Report Card (Ball State)

[Comebakatz3]

F.

Can I just stop there?

Starting Pitching: A

A large portion of the team needs to apologize to these guys.

Cole Stupp started on Friday and had a solid day. He went 6.2 and gave up just 2 earned runs while striking out 5 and walking just 1. That is a whale of a dale for your starting pitcher and there is absolutely no excuse for UK to have lost this game and for him to not have gotten the win. He had a couple of small mistakes in giving up the runs, but he limited damage and took UK to the 7th inning before having to go to the bullpen. Excellent showing. A

Mason Hazelwood probably didn't have his best stuff on Saturday and he struggled with location all day. Mingione basically said he had one pitch working and even it wasn't perfect. Despite that, Hazelwood battled and went 5.1 innings without giving up a run. He had 4 walks to 6 strikeouts and gave up just 3 hits. This is the kind of showing you want to see from your veteran. He battled and got the W despite not having a great feel for it. A

Zack Lee had a strong outing. The stats look bad for him as he gave up 4 earned runs in 5.1 innings of work, but that is fools gold to me. Kid had 8 strikeouts and probably should have been taken out earlier. That is on the coaches and not on him. Lee hit a couple batters and had a wild pitch, but he gave up 0 base on balls. 8 strikeouts to 0 BBs is outstanding. He gave up just 5 hits in those 5.1 innings. Obviously the 4 earned runs looks bad, but again, I don't put all that on him. A-

Bullpen: B

This is actually kind of tough because the bullpen had a pretty solid showing, but Sunday was bad and frustrating.

Wyatt Hudepohl - Came in on Friday in a big spot and I personally was not a fan of it. Game was tied 2-2 in the top of the 7th and Ball State had a man on with 2 outs. Hudepohl was making just his second appearance on the year, and he'd struggled in the first one. So, I was nervous for the freshman. He did his job and got a ground out to short to end the inning. A

Cole Daniels - Cole had a bad weekend. He appeared in two games and just really failed to do his job in both. In the Friday game he stepped onto the mound in the top of the 8th with the game still tied. He gave up a 4 pitch leadoff walk and then a sac bunt and a ground out to the left side before getting pulled for Jimmy Ramsey, who promptly gave up a double and the lead. Maybe Cole gets out of that inning without giving up that run, but the fact that he was involved in it hurts and looks bad. Cole then came in again on Sunday with UK tied, but this time with the bases loaded and just 1 out. A tough spot, to be sure. However, Cole did just about the worst thing you could do and walked in the run to give Ball State the lead. So, overall he went 0.2 innings on 2 appearances with 1 earned run and 2 walks. So, he walked half the batters he faced. D

Jimmy Ramsey - I think this experiment just needs to die. Ramsey can be a guy who comes in and eats up some innings when we have a decent lead, but other than that, he needs to stay in the pen. He got two appearances this weekend and both were bad. Friday he came into the game with 1 inherited runner on third and 2 outs. He promptly gave up a double and the lead. Cole Daniels got the loss, but it was just as much on Ramsey. Ramsey then hit a batter before getting out of the inning. He pitched another inning and looked much better than the first racking up 3 strikeouts and at least keeping the game where it was. Still, he failed to do his job. His second appearance came in the Sunday game where again, he failed to do his job. This time he came into the game with UK down 2-1 with 1 out and the bases loaded. He promptly, on one pitch, gave up a single that scored two runs and made the game 4-1. So, twice, he was challenged to come in and stop the opposing offense and he failed to do it both times. Neither of these will show up on his own ERA, but someone else's. However, these are largely his runs. F

Daniel Harper - Here is a guy that came in and did his job. Major credit to him. He was also challenged to shut the door on the opponent as he came into the game in the 6th inning with 1 out and runners on 2nd and first and UK winning 4-0. He slammed the door getting a fly out and a strikeout to end that frame. A+

Seth Logue -Logue was then called on after Harper and he ate up 3 innings while giving up just 1 hit. He struck out 6 in those three innings and got 2 ground outs. A absolute masterpiece from Logue. A+

Dillion Marsh - Finally back from COVID protocol Marsh made his debut and it was solid. He went 2 innings and had 3 strikeouts and didn't give up a hit. He did hit a guy and had a wild pitch, but no damage was done during his time on the mound and he did a solid job, especially for his season debut. I'm hoping he finds a home coming out of the bullpen and he too becomes a guy that can eat innings and limit damage. A

Sean Harney - Harney just continues to be a breath of fresh air. Came into the game knowing that he couldn't give up anymore runs so UK had a chance to get back into the game and win and he just did his job. 2 strikeouts in 1 inning of work. Simple and effective. A+

 

[Comebakatz3]

Defense - B

UK had no errors on the weekend, but I don't think that tells the full tale. It just feels like there are plays that we should make that we are not making. Still, I do think it is getting better.

 

[CliffDweller25]

I hope we get Big Rig and Degen back soon.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Hitting - D

I think we had some good individual performances, but there is just no excuse for only scoring 11 runs against Ball State and scoring 5 in two of them. The batting averages are solid, but we fail to get timely hitting and score runs. As I mentioned elsewhere, the UK batting average is ranked 7th or so in the SEC, but we're near the bottom of runs scored (or average runs scored). It seems that if we don't hit the ball out of the park, we struggle to score runs.

Austin Schultz - Austin had a pretty good weekend at the plate. He went 6-13 (.462) and scored 3 of UK's 11 runs. He had 1 walk to 2 strikeouts and he stole a whole boatload of bases (4). 2 of his hits were doubles. The one complaint I have is that in the first game he came up with the bases loaded and couldn't get the timely hit. This was in the bottom of the 8th with the bases loaded and 2 outs with UK down 3-2. A big RBI spot for Schultz and just couldn't find the turf. It happens. A

John Rhodes - Not a great showing for Rhodes as he went 3-12 (.250) with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. A hit in each game is good, but you would like to see a bit more out of the Pre-season All American. B-

TJ Collett -Went 3-10 (.300) on the weekend, but that is a wee bit generous in my opinion. Yesterday Collett got the benefit of an error that wasn't called such. He hit a lazy fly ball to second that should have been caught and yet it just wasn't. It went for an RBI single when it should have been an out. This is the difference between .200 and .300, so I am less than excited about this performance. He also had 4 strikeouts and 2 walks. We're all also pretty disappointed in the middle of the lineup failing to get clutch hits. I think it is time to move Collett to the 5 or 6 hole and move Church to the 3. C

Oraj Anu - He had a home run. That was nice. That about sums it up. 2-12 (.167) and he left 7 on base. Struck out 6 times and walked 1 time. He is the epitome of our offense right now. Had a big 2 run shot that is great and bolstered the offense on Saturday and outside of that things were not real good. D

Rueben Church - Another solid weekend for Church as he went 4-11 (.364). He did strikeout 4 times, so I would like to see that get lower, but you have to be happy with the hitting. Not sure how many chances he got with runners on, but he only had 1 RBI. I think that is more a product of Anu and Collett not hitting that well. A

Cam Hill - Hill is struggling and went 1-7 (.143) and didn't hit in the third game. He struck out 4 times and walked once. He had an RBI on his one hit. Many will remember his stolen base. I watched again and it does look like the pitcher balks, which might explain why Cam got hung up twice. Still... Cam has to walk more, hit more, and strikeout less. Hopefully he refocuses after the day off and comes back hitting like he did to start the year. D

Alonzo Rubalcaba - Started 2 of the games this weekend and went 1-4 (.250) with a walk and a pair of strikeouts. Would really love to see him get the bat going, but his defense is so good it is hard to be too mad. Opponents have only attempted to steal on UK 3 times, that is lowest in the SEC. Rubalcaba is the reason for that. C-

Coltyn Kessler - Playing some spot time here and there, but went 1-5 (.200) on the weekend. Had a double in his appearance in the Sunday game and a sac bunt in the Friday game. So, he did his job as a pinch hitter, but struggled when he was a full time starter. Would like to see him get the bat going a bit more, but defense still remains solid. C-

Ryan Ritter - He was better this weekend. Had the home run in game 2 and went 3-10 (.300) on the weekend. Struck out 4 times but had no walks. Would like to have seen him get a hit on Sunday, but I'll take .300 from him all day. B

Zeke Lewis - 0-6 (.000). F. Not much else to be said. I guess it is good he only had 1 strikeout, but otherwise it was bad. Staff has to give Estep, Plastiak, or Grace a chance here. Lewis simply is not cutting it.

Kirk Liebert - Had a pinch hit appearance and went 0-1 and struck out. I have no idea why the staff used him there. D

Jaren Shelby - Got the start in center on Sunday and went 1-2 (.500). Pretty solid spot appearance for Shelby getting just his 2nd and 3rd at bats of the year. B+

Chase Estep - Finally out of COVID as well. He had some pinch hit appearances on Sunday. Went 0-2 with a strikeout. Hard spot to put in a guy who hasn't played in weeks. D (but not really on him all that much).

Trae Harmon - Harmon pinch hit as well. Officially went 0-2 with 2 strikeouts. Did have a walk on Friday. So, had 3 trips to the plate. Would like to see him get some hits. D

 

[Comebakatz3]

Coaching - F

So many weird decisions to me. I think they waited to long to take out Lee. They had some weird substitution patterns. They haven't mixed up the lineup much if at all. Just not a good weekend. These were two of our closest games and I think they botched both of them.