It was good to bounce back after a disappointing midweek loss to Samford and pick up another conference win over a hated rival. However, there are still some obvious problems that the Tide must remedy in order to continue winning. Brent Carter turned in yet another outstanding game, working eight innings and striking out 11, bringing his total to 25 in his last two starts, and improving to 8-4 on the season. The offense, on the other hand, benefited from some sorry volunteer defense and poor control from starter Ben Riley.
*We wasted an opportunity to get on the board early in the first, but Travis was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double. I'm all for being aggressive on the basepaths (and it worked for Travis in the 5th), but if you happen to stumble slightly making your turn around first, it's probably best not to gamble. Another baserunning mistake was Charlie's getting picked off at second. I'm guessing that the true freshman was probably not expecting Herrera to fire one down there at the time, but Charlie has been picked off more than any other player on the team, and he's got to stay on his toes and remain alert out there. A lot of teams may not be very concerned about an opposing catcher on base, as they generally aren't threats to steal, but thatin turn makes it that much easier for them to catch the baserunner off guard when they least expect it.
*We wasted yet another opportunity to blow the game wide open in the third, with one out and the bases loaded with our top two power hitters coming to plate, but Hearod whiffed and Hecklinski grounded out, stranding all three.
*Beau was sick last weekend and was removed after one inning in the Friday night game. I'm not so sure that he isn't still feeling some of the lingering effects of that stomach virus. Since last Friday, he has just one hit in fifteen at-bats, with seven strikeouts. Hopefully he'll be able to break out of this little slump with a big game tomorrow.
*We failed to get a single base hit after the second inning, which is not good.
*Meiners committed another error at third and it appears as though he is having some trouble out there lately.
*Pavkovich made another amazing play at SS going to his right, the second straight weekend he has provided us with a highlight-reel performance.
I'll sure take the win, but we were fortunate that Tennessee blew up in the fifth inning. It's good to pick up win #13 in the SEC, but I'd like to head back home with 15 if possible. If they plan on doing that, though, the bats are going to have to wake up, and fast.
[This message has been edited by JoJoforHeisman (edited May 02, 2003).]
*We wasted an opportunity to get on the board early in the first, but Travis was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double. I'm all for being aggressive on the basepaths (and it worked for Travis in the 5th), but if you happen to stumble slightly making your turn around first, it's probably best not to gamble. Another baserunning mistake was Charlie's getting picked off at second. I'm guessing that the true freshman was probably not expecting Herrera to fire one down there at the time, but Charlie has been picked off more than any other player on the team, and he's got to stay on his toes and remain alert out there. A lot of teams may not be very concerned about an opposing catcher on base, as they generally aren't threats to steal, but thatin turn makes it that much easier for them to catch the baserunner off guard when they least expect it.
*We wasted yet another opportunity to blow the game wide open in the third, with one out and the bases loaded with our top two power hitters coming to plate, but Hearod whiffed and Hecklinski grounded out, stranding all three.
*Beau was sick last weekend and was removed after one inning in the Friday night game. I'm not so sure that he isn't still feeling some of the lingering effects of that stomach virus. Since last Friday, he has just one hit in fifteen at-bats, with seven strikeouts. Hopefully he'll be able to break out of this little slump with a big game tomorrow.
*We failed to get a single base hit after the second inning, which is not good.
*Meiners committed another error at third and it appears as though he is having some trouble out there lately.
*Pavkovich made another amazing play at SS going to his right, the second straight weekend he has provided us with a highlight-reel performance.
I'll sure take the win, but we were fortunate that Tennessee blew up in the fifth inning. It's good to pick up win #13 in the SEC, but I'd like to head back home with 15 if possible. If they plan on doing that, though, the bats are going to have to wake up, and fast.
[This message has been edited by JoJoforHeisman (edited May 02, 2003).]
