ADVERTISEMENT

Postseason Starts Now

coolonetoo

Junior
May 12, 2003
1,740
1,117
113
I said that two or more losses to KSU, UNO or NU would be an abject failure. Well, that's what happened and Nebraska's RPI now sits at 78. I think we're lucky it wasn't worse. In my opinion, the Huskers played five straight sloppy, uninspired games. The possibility of an at-large bid was seriously damaged by not taking care of business against bad teams.

Up next is the first of two critical stretches with a "road" game vs. Creighton and a series at Michigan. Two wins is the absolute minimum acceptable result. Three or four would go a long way toward washing away the stink of the last week.
 
I hate to say it, but the pitching is going to doom this team this year, which REALLY sucks, because the bats finally decided to show up this season. I think we can beat Creighton, but with our pitching, that's just a rough guess... We certainly are more talented then them, but you never know when the time bomb is going to go off in the bullpen. Michigan... Unless something big happens between now and next weekend, we might get 1 win.

Sorry for the pessimistic view... I really was hoping for improvement out of the pitching. But at this point in the season, you just have to accept it for what it is.
 
I felt during our stretch of wins we'd still most likely need to win the conference tourney to get into the Regionals and this last week is why I felt that way. With such a young staff and young talent in general I see a very up and down ball club. You hope a week like this will get a team refocused and maybe the increased competition will get a few of these guys out of sleep walking mode.

I hope Wilkening becomes and everyday player because the guy has been killing it as of late.

The main issue with this team has been and will continue to be the pitching staff's inability to throw strikes. I hope it corrects itself here soon but that's what will decide this teams success or not by years end.
 
I hate to say it, but the pitching is going to doom this team this year, which REALLY sucks, because the bats finally decided to show up this season. I think we can beat Creighton, but with our pitching, that's just a rough guess... We certainly are more talented then them, but you never know when the time bomb is going to go off in the bullpen. Michigan... Unless something big happens between now and next weekend, we might get 1 win.

Sorry for the pessimistic view... I really was hoping for improvement out of the pitching. But at this point in the season, you just have to accept it for what it is.

If the pitching is improved next year...and shows to be at the very least a solid staff then you can bank on it that our hitting will regress. Until Erstad actually pieces together a complete team there is no reason to believe we will be solid in all facets of the game. The "young" excuse doesn't cut it for me....to start the year we had a senior(Howell) and Burkamper(junior) locked in the rotation. Sure...Howell has dealt with an illness but he struggled out of the gate and was moved back to the pen. Knutson arguably has some of the best stuff in the program yet he has not improved one bit since he stepped foot onto campus. Thinking that young guys like McSteen and Waldron will continue to improve is just a hope and a prayer at this point under this staff. Has King progressed from his freshmean year?
 
  • Like
Reactions: bigredrl
Agree with the sentiments. Between upperclassman pitchers not coming into the preseason focused and the injuries to the staff of late, pitching depth is thin and that means you have to leave guys out there longer.

Lots of young arms, so hopefully they continue to improve to form a solid staff next season.

We are going to lose a lot of leadership among position players after this season. Boldt, Reveles, and Plazcek will all be gone. I like Schreiber, Wilkening, Meyers, and Alvarado, and I think Klempke will turn into a good one. But that's only half the lineup.

Like others have said: one year the offense is good and pitching struggles, then it flips the next year. An inability to put together a complete team is frustrating.
 
That game stunk. Not gonna lie tho, I've seen a lot of good baseball from this team and seem to hope they can get back to it.

Big week coming up.
 
I felt during our stretch of wins we'd still most likely need to win the conference tourney to get into the Regionals and this last week is why I felt that way. With such a young staff and young talent in general I see a very up and down ball club. You hope a week like this will get a team refocused and maybe the increased competition will get a few of these guys out of sleep walking mode.

I hope Wilkening becomes and everyday player because the guy has been killing it as of late.

The main issue with this team has been and will continue to be the pitching staff's inability to throw strikes. I hope it corrects itself here soon but that's what will decide this teams success or not by years end.

Unless by some miracle we just run away with the regular season title, and we've shown nothing to indicate this is even remotely possible, then I believe you are right. Only way into post season is conference tournament champs.
 
Unless by some miracle we just run away with the regular season title, and we've shown nothing to indicate this is even remotely possible, then I believe you are right. Only way into post season is conference tournament champs.

So basically, the only realistic way to make a regional is to catch lightning in a bottle with the BIG tournament... with our pitching staff... Got it. What could go wrong???
 
Unless by some miracle we just run away with the regular season title, and we've shown nothing to indicate this is even remotely possible, then I believe you are right. Only way into post season is conference tournament champs.

True, anything is possible. We could go on a stretch of just out hitting and scoring teams at the right times. Michigan this weekend, MSU in a few weeks. I wouldn't be upset about that but we'd be flirting with fire. KSU actually did that a few years ago and had horrible pitching and finished one game shy of the CWS. They did have a great Friday starter though which we don't have unfortunately.
 
I said that two or more losses to KSU, UNO or NU would be an abject failure. Well, that's what happened and Nebraska's RPI now sits at 78. I think we're lucky it wasn't worse. In my opinion, the Huskers played five straight sloppy, uninspired games. The possibility of an at-large bid was seriously damaged by not taking care of business against bad teams.

Up next is the first of two critical stretches with a "road" game vs. Creighton and a series at Michigan. Two wins is the absolute minimum acceptable result. Three or four would go a long way toward washing away the stink of the last week.
If by acceptable minimum you mean how we should realistically feel, then I would agree. However, if your referencing what we need to keep any type of at large hope alive then you need to set your sites on 3-1. Not many solid RPI B1G opponents on the schedule this year. Need to make hay when the opportunity presents itself.

Hell for that matter, this team is in such a precarious spot from an at large stand point. We can't stumble against anyone from here on out. Lose a series to a solid opponent and we don't get to take advantage of an opportunity, lose a series to a bottoms dweller and the hurt can't be recovered, especially if at home.
 
  • Like
Reactions: k9_r
So basically, the only realistic way to make a regional is to catch lightning in a bottle with the BIG tournament... with our pitching staff... Got it. What could go wrong???
That's the way it's starting to look unfortunately. If the regular season champ or runner up win the conference tournament the B1G could see as few as 2 teams in post season in my opinion. Best case scenario is 3 in my opinion and a number of things need to go really right for that to happen.
 
This team is good enough to win a lot of games yet. Enough to get an invite. All is not lost until all is lost, right?

GBR
 
This team is good enough to win a lot of games yet. Enough to get an invite. All is not lost until all is lost, right?

GBR
So you say there's a chance!

I wanna believe but we are 22-10 right now and it looks like we have 23 remaining games left. For shits and giggles lets say we go 15-8 and then go 2-2 in the tournament. 39 wins enough with our poor remaining schedule?

2 games with Craydone but we all know their RPI will continue to drop as they go further into conference play.

MSU @ their place will be tough.

Michigan @ their place will be tough.

The rest are just awful right now with PSU being the best of the worst @ 104.

I don't think 15-8 against that schedule will do it. Some combination of regular season and tournament is going to have to lead to 40 or + wins I'm afraid. I have zero clue how many 40 win teams have been left out in the past but I would have to believe our RPI even then would not be all that great.
 
So you say there's a chance!

I wanna believe but we are 22-10 right now and it looks like we have 23 remaining games left. For shits and giggles lets say we go 15-8 and then go 2-2 in the tournament. 39 wins enough with our poor remaining schedule?

2 games with Craydone but we all know their RPI will continue to drop as they go further into conference play.

MSU @ their place will be tough.

Michigan @ their place will be tough.

The rest are just awful right now with PSU being the best of the worst @ 104.

I don't think 15-8 against that schedule will do it. Some combination of regular season and tournament is going to have to lead to 40 or + wins I'm afraid. I have zero clue how many 40 win teams have been left out in the past but I would have to believe our RPI even then would not be all that great.

15-8 will not do it, won't do it at all. We need 40 regular season wins. I'm saying we've played good enough baseball to get those 40 wins. Just need to get back to winning ways. If we don't, we're out.

Just saying, gonna wait until we're actually out before declaring so. That's all.
 
15-8 will not do it, won't do it at all. We need 40 regular season wins. I'm saying we've played good enough baseball to get those 40 wins. Just need to get back to winning ways. If we don't, we're out.

Just saying, gonna wait until we're actually out before declaring so. That's all.
Totally understand. 18-5 finish to get 40 regular season wins would be ......well something that's possible, but not very probable based on play to date.

But who knows .....win tonite, take 2 of 3 from Michigan, best KSU next week, and then you got a bad non conference team coming to town that we should sweep. That's a 7-1 stretch and moving in the right direction!
 
RPI stays around 80 after the loss. On a brighter note...the Angels are losing tonight. It would really suck if they went after Erstad in the offseason.
 
Interesting that the game our pitching staff actually looks competent, our bats decide to go hibernate for a bit. Can they ever put together a stretch where everything is working at once, or is that just asking to much?

Oh btw, in my eyes, the lost last night pretty much makes the rest of the regular season as playing out the string time. We have to win the B1G tourney to make a regional at this point.
 
Interesting that the game our pitching staff actually looks competent, our bats decide to go hibernate for a bit. Can they ever put together a stretch where everything is working at once, or is that just asking to much?

Oh btw, in my eyes, the lost last night pretty much makes the rest of the regular season as playing out the string time. We have to win the B1G tourney to make a regional at this point.

I'm still holding out hopes that this team can win on the road in East Lansing and Ann Arbor...if so that could put us back into the At Large equation. Going to be tough though....atleast Burkamper looked solid last night.....even if it was against a team with very little offense.
 
Last edited:
I'm still holding out hopes that this team can win on the road in East Lansing and Ann Arbor...if so that could put us back into the At Large equation. Going to be tough though....atleast Burkamper looked solid last night.....even if it was against a team with very little offense.

I hope your hopes are right. I just don't see it happening though. If I'm wrong, it'll be the happiest I've been being wrong since I said it was over when the Royals were down 4 to the Astros in the 8th inning of game 4 last fall. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: saluno22
I hope your hopes are right. I just don't see it happening though. If I'm wrong, it'll be the happiest I've been being wrong since I said it was over when the Royals were down 4 to the Astros in the 8th inning of game 4 last fall. :)
I was in the same boat on the Royals in game 4. And this tweet will live in infamy...
abbott13n-4-web.jpg

WRT to Nebraseball, I'm not sure we can afford to lose a conference series the rest of the way and still earn an at-large spot. Maybe dropping one of the series at UM or MSU and making the conference tourney title game. And we cannot lose more than one or two total to Nicholls State, Penn State, or the remaining mid-week games (at KSU, at Creighton, vs. KU at the K, and home vs. Omaha). Need to win the Indiana home series. Tempted to say we need to just win the Rutgers series (they are currently 14-17 but have a #68 RPI), but probably need to sweep them to have a chance at an at-large spot.

Currently: 22-11 (7-2)
2 of 3 at UM
2 of 3 at MSU
3 of 3 at Rutgers
8 or 9 of 10 among Nicholls State, PSU, and mid-week
2 of 3 vs. Indiana

This would put us at 39-16 or 40-15 (17-7 to 19-5 in conference). And I would say this is very optimistic and not likely.

Warren Nolan has us projected to finish 34-21 (14-10), meaning 12-10 (7-8) the rest of the way. Given the way we are playing (streaky on offense, lack of dominant starting pitching and suspect bullpen depth), this seems realistic.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nate004 and k9_r
22 games left and, frankly, this team is good enough to win all of them. We won't b/c we're weak enough to lose a good number of them. But there is no one on our schedule close to last year's Illinois team or the Indiana teams from a couple years ago. Nothing scary about the remaining schedule.

We are 5-4 in our last nine games and that's enough to put a fear in all fans of another late season swoon killing our hopes. Especially the way we lost three of those. Gifting Illinois and NW their wins and sleepwalking through the KSU loss. The Creighton game was a pretty good ballgame where we came up a little short. No biggie except that it's cretin. Hate that.

Five more regular season losses we can afford. Six or seven more is bubble territory depending on B1G tourney results. Eight losses - forget it.

If we can get back to our winning ways and go on a tear this 5-4 run won't mean anything. We're good enough to do it, the schedule is lame enough to give hope.

Pitching, hitting, defense, head games. Put it all together. Win games. We're not awful and it can happen.
 
  • Like
Reactions: saluno22
Did America give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? We are about to go on a tear fellas, starting with a sweep at Michigan
 
  • Like
Reactions: saluno22
Truthfully this team is a hard one to predict. We have the offense to beat anyone. We have young pitching talent that could grow into its own any day now. The question is will it happen or will it be more of the same? Win the Michigan series and we will know how ready we really are.
 
FWIW, our prior opponents played 14 midweek games this week. Won four of those for a brilliant .286 win %. So our SOS got dented which ding our RPI. Thanks, opponents.
 
Truthfully this team is a hard one to predict. We have the offense to beat anyone. We have young pitching talent that could grow into its own any day now. The question is will it happen or will it be more of the same? Win the Michigan series and we will know how ready we really are.
Based on the up and down nature of this team and I don't know what a series win at Michigan might prove other than there is still a shred of hope. This team is a mystery, plain and simple. We appear to have offense, but it does hibernate occasionally, especially when we seem to pitch it pretty decent like Tuesday night against Craydone. Baseball is certainly different than any other sport and a win is win, but the past weekend was certainly concerning and probably more indicative of what this team is capable of. Two 1 run victories against one of the worst teams in the conference and then an inexplicable performance on Sunday with no pitching or offense.

Win 2 of 3 and then come home and take care of business against some bad teams before we go to East Lansing and then I might feel some hope going into that series.
 
Based on the up and down nature of this team and I don't know what a series win at Michigan might prove other than there is still a shred of hope. This team is a mystery, plain and simple. We appear to have offense, but it does hibernate occasionally, especially when we seem to pitch it pretty decent like Tuesday night against Craydone. Baseball is certainly different than any other sport and a win is win, but the past weekend was certainly concerning and probably more indicative of what this team is capable of. Two 1 run victories against one of the worst teams in the conference and then an inexplicable performance on Sunday with no pitching or offense.

Win 2 of 3 and then come home and take care of business against some bad teams before we go to East Lansing and then I might feel some hope going into that series.

No season is defined by a series (Texas 2015 proved that) but at this point in the season it is a pretty big series if we want a shot at an at large. We win the series then our chances of getting an at large increase and we get back to that borderline at large spot. Lose it and I highly doubt we get an at large unless a couple pitchers start tearing up (Burkamper and King preferably) and we only lose a few games here on out.

Baseball is a crazy sport so its not cut and dry but with our bad schedule, and past/future opponents continuing to lose, our RPI will not be good enough without this Michigan series win IMO. On top of that even if we do get a borderline at large bid the committee will take into account these series that defined our season. Losing to the two good teams we faced in the Big Ten were not unlikely to get the nod when picking the final 4 teams out of 8 for example.

Regardless I still feel our best bet is to win that Big Ten Tourney in front of a Sea of Red.
 
Oh btw, in my eyes, the lost last night pretty much makes the rest of the regular season as playing out the string time. We have to win the B1G tourney to make a regional at this point.

As I was saying... We're officially playing out the string from here on out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: saluno22
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT