Game 3: #1 Illinois 3-2 over #8 Nebraska
- Thread starter saluno22
- Start date
Well we only lost by 1 run. That's all we can ask for a team led by Erstad at this point. 5 wins...in 4 days? I guess crazier things have happened. Tall task....even bigger task for a putrid lineup.
We are always our own worst enemy. Sign of a poorly coached team. We played well enough to win today but like usual the small things came back to bite us and Illinois does the small things well.
After watching our first 2 batters in the 9th swinging at first pitches that would have bounced in front of the plate and hit the plate respectively, I've seen enough. I have no doubt in my mind that they'll be home early enough to watch the games over the weekend.
Seeing the teams up close, from a physical perspective, Nebraska doesn't even belong on the same field as Illinois. Varsity vs. JV type of deal as it comes to physique. Boldt, Lubach, and Schreiber look like they could play with that group of players, maybe Headley, but I'm not sure any of those guys are better options than what Illinois has on the field right now.
Yes, Alvarado had some clutch hitting today, but he doesn't look the part. Most Illinois starters are built like brick sh*thouses. Reminds me of Indiana last year.
Yes, Alvarado had some clutch hitting today, but he doesn't look the part. Most Illinois starters are built like brick sh*thouses. Reminds me of Indiana last year.
That Fish AB was atrocious. Seemed like the moment was too big for him and he was pressing to make the big hit.
This team needs to win 5 games in 4 days. Any talk about this team getting an at large is delusional at this point.
Really Saluno? Nebraska outhit IL. My eyes tell me IL needs errors and breaks to win. Doubt they make it out of their regional.
I really wonder if the hitting coach is too emphatic in instructing them not to discount the first pitch, and they feel pressure to swing at the first. I've seen some very ugly first pitches swung at this year.
Oh well, when things are not going well, there are so many things to look at, and this team definitely has a lot of areas where they just haven't performed.
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Right. Good to keep a happy thought. I feel more like crying, though.I think you misinterpreted what I wrote. What I meant was the look of the players. We have talent, no doubt, but if you line the teams up side by side, you'd be hard pressed to find someone who would say NU players look like they are better than Illinois players. Looked like Mighty Ducks 3.
But I will agree with you on the regional part given my comparison to last year's Indiana squad since Indiana didn't make it out of their regional as a national seed. And I agree that we played well enough to show we belong on the same field (like you said, we had more hits but untimely errors).
This sounds like serious sour grapes IMO. Illinois is in solid position to obtain a top 8 seed this year and we will likely be watching from home the third time out of four years under Erstad. We will likely never experience the success they are having under our current staff. I hope they make it to Omaha.
I said they could make a run. I didn't predict five wins in MSP followed by a march to Omaha. Though I'd like to see it.
Breaks are needed to win 27 straight. But you have to be really good, too. I hate Illinois. Partly because of their whining the last two years. But mostly because I'm jealous.
A few things that stood out today, and most of the year...
Nebraska had a good approach at the plate with the right handers but the left handers looked lost. I do believe Nebraska was the better team today except in the clutch once again and that's where Illinois has proved why they're the Big Ten Champs.
I also don't agree with the switch to Howell, Chesnut and Howell have been great all year but hit or miss the last few weeks. I really believe when you find your hot pitcher you stick with them for more than 1.1 innings. As soon as Howell came in I worried about what happened happening.
Ben Miller should of not been able to bat after the failed bunt opportunity and should have been replaced. A DH only player should always bat over .300 in college baseball imo. Even Cox could have been put in for a bunt attempt which ironically would have been a 3rd run on Placzek's double. Missed opportunities like this add up and once again it did today.
I hope Erstad starts to play the hot hands a little more rather than the matchups. That is what hurts this ball team the most, its ran like a big league ball club with college level players.
I do however think Erstad has some great young talent that excites me, assuming they progress at the plate unlike a few upperclassmen (Headley, Placzek, Darby). Unlike others I do believe the recruiting is good enough but the game time coaching needs a little tweaking.
I don't feel too confident going through the losers bracket but do remember two years ago when we pulled off the impossible and almost won it. This years format makes it much more doable but we would need a lot of luck to go our way and we don't seem to possess much of that this year unfortunately.
At the end of the day I see a lot of the issues with this team being very fixable, the question remains to be seen on whether that will happen but I look at all of the one loss games and see every one of them being winnable with some clutch hitting. Time will tell but I'm hopeful, maybe a little desperate, to see the Huskers turn the corner here soon.
GBR and let's just win this thing for the heck of it!
Nebraska had a good approach at the plate with the right handers but the left handers looked lost. I do believe Nebraska was the better team today except in the clutch once again and that's where Illinois has proved why they're the Big Ten Champs.
I also don't agree with the switch to Howell, Chesnut and Howell have been great all year but hit or miss the last few weeks. I really believe when you find your hot pitcher you stick with them for more than 1.1 innings. As soon as Howell came in I worried about what happened happening.
Ben Miller should of not been able to bat after the failed bunt opportunity and should have been replaced. A DH only player should always bat over .300 in college baseball imo. Even Cox could have been put in for a bunt attempt which ironically would have been a 3rd run on Placzek's double. Missed opportunities like this add up and once again it did today.
I hope Erstad starts to play the hot hands a little more rather than the matchups. That is what hurts this ball team the most, its ran like a big league ball club with college level players.
I do however think Erstad has some great young talent that excites me, assuming they progress at the plate unlike a few upperclassmen (Headley, Placzek, Darby). Unlike others I do believe the recruiting is good enough but the game time coaching needs a little tweaking.
I don't feel too confident going through the losers bracket but do remember two years ago when we pulled off the impossible and almost won it. This years format makes it much more doable but we would need a lot of luck to go our way and we don't seem to possess much of that this year unfortunately.
At the end of the day I see a lot of the issues with this team being very fixable, the question remains to be seen on whether that will happen but I look at all of the one loss games and see every one of them being winnable with some clutch hitting. Time will tell but I'm hopeful, maybe a little desperate, to see the Huskers turn the corner here soon.
GBR and let's just win this thing for the heck of it!
I think we have some young guys that will help in the future, Alvarado looks like a nice talent and even though he has not hit much this year I think Dilday will turn out to be solid. So the corner outfield looks good....Schreiber could turn out to be what we need at first base if his power continues to develop which may be unlikely under Erstad. We have some nice pieces...but is it enough to get to where we want to go? Doubtful. Hopefully Reveles get's his senior year back, for as good as Edrington is in the field hes just not a D-1 hitter. If you can't hit over the Mendoza line(hes not close)...you should not be playing. An infield of Edrington and Placzek next year sounds painful...and Erstad needs to get over his fear of Schleppenbach hitting against lefties. We will need some of the young infield talent to step up next year. I've been told on here the pitching should be better next year and continue to be developed. I'm just not seeing it, I think we will be solid in that department but rarely do you lose your 1-2 pitchers and your set up up/closer and take a step forward.
Yep, we're top 10-15 in fielding percentage and ERA. Such a poorly coached team.
That top 15 fielding percentage trophy will look mighty fine next to our #8 place Big Ten Trophy and 1 regional out of 4 years trophy Erstad has won. To go with his zero Big Ten Trophy's thus far. I sure hope you aren't planning on making any guarantee's for Erstad's reign like you did when ole Mike Anderson was here. Might as well though, you won't hold your end of the bargain anyways.
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I gave myself a month timeout for that one, I figured it was sufficient to make good on the bet.
I'm not making any promises about DE, other than he'll be the head coach next year and very likely the year after that.
I just pointed out your comment was asinine. They are a well coached team that can't hit so even the VERY TINY amount of mistakes they do make cost them dearly.
I went down this list and checked every one of those boxes. Completely agree. A couple things stood out to me.
I took a look. Ten Illinois guys got 97% of their at bats. Their top nine range from 149-230 at bats and the 10th guy got 90. Seven others got a total of 63 at bats.
Ten LSU guys got 91% of their at bats and five others got almost all the of the 9% left. Nine LSU players range from 176-225 at bats apiece and the 10th got 107.
It's a lot different with us. Eight Huskers got 77% of the at bats ranging from 101-218. Eight others got 23%.
I don't know what's the right way but Illinois and LSU seem to be going one way and we're going another way. Maybe that's why they have 40+ wins and we don't?
The other thing is "clutch". In tough games the most valuable thing is clutch. You want to make your teammates happy? Be clutch. Clutch will get you 40+ wins. And clutch is 100% mental.
Anyone know Ryan's average w/RISP? I'd like to see that number.
So you don't think coaching has ANYTHING to do with our hitting woes? I honestly can't say for sure, but I would say that's doubtful. But judging off Blackshirts comments who I think probably knows may more than I do...coaching is a major issue. Or atleast...what they are being coached to do at the plate. Erstad may go on to be the next Dave Van Horn for this program, I don't know....but right now it hasn't been great and I don't see any signs pointing to that changing anytime soon. I'm not ready to fire the guy....but unless something changes I don't see us getting to where we want to be as a program with him at the lead. Perhaps this year, may force his hand to adjust what he's doing to build this program? We shall see.
I would add, if anything the Anderson era taught me not to get too upset if it doesn't work out with a coach. It's given me a much more balanced look at sports and the team's performance on the field and evaluate them. I don't go extremely negative at the smallest sign of trouble (you) nor do I go extremely positive in spite of obvious issues and look at ways to justify things (old me).
I just take it very evenly. This year's team was a let down compared to the previous years where obvious progress was made and for the first time an Erstad coached team did not get better as the year went on. Not grounds to get rid of anyone for sure, just enough to see how he responds as a coach and make a more prescient evaluation next year.
I just take it very evenly. This year's team was a let down compared to the previous years where obvious progress was made and for the first time an Erstad coached team did not get better as the year went on. Not grounds to get rid of anyone for sure, just enough to see how he responds as a coach and make a more prescient evaluation next year.
I think it's a mix. I like SOME of our offensive approach and I don't like others. I'm hoping we drastically change our approach to sacrificing. I like the idea of small ball, but it should be used in specific situations, not as a blanket philosophy. I don't like to early in games unless it's a 9-hole hitter (or maybe #2, depending on how you set your lineup) or unless you're facing a top 5 pitcher and you know baserunners will be a premium.
I don't like sacrificing from 2nd to 3rd generally (unless you have 2 runners on base).
I like the idea of line drive gap hitting, but again it's not an every pitch every at bat.
You're getting too worked up. This team is currently well coached on the mound and in the field. The numbers prove that. It's not well coached at the plate or on the bases. The numbers prove that, too.
If you can pitch and field well you'll be in just about every game you play. If you can't hit well you will lose a frustratingly high number of those games. Sound familiar?
I think this is an example of what was pointed out yesterday about this team being managed a bit too much like a big league club.
I will say, though, that Illinois is a highly veteran team so their lineup was pretty much set in February. I'm not sure about LSU but I think it's the case there, too. Of course, avoiding injuries, among other things, helps immensely.
I'm a fan of experimenting early in the season to find out who your guys are and then settling on 10-11 regulars. A set lineup builds continuity. I can still rattle off the starters from the 2005 team because it was mostly consistent all season. I'll best most on this board can, too.
Its safe to assume improvement for most players, a couple pitchers that peak my interest as far as next year are, Hohensee, Meyers, Knutson, King, and Burkamper. There is also a JUCU coming in but I forget his name. With Chesnut and Howell coming back (assuming either do) we aren't in horrible shape. Losing your 1-2 is rough but neither are world beaters but the lack of experience could be tough on us at the beginning of the year.
Quite honestly, if our pitching isn't as good it would still be good enough. The issue with this team will be those bats imo, that's where we need the most improvement and fast. I agree 100% that we need to not worry about match-up so much and play the best guys, or recruit guys who can hit against both lefties and righties if its that big of an issue.
Challenge accepted and correct me if I'm wrong:
- Jesse Boyer LF
- Joe Simokaitis SS
- Alex Gordon 3rd
- Curtis Ledbetter/Brandon Buckman 1st/DH
- Curtis Ledbetter/Brandon Buckman 1st/DH
- Andy Gerch RF
- Daniel Bruce CF
- Ryan Wehrle 2nd
- Jeff Christy
Looks pretty accurate to me!
Chamberlain, Duensing, Kroenke, and Dorn with Shirek in relief and Jensen to shut it down.
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