Not much joy this weekend as we were outplayed by Ole Miss in every facet of the game. We only hit .210 in the three games at Oxford, dropping our overall batting average for the brief season to .235. We also struck out 27 times in the 27 innings, which was reminiscent of last year. Worse, over half our at bats resulted in a 2 strike count. And, after a weekend of guarding the plate with 2 strikes exceptionally well, we fanned 51% of the time with that count in Mississippi. And, we only went 5 for 53 (.094) with 2 strikes.
Only 23 times all weekend in 100 official at bats did we put the ball in play on the first strike thrown. But, like all previous years, it was our best chance to get a hit. We went 9 for 23 (.391) in those at bats. We shouldn’t swing at balls or “unhittable” pitches early in the count, but we must attack a “hitter’s pitch” every time we see one. Getting behind in the count and reaching a 2-strike count simply doesn’t work at the plate. Of course, individual batting averages don’t mean too much this early in the season. A hard line drive that is caught by a spectacular defensive play or a checked swing blooper that falls in can alter an average by 50 or more points. Still, Witherspoon’s .318 and Artigues’s .375 are good. At the other end, Acy Owen’s .167 isn’t. All the other starters are hitting in the low to mid-.200’s at this point. I think we’ve faced pretty good pitching so far so maybe that’s part of the problem. Regardless, we need to do better.
In the field, I didn’t think we had a very good weekend. We were only charged with three errors, two by pitchers and Johnson’s errant throw into center field on a stolen base attempt, but we didn’t make the plays we made the previous weekend at home. Ole Miss did. Witherspoon made a tremendous effort after a long run to get a glove on a long fly ball to the fence in left-center only to drop it. I agree with the official scorer’s decision to call it a double rather than an error but it was the kind of play Ole Miss outfielders made 3 or 4 times; we didn’t. Rowland also misplayed a wind-blown fly ball near the wall that he had plenty of time to camp under but failed to catch. Later in the same inning he looked very unsure on a short fly ball that he eventually corralled but was unable to get a throw off to stop a runner from tagging up and scoring from third. I would expect a better outfielder to have thrown out the runner and Rowland didn’t even get a throw off. I imagine his outfield days are behind him. We’ll see. Unfortunately, when Trevor Jensen was inserted in left field for game #3, he didn’t prove much better. On a single straight at him, he did a good job of charging the ball and fielding it in short left field with a runner still a stride or two from third base but heading for home. Jensen’s throw was very weak and up the line allowing the runner to score. Again, that shouldn’t happen. A good, strong throw would have nailed that runner 10-15 feet from the plate. Anyway, not good. The infield played well enough though Artigues kicked a double-play grounder that was ruled a hit (I’d have called it an error) and booted a line drive off the heal of his glove (also ruled a hit). Galy is clearly the better defensive player but if Artigues continues to hit, we’ll need his bat. He’s got the chance to play a lot of ball if he can clean up some of his defensive miscues.
On the mound, we continued to have control difficulties as a team, but we "only" issued 5.6 free passes (walks and HBP) per 9 innings thanks to walking only two on Sunday. And, for the season, opponents are only hitting .243, so that, too, is pretty good. For the weekend, our three starting pitchers threw a combined 15 innings, allowed 11 hits, 8 free passes and 8 earned runs (4.80 ERA). I still don’t understand how the second run against Roper was counted as “earned,” however. Fortes was on second with one out and advanced to third on a passed ball. He then scored on a ground out that would have only moved him to third without the passed ball. The next batter grounded out and Fortes never would have scored. Whatever. I still thought Roper looked good and so did Massey for three innings. Then, he seemed to get tired, or at least started to get the ball up in the strike zone. He doesn’t look like his freshman year, but a whole lot better than last season. Gillies looked better than I’ve ever seen him, so that is also encouraging.
Our relief pitching really let us down, something many thought wouldn’t happen with what was believed to be a deeper staff. Regardless, in 9 innings, they allowed 14 hits, issued 8 “free passes” and allowed 10 earned runs (10.00 ERA); none of that is good or even acceptable. White and McAffer had the most trouble while Bjorngjeld and Issa looked the best to me. Others pitched short periods and generally not that effective.
I also liked how Jewett managed the weekend, which might surprise some. He made some smart adjustments in the line-up and kept trying to find a “winning” combination in the outfield, though without much success. I thought he kept with and relieved pitchers at appropriate times but was not rewarded with the kind of performance he needed out of his relievers. He also gave some reserves a chance to prove themselves in the second game at bat. Unfortunately, none of them did.
All in all, it was a very bad weekend, but no more or less important that our opening week. It will be interesting to see who pitches against Lamar in our mid-week games since I’d think Roper, Massey, and Gillies are set for now as weekend starters.
Roll Wave!!!
Only 23 times all weekend in 100 official at bats did we put the ball in play on the first strike thrown. But, like all previous years, it was our best chance to get a hit. We went 9 for 23 (.391) in those at bats. We shouldn’t swing at balls or “unhittable” pitches early in the count, but we must attack a “hitter’s pitch” every time we see one. Getting behind in the count and reaching a 2-strike count simply doesn’t work at the plate. Of course, individual batting averages don’t mean too much this early in the season. A hard line drive that is caught by a spectacular defensive play or a checked swing blooper that falls in can alter an average by 50 or more points. Still, Witherspoon’s .318 and Artigues’s .375 are good. At the other end, Acy Owen’s .167 isn’t. All the other starters are hitting in the low to mid-.200’s at this point. I think we’ve faced pretty good pitching so far so maybe that’s part of the problem. Regardless, we need to do better.
In the field, I didn’t think we had a very good weekend. We were only charged with three errors, two by pitchers and Johnson’s errant throw into center field on a stolen base attempt, but we didn’t make the plays we made the previous weekend at home. Ole Miss did. Witherspoon made a tremendous effort after a long run to get a glove on a long fly ball to the fence in left-center only to drop it. I agree with the official scorer’s decision to call it a double rather than an error but it was the kind of play Ole Miss outfielders made 3 or 4 times; we didn’t. Rowland also misplayed a wind-blown fly ball near the wall that he had plenty of time to camp under but failed to catch. Later in the same inning he looked very unsure on a short fly ball that he eventually corralled but was unable to get a throw off to stop a runner from tagging up and scoring from third. I would expect a better outfielder to have thrown out the runner and Rowland didn’t even get a throw off. I imagine his outfield days are behind him. We’ll see. Unfortunately, when Trevor Jensen was inserted in left field for game #3, he didn’t prove much better. On a single straight at him, he did a good job of charging the ball and fielding it in short left field with a runner still a stride or two from third base but heading for home. Jensen’s throw was very weak and up the line allowing the runner to score. Again, that shouldn’t happen. A good, strong throw would have nailed that runner 10-15 feet from the plate. Anyway, not good. The infield played well enough though Artigues kicked a double-play grounder that was ruled a hit (I’d have called it an error) and booted a line drive off the heal of his glove (also ruled a hit). Galy is clearly the better defensive player but if Artigues continues to hit, we’ll need his bat. He’s got the chance to play a lot of ball if he can clean up some of his defensive miscues.
On the mound, we continued to have control difficulties as a team, but we "only" issued 5.6 free passes (walks and HBP) per 9 innings thanks to walking only two on Sunday. And, for the season, opponents are only hitting .243, so that, too, is pretty good. For the weekend, our three starting pitchers threw a combined 15 innings, allowed 11 hits, 8 free passes and 8 earned runs (4.80 ERA). I still don’t understand how the second run against Roper was counted as “earned,” however. Fortes was on second with one out and advanced to third on a passed ball. He then scored on a ground out that would have only moved him to third without the passed ball. The next batter grounded out and Fortes never would have scored. Whatever. I still thought Roper looked good and so did Massey for three innings. Then, he seemed to get tired, or at least started to get the ball up in the strike zone. He doesn’t look like his freshman year, but a whole lot better than last season. Gillies looked better than I’ve ever seen him, so that is also encouraging.
Our relief pitching really let us down, something many thought wouldn’t happen with what was believed to be a deeper staff. Regardless, in 9 innings, they allowed 14 hits, issued 8 “free passes” and allowed 10 earned runs (10.00 ERA); none of that is good or even acceptable. White and McAffer had the most trouble while Bjorngjeld and Issa looked the best to me. Others pitched short periods and generally not that effective.
I also liked how Jewett managed the weekend, which might surprise some. He made some smart adjustments in the line-up and kept trying to find a “winning” combination in the outfield, though without much success. I thought he kept with and relieved pitchers at appropriate times but was not rewarded with the kind of performance he needed out of his relievers. He also gave some reserves a chance to prove themselves in the second game at bat. Unfortunately, none of them did.
All in all, it was a very bad weekend, but no more or less important that our opening week. It will be interesting to see who pitches against Lamar in our mid-week games since I’d think Roper, Massey, and Gillies are set for now as weekend starters.
Roll Wave!!!