Hogs vs UT Arlington

[Feral]

Bottom 4th

New pitcher for UTA.

Niu leads off. Walks on 4 pitches.

Souza up next. Niu steals 2nd. Grounds out to 2nd, Niu advances to 3rd. 1 out.

Brumbaugh up next. Flies out to the track down the RF line. Niu scores. Another good PA by Brumbaugh. 5-0 Hogs.

Lineup flips. Ruiz up. Runs the count full. Walks on what looked like strike 3.

Kozeal up next. Grounds out to the 1st baseman, 3 unassisted.

5-0 Hogs after 4

[Feral]

Top 5th

Bustamante leads off. WTF is this camera work. Camera is on Fisher and misses the play. Grounds up the middle and a throwing error allows him to take 2nd. 

Rook up next. Doubles to LF, run scores.  Throw from Ruiz looks to have gotten Rook out at 2nd (called safe on the field). Play under review. Call of safe is upheld. 5-1 Hogs

Knott up next. Goes down swinging.

Melendez up next. Grounds out to Kozeal, Rook advances to 3rd. 2 away.

Mazoch up next. Goes down swinging.

5-1 Hogs mid 5th

[Pig Benis]

Is it just me or should Fisher be our Friday guy? I know he doesn't have the velo of Gaeckle but he's been nails so far this year and eats innings due to low pitch counts.

[Feral]

Bottom 5th

New pitcher for UTA

Helfrick leads off. Walks.

Aloy up next. Flies out to deep CF.

Robinett up next. Flies out to short LCF.

Stewart up next. Grounds out to 2nd.

5-1 Hogs after 5

[Feral]

Top 6th

McAfee leads off. Flies out to deep LCF (Ruiz and Niu almost collided)

Phillips up next. Grounds out to Souza, 5-3. 2 away.

Ho up next. Golfs one to no man's land in shallow LF. Runner on 1st.

Dygert up next. Gets plunked on the thigh but ump says he leaned into it. Called a strike. Play under review. Call confirmed, count runs to 2-2. Goes down looking.

5-1 Hogs mid 6th

[DirkPiggler]

Damn.  Fisher gave up a run.   Unearned though.  Gotta keep that Blutarsky going. 

[Feral]

Bottom 6th

Niu leads off. Pops out to shallow LCF.

Souza up next. Goes down looking at one right down the middle. 2 outs.

Brumbaugh up next. Doubles to the gap in RCF! Brumbaugh starting to find it.

Lineup flips. Ruiz up next. Singles up the middle, Brumbaugh scores from 2nd. 6-1 Hogs.

Kozeal up next. Ruiz steals 2nd. Doubles off the wall in RCF, Ruiz scores! 7-1 Hogs.

Helfrick up. CRUSHES A NO-DOUBTER TO THE HOG PEN!! 9-1 Hogs

Aloy up next. Singles on a hard ground ball through the left side. 5 straight 2-out hits for the Hogs.

Pitching change.

Peck pinch hitting for Robinett. Singles up the middle, Aloy takes 3rd. Runners at the corners, still 2 outs. 6 straight 2-out hits.

Stewart up next. Runs count full. Walks. Bases full of Hogs, beer hats engaged!

Niu up next. Legs out an infield single to the left side! Aloy scores from 3rd. 10-1 Hogs.

Souza up next. Flies out to LF.

10-1 Hogs after 6.

8 straight Hogs reach base with 2 outs. 

[Son of Spam]

I think the cameraman is drunk.

[Feral]

Top 7th

Steele Eaves in to pitch for Colin Fisher. Final line for Fisher: 6.0 IP, 5 hits, 1 BB, 7 K's, 0 ER. 

Bustamante leads off. Goes down swinging on a checked swing.

Rook up next. Pops out to Peck at 1B. 2 away.

Knott up. Grounds out to Kozeal.

10-1 Hogs to the stretch.

[Feral]

I think the cameraman is drunk.

The camera work has been horrible today.  Too many plays where he just loses to ball or focuses on the wrong part of the field.

[Feral]

Bottom 7th

Brumbaugh leads off. Runs the count full. Grounds out to 2nd.

Christian Turner in for Ruiz who fouled off his foot in his last AB. Runs the count full. Walks. 

Kozeal up next. Walks on 4 pitches, Turner moves to 2nd. 

Carter Rutenbar in for Helfrick. Singles through the right side, Turner scores easily from 2nd. Ballgame!

Hogs win 11-1

[BleedinRed]

Good bounce back thee last two days. 

[Show-Me Hog]

Good bounce back thee last two days.

They've only won three games, but perhaps they have an ace. Has he won all three?

[Feral]

They've only won three games, but perhaps they have an ace. Has he won all three?

Dygert pitched in one of their other wins as well, but didn't get credited with the win because he didn't pitch past the 4th inning.

[Feral]

Good to see Brumbaugh hit his way out of a terrible start to the season.

He legged out an infield single yesterday and also drew a walk, and today he went 2-3 with a double, an RBI, and 2 runs.

Contrary to what some of us thought (me included), it looks like DVH has/had more faith in Brumbaugh than Pompey.

Souza is quietly terrible at the plate again. He's under the Mendoza Line at .182, just a hair better than Pompey. Conversely, Stewart has had nearly 30 fewer AB's and has nearly as many hits and more homers and RBI.

[Barton Fink]

I've always liked Fisher. He has good stuff and knows how to pitch. Rarely gets rattled when guys get in base.

[Barton Fink]

Good to see Brumbaugh hit his way out of a terrible start to the season.

He legged out an infield single yesterday and also drew a walk, and today he went 2-3 with a double, an RBI, and 2 runs.

Contrary to what some of us thought (me included), it looks like DVH has/had more faith in Brumbaugh than Pompey.

Souza is quietly terrible at the plate again. He's under the Mendoza Line at .182, just a hair better than Pompey. Conversely, Stewart has had nearly 30 fewer AB's and has nearly as many hits and more homers and RBI.

We need Pompey to get going. I just don't trust Souza's bat. He hits it hard when he makes contact but he still really struggles making contact.

We made better contact the last two days. Lack of clutch hitting and high strikeouts have been infuriating. Hopefully that's due to early season jitters. We shall see. Tough mid week opponent this week.

[Feral]

We need Pompey to get going. I just don't trust Souza's bat. He hits it hard when he makes contact but he still really struggles making contact.

Agreed.

Pompey is baffling to me. He raked at Tech but seems completely lost here. If he can get it going I'd rather see him at 3rd and Souza sit the bench.

People forget that Souza fell way off down the stretch in his freshman year and was terrible last year before going down to injury. Famous last words, but he is what he is at this point - a guess hitter who's going to swing over the top of a lot of pitches at the bottom of the zone.

[DirkPiggler]

Agreed.

Pompey is baffling to me. He raked at Tech but seems completely lost here. If he can get it going I'd rather see him at 3rd and Souza sit the bench.

People forget that Souza fell way off down the stretch in his freshman year and was terrible last year before going down to injury. Famous last words, but he is what he is at this point - a guess hitter who's going to swing over the top of a lot of pitches at the bottom of the zone.

Souza started the year terribly last season, but had heated up significantly by the time he got hurt.  The eye test shows him to be far better in his weak start than he was at this time last season even if the numbers are similar. 

2025 (through 43 at bats):  .168 AVG, .250 OBP, 3 HR, 8 RBI
2026 (through 44 at bats):  .182 AVG, .234 OBP, 0 HR, 4 RBI

He's talented enough that you have to keep letting him try to figure it out.  Especially given that Pompey has been even worse and he's the only other option.