Eh, that's the play 100 times out of a hundred there, just can't pop it up. At some point the players have to execute properly.

6/18/2013 11:58:34 PM

Was this going to end any other way than UNC eliminating us?

6/18/2013 11:59:56 PM

we basically had one bad inning all game...unfortunately that inning we allowed 2 runs...UCLA still doesnt scare me, their bats don't scare me at least

6/19/2013 12:00:06 AM

Quote :

"Do you guys understand how baseball works? You don't throw a college pitcher on three days rest after he just pitched a complete game"

Maybe I'm missing something here, but isn't it 4 days?

Sun - Mon = 24 hours
Mon - Tues = 48 hours
Tues - Wed = 72 hours
Wed - Thurs = 96 hours

6/19/2013 12:03:52 AM

Avent screwed up when he didn't pull the starter soon enough. They new he was getting close to 75 pitches which is about his max and he walked a batter. They never should have left him in to load the bases.

6/19/2013 12:04:13 AM

^^its 3, as in he pitched Sunday, gets Monday (1), Tuesday (2), Wednesday (3) off, then pitches Thursday

but MLB pitchers routinely pitch on 4 days rest, and if we don't win Thursday, the season is over

tough call for Avent

[Edited on June 19, 2013 at 12:07 AM. Reason : and i see what you're saying, but thats how its generally referred to]

6/19/2013 12:06:03 AM

Silver lining: espn supplied us with enough ucla baseball trivia during that broadcast to surely beat them when we meet again.

6/19/2013 12:07:40 AM

UCLA didn't make a mistake...we made 4(2 walks, wild pitch, failed bunt). Game over.

6/19/2013 12:14:53 AM

They hit one of our batters with a pitch. That's a mistake. They just got away with it because the ballpark is too darn big.

6/19/2013 12:17:21 AM

It's not Rodon's job to carry us through this tournament. We have an outstanding bullpen and either Ogburn or Stone will be given the ball and both have the stuff it takes to win.

You people should have followed this team throughout the season and you'd know what they can do instead of counting us down because our ace isn't on the mound.

6/19/2013 12:21:18 AM

I hope this loss doesn't get in our players heads. We have proven we can play with UNC. It will be another tough game, and I hope we up for the challenge.

6/19/2013 12:21:53 AM

call me crazy, but I think trying to score on the overthrow was a mistake

6/19/2013 12:21:58 AM

I had the same view as the third base coach had and that ball was sailed as soon as it left the hand and Armstrong(I think) was rounding third while that thing was coming in. Had he not hesitated he'd have had it easy. Quick decision to make, I know, but the hesitation ruined his chances. At that point hold him.

Ughh I don't want to leave Omaha

6/19/2013 12:39:32 AM

Quote :

"It's not Rodon's job to carry us through this tournament. We have an outstanding bullpen and either Ogburn or Stone will be given the ball and both have the stuff it takes to win. You people should have followed this team throughout the season and you'd know what they can do instead of counting us down because our ace isn't on the mound."

Yeah, I thought Ogburn looked pretty good against Rice.

6/19/2013 12:49:38 AM

As much as getting thrown out at home after the shit throw hurt State, leaving in Jernigan to face that guy on the walk that eventually loaded the bases was the turning point. He obviously had trouble pitching with guys on base and putting in Sasser with guys on first and second would've been a better option than letting Jernigan throw to another batter when he was losing it. Then the bad bunt in the 8th happened and you knew knew we weren't gonna catch a break.

I feel like we've got Ogburn and Stone to pitch in elimination games before we get to Rodon. We can beat UCLA if we can get to the game on Friday, then we've got Rodon Saturday. I love that Thornton threw for UNC today though - outside of a healthy Emanuel he's their best pitcher. Hopefully we hit whoever they go with Thursday - or at least execute playing small ball better.

6/19/2013 12:58:53 AM

I would pitch Rodon against unc. He just matches up against them too well. They have an awesome offense but it's heavily left handed and he locks them down every time. This isn't bringing him in for long relief on the back end of a weekend series. He pitched Sunday. MLB teams do this all the time in the playoffs.

UCLA's offense doesn't need to be shut down. We gave up 2 runs to them. I wouldve pitched Ogburn today because he's a strike thrower and you beat UCLA by not making mistakes. So he can still go Game 1 against them. Then you use bullpen, Stone, whatever in the second game - you gotta get there first and going home with bullets in the gun (Rodon) would be dumb.

[Edited on June 19, 2013 at 2:38 AM. Reason : if you dont pitch rodon thursday he's pitching on short rest in the final series anyway]

6/19/2013 2:33:15 AM

Quote :

"They hit one of our batters with a pitch. That's a mistake. They just got away with it because the ballpark is too darn big."

If the bunt is laid down properly, that shot scores a man from 3rd

6/19/2013 4:50:33 AM

Yeah that bunt will haunt Ratledge, but it was going to be tough on any one of them with that pitcher throwing submarine style.

6/19/2013 6:12:15 AM

Quote :

"Was this going to end any other way than UNC eliminating us?"

6/19/2013 6:43:54 AM

My FIRST thought when we beat UNC the other day wasn't "yeah go State", it was "shit, watch those assholes eliminate us when we play them again in the losers bracket." #NCStateShit

6/19/2013 7:41:10 AM

The loser mentality in here is pathetic. This shit ain't done.

Go Wolfpack! Go to Hell Carolina!

6/19/2013 8:03:13 AM

chick discussed on page 55:

6/19/2013 8:45:42 AM

God damn Jimmy V curse strikes again. Get State fans' hopes up...only to smash them on the rocks. UNC will beat us and go on to win the CWS. It's the only thing that can happen.

6/19/2013 8:57:18 AM

I think this loss comes straight down to coaching. Avent FUBARd this game:

1) Should have made a pitching change going into the 5th. It was easy to tell that the pitcher was starting to lose control in the 4th. And if not going into the fifth, at least after a few pitches in the fifth. He has to know that 1-3 runs is going to win this game. As everyone knows, UCLA won't give much, and they didn't, so you have to plan on your 1 or 2 runs to hold up. You have to keep your defense fresh and ahead. We got way too far behind due to shoddy pitching.

2) Our batters didn't know when to swing and not. High fast balls appeared to be out of the zone and we kept whiffing at them. The low balls were in the zone and for the most part, our guys just let'em pass.

[Edited on June 19, 2013 at 9:02 AM. Reason : ,]

6/19/2013 9:01:15 AM

Quote :

"Avent screwed up when he didn't pull the starter soon enough. They new he was getting close to 75 pitches which is about his max and he walked a batter. They never should have left him in to load the bases. "

this

6/19/2013 9:01:42 AM

Quote :

"The loser mentality in here is pathetic. This shit ain't done. Go Wolfpack! Go to Hell Carolina!"

It's called being a realist.

6/19/2013 9:23:16 AM

I don't think that word means what you think it means.

6/19/2013 9:31:43 AM

Quote :

"Our batters didn't know when to swing and not. High fast balls appeared to be out of the zone and we kept whiffing at them. The low balls were in the zone and for the most part, our guys just let'em pass."

It's irritating as hell that the ump arbitrarily decided the strike zone for this game was ankles to beltline, but he was being consistent with it so we needed to adjust and just didn't. Kept swinging at that high shit and letting the low stuff get called strike.

Quote :

"The loser mentality in here is pathetic. This shit ain't done. Go Wolfpack! Go to Hell Carolina!"

You get Charlie Brown'd enough, you start to expect the football to get yanked out from under you.

6/19/2013 9:40:18 AM

optimists and pessimists both claim to be realists. we'll see who's right after the solar system dies out.

6/19/2013 9:44:42 AM

If I had a winners mentality I would have bailed on NC State athletics about 20 years ago.

6/19/2013 9:44:45 AM

^^^agreed; I thought the zone was way too loose... low and outside were being called strikes and I couldn't believe it. But you have to play the game you're in. We just didn't adjust to it whatsoever.

[Edited on June 19, 2013 at 9:45 AM. Reason : ^^]

6/19/2013 9:45:29 AM

We're in the College World Series

6/19/2013 9:47:16 AM

If our hitters can take their mind off of leaning into bad pitches and focus on hitting the good ones, we'll have a shot. I'm pretty much over this bean fest.

6/19/2013 9:51:30 AM

Hay guys...did you know this round of the CWS is double elimination?

6/19/2013 9:54:42 AM

I've seen this fish before.

6/19/2013 10:02:30 AM

I was afraid it would come down to an elimination game with Carolina, all that celebrating we did after the slaughter is going to fuel the revenge. I still think we can win though, and I hope we do.

6/19/2013 10:03:01 AM

who does the R&R podcast/twitter? I see that their picture is what I believe to be the TWW original Avent O-MAHA!!! chop.

6/19/2013 10:08:56 AM

We can definitely win, especially if their pitching is as bad as it was in the first game.

6/19/2013 10:09:06 AM

i've never really been a baseball fan. didnt like playing it as a kid either but one thing that i have never understood is why batters hardly ever swing at the first pitch.

someone explain this to me. i felt like we let a lot of nice pitches get called strikes just b/c we wanted to watch

6/19/2013 10:16:43 AM

It's a change in coaching over the last 20 or so years. We want base runners, so working the count deeper, making pitchers throw more pitches to get them out earlier. I don't agree with it. Lot more strikeouts because of it.

6/19/2013 10:20:20 AM

^ this. Coaching in general has taken over the game. I played baseball all through high school and some in college, and for the most part we were just allowed to play the game. I was always a first pitch hitter. I was a catcher and was allowed to call my own pitches. Now I watch games and not only see the catcher looking over to the bench before every pitch, but looking down at his arm like a QB. If baseball was like it is now when I was playing, I definitely wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much.

6/19/2013 10:32:53 AM

Oh so you're saying if you were given the best opportunity to win by trusting your coach, who has been around the game much longer than you, and knows more about the game than you, you wouldn't have enjoyed playing. Sounds like a typical baseball player that thinks they know everything and is the gift to the world. Coach Holliday spends hours watching tape of each batter and working up a game plan how to attack each individual batter of the opposing team. I believe he knows how to call pitches slightly better than any college catcher in the game. Best chance to win the game is coach calling the pitches. Just win.

6/19/2013 10:41:34 AM

Yeah the qb wristband happens pretty much every level now. It's just a lot easier than sending signals that could be read. I don't like that either, ultimately the pitcher has to have confidence in what he's throwing, and if he thinks a curve is better than a FB at this point but he can't shake off a coach, then how well is it really gonna work

6/19/2013 10:41:37 AM

^^ No, I get it. And I understand the evolution of the game, just like with every other sport. That doesn't mean I like it. I am saying that if I was playing the game now it wouldn't be as fun. After all, it's a game.

6/19/2013 10:43:59 AM

that really sucks. lets not swing at gimmies just to add one pitch and get down in the count. brilliant.

6/19/2013 10:45:16 AM

^^I get that, but this isn't little league or even high school ball. At the college level and above its a little more about winning and a little less about it being just a game. But yea I see what your saying.

And each pitcher has the option to shake off any pitch the coach calls, but as Brett Austin said in an interview earlier, Rodon hasn't shaken one off all year long because he trusts his coach.

[Edited on June 19, 2013 at 10:50 AM. Reason : ]

6/19/2013 10:49:19 AM

Quote :

"that really sucks. lets not swing at gimmies just to add one pitch and get down in the count. brilliant. "

To be fair...this strategy works pretty well most of the time. Problem is that UCLA's pitchers are really fucking good and throw strikes. I think this strategy might work pretty well against UNC's Hobb Johnson because that fucker has been all over the place recently.

Fuck...I'm gonna be pretty depressed if they eliminate us tomorrow. Fuckers.

6/19/2013 11:02:42 AM

So we gotta win Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to advance?

6/19/2013 2:05:31 PM

Yeah, bad luck since the other side gets a day off tomorrow

6/19/2013 2:10:16 PM

The more I think about our game tomorrow the better I feel about our chances. UNC's starters (outside of Thornton) have been pretty off since they were all used up in the clusterfuck that was their regional.

6/19/2013 2:57:35 PM