Fayetteville (Super) Regional - 2025 Edition now CWS

[Feral]

After the game I was as disappointed as I've ever been with a Hog loss.  In spite of the limitations pointed out above (which affect every team), this is the best team Van Horn has put on the field.  There are capable hitters in 8/9 spots.  No one in the field has our pitching depth.

Thinking more rationally, we do have a path.  We should be able to beat Murray State and get our bats back on track.  UCLA can hit a little but I didn't see any pitchers who scared me.  They would be a bottom half of the SEC pitching staff.  We would then presumably play LSU again on Wednesday, with neither Anderson nor Eyanson available on normal rest.  Then should we win we would probably get some combination of those two for 2-3 innings each, still on short rest, facing Root again. 

Not the ideal path, and there's zero room for a day off mentally which is what killed us more than anything last night. 

Agreed. I almost said the exact same thing before the CWS started - this is the best team DVH has ever brought to Omaha, so if he doesn't win it with this team he never will.

I will say this. We have the talent and the pitching to work out of the losers bracket and go toe to toe with LSU, and neither Murray or UCLA match up with us, but we'll see which Arkansas team takes the field. The good news is that the only pitcher we've burned is Gaeckle. Root only threw 38 pitches and should be fine on short rest if/when needed down the line.

[Show-Me Hog]

After the game I was as disappointed as I've ever been with a Hog loss.  In spite of the limitations pointed out above (which affect every team), this is the best team Van Horn has put on the field.  There are capable hitters in 8/9 spots.  No one in the field has our pitching depth.

Thinking more rationally, we do have a path.  We should be able to beat Murray State and get our bats back on track.  UCLA can hit a little but I didn't see any pitchers who scared me.  They would be a bottom half of the SEC pitching staff.  We would then presumably play LSU again on Wednesday, with neither Anderson nor Eyanson available on normal rest.  Then should we win we would probably get some combination of those two for 2-3 innings each, still on short rest, facing Root again. 

Not the ideal path, and there's zero room for a day off mentally which is what killed us more than anything last night. 

We definitely can do this. We can especially do it if we get back to Root for a deciding game with LSU.

We can't do it if the bats stay quiet.

[Thin Red Swine]

Running Ford's analysis, this was last night for at bats starting three ways:

Looking first pitch strike: 1-11, 6K
Looking first pitch ball: 1-8, 2 BB, 2K
Swinging first pitch: 2-10, HR, 3K

So last night was bad all the way around.

But as I was counting these, I noticed the first column, and to some extend the third, was filled more in the beginning. So no question our strategy seemed to be to work counts, and again we're just not good at doing that.

Maybe they turned guys loose more as the game went on, but it was too late to be effective, and certainly against that pitcher.   

[BleedinRed]

A team that can't make it to the championship series will never be in the argument for DVH's best team. The 2018 team will hold that title again this year.  

[Son of Spam]

How the hell did UALR nearly beat them...twice?

[Hogfan58]

How the hell did UALR nearly beat them...twice?

No pressure, playing to win, instead of playing not to lose.

[DRYANKNPULL]

Really enjoyed watching the team have fun at the driving range and Omaha zoo this week on Instagram.

Seems like hitting a bucket of balls would be a bad idea for our hitters.

[piglosopher]

We choked. That's the worst offensive performance all year. Hate to say it but it is what it is.

[Hognrock]

I think taking 1st pitch strikes and even 0–1 strikes was part of the game plan to get Anderson's pitch count up and get him out of the game as early as possible. You have to adjust your game plan when he's pouring it into the zone. Gonna need bats to step up to have a chance.

[Thin Red Swine]

How the hell did UALR nearly beat them...twice?

Because LSU's pitching falls off BIGLY after their top two. They shut out both UALR and Dallas Baptist with Eyanson and Anderson.

The second game against UALR, they handed out 11 walks and that 100 mph dude Shores we saw last night was not good in that game. 

The third game, their starter got torched but they had saved Evans for long relief and brought back Eyanson to close it out.

This is how Dirk's path laid out above sounds good in theory.

[piglosopher]

We choked. That's the worst offensive performance all year. Hate to say it but it is what it is.

And perhaps all the extracurriculars is overcompensating trying to stay loose. When it's finally game time, we don't feel as prepared or confident.

I know, this is ridiculous. I'm speculating and analyzing like I have any idea, but the team last night isn't the  team we've seen all year.

[woodhog14]

Oof. That's a pattern. Dave is doing something wrong between the supers and getting to Omaha. Change it up.

Well, in 2022, we beat Stanford 17-2 in the opening game of the CWS.

Plus, when you're in Omaha, you face great pitching from every team.

Anderson was on point last night. Great pitching beats great hitting every single time at every level.

You can't blame DVH for every little thing that doesn't go our way. It's getting ridiculous.

[woodhog14]

We choked. That's the worst offensive performance all year. Hate to say it but it is what it is.

So we choked against a pitcher that has 163 K's on the year and is 11-1? Looks like a lot of teams choked against him this year.

Jesus...

[piglosopher]

So we choked against a pitcher that has 163 K's on the year and is 11-1? Looks like a lot of teams choked against him this year.

Jesus...

Yeah he's really good

Bottom line, it's the worst offensive performance all year.

[Thin Red Swine]

Yeah, I don't think of it as choking as much as just being absolutely snakebit.

We had arguably our best pitcher ever struggle in the postseason last year. Why couldn't we be on the other side of that for one measly game, like last night?

[DirkPiggler]

A team that can't make it to the championship series will never be in the argument for DVH's best team. The 2018 team will hold that title again this year. 

Most talented and complete team then.   

[DirkPiggler]

Running Ford's analysis, this was last night for at bats starting three ways:

Looking first pitch strike: 1-11, 6K
Looking first pitch ball: 1-8, 2 BB, 2K
Swinging first pitch: 2-10, HR, 3K

So last night was bad all the way around.

But as I was counting these, I noticed the first column, and to some extend the third, was filled more in the beginning. So no question our strategy seemed to be to work counts, and again we're just not good at doing that.

Maybe they turned guys loose more as the game went on, but it was too late to be effective, and certainly against that pitcher.   

With a couple of exceptions, one of whom only plays now as a defensive sub, we are pretty good at working counts.  We draw a lot of walks and force pitchers to give us something to hit.  But when the pitcher is as good as Anderson and dialed in to that degree, you could have the nine best approaches in your lineup and they still aren't doing shit.  We were able to beat Doyle both times mainly because he isn't as disciplined as Anderson and tries to measure his dick size by beating hitters with his fast ball. 

Like @Hognrock said, we needed to adjust more quickly, mainly by swinging early rather than trying to get his pitch count up. 

[Son of Spam]

From what I have seen, us and LSU are still the best teams in the tourney. It is shitty that we had to meet in the first game. Now, let's get by Murray State and go from there. One game at a time.

[Hogfan58]

From what I have seen, us and LSU are still the best teams in the tourney. It is shitty that we had to meet in the first game. Now, let's get by Murray State and go from there. One game at a time.

We may one of the best teams in Omaha, but we are not built to win there. In that stadium, teams built to hit HR aren't going to win consistently.   

[Feral]

From what I have seen, us and LSU are still the best teams in the tourney. It is shitty that we had to meet in the first game. Now, let's get by Murray State and go from there. One game at a time.

I think one of two things happen.

A) we beat MSU and UCLA and work back to face LSU (x2)

B) we have a redux of last year's regional where we got bounced by SEMO and don't show up for MSU.