Valpo Baseball 2021

valpotx · May 25, 2021, 12:12:04 PM

Quote from: vu72 on May 25, 2021, 10:27:22 AM
Quote from: bb33 on May 25, 2021, 09:57:34 AMWe played MSU tough
Quote from: valpotx on May 24, 2021, 11:48:10 PMTo be fair, 3 of our 4 losses to Missouri State were by 1 run.

Coulda, shoulda. We still lost. If Matt Lottich had a record of 14-33 would you say but "8 of those were only by 2 points". I think not. Just win!

Yes and no. Baseball is a different beast than Basketball. It is much more likely that you can get lucky and win in Baseball, versus Basketball. So many more factors can go wrong, where it isn't always about overall talent.

bb33 · May 25, 2021, 01:58:09 PM

I'm just hopeful we have a chance a win based on how we competed, versus how we paired against Indiana State or even Evansville. It has no reflection of the overall season.

bb33 · May 25, 2021, 11:06:16 PM

Wow!! Congratulations to the team. Hard fought battle and we finally came out on top!! Next up Dallas Baptist. Go Valpo!!

valpotx · May 25, 2021, 11:46:45 PM

Yeahhhh! Vu72, do you like apples?....well....how do you like them apples?

Former football athlete feeling confident after 1 year of success, that you come for our Baseball program. Get outtttaaaaa here lol jk. Just messing with you.

Great first win over a Missouri State team that is obviously having a down year, but is a traditional Baseball power in the MVC. Let's do the same to those Baptists from Grand Prairie! Beautiful campus, btw.

bbtds · May 26, 2021, 07:47:53 AM

Congrats to the VUBaseball team!

You see, it was all part of my plan to jinx Missouri State (and hopefully Dallas Baptist and the rest of the MVC) by having them believe that the rest of the conference besides Missouri State also had it in for them. So what happens? They beat MSU in a neutral site game and go on to play the #1 seed at 10:00 a.m. (11:00 a.m. Eastern) today. :-)

vu72 · May 26, 2021, 08:11:49 AM

Quote from: valpotx on May 25, 2021, 11:46:45 PM
Yeahhhh! Vu72, do you like apples?....well....how do you like them apples? Former football athlete feeling confident after 1 year of success, that you come for our Baseball program. Get outtttaaaaa here lol jk. Just messing with you.

Great first win over a Missouri State team that is obviously having a down year, but is a traditional Baseball power in the MVC. Let's do the same to those Baptists from Grand Prairie! Beautiful campus, btw.

Sure thing! Nice to finally get the win! But, they managed to keep me up past my bed time so now I'm a little grumpy! Let's beat the Baptists!!

bb33 · May 26, 2021, 10:49:04 AM

Game moved to noon, but I heard the weather is awful so may be pushed back again.

I may have to go back and watch the replay of that game. So happy for Easton and Jon to finish their careers with a bang. Two unbelievable elimination games.

I wonder if the Big Ten is questioning their decision to not have a tournament.

valpotx · May 26, 2021, 04:50:56 PM

Looks like a tough loss against a stout DBU team, 12-2. Time to regroup and get the next one!

bb33 · May 27, 2021, 08:19:13 AM

I think a loss was anticipated. Now we just need to get Illinois State. Our pitching is set up to win (Fields, Chasey, Lebonoff) If these guys are on today, we have a great chance...as long as the bats are alive and we can get a few runs. Let's play again tomorrow boys!!

vu72 · May 27, 2021, 01:07:09 PM

UNBELIEVABLE finish! Great win!! GO VALPO!

bb33 · May 27, 2021, 01:18:15 PM

WOW!!! This is one exciting tournament. If it wasn't so far away, I'd be tempted to jump in my car and go. These boys need fans cheering them on. What a great run.

Let's Go!!!

VUSWIM08-12 · May 27, 2021, 01:29:40 PM

First game I've watched all year and wow what a finish! Redbird runner was definitely out on the tag and the call was overturned and they got it right! Nice job Boys , keep it rolling!

bb33 · May 27, 2021, 01:38:42 PM

I was worried for a moment that they were not going to review it. You could tell he knew he had the tag.

IndyValpo · May 27, 2021, 03:18:25 PM

We have an interesting roster:
7 seniors
7 Sophs
21 frosh
0 juniors

We also started 7 position/DH freshmen today.

bb33 · May 27, 2021, 06:32:43 PM

I want more info on the hotel situation. So Calpo had to check out but Illinois State did not?? Who organized this?? Either both teams check out or neither. Did Bradley have to check out before they left for the game since they could be eliminated?? Anyone have any info?

valpotx · May 27, 2021, 11:59:45 PM

Yeaahhhhh, take that, vu72! This one is for you, as I saw your FB comment...Go Crusaders!!

vu72 · May 28, 2021, 08:17:24 AM

Quote from: valpotx on May 27, 2021, 11:59:45 PM
Yeaahhhhh, take that, vu72! This one is for you, as I saw your FB comment...Go Crusaders!!

GO BROWN AND GOLD!!!!

bbtds · May 28, 2021, 05:55:33 PM

Valpo gets to play SIU at 6:35 p.m. Central Time. SIU lost to Indiana State 11-8. Indiana State scored three in the top of the ninth inning to make it 11 to 6. In the bottom of the 9th inning SIU hit a two-run homer, got two runners on base, had the tying run up at the plate with one out but they couldn't score anymore runs.

valpotx · May 28, 2021, 09:55:00 PM

No reason to hang our heads, as we gave it our all, going 2-2 in the conference tourney. Lots to look forward to next year, as we had a young team this season. VU72, we are likely to get 3 teams into the NCAA tourney, with DBU, ISUb, and SIU, all at-large worthy. Can Football do that?

vu72 · May 29, 2021, 07:53:19 AM

Quote from: valpotx on May 28, 2021, 09:55:00 PM
No reason to hang our heads, as we gave it our all, going 2-2 in the conference tourney. Lots to look forward to next year, as we had a young team this season. VU72, we are likely to get 3 teams into the NCAA tourney, with DBU, ISUb, and SIU, all at-large worthy. Can Football do that?

Well, we were one win away from ACTUALLY being in the NCAA tournament! Seriously, Valpo's hitting doesn't seem to be the problem and Schmack finally hit a home run. Pitching is a problem. We lose our two best to graduation. Can't win many games giving up 10 or more runs (15 times this past season). Let's all hope for a great future. Clearly they got a lot better near the end of the season.

valpotx · May 29, 2021, 02:40:07 PM

I saw in the game notes that we would be returning around 80% of our innings, and around 60% of our ABs. That is a very young team with a lot of potential. With the MVC rated as the #7 conference in RPI this year, and consistently top 8, if we put together some solid non-conference wins, we have a very real chance of an at-large bid in Baseball. The MVC routinely gets 2-3 teams in each year, even in the year that DBU did not make it.

Brandon · May 31, 2021, 10:22:16 AM

It was enjoyable to be with the team in Carbondale this week -- for a team loaded with talented freshmen and sophomores to get the opportunity to play four games in the MVC Tournament is great experience that should pay off going forward. Joe Healy from Baseball America had several good points about the program on Twitter, and that praise coming from a reporter from a national outlet says a lot. The other encouraging thing is that even the underclassmen who did not have great numbers this season have high ceilings, and our program has a strong history of player development. Schmack is an excellent pitching coach and I think a few of the young arms could make big jumps. For example, Rhodehouse had a 9.68 ERA as a sophomore before becoming an all-conference type pitcher over the last few years.

I was excited to see them have some success at the tournament in part because this program is run the right way on & off the field. For example, the four fifth-year seniors all have high GPAs in the MBA program after finishing undergrad last year, and those were the guys setting the tone. Numerous times over the years when I've traveled with the team, including this week, I've heard restaurant staffs tell the coaches how good the team was to work with for such a large group. And that extends to on the field as well -- I hear from broadcasters & SIDs across the league that their coaches have a lot of respect for the way our team competes and how they play the game.

https://twitter.com/JoeHealyBA/status/1398484356134588418 https://twitter.com/JoeHealyBA/status/1398484359078977537 https://twitter.com/JoeHealyBA/status/1398484361415114754 https://twitter.com/JoeHealyBA/status/1398484365458513920

valpotx · May 31, 2021, 01:55:26 PM

Good to see the thoughts from the BA reporter/writer, and your additional analysis. Agreed on the potential of this team going forward.

The MVC got both DBU (champs) & Indiana State (at-large) in the tourney, but SIU missed out. It looks like some upsets in conference tourneys took away the Salukis' shot at an at-large, but they deserved that consideration. I wonder how close they were to being selected, if they had that same First Four Out model that the Basketball tourney does.

VUGrad1314 · May 31, 2021, 09:10:03 PM

I've seen a similar format used on BaseballAmerica when it tries to predict the bracket but I'm not sure if they do so for the official bracket. I've never seen it before.