Kentucky v. South Carolina (Saturday)

[Comebakatz3]

Why is tomorrow anymore important than today was...I still say after today Haake should be taken down and replaced with Ramsey.

Some games you just know you don't have it and you're not going to win. The opposing pitcher is dealing and you get down in a hurry and it makes more sense to use your bullpen depth than it does to bring out your best bullpen guys. South Carolina did this very thing yesterday. They pitched Lomas, who had only thrown 11 innings on the season for 3 innings and UK put up 6 more runs on him. They saved their better pitchers in case they needed them for today and/or tomorrow.

Here is the thing... in many ways, Haake did not pitch that poorly. Last weekend he pitched a whole lot worse and walked a ton of guys, over 10. Still, he got the outs when he needed them, and but for being left in too long would have probably had a victory. This weekend, he walked just 3 guys and yet he made a few mistake pitches here and there that USC took advantage of. He really wasn't having any major control issues. Typically pitchers come out because they are having trouble hitting spots and throwing strikes. He wasn't. He was getting ahead in counts and pitching pretty well other than the mistake pitches.

 

[sluggercatfan]

We've only gotten two runners to 2nd (ignoring the bases empty HR). That is almost as disappointing as the pitching today.

To me it's more...with the metal bats 5 runs should be a given. Has a scout tell me one time that if MLB had its way that hs and college kids would not be allowed to use metal, but it's a cost thing.

 

[Comebakatz3]

"A team that hasn't won a road game all year" sheesh.... And we can't even hit it to the pitching mound now.

I think that is a huge exaggeration... they have only played 5 of them. 3 of those were against Georgia and one other one was at Clemson. The other one was last night. So, it's not like they have played some road games against poor or below average teams and lost them.

 

[Old_Red]

15 earned runs this game. Can't blame errors. Just a pitching staff unable to handle an SEC team.

 

[Old_Red]

Cottam takes a pitch right down the middle for a called third strike.

 

[Jeff Drummond]

FINAL: South Carolina 15, Kentucky 1. Gamecocks and Cats will have rubber match on Sunday afternoon to decide the series.

 

[sluggercatfan]

I would say that this year has been a total failure for Belanger. Last year our SEC play ERA was 4.36 and this year, before today, it was 6.10. The major contributors from a year ago have raised their ERAs in SEC play rather than matching the performances from a year ago. Hjelle was at 1.90 and now he is at 3.94. Lewis was at 3.81 and now he is at 7.56. Machamer was at 3.52 and now he is at 6.75. Thompson has pitched in SEC play this year, but his ERA overall is much higher than a year ago. We lost Logue (6.37) and replaced him with Thompson/Haake and instead of getting improvement, we have gone down significantly. Haake now has an ERA of 8.40 through 18.2 innings of SEC work.

On top of that, I cannot really say that we have another Thompson-type who I feel like is going to be a sure thing SEC starter next year. Harper could be that guy, but he started a few weeks ago against Arkansas and gave up 5 runs and get through the first. Ramsey could be that guy, but he hasn't necessarily been overly impressive in SEC play with an ERA of 5.79 in 4.2 innings of work. So, it is very scary that we will have to replace 2 SEC starters next year. Plus, Haake is projected to be a big time prospect and could technically also go pro, so we might not even have him as a possible stand in. Of course, we have some guys redshirting or injured that would help, but still.

I guess the simple way to put it is that Belanger's pitching staff is ranked last in the SEC in ERA. Henderson never had good pitching staffs (IMO), but he was also never ranked last.

CB3...that's why I said earlier when you talked about saving guys for tomorrow you just can't do that with this team. There is no way Haake will be a solid draft choice. I really like Ramsey and he is the only one of the young guys I've been even remotely impressed with. Going to say this and hope I'm eating crow...this team is not making the ncaa tournament and with Hjelle, Lewis and probably Thompson(?) gone next year is looking very bleak plus we are losing all the hitters we have...Ming and staff have a lot of work ahead.

 

[AgesBlue]

That was about as much fun as root canal, we clobber them last night, they clobber us tonight. Still a win tomorrow, and we take the series. I expect an upset, revenge minded team to show up tomorrow. With Justin Lewis on the mound, I like the Cats chances.

 

[sluggercatfan]

"A team that hasn't won a road game all year" sheesh.... And we can't even hit it to the pitching mound now.

Alabama had lost seven straight when we lost that series.

 

[AgesBlue]

Alabama had lost seven straight when we lost that series.

True, but the won the series against us, lost to Jacksonville State at home, and won this weekend's series at Mizzou. Baseball is a funny game.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Bats will struggle at times. You're going to run into pitchers like Morris who just had all the right stuff today. What is a travesty is this pitching staff. Our ERA in SEC play is 6.90. Here is what is scary... we've faced opposing offenses that are ranked 2nd (Arky), 8th (Auburn), 10th (Alabama), and 12th (South Carolina). So, 3 teams in the bottom half of the SEC in hitting. I suppose the good thing is that almost everyone we face is in the bottom half of the SEC in terms of hitting. Still, not good that we have struggled like this.

 

[sluggercatfan]

Some games you just know you don't have it and you're not going to win. The opposing pitcher is dealing and you get down in a hurry and it makes more sense to use your bullpen depth than it does to bring out your best bullpen guys. South Carolina did this very thing yesterday. They pitched Lomas, who had only thrown 11 innings on the season for 3 innings and UK put up 6 more runs on him. They saved their better pitchers in case they needed them for today and/or tomorrow.

Here is the thing... in many ways, Haake did not pitch that poorly. Last weekend he pitched a whole lot worse and walked a ton of guys, over 10. Still, he got the outs when he needed them, and but for being left in too long would have probably had a victory. This weekend, he walked just 3 guys and yet he made a few mistake pitches here and there that USC took advantage of. He really wasn't having any major control issues. Typically pitchers come out because they are having trouble hitting spots and throwing strikes. He wasn't. He was getting ahead in counts and pitching pretty well other than the mistake pitches.

At 10-1 I get it...at 5-0 I don't at all

 

[sluggercatfan]

Some games you just know you don't have it and you're not going to win. The opposing pitcher is dealing and you get down in a hurry and it makes more sense to use your bullpen depth than it does to bring out your best bullpen guys. South Carolina did this very thing yesterday. They pitched Lomas, who had only thrown 11 innings on the season for 3 innings and UK put up 6 more runs on him. They saved their better pitchers in case they needed them for today and/or tomorrow.

Here is the thing... in many ways, Haake did not pitch that poorly. Last weekend he pitched a whole lot worse and walked a ton of guys, over 10. Still, he got the outs when he needed them, and but for being left in too long would have probably had a victory. This weekend, he walked just 3 guys and yet he made a few mistake pitches here and there that USC took advantage of. He really wasn't having any major control issues. Typically pitchers come out because they are having trouble hitting spots and throwing strikes. He wasn't. He was getting ahead in counts and pitching pretty well other than the mistake pitches.

Like I said earlier this one was on the staff just like his last outing. He is not an sec starting pitcher, nor should be be.

 

[Comebakatz3]

At 10-1 I get it...at 5-0 I don't at all

We are down 5-0 early in a game. To the point, Haake really hadn't pitched that poorly. He struck out two in the first. In the second, he gave up a full count leadoff walk, and it took a two out double off of Aklinski's glove for the first run. In the third inning he gives up two singles, neither of which IIRC, were hit all that well. The first one, as I recall was a little dying ball that landed in no mans land. The second was through the infield where 2nd usually plays, but he was pulled over at DP depth. The third hit, was a bunt that went for a hit that ARod couldn't field with the bare hand. Haake was up in the count in all of these. None of them were because he was struggling hitting spots. We then give up a run on a fielder's choice that probably could have gone for a double play. On a 1-1 Haake makes a mistake and they take advantage and the score balloons to 5-0.

Here, you could take him out, but he hadn't really pitched poorly up to that point. He'd thrown 30 strikes to just 14 balls and had really only made the one mistake. At that point, the bases are clear and you can let him go. He gets the second out before he finally loses a batter and in that at bat he does look poor. Just after that he gives up the second home run. We could have just as easily been out of that inning with Haake in the game still and down 5-0. Haake then went 3 up 3 down in the 4th. So, we could have been going to the 5th inning down just 5-1 with our starter. Basically, two mistake pitches were the difference.

Had Haake walked 4 or 5 hitters and that's why we were getting killed then I would have agreed that he didn't have control and needed to be taken out after the first home run, but that wasn't the case. He'd made his mistake pitch and there wasn't a ton of reason to believe that he was really struggling. Of course, when you go down 7 runs, you start to play the game a bit differently and you don't want to start blowing the bullpen.

 

[sluggercatfan]

We are down 5-0 early in a game. To the point, Haake really hadn't pitched that poorly. He struck out two in the first. In the second, he gave up a full count leadoff walk, and it took a two out double off of Aklinski's glove for the first run. In the third inning he gives up two singles, neither of which IIRC, were hit all that well. The first one, as I recall was a little dying ball that landed in no mans land. The second was through the infield where 2nd usually plays, but he was pulled over at DP depth. The third hit, was a bunt that went for a hit that ARod couldn't field with the bare hand. Haake was up in the count in all of these. None of them were because he was struggling hitting spots. We then give up a run on a fielder's choice that probably could have gone for a double play. On a 1-1 Haake makes a mistake and they take advantage and the score balloons to 5-0.

Here, you could take him out, but he hadn't really pitched poorly up to that point. He'd thrown 30 strikes to just 14 balls and had really only made the one mistake. At that point, the bases are clear and you can let him go. He gets the second out before he finally loses a batter and in that at bat he does look poor. Just after that he gives up the second home run. We could have just as easily been out of that inning with Haake in the game still and down 5-0. Haake then went 3 up 3 down in the 4th. So, we could have been going to the 5th inning down just 5-1 with our starter. Basically, two mistake pitches were the difference.

Had Haake walked 4 or 5 hitters and that's why we were getting killed then I would have agreed that he didn't have control and needed to be taken out after the first home run, but that wasn't the case. He'd made his mistake pitch and there wasn't a ton of reason to believe that he was really struggling. Of course, when you go down 7 runs, you start to play the game a bit differently and you don't want to start blowing the bullpen.

Well I guess we'll just disagree...this game puts us in 12th place in league and we haven't even played the meat of the SEC schedule yet...a lose tomorrow and lose the series next week against Ga and this teams possibilities of even making the sec tourney, much less the ncaa becomes very, very slim. A shame with such high expectations starting the season. I think the loss of Thompson, who I expected to be the best pitcher on the staff, started the downafall

 

[Comebakatz3]

Well I guess we'll just disagree...this game puts us in 12th place in league and we haven't even played the meat of the SEC schedule yet...a lose tomorrow and lose the series next week against Ga and this teams possibilities of even making the sec tourney, much less the ncaa becomes very, very slim. A shame with such high expectations starting the season. I think the loss of Thompson, who I expected to be the best pitcher on the staff, started the downafall

By the end of tomorrow the SEC could have 6 teams with 5-7 records. TAMU and Bama are already there and won't play tomorrow. Tennessee plays 2 against Florida. If they win 1 they are there, but I imagine they are likely swept. Auburn would also have to beat Arkansas.

So, there could be some huge changes tomorrow that have us tied for 7th with as many as 6 others. At least 4 could be tied there if we beat USC.

 

[sluggercatfan]

By the end of tomorrow the SEC could have 6 teams with 5-7 records. TAMU and Bama are already there and won't play tomorrow. Tennessee plays 2 against Florida. If they win 1 they are there, but I imagine they are likely swept. Auburn would also have to beat Arkansas.

So, there could be some huge changes tomorrow that have us tied for 7th with as many as 6 others. At least 4 could be tied there if we beat USC.

We have been horrible on the road with series left against Vandy, ut and Ga. I see no better than 4-5 in those games and a home series with Fla that will probably destroy our pitching.

 

[Comebakatz3]

We have been horrible on the road with series left against Vandy, ut and Ga. I see no better than 4-5 in those games and a home series with Fla that will probably destroy our pitching.

Hard to tell how bad we are on the road. We've played 10 true road games and we're 5-5. If we get two more wins on the road, one at Arkansas or one at Alabama (or sweep Bama) then we don't feel so bad about our road record. That's how close the difference is, just 2 games. We will get a clearer picture to see how good or bad we really are on the road as the SEC schedule progresses.