Forbes said "he hung a slider"
The guy who hit the HR said in his interview that he was "looking for the slider"
Game 61 - USC 9 UNC 5 | NCAAT Super Regional Game 1
- Thread starter TommyAshley
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The guy who hit the HR said in his interview that he was "looking for the slider"
Oh my gosh. Can people just stop being so nasty to each other? This is worse than basketball and football game threads! We all love Carolina baseball and are upset, but giving up on this team is so stupid. Yes, today sucked, but counting out this team who has been so good all year makes no sense.
How is that taking up for his guy? That makes no sense. He’d say the opposite if he was protecting his player.
Look everyone is pissed ! Myself included but let's just find a way to win tomorrow! We have to get something out of Winslow and Coop . We have not hit a homer in over two weeks so let's be positive and say we are due .
They need a call out post along with Jason
Not got a dog in this fight, but he hung it. You don't hit a ball that far unless it is a hung ball.
We didn't take advantage of a slow start by their ACE and they cleared the basis. IMO, we could have put the game away in 1st inning, but their ACE struck out the next 3 batters.
Pitchers got to get ahead in count and too often we don't. Hitters got to make contact with no outs and bases loaded.
Tomorrow is either go home or play another day. None of us get to make a play or a decision. All up to these Tar Heels and they simply have to execute better. USC did today
We didn't take advantage of a slow start by their ACE and they cleared the basis. IMO, we could have put the game away in 1st inning, but their ACE struck out the next 3 batters.
Pitchers got to get ahead in count and too often we don't. Hitters got to make contact with no outs and bases loaded.
Tomorrow is either go home or play another day. None of us get to make a play or a decision. All up to these Tar Heels and they simply have to execute better. USC did today
You’re right it’s not, but I’ve watched it 10 times.. the pitch wasn’t hung. It’s was one of the better breaking balls he threw in his outing. Bottom of the zone, good velo.. kid was sitting on it and made a great a swing.
Regardless, I think with Jason and Globe set for tomorrow we’ve got a great chance to extend it to Sunday, and in that case it’s anyone’s.
Cooper hit a Hr last Friday night lol
Well I must’ve had 8 dogs hit by cars watching UNC baseball
let’s get it win tommorrow we got this 
Time to crawl out of a hole.
I’ll ride with the Heels. Win or go home. I think we can extend this.
I’ll ride with the Heels. Win or go home. I think we can extend this.
Do you consider pedantic a “big” word? If so, you didn’t go to UNC, did you?
McDuffie is really good. Glauber is elite. No idea why we didn't go to him.
Making an elite pitcher throw 77 pitches in 3 innings is more a testament to my previous statement and less about proving Edwards isn't elite. He clearly is. 92 IP. Only 50 hits. 164 Ks is elite.
I like this attitude. You could tell that grand slam demoralized the team. I mean, how could it not? Fresh slate tomorrow. I absolutely believe in this team.
Fair enough! Just couldn’t really score or even muster a threat so was really frustrating. Yeah and the play by Schaffner surprised me too. He’s so good and had plenty of time but rushed it.
My point is even "elite" pitchers can struggle on any given day. USC dude was clearly struggling and we missed our chance to jump on him in the 1st. We kinda got to him in the 2nd.
USC didn't miss their chance to jump on McDuffie. That was the difference in the game.
Right. My original point was that the bats did enough and the pitching didn't. Both teams are good pitching teams. UNC gives up 4.1 runs per game and USC gives up 3.64 runs per game.
So blaming it more on the bats just bc they didn't capitalize against an elite pitcher in one inning when it was the pitching that really let us down makes little sense.
I still have some positivity for still winning, but yeah... felt that way to me too after the game. Was headed to a friend's kid's graduation and was gonna be riding high up 1-0 and not needing to use Globe at all. Instead, on the ropes fighting for survival and just plain depressed at the graduation.
We sent the best pitcher in the country maybe out after 4 runs and 3 innings. Down 4-1. I know we should have scratched in the first, but if you had the results we got by the start of the 6th before this game started, you would have taken it all week and twice on sundays! This was on the offense late, and a damn lucky *** swing by a .240 hitter who had 3 home runs all year. If Duff gets the call ont he previous batter we might have won the game 5-1... and if that same at bat happens 25 more times, a grand slam still doesn't get close to happening with that batter. Baseball man....
When a .240 hitting kid who's hit 3 hr's all year gets that swing off there against Duff (especially in a pitcher's count), it's either 1) dumb *** luck, or 2) elite level coaching that had him sitting dead red on a slider. I have to disagree with you on pitch placement. To me that was right down broadway and was hung. It would have been a strike right down the middle if no swing IMO. I can't blame Duff completely... bases are juiced, and you have little room to "waste" a pitch way out of the zone. I just like 4 seam or change there. I'm sure Gaines is the one not sleeping the most tonight, honestly.
Edited to add: sounds like USC sure knew it was coming... so maybe even more on Gaines (assuming he was calling pitches). IMO it's still gotta be on the outer half at least, especially in that count.
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Baseball is a funny game... Lynch had his best inning in the 5th. And ultimately it might have all hinged on that terribly lucky excuse me blooper that fell down the line.
For the most part it has been Globe out of the pen first this year. You may be right as to why it wasn't today. I kinda shrugged when it WAS Duff, but there was definitely a feeling of why isn't it Globe? I think *maybe* Forbes was hoping for a quick out to the prior batter and he maybe wouldn't have to use Globe at all if Duff could finish, maybe get to Matty if we go to the 9th with a decent lead. But with him not getting that first batter, you still thought ok, even a dink hit still only scores 2. You don't want to waste Duff and Have Globe in a batter later in that situation. NO ONE had the grand slam on their bingo card... not even the USC coaches or the kid who hit it, lol. .240 average and 3 HR's all year?!?
I will say that was a situation where not having a really good lefty in the pen killed us. Some guy who could come in and get that prior batter out with 2 guys down. I think any other team left that has a decent lefty sends him in for that batter (and maybe only that batter). I would not trust Chewie there at all, especially with Duff and Globe, despite being righties.
Where are the overall top #1 and #2 seeds this year?OH yeah, theyer'e at home already. Should they fire their coaches?!? Baseball is by far the hardest major sport in college to win a natty. Ask Florida State how hard it is....
It demoralized the HELL out of me, lol. But was honestly shocked we didn't respond at all the rest of the way. 6-5 with 12 outs left was plenty of time.
He was sitting on the slider. The biggest issue I have with that sequence is the pitch selection was too predictable. I was thinking after the previous pitch, don’t throw him another slider here. But he did. That said, this has been successful so many times before.
This is purely opinion
I posted in the game thread when we made the move that this is where not having a true left-on-left guy we trust may hurt. We could have gone to Rose given how he’s thrown recently but that would have really been a departure from what we’ve done all year.
Having McDuffie throw really good pitches just off the plate to Lamb that he spit on and then having him against the righty hitting .240 is a perfectly fine process. Just didn’t work.
I posted in the game thread when we made the move that this is where not having a true left-on-left guy we trust may hurt. We could have gone to Rose given how he’s thrown recently but that would have really been a departure from what we’ve done all year.
Having McDuffie throw really good pitches just off the plate to Lamb that he spit on and then having him against the righty hitting .240 is a perfectly fine process. Just didn’t work.
Duff’s slider is his best pitch. At least it was last year. Feel like it has less bite this year, at least to me. You’ll never have a situation where you throw a different pitch than what the hitter is sitting on first. It’s just not possible to be perfect in that way. But the slider is nasty because it comes from his fastball slot. You need a fastball (or his change which is also a great pitch) to set up the slider. And then it still just can’t be down broadway.
But even then, that hitter still isn’t hitting that out more than once in a blue moon.
All season, McDuffie’s slider is better on his second of consecutive days pitching (which makes the “he looks tired” takes funny).
100 percent. I was fine with him walking lamb honestly, when he was struggling to get a quick out. I mean he clearly got fooled on the 3-2 pitch imo. You’re not fully taking that pitch there. That was called a strike at least half the time yesterday. Even with the walk, It set up great.
I washed his performance after that. Hard to regroup after the literal unthinkable happened.
I'm not saying fire the coach. I am curious though how many games Forbes has lost as a favorite and how many he's won as an underdog
Wonder how Dean and Roy fair in your metric?
if you are a top program, how often are you the underdog?
And looking back, Carolina was the ‘underdog’ in all three LSU games in ‘24.
Getting to a Super is akin to an Elite Eight in basketball. CWS the Final Four. You expect that every year for hoops? Or fire the coach?
Expectations are a wonderful blessing and a heavy curse.
I'd like to see those numbers too. We were dogs to LSU despite being #4 national seed and hosting. I guess that says a lot as a top program. I quit watching basketball years ago and said in post you quoted that I never said anything about firing the coach. My preseason prediction for this year's baseball team was losing in super so I guess they'll meet my expectation if they do indeed lose. All that being said, I think coaches deserve praise and criticism. You can do both without extremes
My point is that he was predictable. You don’t have to be perfect if you’re not predictable. I’m very aware the slider is his best pitch. He also has a good fastball and change. Mix it up