Baseball @ Murray St.

jetz · February 16, 2012, 04:53:20 PM

The opener is upon us and the buzz is picking up for 2012 baseball. "Game notes" have been published for the series at Murray, and we're going with Deetjin, Wormington, and Wild as opening weekend starters. On paper a huge advantage for Valpo as the 'Breds first two starters had losing records and ERAs over 6 last season. The Sunday guy did not pitch for Murray last year. All are RHPs. Deetjin (4-7/ 4.19) is a LHP for us, while Worm (8-1/ 2.67 ERA at Connors State) and Wild (2-2/ 5.64)are righties. Murray is picked ninth in the OVC in the coaches preseason poll, so we need to win this series. Weather: Looks good for tomorrow at 56 and sunny. Shaky Saturday with 50% chance for rain and temps around 50. Low 40s and sun on Sunday. Murray has a nice natural grass field but only grass berms to sit on last I was there. Bring a chair if you're coming. PLAY BALL!

valpotx · February 16, 2012, 05:34:06 PM

I would hope we can sweep this series based on all the information I read earlier today on our website. They seem to have a good hitting team, but their pitching is terrible. The unfortunate thing about baseball is that anything can happen in any given game. That was shown when we beat the #1 team in the nation at the time (Notre Dame) in 2000-2001, though I always told my teammates that they definitely should not have been a #1...

I think we will go 2-1 for this series.

covufan · February 16, 2012, 07:21:03 PM

Looks like jetz and valpotx will keep us updated on all things baseball this year! Thanks, and looking forward to another improving year!

valporun · February 17, 2012, 01:26:17 PM

Baseball opens their season today at 2. I looked, and there is no radio coverage, so the only way to follow is thru the Murray St. live stats link.

http://www.sidearmstats.com/murraystate/baseball/scoreboard.aspx

bbtds · February 17, 2012, 02:58:18 PM

Valpo up 1-0 on a 1 out single to right by John Loeffler, dh, with runners on 1st & 2nd in the top of the 4th inning.

Great to get up on home team Murray State in this game.

Elliott Martin, 3b, moved to third on Loeffler's single. Martin is 2 for 2 with 2 singles. Will Hagel, who walked with 1 out scored the Valpo run.

bbtds · February 17, 2012, 03:04:22 PM

Valpo now up 2-0 as Billy Cribbs, c, singled to right center and scored Martin from third. Loeffler went to third and Cribbs moved to 2nd base on a throwing error. Still only 1 out.

valpotx · February 17, 2012, 03:42:26 PM

Looks like Deetjen is going strong! He wasn't/isn't a strikeout pitcher, so it is good to see him with 4 k's through 5 2/3. All you have to do is throw strikes on the outer portions of the plate. It always amazes me when pitchers walk so many people...

covufan · February 17, 2012, 03:52:19 PM

Quote from: valpotx on February 17, 2012, 03:42:26 PM
Looks like Deetjen is going strong! He wasn't/isn't a strikeout pitcher, so it is good to see him with 4 k's through 5 2/3. All you have to do is throw strikes on the outer portions of the plate. It always amazes me when pitchers walk so many people...

Sometimes watching major league games I catch myself thinking the same thing - "Why can't they put it over the plate - they're major leaguers for ..."

StlVUFan · February 17, 2012, 04:39:28 PM

Down to the last strike and he can't hold it. Darn.

Sweet mobile site, by the way. Works great on my Android.

valporun · February 17, 2012, 04:43:36 PM

The game has gone to extra innings. Deetjen went 7 innings. He gave up 4 hits, walked one, and struck out 4. Jarad Miller came in and gave up 2 runs on 4 hits in the 8th and 9th innings. It's tied at 2.

In terms of the pitching down the middle, I think it's because of how the strength has changed, homers have been more important to the fans, and some pitchers come up the ranks being told to corner paint or stay high or low, never right in the wheelhouse. valpotx might have a better insight on that, but that's just something I've noticed over the years.

valpotx · February 17, 2012, 04:57:21 PM

I only threw in the low 80's at most after my surgery, and as a lefty, relied on my offspeed pitches while painting the corners with the fastball. I could get away with throwing down the middle in HS when I was more towards mid-80's, but always threw a lot of strikes. People that throw in the 90's can get away with it to an extent in college, but the good teams will hit it.

Looks like we threw a guy out at home with no outs! Guy singles with a runner on second and no outs, and we get out of the 10th unscathed! Let's win this!

valporun · February 17, 2012, 05:16:27 PM

We go on to the 13th inning now. Still tied at 2. I like the fight to get some good spring momentum going in this game. I just hope we don't use up all the fight in this game, and have nothing left for the rest of the weekend.

StlVUFan · February 17, 2012, 05:19:49 PM

Quote from: valporun on February 17, 2012, 05:16:27 PM
We go on to the 13th inning now. Still tied at 2. I like the fight to get some good spring momentum going in this game. I just hope we don't use up all the fight in this game, and have nothing left for the rest of the weekend.

Game suspended due to darkness.

valpotx · February 17, 2012, 05:27:44 PM

I wondered what happened to my live stats. Hopefully we take the suspended game and game 2 tomorrow!

valporun · February 17, 2012, 05:31:49 PM

Yeah, I wondered what was going on there, but good work, and hope they can get the full game in tomorrow without worry of light.

valporun · February 17, 2012, 06:35:00 PM

I saw on the Valpo website that today's game will resume at noon, and the second game will start at 1, if the first game ends by then. Otherwise, it will start shortly thereafter.

FWalum · February 18, 2012, 08:44:54 AM

Quote from: valporun on February 17, 2012, 05:16:27 PM
We go on to the 13th inning now. Still tied at 2. I like the fight to get some good spring momentum going in this game. I just hope we don't use up all the fight in this game, and have nothing left for the rest of the weekend.

Saw your post at around 6:18 and thought, "Hey it might be interesting to watch the live stats of this game", went to the live stat link and... BLANK... Wondered what happened, seems rather strange though to blank out the stats because the game was suspended.

valporun · February 18, 2012, 12:10:24 PM

Last night's game has resumed. We have runners on 1st and 2nd. Still tied at 2.

valporun · February 18, 2012, 12:14:31 PM

We now hold a 3-2 in the 13th. Bobby Martin scored on a fielder's choice.

valporun · February 18, 2012, 12:19:39 PM

Add two more runs to our lead going to the bottom of the 13th. First run scores on a double steal. Billy Cribbs steals home on the play. The second run scores on a Tanner Vavra single to center scoring Spencer Mahoney. Need the closer to hold onto this cushion. 5-2 Valpo in the bottom of the 13th.

valpotx · February 18, 2012, 12:22:16 PM

Started out on a good note with the W!

valporun · February 18, 2012, 12:24:05 PM

Will Robinson, don't call him Willy/Willie Robinson, comes in to close out the first game of the season throwing three ground outs to end the game. Final Score: Valpo 5, Murray State 2. Robinson gets the victory in this game. 2nd game to start shortly.

valpotx · February 18, 2012, 02:29:36 PM

Robinson actually got the save, Mahar the win. The pitching substitution wasn't made until the bottom half of the inning, so Maher was still technically in the game when we went ahead.

valporun · February 18, 2012, 04:18:07 PM

Ah, forgot about that, with the suspension of the game, plus still pondering how CSU could lay such a huge egg today, besides not having D'Aundray Brown in the lineup at all.

valpotx · February 20, 2012, 12:29:08 AM

Good win again today to start the season with a 2-1 series win! Much better than starting 0-17 or whatever it was last year. If we can end up 25-32 last year after starting that way, earning these early season wins will lead to another winning record! Very rare to come by in the midwest for baseball due to playing on the road the first 1 1/2-2 months