Post by yandro on Mar 8, 2008 9:24:07 GMT -5
Very disheartening loss last night. I was following the game through the Troy website. Just when it looked like FIU took the lead for good, Troy came back. But not by whipping out the bats, but by taking walks, and even worse, taking advantage of FIU errors.
What bothered me the most was the linescore for the bottom of the 5th inning (Troy's at bat): 4 Runs scored, 1 HIT, 4 Errors. This has got to stop. What happened with the fundamental drills Turtle went over in practice? In that same 4th inning, the leadoff guy walked, stole second AND third base, then came home on a ball hit to the shortstop (which was then booted for an error). Forget for a moment that it was an error. Let's say the out was recorded at first. You can't have a guy just around around the bases on you like that Troy player did. I don't know what percentage of the times walks come around to score, but I'm sure it's over 40%.
Later in the inning, not sure exactly what happened since I couldn't watch the game, but there were two errors on the same play by Townsend and the pitcher at the time. It felt not like a high school game, but a little league game. The FIU team needs to shape up and learn to play defense. Like Pete Pelegrin says, you can score all the runs in the world, but if you don't have pitching (or defense) you are not gonna win, no matter what level of baseball you play.
On the flip side, nice job by Raimy Fuentes with a big night 3-4 with 4 runs scored and 3 RBIs (homerun away from the cycle) and Mollica with a 2-3 night (2 walks) with 4 runs scored and an RBI.
It's been said a couple times and it's being evidenced so far practically in every game - FIU needs pitching, and hopefully Turtle will concentrate on that when he has his next recruiting class. Side note: FIU's biggest pitching recruit, Mason McVay from Killian, will not pitch his senior year due to shoulder surgery. Don't know if he'll be ready for fall practice and MAY have to redshirt his freshman year....
What bothered me the most was the linescore for the bottom of the 5th inning (Troy's at bat): 4 Runs scored, 1 HIT, 4 Errors. This has got to stop. What happened with the fundamental drills Turtle went over in practice? In that same 4th inning, the leadoff guy walked, stole second AND third base, then came home on a ball hit to the shortstop (which was then booted for an error). Forget for a moment that it was an error. Let's say the out was recorded at first. You can't have a guy just around around the bases on you like that Troy player did. I don't know what percentage of the times walks come around to score, but I'm sure it's over 40%.
Later in the inning, not sure exactly what happened since I couldn't watch the game, but there were two errors on the same play by Townsend and the pitcher at the time. It felt not like a high school game, but a little league game. The FIU team needs to shape up and learn to play defense. Like Pete Pelegrin says, you can score all the runs in the world, but if you don't have pitching (or defense) you are not gonna win, no matter what level of baseball you play.
On the flip side, nice job by Raimy Fuentes with a big night 3-4 with 4 runs scored and 3 RBIs (homerun away from the cycle) and Mollica with a 2-3 night (2 walks) with 4 runs scored and an RBI.
It's been said a couple times and it's being evidenced so far practically in every game - FIU needs pitching, and hopefully Turtle will concentrate on that when he has his next recruiting class. Side note: FIU's biggest pitching recruit, Mason McVay from Killian, will not pitch his senior year due to shoulder surgery. Don't know if he'll be ready for fall practice and MAY have to redshirt his freshman year....
