Youngstown @ Valpo Baseball

Valposter · May 16, 2013, 10:58:02 AM

Final regular season series for 2013 this weekend on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Senior Day is Saturday! Can't win the regular season. Can end up with anywhere from a 2 seed to a 5 seed based on this weekend's results. Most likely playing for a 2 or 3 seed in HL Tourny though. We've been playing great ball at home. Let's keep that trend going.

Good luck Valpo Baseball!!!

valpotx · May 16, 2013, 11:14:09 AM

Hopefully we get a sweep, but we will probably still end up the 3 seed because of last week's sweep against UIC

mgovalpo · May 16, 2013, 11:32:02 AM

Doesn't really matter whether we are the 2 or the 3, does it? As long as they stay out of the 4-5 game, there shouldn't be an issue.

Valposter · May 16, 2013, 03:31:39 PM

Valpo wins 4-1 today. Both starters take the decision......winning pitcher Webb, losing pitcher O'Brien. Strange game. Through the first few innings Valpo was outhit 12 hits to 0 but only trailed 1-0. Several outs on the basepaths and several runners LOB for the Penquins. Midway through the game Valpo outhit 12 hits to 2 hits but game tied at 1-1. Later in game YSU outfielder loses ball in the sun that caps off a a 2-run inning for Valpo. Sounds like the definition of "winning ugly" but we will take it!

Valposter · May 16, 2013, 03:42:15 PM

Quote from: Valposter on May 16, 2013, 03:31:39 PMValpo wins 4-1 today. Both starters take the decision......winning pitcher Webb, losing pitcher O'Brien. Strange game. Through the first few innings Valpo was outhit 12 hits to 0 but only trailed 1-0. Several outs on the basepaths and several runners LOB for the Penquins. Midway through the game Valpo outhit 12 hits to 2 hits but game tied at 1-1. Later in game YSU outfielder loses ball in the sun that leads to a 3-run inning for Valpo. Sounds like the definition of "winning ugly" but we will take it!

As I think about it, this only begins to partially make up for some of those earlier season one-run loses where we hit the ball hard all game long right at people with little to show for it.

valpotx · May 16, 2013, 04:36:01 PM

Good to escape with a win, and hopefully play better the next 2

Valposter · May 17, 2013, 08:10:49 AM

Wright State beat UIC yesterday 3-2 in the first game of thier series. The updated HL standings are:

Milwaukee 14-7
UIC 11-11
Valpo 11-11
WSU 9-10
YSU 8-14

Things would have been really dicey if we had lost to YSU yesterday! Much more margin for error now to maintain at least a 3-seed and first round bye.

valpotx · May 17, 2013, 11:06:35 AM

Let's just go for the sweep, and then we don't have to worry about anything below a 3

vubballfan · May 18, 2013, 05:43:51 PM

Got the sweep - tied for 2nd place in the league! Pretty good considering the multitude of injuries the team has dealt with this season. Definitely believe we would have made it alot closer race for first place if healthy. All-conference 3B Martin was out for most of conference play, Morman playing with a stress fracture in back did not play conference and will probably receive a medical redshirt, Sean Kennedy was supposed to be a major arm out of the bullpen, and many hamstring issues that kept Kowalczyk, Mahar, Bynum, Webb and Loeffler out of games -- got some of them back for tournament play but I wonder what could have been........kudos to those that stepped it up to finish 2nd.

jetz · May 19, 2013, 07:08:02 AM

Well, we did the job and have won four in a row now, but there is cause for concern headed to the HL tourney in Niles, OH. Yesterday on Senior Day, we knew we would be playing in the 2-3 game in the tourney, so the priority was to play all the seniors rather than win the game. We did, however, bat our normal lineup and only mustered six hits. If you look at the YSU games, we did not hit well all series. You could easily make a case that the Penguins deserved to win both games one and three. Credit the Crusaders for finding a way to finish above .500 this year and getting those wins.

We are dinged up! Bynum re-aggravated his hamstring, Loeffler is limping, Martin is still not right, and Webb has been just OK since coming back from his injury a couple of weeks ago. Nothing new here--this team has struggled with injuries all year. We will see the Mickelson kid from UIC in our first tournament game at 11am EDT this Thursday. He comes off a complete game shutout of Valpo ten days ago. UIC has taken five of six from us in 2013, and won the series against WSU last weekend. We definitely can put a game together and beat the Flames, but we'll have to flip the switch "on" with the bats, rather than coming in hot.

On a side note, maybe the biggest news in the YSU series was that Drew Dosch, the Penguin third baseman and projected draft choice, went down with a serious knee injury trying to beat out a bunt to first. Scouts were at the first two games to watch Dosch, who was a Cape Cod All-Star last summer and was slated as a 2nd to 5th round draft choice. He was taken to our training room, and emerged on crutches with heavy wrapping on the knee. The scouts got on their phones and got in their cars and took off. With the draft less than three weeks away, this was heartbreaking to watch. He is a really good kid with a good family, and I will follow him in his attempt to come back from this injury. Baseball is, more often than not, a cruel game. Best of luck to Drew going forward.

VU75 · May 19, 2013, 11:16:25 AM

For Dosch the good news is that he is a junior. If he drops to the 10Th round but comes back strong this summer he can still get a higher round contract as a late signee.

VUfan · May 19, 2013, 11:53:58 AM

Congratulations on the winning season and getting back on the horse to sweep YSU!
Now dig in some more and go get UIC this week, to start playoffs right.

blackpantheruwm · May 19, 2013, 01:54:10 PM

We see the tournament as wide-open. Every team can win this thing. We're staying hungry.

LaPorteAveApostle · May 19, 2013, 09:34:56 PM

Quote from: blackpantheruwm on May 19, 2013, 01:54:10 PMWe see the tournament as wide-open. Every team can win this thing. We're staying hungry.

...need one more cliché for the cycle

jetz · May 19, 2013, 09:46:01 PM

Quote from: LaPorteAveApostle on May 19, 2013, 09:34:56 PM
Quote from: blackpantheruwm on May 19, 2013, 01:54:10 PMWe see the tournament as wide-open. Every team can win this thing. We're staying hungry.
...need one more cliché for the cycle

I'd go with: "We just gotta take it one game at a time..."

valpotx · May 20, 2013, 01:48:01 AM

It's amazing to me that regardless of how bad YSU has been over the last 10+ years, they turn out draft prospects. They had several people drafted when I was in school, and seem to have a kid each year in that situation. Hopefully he comes back from the injury, but it may be wise for him to stay in college for his last year given the injury.