see how Fri/Sat goes. If Sam or Josh get run early he has the option of bringing in Wetzler or Nygren. When you have a legit four starting pitches you can say TBD on Sunday. Like the previous poster said, sometimes things are just as cynical as you want to think they are.
Off topic, incredible story:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_MED_PARALYSIS_TREATMENT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-05-19-18-52-57
From Fitt:
Arizona State is still right in the national seed mix, but we’re demoting the Sun Devils after their series loss at Southern California. Georgia Tech made a strong push with a series win against UNC; the Sun Devils and Yellow Jackets are back-to-back in the RPI, but Tech has the better record against the top 25 (7-5 vs. 3-4). Arizona State (No. 7 in the RPI) does have a significant edge over Oregon State in the RPI after the Beavers dropped nine spots to No. 20 in the wake of their series at Washington (No. 198), which included one loss. With that in mind, we’re demoting Oregon State from the “safe” category to the “bubble,” but the Beavers still deserve a national seed over ASU because they lead the Pac-10 by two games and own a series sweep over the Devils. If OSU wins its next two series (vs. USC, at Oregon), it will win the Pac-10 and finish the season without a series loss. That should be enough to overcome the RPI shortcoming—especially since Arizona State has two series losses.
Funny that he just realized, after the Washington series, that RPI was a problem for OSU….you can see how quickly he got off ASU, too, which is why the Beavs need to win these two series.
GaTech has been playing very well, and I have a hunch they’re going to steal a NS late. I’d like to play them at some point, as one of my best buddies is a GaTech grad, and we’ve been wanting to go head to head for years.
I think GaTech is still on the outside looking in. Their only real hope was for UNC to bomb out against UVA, giving them the nod for the third NS from the ACC. It may still happen, but I think the selection committee will save UNC despite their poor play of late with a series win against UVA this late.
UVA can back in if they want to.
Florida State will be a lock with a win tonight or tomorrow. Their last series loss was UNC in early April, going 17-4 since with what the RPI considers a great schedule. They’re 9-3 in their last 12 with only one game against a team >30RPI (Jax @ 49). And they took three of four from Florida during the season.
I still don’t like the projections for the Big Xii getting two NS’s in aTm and UT. And aTm may make that decision easy with a loss at home last night to begin a series with UT which will end with two games in Austin.
Rice has a RPI of 12, and with a series sweep at Southern Miss (they won 4-0 last night) could get some RPI love. But the polls are really down on them. Probably rightly so with 17 losses to date.
Frankly, I don’t see the SEC as the great power conference the RPI has them at. Florida may be #1, but they’re 2-5 in non-con games since league play began. They won’t lose out to UK, but if they did they would be 5-6 to end the season.*
Vandy’s non-con schedule has to be by far the easiest schedule there is. I’m thinking their two one-run wins against Stanford at home in February were an anomaly. If they lose out @UGA (which looks likely) they will end the season 4-6.
And South Carolina hangs their hats on in-state wins against Clemson and Charleston and a home series against Bakersfield. If they lose out @Bama (which is also likely), they will end the season 6-6.
But all three will get a nod.
*I’m taking last 10/11/12 games according to the beginning of the series they were in with 10 to go.
To top it off, South Carolina is 2-3 in non-con road games with wins over Charleston and Wofford and losses to Furman, Clemson and The Citadel.
Florida is 1-2 in non-con road games with a win over South Florida and losses to UCF and FSU. By the way, Florida is 10-0 against FAU, N Fla, Bethune-Cookman, Miami and South Florida (8 home games/1 neutral). They are 1-6 against Jax, FSU and UCF (2 road/2neutral). Throw in a 0-7 loss to GaSouthern at home, and that’s their 11-7 non-con schedule.
As stated above. Vandy’s non-con schedule isn’t worth the effort.
Sorry, I forgot series sweeps against BC, URI and Winthrop at home for Florida for a 19-7 non-con schedule.
USC has been horrendous on the road this year. Their only road wins of note have been two at UW and one at Cal. Their other two road wins were at Riverside and at LMU. Those are hardly road games given the geography. I realize Riverside is about as far from USC as Eugene is from Corvallis, but I think being sunny and in USC territory helps. For USC, going to LMU is like the Beavs going to Philomath for a game.
USC’s only two wins in the last ten are the two they won against ASU, being outscored 76 to 38 in that span.
This would be a big let down to lose to them at this time. It’s a trap series with them maybe getting some confidence against ASU.
Nolan has our RPI moving back up to 15 after not playing during the week. A solid shut down in a pressure situation should move us back into reasonable RPI-land.
And Horton is all over the local news talking about sweeping Wazzu and the Beavs to get to the bubble and in the field.
Him saying that is beyond hilarious. Their last sweep of a three game series was @San Diego in March and San Diego isn’t exactly a good team. They expect to sweep WSU on the road and one of the best teams in the land to end the season? Horton needs to stop dreaming and put down the crack pipe. I wouldn’t be surprised if WSU wins the series and ends their dream quickly.
The Beavers will then win 2 of 3 to finish off the Ducks.
This whole national seed process is like Olympic Ice Dancing. The SEC is the Russians and the RPI is their judge. Perception tells us that they play the best baseball in the country and that drives their RPI which “proves” that they play the best baseball. Any system that puts the PAC 10 champion (assumed) that has not lost a series all year with a 13-3 record over top 25 teams and a 37-12 overall record as a bubble team is a broken system. The only saving part to the system is that you still get to go play the games even if you get screwed by not being at home.
Beavers falling down to the mid 20’s with two series wins seems unlikely now. They are up to #17 in the RPI and with Oregon at 69 they won’t hurt the Beavers much by playing them as long as the Beavers take care of business. The Beavers may not drop much in the RPI with the USC series as teams in the top 35 of the RPI whom they’ve beaten or played will be winning this weekend so their RPI’s will go up and the Beavers can hold steady with a series win or sweep around 16-18 mark.
Where did you see them at #17? They are still at #20 according to the NCAA.
It’s funny that Washington jumped 20 spots from playing the Beavs…okay, we’ll take it…USC should get a good boost, too, then.
http://www.boydsworld.com/baseball/rpi/currentrpi.html
The NCAA site doesn’t update them day-to-day as others do. Warren Nolan has them 15th in the RPI.
Probably here:
http://www.boydsworld.com/baseball/rpi/currentrpi.html
Off topic;
Wilner drops OSU to bottom of the the Pac-12 North in football. Has a bad feeling about the team/program.
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/collegesports/2011/05/20/pac-12-football-updated-projections-for-the-league-race/
I have a bad feeling about Stanford…they might ride Luck one more year, but that new coach…eh.
I can’t wait until fall camp…I think this year’s team will be frustrating as last year’s team because the OL is mostly the same, but the following year they could be great. Katz will be a senior, defense is young and fast, and the bad OL will have graduated.
Wilner’s points are weak. He clearly doesn’t follow the program closely so I’m not going to take his opinion seriously. Right now I have the 2011 team penciled for 6 wins, and that will go up/down depending on fall camp, specifically the OL.
Good. OSU athletics suck when there are high expectations.
Are you guys buying in to that 6-6 is aw shucks OK now? I saw someone on pure-orange say he thought the gap between us and Oregon would make the new expectation be 9-3 season at OSU. I don’t buy that for a second. Riley has never once raised the expectation above 6-6 as his baseline for ‘success’ and there seem to be 2 more people that think it is just fine and dandy to just hit that level. Aw shucks. What a way to recruit tough players who can’t stand losing. No wonder we couldn’t come back in a single game in 12 tries last year.
What the Hell are you going on about?
I think he’s saying that P-O has some people accepting .500 ball as good, and he wants to know if anyone here is doing the same.
?
Obviously 6-6 isn’t good enough.
I was referring more to the media and fans putting high expectations on the team not the coaches’ expectations. It seems like they can’t handle the pressure. I don’t think anyone is saying that 6-6 is successful I don’t know where you are getting that from. There is a difference between goals and expectations.
You kinda want to be at the bottom of Wilner’s early/pre-season projections, just not the very bottom. He’s decent at picking #1 and last place. But that’s because Captain Obvious could do the same. You really want to be somewhere around 7-10 in a 12 team league if you want to come in a surprising (to him) second or third with a shot at the title.
Besides, our defense is going to be good next year and better the year after. The only games that worry me about having questions in the middle?
Wisconsin and Stanford.
I think OSU can go from 6-9 wins. Losses I’m certain about are Wisconsin, Stanford and Oregon. ASU game could go either IMO, same with USC game and BYU game. BYU and USC have good QB’s so it will definitely be challenges. If they could actually with 9 games I would be pleased with the season no doubt. That could probably get them an Alamo Bowl berth which I’m sure we would all take in a heartbeat.
Win not with*
Unfortunately I see 6-6 as most likely with 5-7 as second most likely and then it is hard for me to pick between 4-8 or 7-5 next. I might barely give the nod to 7-5 but beyond that I would be very surprised. I think the aw shucks stuff is some of the worst marketing we could be promoting but Riley never says anything to try to shake it. He doesn’t seem to respond like a man enough. He probably could use a few testosterone shots but whatever. We will see what the mood is like if we struggle to go 6-6. I sadly don’t have much expectations this year.
Not helping our national respect any though. My earlier comment should have read we didn’t come back in a single game last year. (the 12 tries was not accurate as we did win a few). Still, there was a Riley article in the Eugene Register Guard today with the ‘aw shucks’ thing again which seems to be in every article written about us by outsiders. This to me is just a recipe fo mediocrity at the very best. How do you recruit the toughest and best players with such an apple pie and grandma like vibe to your program? You can’t. Why the hell Ed Ray and BDC don’t tell Riley he has to toughen up the image is beyond me. Only thing I can think is that BDC prefers less pressure also. Seems pretty darn pathetic. The Harbaugh style with tough and respected leadership that makes every player want to give their very best is the way to go. Not apple pie and hayrides and ‘aw shucks’ we made 6-6. How can any self-respecting man think this is the way to attract tough athletes with a strong expectation to win. Seems miles off from the Steeler tough attitude and vibe we used to have.
Take it all with a grain of salt. Schroeder is the one who gave Corvallis the Mayberry monicker, and he’s the only national sports writer in the state.
Wins are all that will make a difference in the end, and I’ll take “aw shucks” with wins versus “he hate me” with losses.
That some fans are content with .500 ball as a projection is on them for being idiots. If you don’t want to win, don’t play or cheer for any team. You’re energy is better spent planning new and wonderful combinations of canned foods for your next month of meals.
Yup, Jack, “wins are all that will make a difference in the end”. I too would take “aw shucks” with wins, but its kinda a chicken and egg thing. Wins are more likely to come, IMHO, with more fire from the coaching staff.
Hopefully the new coaches will lead the way and not take the easy (copy Riley) way out. I still can’t get over the multiple instances last season where Riley allowed Beavs to receive cheap shots without any response whatsoever.
Your last paragraph is right on. +1 on the canned food comparison!
You guys are way high on Stanford…Harbaugh was that team, and the new guy seems like a putz. I think they take a major step backwards…
Luck is the difference maker and Harbaugh definitely was the #1 factor why they played so tough and with such tenacity. After Luck leaves they probably will just be shooting for New Mexico Bowls like us.
And their o-line is still top notch. Martin will be a top 5 pick next year, and DeCastro and mabry aren’t exactly slouches.
Still, Stanford won’t have that “drive them into the ground, stop, dig a hole, throw them in it, cover it up and stomp on the dirt” attitude that Harbaugh delivers.
Anyways, back to tonight’s game, I think Josh Osich gets the start. They usually keep Sam on full rest so I expect to see Josh. Hopefully Josh Osich can get back on track. They will need him to. I think he has a good outing tonight. 6 or 7 IP and allows a run.
Tomorrow or Sunday I hope to see Sam back to pitching like he can. His breaking balls the last month or so haven’t looked all that good. He’s not getting quite the same sharp break and a lot of them have been up in the zone and allows the hitter to get the barrel on it. It would be nice if he got the sharp break back in his pitches and spotted his fastball better in his last two regular season starts. They need him to pitch like an ace again.
I forgot Sam pitched on Saturday last week. I guess I should be a little more peeved at Casey for pushing Wetzler a little too far on short rest.
I’m not so worried about Josh or Sam, or even Ben for five or six. I’m worried that Boyd has had two very poor outings in a row, and Bryant caught some of whatever Boyd has. I know you’ve been high on Schultz all year. And I think he finally truly earned what you’ve been dishing last weekend. Not that he’s been bad, he just hasn’t shown total domination all year. But gaining one Schultz and losing one Boyd isn’t what I want in life. I want both to lock ’em down.
What’s the line-up for tonight?
Off topic:
Benny chillin’ out in Hollywood!
(I was hoping when they said he will be in the next series of commercials that it meant he would get 2 or 3, but it might just be the one they just finished shooting for now. If so, hopefully we get another chance this year to earn him some more TV time. Maybe Beaver Nation and Benny can do what BDC can’t. Highlight and promote Oregon St.!)
http://twitter.com/#!/CollegeGameDay/status/68468258910642176
Here is the stream for those who can’t make it down for the sold out series:
http://ohlulz.com/ncaaf/flash.php?lulz=rtmp://cp98724.live.edgefcs.net:1935/live&id=orst_m-basebl@31490
It’s nice to see some fans under 70 in the crowd…
I went down to the game hoping to attend (first chance this season) only to find out it was sold out. :(
Blown oppty that inning… hope this isn’t an omen.
that pitch clearly didn’t hit him!
Here we go…Mike Parker and his “ifs”….
Mike, if you didn’t eat a napkin you wouldn’t be in the news!!
Angry, seems your opinion is pretty well set but here is my .02. As one who grew up listening to Vin Scully, I find Parker to be a much better than average announcer. His vocabulary and ability to talk about more than the mechanics of the action at hand actually remind me of Vinnie.
Working without a color man, I think some of the banter which grates on your nerves is what I appreciate as background and enhancement to a strictly play by play narrative.
I’d be curious as to who you find to be an ideal announcer.
Additionally, I try to separate Parker’s work from his alcohol problem.
Angry’s opinions are generally pretty well set.
I agree. I enjoy listening to Mike Parker in all three of the major sports.
I love Vin Scully…he’s actually my favorite.
I find Parker both whines and takes the outcome more personally than Scully. Parker has a soothing timbre and good vocabulary. His only flaw is that he’s waaay too emotionally invested, and instead of just accepting things happen in sports he has to pontificate “if” scenarios. It’s grating. Mike, we know the inning would be over if the pitcher fielded the ball…we don’t need to hear you tell us with disgust in your voice. When things are going well and the team is winning he’s good.
Haha I see what you’re saying, but common he’s a Beaver fan too and at the end of the day that’s all we usually have as Beaver fans: a lot of “what if’s”.
Parker is getting paid to be a “homer” and plays it up to the max. I’m sure this plays in a lot.
Norris obviously is on it tonight. Got the hard half of the cycle done so far.
If you can’t beat the team, might as well take out a couple of fans.
First game I’ve been able to watch this season. I usually work on Friday night. Pretty good production for college baseball.
Good play by Susac to get that out. Would have been better to make the catch, though.
Was thinking the same thing. Unnecessary drama…
I can see why the first base umpire made that call, but Stamps was safe. If one thing would improve the production, it would be a mic on the bases so you can hear the ball hitting the glove and the foot hitting the bag.
Wow, the replay shown from behind Stamps looked like he beat the throw!
Wow…watching Dunne chug around those bases…he’s pretty slow for a SS.
Keyes can date my sister anytime. Good hitting there.
That’s kind of cool what Parker said about ESPN planning on using the storyline about Ellsbury and Barney being Oregon State teammates on Sunday night for the Red Sox-Cubs game. Free national publicity for the baseball program.
Sure wish I was in Corvallis right now
:(
Gaviglio and this umpire are like oil and water. This ump doesn’t seem to be calling anything on the corners. Seems like he struggles with pitches with movement. Seems to call fastballs strikes more often than the change-ups/sinkers. Of course, the USC pitcher is having the same issue.
Stamps gotta get the bat off yer shoulder!! :(
Not sure what the strike zone is for this ump. Seems to change during at-bats.
That first pitch was a strike all evening, but he called it a ball. The second pitch was low, but called a strike.
That last pitch to Stamps was low. I can’t get a handle on this umpire with leftys at the plate. (Edit: I meant right handers.)
Basically same location as the 2-1 pitch. There’s absolutely no consistency.
He’s calling all kinds of low pitches for strikes.
How is this a sell-out? I see empty seats everywhere…
Yeah, it pisses me off. I went down there w/out a ticket hoping to get in, they said it was COMPLETELY SOLD OUT (even the bleachers). Hah. These are the season ticket holders who don’t show up for games. It’s a damn shame… they ought to let people take these seats if the bastards aren’t in by the top of the 3rd.
Nice job by Barnes to earn a lead-off walk. Reliever for USC is struggling to throw strikes. Got to make him work here.
Keyes walks and then Susac pops out and runners are on first and second and two outs. Need a clutch hit from Danny Hayes. Can’t let opportunities like this get away from them.
Susac first ball swinging, didn’t get the message re: make this reliever work.
I hate to belabor the point, but that last pitch HAD to be inside.
That pitch as rather low
Barnes didn’t know the count
Never seen so many taken 3rd strikes. The Beavs really gotta get aggressive with the bats. Geezus!
The Beavers are falling back into their bad habits. Too many called third strikes. They’re letting good pitches go by.
Nice to see Sam get his first QS in a while.
Scott Schultz coming in to relieve Gaviglio with two outs in the 7th. Gaviglio pitched fairly well after the third.
When was the last time Sam pitched without a bad inning? It feels like it’s been a few weeks. Good job to get himself out of a couple of jams, though.
Schultz does a nice job to end the 7th. I’d like to see him pitch the 8th and get the ball to Tony Bryant.
This pattern of leaving an average of over 1.5 runners on base per inning is likely to bite the Beavs at some point.
I think it’s why USC has left Mezger in. They aren’t afraid to walk a couple.
Back-to-back walks by Norris and Smith with 1 out. The Beavers need to take advantage. They’ve blown some opportunities the last few innings. Got to give the pitchers some more breathing room.
I’d say they took advantage. Hell of a good AB by Stamps.
Virginia lost its series to UNC.
Beavers should take over the #1 ranking with a series win.
Three run home run by Brian Stamps. Big at-bat there. They needed to get some runs in and he hit a bomb. That’s a nice lead for the bullpen now.
Ya gotta be happy for Stamps, he struggled at the plate early on, but always keeps his head in the game.
All by itself, Brian Stamps’s intense energy has elevated the game – and the score.
Interesting listening to Parker give the instructions on the highlights between innings. He obviously thinks the Beavs aare done producing any more highlights tonight?
More likely he thinks this was the decisive one.
Matt Boyd comes in and gets a double play to end the top of the 8th.
Do the regionals start the weekend immediately following the last weekend of Pac 10 play?
Yup. Super Regionals start the weekend after that and the next weekend the CWS starts.
I’m so pumped for the post season!
Expectation creates great sorrows.
Me too. Should be exciting. I will be attending Regionals and hopefully a Super Regional and the CWS as long as the Beavers advance.
I’ll be attending part of the CWS if they get there. We should have a get together.
Definitely. Hopefully they make it to Omaha though. I’ve never been to Omaha or the CWS and I’ve been wanting to go for a while.
Beavers win 7-2. Nice win.
Good win BEAVERS! Get the series tomorrow! I’ll be watching on ROOT Sports.
Oregon took a 5-0 lead on the Cougars after two innings and the Cougars outscored Oregon 12-1 the remainder of the game. Wow.
Today’s game is actually on TV… scheduled for 2pm on Root Sports.
Which ranking service does ESPN use? I’m getting tired of seeing the Beavers ranked #7 when they show the college baseball scores!
Slightly off-topic, but as nearly 3K make it to Goss tow watch the Beavs baseball win when it counts, does anybody else think Riley should have the entire football team there and be using the baseball team as a motivational and learning tool about performing under pressure and winning consistently?
For a beaver’s football team that twice whiffed on Rose Bowl opportunities, and in recent years rarely puts together 4 solid quarters, much less a string of solid games, I think this is a tremendous learning opportunity.
Are you talking about extra effort above and beyond the status quo to try to reach a higher level? I’m pretty sure that is asking too much. We have lost the lion’s share of any momentum we had from two good seasons. Not that they did much more than put us in a Las vegas Bowl where we were horrible. If you are scared of producing when the lights are on you, it isn’t that much of a job well done to win some home games you are expected to. Riley is Ok with mediocre and when he just barely gets by that, he never capitalizes for a program building or defining moment.
With Pat Casey alot of it is about motivation and a why not us and why not now attitude.
If I was BDC, I would have made a contract that is 4 or 5 years but extends for every 8-4 season. 7-5 does nothing. 6-6 and worse and you lose a year. When your years run up the school moves on. That way it is completely merit based and you only reward 8-4 and less than 7-5 is a disappointment. That is what it takes to be in the top third of a conference like the Pac-12. But as long as we treat 6-6 like it is 9-3 or 10-2 we will continue to be satisfied with New Mexico and Kraft Cheese Bowls. The nation could give a rat’s a** about these games but OSU acts like they have such a gem of a coach for getting to these games. Harbaugh would rather gag himself. One way or another expectations have to rise and the head coach and AD need to be more vocal about their intentions to get better and raise the bar. Since they rarely have much to say and the staus quo and going through the motions seems to be the standard, there is no reason to expect things to change anytime soon.
I agree, ObjC, there are several areas where the FB team/staff could learn from Baseball. One thing that might cause Riley to stay away from BB is that his team would see a coach who will stick up for players when questionable calls by umps or aggressive play by opponents occur.
The Beavers were able to maintain their spot in the RPI at 17. As long as the Beavers, Stanford and Cal keep winning the Beavers shouldn’t be hurt in the RPI by this series.
Dylan Jones and Max Gordon are starting today. Jake Rodriguez and Danny Hayes are out of the lineup, Susac moves to DH as Berberet starts behind the plate. This an interesting lineup.
Wetzler starts today. So that means Osich starts tomorrow.
POS, Comcast/ROOT in Corvallis is showing track and field and not Beaver baseball even though guide says Beavers are on. Ugh!
For those in Corvallis, game is NOT on Root (at least the HD channel). This is like the 4th time this season they’ve said they were broadcasting a game and haven’t! A real pisser.
The game is on KEZI 9.2 (whatever the hell that is) – chl 309.
Wetzler comes out and gives up two hard hits right away.
Wetzler won’t be around long. Keyes has trouble fielding a hard hit ball and it’s 1-0 USC with runners on first and second.
Stream still works.
Thanks, I was thinking no stream due to TV.
Anyone who dislikes listening to Parker can avoid him by staying with the stream.
Wetzler is just terrible.
Scott Schultz should be taking Wetzler spot in the rotation. I don’t see how Pat lets Ben get another start.
Casey’s goofy lineup today has already bit him. Don’t understand why he feels the need to screw with the lineup – if these guys can’t play 3 games in a row, they need to find another sport.
Only mistake in the field was Danny Hayes taken out for Dylan Jones. That move made zero sense. The play hit at Keyes was a tough play. The ball was hit hard and he just hand trouble handling it. I’m not too concerned about that. Wetzler better not start again. He was atrocious and I could see this outing happening. Schultz should take his spot over. I’ve been saying that for over a month and it needs to happen.
Its on ROOT Sports standard definition in the Portland Metro Area on my DISH.
This is officially the worst start I have ever seen. :(
This isn’t surprising since Wetzler and Osich have walked the tight rope all season. Honestly I am shocked the charade lasted this long.
Well, if you’re going to give up 8 runs the best time to do it is the first inning. Chip away, get it to the 8-4 range, and then it’s a new ball game.
8-0 lead for USC in the first inning. Wow. Hopefully this start Wetzler opens Pat Casey’s eyes. He pulled this crap with Waldron last year. He always seems to have that one pitcher that he has so much faith in and keeps sending him out there. That needs to stop with Wetzler.
If things don’t straighten out will Casey fire up the broken bus again?
Norris gets punched out on a pitch 6 inches inside…damn, that is lazy umpiring.
Ump just wants the game to end quickly since it’s a beatdown.
Well that was a terrible pitch to swing at by Dylan Jones. Still trying to figure out why he’s playing.
Something for fans to keep in mind: RPI doesn’t consider margin of victory or defeat. The Beavs can afford one loss in this series.
I’m not worried about today…I’m worried about a must win with Josh Osich on the mound tomorrow…
Didn’t watch the 18-0 loss, so this is by far the worst I’ve seen them play. Stamps put together just an awful at-bat. The team isn’t fighting at all. Gordon put together a solid at-bat but then got two bad ones to follow. Seems to be another game where the team just wasn’t ready to play when they arrived at the park. They need to stop laying eggs like this and be ready to play every single game.
Dylan Jones has a chance to do some damage with 1 out and the bases loaded. The Beavers need a hit in this situation badly.
Stupid play by Norris in right. Don’t get fancy..you’re not even competing in this game!
if any team is capable of mounting a comeback it’s this one. leggo!
If those last two plays are’t an omen that USC has all the luck running in their favor, I don’t now what is. Two careening shots right into the hands of another player to throw out the hitters. Geez…
Beavers have been incredibly unlucky in this inning.
Another luckless and squandered inning. Not looking hopeful today.
After this game I hope the USC team plays the lottery. They’re as lucky as it gets.; The Beavers should have had at the very least 1 run. Stamps doubles of almost the top of the wall, Dunn smashes off an infielders glove and is thrown out, ball hits off the pitcher and Norris thrown out. That’s just terrible luck.
I hope Pat Casey learns from this game. This lineup should not be used again. Dylan Jones shouldn’t start ever. Wetzler shouldn’t get another start either. Pat can’t just throw anybody out there and expect them to win.
They said Jones was 4-8 vs USC…unless those numbers are against Wood it doesn’t really matter. Jones has killed the team today…his defense and offensive approach (swung at two ball fours).
Regarding Wetzler, as I wrote above: It’s hard to criticize Pat Casey since he has the team sitting at #2, but my knock would be that hasn’t developed the starting rotation
It’s too late to make huge changes now. The most dramatic and realistic move would be Nygren as the #3. If he started grooming Schultz (or Boyd) mid-season we’d have a better rotation. Osich is fine as a #3…not a very reliable #2, though, and if a team loses game 1 they need a reliable 2. This is why I’m still convinced our season will end with Osich on the mound.
It’s funny, Schultz was really solid against Stanford and then he was turned into a long reliever after that. To me that doesn’t make any sense.
Casey did the same thing with Waldron last year that he’s doing with Wetzler this year. He keeps giving him chances despite the bad starts, then when he has a good start he thinks he doesn’t have to pull him then. Wetzler will get a shot in the postseason and will bomb.
This kind of effort is inexcusable. No reason to come out and perform like this. Other than a couple guys the team has not shown up. Winning a Pac-10 title should be all the motivation they need to play well. This has been awful, no way around it. All the mental errors in the first showed this team didn’t show up ready to play.
Fortunately, I wasn’t able to catch this game. The frustrating thing, and possibly the worst sign going into the playoffs, is that OSU can’t seem to string together multiple good games. Granted, we would have won today without a horrendous start by Wetzler, but it sounds like there was no reason to get less than three runs.
It just seems like the team does a good job of responding to a bad game, but after the one good game in a row they feel like they’ve got the mojo back and get to mail it in. It’s like they forget that they earned their good record by effort and chutzpah, not by raw talent. If they need a bad loss to motivate them to play well, they’re in for a rude surprise in the postseason.
Damn it. I always forget to log in. I wanted to add that there’s no question that this is a team that *can* get it figured out and string together multiple wins. This is, after all, the same team that won ten straight in the Pac-10 earlier. And it’s tough to imagine that the postseason won’t provide the motivation they need.
But with that said, past performance is the best indicator of future performance and while I can still see them getting to Omaha, I also see that they can easily struggle to do so, having to play out of the elimination bracket–which would also leave them susceptible to getting eliminated entirely.
I didn’t get the sense the players mailed it in. The only time I ever had that feeling was in the midweek loss to Oregon.
OSU has a slow, station-to-station offense. It’s difficult to score in that manner. It’s amazing they’ve scored moderately well this year. At one point in this game they strung together three singles and it didn’t produce a run. Slow/station-to-station.
For this reason, they can’t afford bad starts. Wetzler (and Osich) have tightroped through this season. Their numbers look good, so the Pollyannas defend them, but these two pitchers find themselves on the precipice of disaster in almost every game. Eventually luck runs out.
Wetzler will probably be a good starter next season. He’s not ready for this yet. Schultz has pitched with more confidence and seasoning than Wetzler and should have been groomed as the #2 or #3 at midseason when it became clear the middle/backend of the rotation was an Achilles heal. This was Casey’s one flaw.
(Anti-AngryBeaver: I know, I know, Casey knows everything because he won two National Championships, and I am an idiot…I get it)
Yeah, you’ve got a good point. My point was poorly articulated in the first place. I gathered that they were still playing small ball even though they were chasing eight runs. We’ve got a few guys who can hit for power, which I think would be the better choice when you’re down so far. But, with that said, I didn’t even have the chance to listen to the game so I should not have commented.
Absolutely right that the best thing would have been to get a good start. That’s why it’s frustrating that our three best pitchers aren’t our starting rotation. We’ve played very well this season, but we’ve had to dodge a few bullets because of bad starts. That probably won’t fly in the post-season.
You can’t wait for 8 runs to take Wetzler out in the 1st inning. With this much on the line he should have been pulled after 3 runs with no exceptions. If he pitches again they need someone in the bullpen before the game even starts. Better safe than sorry.
It seems like they play better against better competition.
Earlier in the season one of the players (possibly under the influence of psych coach Brian Cain) said, “We know the other team has more talent so we just have to play better (to win)”. It is that attitude and knowing that the best team doesn’t ever win, the winner is always the team which plays best, which can take these young Beavs much farther than their talent and experience ever could.
Only the next game! GO BEAVS !
Here we go… they look loose and excited to be out there. Hope that translates to something good.
Am I the only one watching today? Where is everyone
Mike Parker doing the “inning should be over” thing again…lol.
Aaah, memories of Vinnie. heh
Not the first time Stamps has left his feet when he should not have.
Honestly, without the Stamps dive it’s still tied. The next hitter hit a ball so hard that the runner would not have scored from first seeing as he’s pretty slow. Stamps always tries to be the hero with the diving catches. He flat out can’t dive for that ball. He makes that mistake too often.
Stamps had some early success with the dive so it is a real coaching/maturity/judgement thing now; hope he develops right away.
Nice job by Barnes to get the bunt down and move runners to second and third. I would have liked to see Barnes make him throw a strike first though.
That was a horrible at-bat by Keyes.
Bases loaded for Jared Norris with two outs. Need a clutch hit here.
Who besides Norris would ya like up w/full sacks?
big at bat for norris
and that’s that
Norris and Keyes with just awful at-bats.
In their defense, they saw the SC pitcher throwing a ton of balls to the previous batters. so they were hoping that they would get the same luck. However, the SC pitcher threw strikes to them.
Agree.
Osich on the precipice of disaster yet again…
The last two days the Beavers have just been awful. This team is just laying an egg this series. This team hasn’t shown up since their win Friday night. They just shut it down mentally after that.
Man, I don’t see it that way at all. Yesterday they ran into a top pitcher who will be a pro, and Dylan Jones killed them as well. Today, they ran into another hot pitcher who will be a pro and 3-hit ASU…bottom line is USC is a decent team. I see no quit or anything like that in the Beavs, and have no idea where you’re seeing that…they’re simply being outplayed. Opponent deserves credit.
You are what your record says you are. USC is 21-29.
That is a terrible argument for so many reasons, but the most obvious is it implies people don’t change, improve, or regress over time. It implies life is stagnant. USC has obviously improved over the course of the season.
Down 3-1 going to the bottom of the sixth. They need to start getting it going now.
The Beavers’ national seed hopes are on the line but they sure aren’t playing like it.
Looks like the Beavers might be pissing away a Pac-10 title and a national seed along with it. Come on guys!
Beavs have had some great 7th innings this year, need another!
This is just an unfortunate situation where the Beavs have a ton of pressure on them, and they’re going against a good pitcher. That’s a bad combo. Still can pull it out, but they’re playing with the look of concern on their (collective) faces.
Still can win this game tho. I don’t see any quit, just tightness/concern.
Edit: nothing like back to back doubles to loosen them up…
Just watch the enthusiasm of Dunn, Stamps, and Barnes when they arrived at 2nd on their doubles. These guys are mentally in this for sure.
Anyone else think Bell is running better now? Hope the quad is nearing 100%
Beavers need Rountree on their team. Guy just hits…
Geezus, these guys seem to be melting down. I guess it’s just all getting to them. Nothing is EVER easy for the Beavs.
RALLY CAPS
Update?
Lost 4-3.
Had the tying run on 2nd with 1 out..Keyes hit a Sac Fly. Susac grounded out (swung at the first pitch)…two pretty bad at bats. Beavs are not battle-tested. These guys were nervous and it showed.
Susac seems to always swing on first pitch.
Not looking at a stat sheet, but has Susac’s return added much? Berberet got some timely hits and his pickoff at 2nd was terrific.
Jeesus tap dancing christ :( lost our first series.
ASU UDUB game is on here: http://ohlulz.com/ncaaf/flash.php?lulz=rtmp://cp98724.live.edgefcs.net:1935/live&id=wash_m-basebl@31497
Let’s just hope we crush the Ducks…In case I’ve not previously made myself clear, I hate the Ducks.
Hear, hear
Well, the rain stopped…I think I’m going to go try to shoot a turkey. A delicious turkey.
Sorry…*off topic.*
UW pitcher is 1 out away from a complete game shut-out. UW up 3-0 over ASU.
Game over, Beavs still atop the Pac10
Bryant is one of the best closers in the game. Why can’t we just bring him in to start the 9th inning? We need to be learning that you can’t take situations for granted. Bryant is a stud and the other guy was in for awhile. It makes sense he would lose a little off his stuff and the Trojans would start figuring out his pitches better. We had to keep that at a 1 run deficit. I am 99% sure Bryant would have.
Huskies just beat ASU, thank goodness.
I have a hard time being happy about a Husky victory…so I will just be happy about an ASU loss.
Go get that turkey, saw lots in Hells Canyon earlier in the week.
As much as today’s loss stung, I can’t see any particular reason the Beavs should have won. They played the best they could, but were stymied by a dangerous pitcher and a team that’s on a roll. It’s a shame that they couldn’t back up a good start by Osich with more offense, but that’s how it goes sometimes.
Saturday’s game was the one that OSU should have won. There’s no excuse for giving up eight runs in the first inning. I thought that the loss against Washington would be hard to top, but they managed to do it. Those are the only two Pac-10 games I’ve been frustrated with the team this season.
OSU is still clinging to a shot at a seed but it’ll require a sweep at UO and some help from other teams. Even a sweep probably only gets them hosting a regional. There’s nothing wrong with that.
I agree with you to a certain extent. Sometimes at the plate you have days against certain pitchers. However, when you have runners on second and third and 1 out and don’t score that’s not acceptable. No reason not to get the guy from third in. In that situation you don’t need to hit a ball well or hard, just need a regular fly ball and it’s a different ball game. That’s what is frustrating. Also, like it is said, offense slumps sometimes, but defense shouldn’t slump. However, this series the defense stunk. That was a big reason they lost. They kicked the ball around, made poor throws and just weren’t catching the ball. You can’t do that and expect to win. It was just the little things that they weren’t doing. If they play better defense and take advantage of runners on third with less than two outs they’ll be fine.
Even though they didn’t play well they still had a shot to win the ball game. That shows that this team is pretty good. They just need to start doing this basic things well again and they can get on a roll again.
Osich was solid on Sunday and I won’t be too hard on him. He had poor defense behind him. Stamps diving for a ball in the fifth that he shouldn’t allowed the runner to go to second and score on a double in the inning. If Stamps doesn’t dive, the runner won’t score on the double. It’s just small things like that they need to correct. I think they will figure it out but it’s still tough to lose a series to a team at home that you should beat.
Last line in Cliff’s post. “Casey loathes ducks.” Assume it should be Casey loathes the ducks, but that’s beside the point. Is it really that well known that Pat Casey hates the ducks?
http://cliffkirkpatrick.mvourtown.com/2011/05/22/usc-osu-postgame-iii/
Somewhat, I’m not sure how much he dislikes the Ducks but he definitely does dislike them. The Beavers having a bad weekend comes perfectly actually. Now they will be focused, Casey will want to beat the Ducks badly and have his guys motivated. I expect to see the Beavers best effort with wanting to win the title in Eugene and looking to prove that they’re still the best in the conference. It would be perfect if they were to sweep Oregon. I don’t think that happens but if it did that would be quite a way to end the regular season.
Does anyone else notice how much better Norris’ bat is when Jake is batting behind him?
Honestly I really don’t see a difference. If he does hit well with Jake batting behind him I think it’s a little coincidental. However, I would like to see Jake play every day now. He’s a tremendous bat and a good fielder. They need him in there. Also, I liked the way Parker was swinging the bat on Saturday, even though he’s not a great fielder at 1B I still would like to see him in there with Susac at catcher. Stick Norris in the OF with Stamps and Barnes. Infield have Carter, Dunn, Jake and Parker. I think that’s the best offensive group and still a solid defensive group. I think it may be time to sit Danny Hayes, he’s had a rough time and hasn’t really been showing many signs he’s gonna start hitting again.
and Keyes at DH?