2023 College World Series Schedule/Scores/Discussion

Hahaaasasss​

 

This is it.

 

Failed squeeze play.

 

Failed with liner for out. Now big boy to above 120 pitches.

 

Will Lowder still pitch. Answer no and here we go with first to bullpen 8th.

 

2 threads for this game?

 

Pitching to lsu best player with base open.

 

Wow struck his butt out

 

But I like the high ones!

 

More innings please . LSU riding this guy because they are out of arms. Rooting for LSU because of that and I hope they burn this arm too.

 

Bring it lswho!!

 

We get to beat LSU and destroy their obnoxious fans for the national title. They win 2-0 in 11 innings.

 

Time to eat some corn dogs.

 

LSU.

BRING. IT. ON.

 

The Gators know that to be the best you have to beat the best... It just means more... to Gator Nation.

Go Gators!!! Beat LSU!!!

 

Should be a good one!

It'd be nice if some of our power hitters could awake from their temporary slumber. Our other players have stepped up rather nicely- but more is better.

I guess I'm being selfish. I'd like to win by more than one run so I am not chewing my nails off and trying to regulate my blood pressure for three hours. But, heck, let's win two in a row, any freaking way we can...

Go Gators.

 

What lost Wake the game last night.

It was not defense, it was not pitching and it was not really lack of hitting given the context in which that was a very specific type of game that happened last night.

I say that because this very specific type of game was a game in which you had two first found pitchers going at each other.

This game was always going to be a zero to zero game going into the late innings.

Thus the game plan was which team could get the pitch count up on the other pitcher to the point of forcing a mistake on that pitcher and/or forcing that pitcher out of the game.

LSU Big Boy was making some mistakes in the 8th inning thus giving the slight opportunity to give up a run going into the 9th inning.

It was right there for Wake to take that game.

We saw it - failed squeeze bunt attempt in the 8th inning.

It goes back to the ideas of teams just don't practice bunting at all or don't take it seriously enough.

I used to do bp sessions where I all I did was bunt. Why - because at some point during the season something was always going to come up where a specific type of bunt was going to be needed. Bunting is a skill set that you must do a ton of practice on to get it right. It is not a skill set where you have the mind set I will just bunt duing pregame during my 8-10 minute bp session right before the game. Either you take bunting seriously or you don't take it seriously. It is not something you can halfass so to speak.

You got five quadrants on the field you can select to bunt the basebase - right down the third base line, the area between third to pitcher, right down first base line, the area between pitcher and first and then the area of the field where you rarely see any bunt attempts ever which the bermuda triangle region right behind the pitchers mound. I have actually done that bunt before to get a hit by bunting over the pitchers head right behind the mound. No one ever does it because you need the right pitch and right circumstances just do that type of bunt.

Then you need to consider as a batter where can I bunt the ball given the type of bunt you are trying to do.

In that circumstance last night I am not going to bunt the ball at all hard to the first baseman for them because he is their most athletic and best fielder on that defensive infield. I am also not going to do a hard bunt back right at the pitcher. And of course I can't pop the bunt up at all which is something we have been seeing constantly at this CWS.

So your options is a hard bunt between the pitcher and first, a hard bunt between third and pitcher or a deaden type of bunt right down the third base line.

Did the third base runner get a big enough lead for the squeeze bunt - answer no as proven he got out.

Did the third base runner do the proper slide into home plate - no.

But the hard bunt right at first base was the first mistake which put extreme pressure on depending upon the third base runner to get the proper lead off and proper slide at home plate which to me both did not happen.

Wake had their chance in the 8th. It was a brief and only opening and they did not get it done.

I had questions about Wake going into this tourney because of their out of conference scheduling was poor. They never played Virginia at all during their ACC season and they played no body out of conference. Then you have the curse of the number 1 seed thing that seems to exist. I am not saying Wake does not have a good team because they proven they did have a good team because they got to that point last night and they have many good hitters and pitchers. My question is when you start playing high end competition constantly in these lower scoring games how is your team going to react. You basically got your pitching stats and hitting stats from the type of home ball park you play in along with again your overall scheduling during the regular season. Of course losing your third place hitter to start the game due to rib injury does not help so I am sure that disrupted what they wanted to do a little bit.

UF out of conference schedule is just different than a lot of teams and what they do which is a function of them playing in the state of Florida.

Now we get to play LSU and their loud mouth fan base. I generalize of course because not every one is like that but there is certainly enough of them where they can compare their fans to the annoyance of the Miami baseball fan base.

I'm sure LSU fans think we are an easy target because I saw that overconfidence a little bit before the Wake game but if watched the tv screen as it got to that 8th inning with zero-zero tie last night I say a lot of nervous faces. Be careful what you wish for. Time for UF to get this thing done. Us against them once again. Time to reset this thing again and get the bats going.

 

Bunting is an art, and this bunt was no masterpiece. It was still a great play by Morgan to make the quick accurate flip. Wake would’ve desperately like to have had a do over there, it was basically their season.

 

As both a player and a coach we used to use the traffic cones set up to create lanes between the mound and first base line also to create lanes between the mound and third base line to execute bunts. Whether they were sac, push, drag, or bunting for a base hit.

It was done every day of practice and in every pregame BP scenario. If it was thought your best effort was not applied in practice then you got to fall out and run poles until the HC was satisfied. Lack of effort pregame could affect PT.

Yes, I know, that’s an ol’school approach and today is today. It is what it is folks.