Quick look at the Fighting Irish...

[thekimmer]

The other fighting irish not ours.

They have played fewer games. We have won almost as many (43) as they have played (44). Heavy conference schedule with only 4 OOC games in the regular season and none against anybody special. Despite the tear they went on to get here, hitting has not been that remarkable. Hitting .281, 60 HR and 374 Ks compared to our .283, 63 HR and 364 Ks in 14 more games. They have pretty good pitching, team ERA 3.80 compared to our 3.85 but their two primary starters are both under 3 ERA. Their closer appears to be Kohlhepp who's numbers look good but nothing like Sims. They don't appear to have strike out stuff logging just 353 Ks compared with our 700. Teams are batting .241 against them vs .221 for us.

They have been very consistent and have only lost one series all season against FSU. On paper we appear to be a better team with pretty comparable numbers but against better competition. The other thing they have going for them right now is momentum. We have more post season experience, and get to play at home. They also have not faced anything like the environment they will face at the dude this weekend.

Should be a lot of fun.

 

[kired]

I looked over their pitching stats this morning - games since first of April. I know nothing else about these guys other than looking on paper.

Mercer has typically been the Friday starter. He's got a 4.53 era. Most of the time he only goes 3 - 5 innings.

Bertrand has normally been the Saturday guy, 2.98 era. He's the guy that eats lots of innings - 84 IP in 13 starts. He started game 1 of the regional. Thrown 3 complete games. Worth noting he got blown up in the ACC tournament - 5 runs in 1 inning. That was his worst game. He's only had two other games where he went less than 6 innings. And those 3 games are the only ones he's given up more than 3 ERs. So making him work and getting runs on him early would be huge.

Tyrell is a guy they'll use all over the place. Starter, reliever, closer. I would guess he starts game 3 if it comes to that, and he hasn't been used in relief.

Kohlhepp looks like their top reliever. They use him almost twice every weekend. Batters hitting .191 against him, 2.83 era.

Other three relievers they use a lot are Rao, Sheridan, and Simon. Rao has the best stats of those three, .149 average & 2.60 era. Simon appears to be their best strikeout man, 33 Ks in 25 innings (not great but appears to be the best they've got). Sheridan has high era & average so not sure where they use him the most. But he's 5th in IP so they use him quite a bit. May draw the start in game 3 if Tyrell isn't available.

I don't think they have a go to closer.

 

[messageboardsuperhero]

Their schedule is interesting. ND has hardly played anyone ******- only six games all season against +100 RPI competition. On the flip side, they haven’t played a single game all season against an NCAA host team. Duke and NC State are the only top 25 RPI teams they’ve played and both series were at home.

The only road series they’ve played all year against a tournament team was 3 seed UVA in mid March, which was before UVA started playing well. So ND has not really been tested like they will this weekend- both from a competition and an environment standpoint.

FWIW- our SOS is 11 and theirs is 30.

 

[Quincy A. Wagstaff]

they haven’t played a single game all season against an NCAA host team.

I noticed this too. Not only that, they are the only national seed/host that didn’t play a national seed/host. Doesn’t mean they can’t beat us, but it goes against the argument that they should have been a top-8 seed.

 

[MSUDC11]

I have no idea what to make of them. In a normal year if you run away with the ACC then you're probably the 1 or 2 overall seed. But as has been mentioned, their lack of any games whatsoever against upper tier teams makes it hard to figure them out. They have a really good lefty starter that concerns me big time. He is another Furman transplant much like Stone Simmons. And Kavadas is an absolute hoss in the middle of the order.

I think it's a heck of a matchup that has a really good chance of going three games.

 

[patdog]

ACC is 15-11 in regionals with 2 super regional teams pending Virginia's game today. That's basically tied with PAC-12 for 2nd best conference results. I'd expect they'll be comparable to a Mississippi or Florida (or us) in the SEC. Should be a good series, but at home if we play like we can, we should win. Problem is, we sometimes play much worse than we can.

 

[Go Budaw]

It seems they have some power in their lineup, much more than we do if they hit only 3 fewer HR in 14 fewer games (and with a much higher % of those games against top end competition, no SWAC midweek opponents, etc). I wouldn’t sleep on their hitting, either, for the same reason.

 

[QuadrupleOption]

The other fighting irish not ours.

They have played fewer games. We have won almost as many (43) as they have played (44). Heavy conference schedule with only 4 OOC games in the regular season and none against anybody special. Despite the tear they went on to get here, hitting has not been that remarkable. Hitting .281, 60 HR and 374 Ks compared to our .283, 63 HR and 364 Ks in 14 more games. They have pretty good pitching, team ERA 3.80 compared to our 3.85 but their two primary starters are both under 3 ERA. Their closer appears to be Kohlhepp who's numbers look good but nothing like Sims. They don't appear to have strike out stuff logging just 353 Ks compared with our 700. Teams are batting .241 against them vs .221 for us.

They have been very consistent and have only lost one series all season against FSU. On paper we appear to be a better team with pretty comparable numbers but against better competition. The other thing they have going for them right now is momentum. We have more post season experience, and get to play at home. They also have not faced anything like the environment they will face at the dude this weekend.

Should be a lot of fun.

Agreed. They're a good team and can absolutely come in and beat us twice if we don't show up to play. Not much else to say really. Should be an interesting weekend.

 

[aTotal360]

We're doomed.

 

[tcdog70]

Kavadas--don't pitch to him.Let someone else beat us, if they can

 

[PineGroveBully]

They’re domed

 

[Drebin]

They’re domed

 

[WutheringDawg]

Looking at their offense it’s obvious that it’s Kadavas and then everyone else. They may be good, but outside of him no one on the team has double digit home runs. Neutralize/pitch around him successfully and I think we roll.

 

[Philly Dawg]

They will hit some home runs and strike out quite a bit, much like the teams we just faced. The key is to keep walks down and keep the bases empty.

 

[Quincy A. Wagstaff]

Their pitching staff is LHP heavy. 3 of their 4 top pitchers are left-handed. 60% of their outs this season were recorded by LHPs. Their lineup is more right-handed. The most dangerous hitter (Kavadas) is left-handed. They have two everyday switch hitters. The rest bat right handed.

 

[PirateDawg]

They had 15 HRs in their regional

Looking at their offense it’s obvious that it’s Kadavas and then everyone else. They may be good, but outside of him no one on the team has double digit home runs. Neutralize/pitch around him successfully and I think we roll.

Kadavas had 5 so they are not a one player offense. Of course, they weren't hitting all these home runs against premier pitching staffs so it will be a fun challenge. Campbell and VCU had HR hitters too and we were able to overcome them. We need to just play all three phases of the game and get our hits to score runs!

 

[dickiedawg]

Last weekend we seemed to good job of limiting walks/HBP and we need to do that again. Solo HRs won't beat you, generally speaking.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

They’re domed

View attachment 20544

 

[wsjmsu75]

Last weekend we seemed to good job of limiting walks/HBP and we need to do that again. Solo HRs won't beat you, generally speaking.

Yep. That was a key to our win over Samford. Gave up 3 home runs, but all 3 were solo. Of course, MacLeod striking out the side after putting runners in scoring position with no outs was a key too.

 

[thekimmer]

Last weekend we seemed to good job of limiting walks/HBP and we need to do that again. Solo HRs won't beat you, generally speaking.

This is definitely the key. Make them hit their way on base. Walks, HBP, errors lead to big innings.

 

[allcagedup]

Irish fan here born and raised in the south. My wife and I are big State baseball fans but I will have to pull for my Irish this weekend. That said I have followed both teams close this year and I give the edge to State. ND isn't ready for this heat, humidity and the crowd at DN. Should be a great series!

 

[wsjmsu75]

Irish fan here born and raised in the south. My wife and I are big State baseball fans but I will have to pull for my Irish this weekend. That said I have followed both teams close this year and I give the edge to State. ND isn't ready for this heat, humidity and the crowd at DN. Should be a great series!

If it is any consolation, I can promise you that the heat and humidity will not be nearly as bad as it can be this time of year. I will never forget going to both games of our 2007 super regional against Clemson. You talk about heat and humidity, that was hard to take, and I was sitting in the old bleacher seats down the left field line. There was probably not one square inch of my body not soaked in sweat when I left that day. Temperature was probably high 90's with high humidity. Of course, winning 2 in 2 days helped to make it more bearable.

 

[thekimmer]

Looking at the ND roster....

The other fighting irish not ours.

They have played fewer games. We have won almost as many (43) as they have played (44). Heavy conference schedule with only 4 OOC games in the regular season and none against anybody special. Despite the tear they went on to get here, hitting has not been that remarkable. Hitting .281, 60 HR and 374 Ks compared to our .283, 63 HR and 364 Ks in 14 more games. They have pretty good pitching, team ERA 3.80 compared to our 3.85 but their two primary starters are both under 3 ERA. Their closer appears to be Kohlhepp who's numbers look good but nothing like Sims. They don't appear to have strike out stuff logging just 353 Ks compared with our 700. Teams are batting .241 against them vs .221 for us.

They have been very consistent and have only lost one series all season against FSU. On paper we appear to be a better team with pretty comparable numbers but against better competition. The other thing they have going for them right now is momentum. We have more post season experience, and get to play at home. They also have not faced anything like the environment they will face at the dude this weekend.

Should be a lot of fun.

The guy with the biggest chip on his shoulder or the best sense of humor has to be DH Carter Putz.

 

[ezsoil]

They will hit some home runs and strike out quite a bit, much like the teams we just faced. The key is to keep walks down and keep the bases empty.

THIS a all day long....