Baseball vs. Bama, Fri 3/17, Game 2, 7:15 pm

Langford...true....Try Prevask..true...Rivere agree..but Cags hitting all those homers against sub level pitching has drawn alot of attention to himself and without Langford to draw their focus...Cags gets it. There is pleanty of data to show where his weaknesses are hitting and these good pitchers are using it.

 

We miss Langford big time no doubt.... but perhaps someone should remind Sully that he has other payers on the bench who can play the game. The team looked gassed in the second game and Cags is a Hoss but he's been riden pretty hard with pitching, playing 1st base and DH. Ditto with Riopelle. Why would you put Riopelle behind the plate for 18 innings when you have a fine catcher like Lastres sitting- and why continue to play Evans when you have Prevesk on the bench. These guys are solid ballplayers but they need their reps to stay sharp and engaged. After the dramatic win in game one- Bama was ripe for a sweep and we came out flat and looked gassed down the stretch. The Bama closer was throwing the same off speed breaking pitch over and over and Gators seemed unable to adjust. Not a good way to end the series.

 

Sully said it best. It's great to win the series but in this league you don't get many chances to sweep an SEC opponent. So when you do you need to take advantage of the opportunity and finish it.

Overall I'm pleased with the performance on the weekend. We made improvements with quite a few of our relief pitchers this week, I'm not surprised by Waldrep or Caglianone. They have each had their issues during fall and spring ball. Its just taken better competition to bring some flaws to the surface. Both of them were pitching against live action SEC hitters for the first time today. Mistakes happen but hopefully they start to figure it out. Mississippi is only one week away so its not getting any easier. The simple approach always helps. You just got to go out there and get three outs.

As for our hitters, I guess we are not the best hitting team in the country after all. Go figure. You can't win many games when your 2 and 3 hitters go zero on the game. Cags had a bad weekend but I'm not worried about him. I'm sure he's going to get to work this weekend getting his swing right again. He's learning its not as easy without Langford in front of you. Tonight though we just didn't have enough guys step up when some guys were off. Credit Rivera, Robertson, and Halter for doing what they could at the plate.

 

And now we can bet the ranch this information is in every other SEC team’s pitching charts now. You are 100% correct 77—our Gators must make adjustments with the pitch counts running.

 

No Wyatt and Cags goes 0-11 and Shelnut and Evans both had a miserable series. Josh really stepped up in a big way this weekend and Colby had a good day on Saturday.
Can't really lay fault at the foot of the bullpen - they were good enough. Rough starts on Saturday by Cags and Waldrep but both guys gutted through it and didn't let the game get away.

I must say it is frustrating to see Richie get so many at bats when there seem to be multiple better options on the bench. He must be really good in scrimmages.

 

I have a feeling Sully will have them adjust this week..

 

I didn't hear Sully's post game comments but fully agree that when you have a chance to sweep in the SEC (especially in your home ball park and after the dramatic come-from-behind win in game one) not finishig off the job- is a let down. Especially when one of your aces comes out flat and yet- Waldrep battled back even without his best stuff and overall was a trooper going 6 and not giving up a run in his last 4 innings. After the Gators scored in the 7th to make it a one run game- I sensed late inning heroics again... but then Neely hangs a curve and two run bomb seemed to take the air out of the building.
I watched the second game from home and the CF camera showed the Gators hitters' problems clearly over the last 2.2 inning-- missing off-speed breaking pitches-again and again -- Woods finished with 7 Ks in 2.2 innings pitched. A very frustrating ending to what could have been an outstanding start of SEC play. Agree that Neely and Fisher are not the lights out guys we were hoping for and given reports on Coppola- I would not expect him back anytime soon. Bright note: Abner looked solid in his innings in game one and got the win.

 

How do batters get coached up on anticipating pitches and being patient?

 

The last 4 innings of the 2nd game, Bama pitchers were throwing curve balls right over the plate with the first pitch to just about everybody. For some reason, all our guys just looked at them for a first strike. It's easy for the coach to say, "Hey guys - they're starting us off with an off speed pitch. Watch for it and hit it hard."

 

[QUOTE="ocalaman, post: 14964931, member: 28881" It's easy for the coach to say, "Hey guys - they're starting us off with an off speed pitch. Watch for it and hit it hard." [/QUOTE]

lol oh if only it was that easy

 

lol oh if only it was that easy[/QUOTE]
I said that with tongue in cheek, of course.

 

lol oh if only it was that easy[/QUOTE]
Funny, but yea. That reminds me of my wife critiquing my son's struggles hitting a curve ball.

 

Happy to open with a winning series, especially with no Langford.

Could have easily lost the series without the game 2 walkoff rally. Thought gm 2 and 3 starters would have more success, but maybe Bama is better than usual this year. Usually I expect to sweep the Tide in baseball, especially at home.

Great to see Halters bat coming around now that sec play has begun.

 

Announcers repeatedly mentioned that Bama had one of the best offenses in the league. They were a ranked team. They’re pretty good.

 

That's MY DOG, Wing... How dare you use my dog in you post. Lol.

 

Yea, they came in with solid offensive stats and w/L record, tho it was against a pretty weak schedule, so a bit of an unknown. Couldn't watch game 3 but a bit surprised by how well they shut down the Florida offense.
Hopefully Gator bats come to life for their trip to Tally.

 

We are a long way away from being great. Can’t give away outs and defend the bunt . All that pre season hitting stats we have had was “rat poison “

 

Coppola ? As 74Nole says “Never heard of him “

 

Hopefully those same bats wake up this weekend and start sending a few more over the fence....