5 in D1 and baseball america, 8 in perfect game. If we're number 5 in the country with only two starters, would we win the World Series with a 3rd starter? *
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- Thread starter Uncle Ruckus
- Start date
We're probably not the 5th best team in the country. But 2 outstanding starters and a solid lineup with no holes 1-9 in the order can take a team a long way in the postseason. I suspect we'll develop a little more pitching depth over the next 6 weeks so game 3 isn't so hopeless as it has been so far this year.
Yeah, I don't see us as a Top 5 team either, but we're a hosting team right now. I would imagine the next two weekends will be a struggle. In some ways, we match up better with UF than TAM.
I would like to see how UCLA's Sunday starters did throughout the '13 season. I'm not going to go look that up, but it would be interesting. Did they have a dominant guy, or pitch a bunch of guys and just sort of brother-in-law it?
By all means, elaborate.
Assuming all higher seeds win every game.
Day 1
1 v 4 - Pilkington
2 v 3
Day 2
1 v 2 - Hudson
3 v 4 - 4 eliminated
2 v 3 - 3 eliminated
Day 3
1 v 2 - Sexton clinches it
Assuming all higher seeds win every game.
Day 1
1 v 4 - Pilkington
2 v 3
Day 2
1 v 2 - Hudson
3 v 4 - 4 eliminated
2 v 3 - 3 eliminated
Day 3
1 v 2 - Sexton clinches it
Even if we don't, sexton and Hudson winning would at least guarantee us facing a team's 4th starter to clinch the regional
If our #3 starter can't beat the worst team in the regional, we're not coming out of it anyway. Polk 17ed us over in 2013 when he wasted Maholm in a game I could have won if he'd started me on the mound. Skip Bertman never started one of his top 2 pitchers in game 1 of a regional. But what does he know about winning in the postseason?
Well before I can answer I see a half a dozen others have already piped in too. I suppose you would go at it like this?
Day 1
1 v 4 - Hudson, to face someone like Mercer, Florida A&M, Texas Southern, Lipscomb or Morehead State, all of whom were 4's last year
2 v 3
Day 2
1 v 2 - Sexton in the most pivotal game of the tournament
3 v 4 - 4 eliminated
2 v 3 - 3 eliminated
Day 3
1 v 2 - Pilkington tries to clinch
Day 4 if needed
1 v 2 - Brown or whomever with maybe an inning from Hudson/Sexton
I will agree that rain might help us more than if helps other teams if Hudson and Sexton keep pitching like elite pitchers. That extra rest could play a huge factor. But it's preposterous even for you to say that we can't win it without a rainout. Take care of business and be a hosting #1 seed. Us everyone not named Hudson and Sexton to win game one, and then you are set. The nightmare for us would be to face a #4 seed who has that one special arm in their rotation - the kind of guy who could shut you down and might force us to throw Hudson in game one.
You know what though....let's keep winning in April before we worry about the rotation in June.
That's fools gold. If Hudson or Sexton loses playing Games 2 or 3, you're still 0-1.
just playing a little devil's advocate. when its all said and done, i would throw our #3 vs a 4 seed as well, but most teams that we would face in the post-season have at least one good arm. in the long run, i think the call is easier knowing our starting lineup is going to be superior to theirs and if we can get 5-6 innings out of someone with only giving up a few runs, mission accomplished. really, its much ado about nothing because throwing our #3 is the right move, but its an uneasy decision given what we have shown from our supposed #3 which is probably not our real #3.
Sexton is hittable, yes. But hittable doesn't mean that he's not as good as the other teams' #1. Why you would not want Sexton also pitching against the #2 team the second time around, who will have momentum, is beyond me.
It's pitcher vs. lineup more than pitcher vs. pitcher. I would want Pilkington (or whomever) going against the #4 team (even with an ace) than the #2 team to clinch.
I would think that you would want to use your bullpen on Day 1 and hopefully have a rest day on Day 2 and possibly Day 3.
Ok, I lied. I did go look it up.
UCLA had their two guys (you will no doubt remember the names Plutko and Vander Tuig) basically set all year as the 1-2 starters, and never really established a pattern on Sunday (although they did have a third guy - Watson - who started well early then fell off.) Point is, they had a few different guys posting W's and L's in their third games.
The one big difference they had was at closer. When Berg saved Game 1 of the finals against State, that was his 24th save of the year, plus he was 7-0 on the year in non-save games. That's where our team this year seems to differ so far... Although, I will say that Berg only had 5 saves through this point in their season, so it's not impossible to think someone will step up.
UCLA had their two guys (you will no doubt remember the names Plutko and Vander Tuig) basically set all year as the 1-2 starters, and never really established a pattern on Sunday (although they did have a third guy - Watson - who started well early then fell off.) Point is, they had a few different guys posting W's and L's in their third games.
The one big difference they had was at closer. When Berg saved Game 1 of the finals against State, that was his 24th save of the year, plus he was 7-0 on the year in non-save games. That's where our team this year seems to differ so far... Although, I will say that Berg only had 5 saves through this point in their season, so it's not impossible to think someone will step up.
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