Great observations, pretty wild decisions in retrospect. Those were two catchable balls, just converting one of them sends the game to extrasI’m glad they pinch ran for the home run hitter Lamb in the 7th as that’s why the back up 3B was in the game and the starting 3B was in center. The backup 3B missed that foul pop up before Hull hit the game winner. And the 3B playing center didn’t dive for Hull’s ball. Lack of experience I guess. He definitely should’ve dove for that ball. Whew!!!! On to Omaha baby!!
That has been his strategy the entire season though!If I were a usc fan I’d be pretty upset with how he managed the last few innings.
The USC head coach definitely overmanaged the last couple innings. Neither of those were easy plays in the 9th, but I would expect our guys to make them. It's likely USC's regular starters at those positions would have made at least one of those grabs, which would have sent the game to extras.I’m glad they pinch ran for the home run hitter Lamb in the 7th as that’s why the back up 3B was in the game and the starting 3B was in center. The backup 3B missed that foul pop up before Hull hit the game winner. And the 3B playing center didn’t dive for Hull’s ball. Lack of experience I guess. He definitely should’ve dove for that ball. Whew!!!! On to Omaha baby!!
Catching Hull‘s 9th innning hit was not a sure thing for anyone.The foul ball and Hull’s gapper should have been caught. I’m glad they didn’t make the plays.
Actually, I believe that the announcers said (during a previous game) those are typical late inning defensive changes for the Trojans.I’m glad they pinch ran for the home run hitter Lamb in the 7th as that’s why the back up 3B was in the game and the starting 3B was in center. The backup 3B missed that foul pop up before Hull hit the game winner. And the 3B playing center didn’t dive for Hull’s ball. Lack of experience I guess. He definitely should’ve dove for that ball. Whew!!!! On to Omaha baby!!
It looked like the left fielder had a better beat on the foul ball. He could see the wall in front of him. Should have called off the 3B?The foul ball and Hull’s gapper should have been caught. I’m glad they didn’t make the plays.
French’s hit was when the ol’ win probability flipped from less than 50% to greater than 50% for UNC. Such a clutch AB from a kid who knew today would’ve been the last baseball game he’d ever play, if we lost.In hindsight of course, they would have been better off walking French. Shaffner’s fly out would have only moved Nicholson to third with 2 outs instead of it being a running scoring sac fly. Would have also allowed the outfield to play back rather than having to play shallow to try to cut down a runner.
Now that I have given it some thought, French’s single may have been the most important bat of the inning.