Tulane faces its biggest series in Travis Jewett's three years this weekend. Although the odds of reaching a regional have gone down considerably with almost every pitcher on the staff struggling, the Green Wave can resurrect its hopes with an unlikely series win against what appears to be the best team the AAC has produced in the five years Tulane has been in the league.
Kaleb Roper, Keagan Gillies and Chase Solesky have to pitch well this weekend to give the Wave a chance. It's that simple. If they go deep into the game, Tulane's big bats can hang with anyone, but if the bullpen comes in play early, it's curtains.
ECU has a front-loaded lineup with five guy hitting .320 or better and no one else hitting above .273, although some of the guys at the bottom of the order are good bunters who do the little things well. The Pirates have two outstanding starting pitchers in Jake Agnos (2.85 ERA, 91 strikeouts in 60 innings) and Jake Kuchmaner (2.05 ERA, 26 hits allowed in 52.2 innings) and a weak link in Tyler Smith (5.07 ERA, 55 hits allowed in 49.2 innings). Kuchmaner has been pitching Sundays, with Smith going on Saturdays, although they reversed the order in a Saturday series-ending doubleheader against UConn last week. Everybody that comes out of the bullpen this weekend will have a better ERA than anyone who comes out of Tulane's bullpen save Josh Bates, whose artificially low ERA does not square with his pitching prowess.
Roper was outstanding against a very good ECU team in the AAC tourney last year (one run, two hits, zero walks and 11 strikeouts) before tiring in the 8th inning. If he gives a similar performance this Friday on a night ECU is trying to set a program attendance record, the Wave will have a fighting chance.
I talked to all three starting pitchers yesterday because they are the key to a weekend.
ROPER
How big of a weekend is this for you guys?
"It's a huge weekend. A lot's at stake that could potentially make a difference down the road as far as the conference tournament and all, but like I always say, it's just a different team. We're playing the same game. The opponent's always the same in my eyes. I'm preparing the same way. I'm ready to get back out there and improve on what happened last week."
That was maybe the worst start of your two-year Tulane career (7 runs in 1.2 innings). What went wrong?
"That's baseball. I don't know. Maybe because we kept getting pushed back (the game was scheduled for Thursday and ended up being played Saturday due to weather). I don't want to make excuses, but at some point that kind of stuff starts to make a difference. It was just one of those days. I didn't have good stuff and was leaving stuff over the plate and got punished for it but I'm not going to let that affect my preparation. I'll prepare the same way. I'm ready to get back out there."
East Carolina's first five guys all hit above .320 and a very tough outs. What do you need to do against them?
"It's all about executing pitches. As long as I'm executing pitches then I should be fine. It's when you start missing and making mistakes where you get hurt."
Does last week's performance add a little fuel to your fire?
"It adds a little fire. I'm itching to get back out there, but it's always the same. I want to get out there and compete and do what I love doing."
SOLESKY
This is a statement weekend. You are the only team within striking distance of East Carolina. How are you approaching it?
"It's huge. I'm getting chills thinking about it. They are trying to set the attendance record on Friday night and we're all amped up to get up there and take the field and do our thing and show everyone what we're made of. We respect them and they respect us. Every game is going to be a dogfight, from the first pitch of the game until the last pitch of the game. We have to be in it, stay momentary and play the baseball that we've been trained to play and just trust in our abilities."
How important is it for the weekend rotation to have quality starts this weekend, and how capable do you feel like you are of coming through?
"All of us are kind of looking at it as a challenge. If we want to make a postseason run, we all realize these are the kinds of teams we are going to be facing day in and day out, weekend after weekend if we want to achieve our goals. We're prepared for it. Everyone's having some ups and downs, but maybe we need to pick up the slack of those guys and if one of us struggles, they are going to come in behind us and pick up our slack. We're going to try to play a team game. I feel like a lot of times the offense gets the praise and for good reason, but we've won 26 games now and to win 26 games, the pitching can't be that bad. We all need to see the positives in that and take those positives into this weekend and use it to our advantage."
You didn't start this weekend because the third game was canceled (he pitched 2.2 innings in relief of Gillies and got the win in a 20-5 game). How much are you looking forward to this opportunity?
"It's going to be great. Coach Latham and I have done some extra things this week. I threw a bullpen yesterday, which is not normal for me, and then I'm going to throw again tomorrow. I've been getting some extra work to prepare for this start and I've been doing some extra work on the side trying to fix some things that I feel like have gotten out of balance. I'm well prepared and I think it's going to be a good weekend for all of us."
Your last start you were outstanding for five innings (against USF, allowing one hit, one walk and zero runs) before appearing to get tired (giving up five hits and four runs while recording one out in the sixth). What happened?
"Yeah, I was battling some sickness earlier in the week and just got tired. Obviously I jus hit a brick wall. I was still competing, throwing strikes and they were just hitting the ball well. There's nothing you can really do about that."
Is the goal to pitch the way you did the first five innings?
"Yes. The goal this week for us is to command the strike zone, get ahead early in the count and to be able to throw two to three pitches for strikes. If we do that, it's a good recipe for success with the way our offense has been playing recently."
GILLIES
How pumped are you for this weekend? You guys are the only team within striking distance of ECU.
"We saw it in the distance but we tried to focus on every game in the moment going up to this, but it's here now. We're going in there ready to strike. It's the two best teams in the league right now and we're going for first place. We'll be coming out swinging for sure."
How important is it for the starting pitchers to eat up a lot of innings?
"It will be very important. That's a really good lineup they have over there. They have a really good team. Just getting deep into the innings and giving our bullpen some rest and trying to have as many pitchers going into my game and Sunday with our best arms will give us the best chance to win the series."
Your numbers are worse this year than last year. What can you put your finger on for the difference?
"There's been some issues control wise at some points, losing my stuff in the later innings, but overall I've just grown into each start. I'm treating this as kind of a second season and am working on and building off of each start."
When you are pitching well, what are you doing?
"Really just being convicted and really confident in the pitches that I'm throwing and picking the pitch for each situation that I think is best and throwing it with conviction."
What makes ECU tough in their batting order?
"If you make a mistake, they are going to make you pay for it, but if we just attack our game plan and make our pitches with conviction we can perform very well this weekend."
This will be a pressure-packed weekend. Do you feel you guys are ready?
"Yeah, we're definitely ready. Our hitting is obviously one of the best in the country, and I think our pitching is going to show up this weekend. We are going to show the country that we belong there."
Kaleb Roper, Keagan Gillies and Chase Solesky have to pitch well this weekend to give the Wave a chance. It's that simple. If they go deep into the game, Tulane's big bats can hang with anyone, but if the bullpen comes in play early, it's curtains.
ECU has a front-loaded lineup with five guy hitting .320 or better and no one else hitting above .273, although some of the guys at the bottom of the order are good bunters who do the little things well. The Pirates have two outstanding starting pitchers in Jake Agnos (2.85 ERA, 91 strikeouts in 60 innings) and Jake Kuchmaner (2.05 ERA, 26 hits allowed in 52.2 innings) and a weak link in Tyler Smith (5.07 ERA, 55 hits allowed in 49.2 innings). Kuchmaner has been pitching Sundays, with Smith going on Saturdays, although they reversed the order in a Saturday series-ending doubleheader against UConn last week. Everybody that comes out of the bullpen this weekend will have a better ERA than anyone who comes out of Tulane's bullpen save Josh Bates, whose artificially low ERA does not square with his pitching prowess.
Roper was outstanding against a very good ECU team in the AAC tourney last year (one run, two hits, zero walks and 11 strikeouts) before tiring in the 8th inning. If he gives a similar performance this Friday on a night ECU is trying to set a program attendance record, the Wave will have a fighting chance.
I talked to all three starting pitchers yesterday because they are the key to a weekend.
ROPER
How big of a weekend is this for you guys?
"It's a huge weekend. A lot's at stake that could potentially make a difference down the road as far as the conference tournament and all, but like I always say, it's just a different team. We're playing the same game. The opponent's always the same in my eyes. I'm preparing the same way. I'm ready to get back out there and improve on what happened last week."
That was maybe the worst start of your two-year Tulane career (7 runs in 1.2 innings). What went wrong?
"That's baseball. I don't know. Maybe because we kept getting pushed back (the game was scheduled for Thursday and ended up being played Saturday due to weather). I don't want to make excuses, but at some point that kind of stuff starts to make a difference. It was just one of those days. I didn't have good stuff and was leaving stuff over the plate and got punished for it but I'm not going to let that affect my preparation. I'll prepare the same way. I'm ready to get back out there."
East Carolina's first five guys all hit above .320 and a very tough outs. What do you need to do against them?
"It's all about executing pitches. As long as I'm executing pitches then I should be fine. It's when you start missing and making mistakes where you get hurt."
Does last week's performance add a little fuel to your fire?
"It adds a little fire. I'm itching to get back out there, but it's always the same. I want to get out there and compete and do what I love doing."
SOLESKY
This is a statement weekend. You are the only team within striking distance of East Carolina. How are you approaching it?
"It's huge. I'm getting chills thinking about it. They are trying to set the attendance record on Friday night and we're all amped up to get up there and take the field and do our thing and show everyone what we're made of. We respect them and they respect us. Every game is going to be a dogfight, from the first pitch of the game until the last pitch of the game. We have to be in it, stay momentary and play the baseball that we've been trained to play and just trust in our abilities."
How important is it for the weekend rotation to have quality starts this weekend, and how capable do you feel like you are of coming through?
"All of us are kind of looking at it as a challenge. If we want to make a postseason run, we all realize these are the kinds of teams we are going to be facing day in and day out, weekend after weekend if we want to achieve our goals. We're prepared for it. Everyone's having some ups and downs, but maybe we need to pick up the slack of those guys and if one of us struggles, they are going to come in behind us and pick up our slack. We're going to try to play a team game. I feel like a lot of times the offense gets the praise and for good reason, but we've won 26 games now and to win 26 games, the pitching can't be that bad. We all need to see the positives in that and take those positives into this weekend and use it to our advantage."
You didn't start this weekend because the third game was canceled (he pitched 2.2 innings in relief of Gillies and got the win in a 20-5 game). How much are you looking forward to this opportunity?
"It's going to be great. Coach Latham and I have done some extra things this week. I threw a bullpen yesterday, which is not normal for me, and then I'm going to throw again tomorrow. I've been getting some extra work to prepare for this start and I've been doing some extra work on the side trying to fix some things that I feel like have gotten out of balance. I'm well prepared and I think it's going to be a good weekend for all of us."
Your last start you were outstanding for five innings (against USF, allowing one hit, one walk and zero runs) before appearing to get tired (giving up five hits and four runs while recording one out in the sixth). What happened?
"Yeah, I was battling some sickness earlier in the week and just got tired. Obviously I jus hit a brick wall. I was still competing, throwing strikes and they were just hitting the ball well. There's nothing you can really do about that."
Is the goal to pitch the way you did the first five innings?
"Yes. The goal this week for us is to command the strike zone, get ahead early in the count and to be able to throw two to three pitches for strikes. If we do that, it's a good recipe for success with the way our offense has been playing recently."
GILLIES
How pumped are you for this weekend? You guys are the only team within striking distance of ECU.
"We saw it in the distance but we tried to focus on every game in the moment going up to this, but it's here now. We're going in there ready to strike. It's the two best teams in the league right now and we're going for first place. We'll be coming out swinging for sure."
How important is it for the starting pitchers to eat up a lot of innings?
"It will be very important. That's a really good lineup they have over there. They have a really good team. Just getting deep into the innings and giving our bullpen some rest and trying to have as many pitchers going into my game and Sunday with our best arms will give us the best chance to win the series."
Your numbers are worse this year than last year. What can you put your finger on for the difference?
"There's been some issues control wise at some points, losing my stuff in the later innings, but overall I've just grown into each start. I'm treating this as kind of a second season and am working on and building off of each start."
When you are pitching well, what are you doing?
"Really just being convicted and really confident in the pitches that I'm throwing and picking the pitch for each situation that I think is best and throwing it with conviction."
What makes ECU tough in their batting order?
"If you make a mistake, they are going to make you pay for it, but if we just attack our game plan and make our pitches with conviction we can perform very well this weekend."
This will be a pressure-packed weekend. Do you feel you guys are ready?
"Yeah, we're definitely ready. Our hitting is obviously one of the best in the country, and I think our pitching is going to show up this weekend. We are going to show the country that we belong there."
