First off, I will begin my spring football review tomorrow. And if the baseball team has a rough week, it won't have much to play for in the final two weeks of the regular season anyway. An at-large bid is still within reach, but my best guess is it will take a 9-2 finish, meaning wins against SLU and UNO and series victories against UCF, Houston and Memphis with one sweep. It's doable but very difficult, particularly for a team that has lost four of its last five in conference play and just isn't doing the little things well enough, never mind the big things like consistent pitching.
The seventh inning against ECU was very bad. First, Colletti paid zero attention to the runners on first and second he inherited, allowing the easiest double steal I've ever seen on his first pitch. Initially I thought Jake Willsey had screwed up by not getting to the bag, but it would not have mattered if he did. The runner, who was halfway to second base before the pitch, would have beaten the throw easily. Then Kody Hoese failed to rotate to third base to cover for Hunter Hope when he charged the bunt attempt that Paul Gozzo caught. I mean, the runner was five steps from home plate after Gozzo grabbed it, and Tulane would have been out of the inning with no damage if Hoese had done what he was supposed to do. Jewett told me Gozzo could have thrown to second to double that guy off, but when I checked the replay, it would have been hard because that guy was much closer to the bag and Hoese didn't run all the way to second base anyway. If Hoese had covered third, Gozzo could have rolled the ball to him before the runner got back. So then the eventual AAC hitter of the week hit a two-RBI single to give ECU a 5-1 lead it needed when Tulane got two back in the ninth. Disappointing.
Tulane still has a good chance to win the AAC regular season title, but if it is not accompanied by an NCAA berth, it will be meaningless in my view. If Tulane wins its series against UCF and Houston the next two weeks, even 2-1, it will hold the tiebreaker on every meaningful team in the league. Although the Houston series would be tied at 3, Tulane would get the Cougars on the secondary tiebreaker of best record against the next best team in descending order. The only team Houston has an edge on Tulane against is ECU. The Pirates are in dead last and won't catch anyone in the top five.
But if Tulane goes 6-3 the rest of the way and loses to both SLU and UNO, it won't even have a winning record entering the AAC tourney. That obviously would not be good enough for an at-large berth, and the Wave actually would have to win twice in the tournament in that scenario just to be eligible for an at-large berth.
Corey's Merrill's performance Friday was inexplicable. Tulane scored eight runs in a game in which Kruczynski pitched. That should have been more than enough to win. Instead, the Wave lost 15-8.
I do think Bjorngjeld, whom Jewett said today will pitch the next three Sundays, gives the Wave the best chance to alter its miserable 1-9 record on Sundays. He will be pitching on a full week's rest the rest of the way and is a battler. Massey will pitch tomorrow and has to get his act together against an SLU team that has struggled to hit all year. It's a must-win game to get back to .500 and set up Tulane for what it hopes will be a big weekend against UCF. The next seven games are all at home and all against top-40 RPI teams, so the Wave can rocket up the RPI IF IT STARTS WINNING. That's a big if.
The seventh inning against ECU was very bad. First, Colletti paid zero attention to the runners on first and second he inherited, allowing the easiest double steal I've ever seen on his first pitch. Initially I thought Jake Willsey had screwed up by not getting to the bag, but it would not have mattered if he did. The runner, who was halfway to second base before the pitch, would have beaten the throw easily. Then Kody Hoese failed to rotate to third base to cover for Hunter Hope when he charged the bunt attempt that Paul Gozzo caught. I mean, the runner was five steps from home plate after Gozzo grabbed it, and Tulane would have been out of the inning with no damage if Hoese had done what he was supposed to do. Jewett told me Gozzo could have thrown to second to double that guy off, but when I checked the replay, it would have been hard because that guy was much closer to the bag and Hoese didn't run all the way to second base anyway. If Hoese had covered third, Gozzo could have rolled the ball to him before the runner got back. So then the eventual AAC hitter of the week hit a two-RBI single to give ECU a 5-1 lead it needed when Tulane got two back in the ninth. Disappointing.
Tulane still has a good chance to win the AAC regular season title, but if it is not accompanied by an NCAA berth, it will be meaningless in my view. If Tulane wins its series against UCF and Houston the next two weeks, even 2-1, it will hold the tiebreaker on every meaningful team in the league. Although the Houston series would be tied at 3, Tulane would get the Cougars on the secondary tiebreaker of best record against the next best team in descending order. The only team Houston has an edge on Tulane against is ECU. The Pirates are in dead last and won't catch anyone in the top five.
But if Tulane goes 6-3 the rest of the way and loses to both SLU and UNO, it won't even have a winning record entering the AAC tourney. That obviously would not be good enough for an at-large berth, and the Wave actually would have to win twice in the tournament in that scenario just to be eligible for an at-large berth.
Corey's Merrill's performance Friday was inexplicable. Tulane scored eight runs in a game in which Kruczynski pitched. That should have been more than enough to win. Instead, the Wave lost 15-8.
I do think Bjorngjeld, whom Jewett said today will pitch the next three Sundays, gives the Wave the best chance to alter its miserable 1-9 record on Sundays. He will be pitching on a full week's rest the rest of the way and is a battler. Massey will pitch tomorrow and has to get his act together against an SLU team that has struggled to hit all year. It's a must-win game to get back to .500 and set up Tulane for what it hopes will be a big weekend against UCF. The next seven games are all at home and all against top-40 RPI teams, so the Wave can rocket up the RPI IF IT STARTS WINNING. That's a big if.