I really like this team. Two weeks ago, I wrote that it probably would not make a regional, but I have changed my mind.
The bats are potent and the resiliency reminds me of David Pierce's first year. Tulane responds to every gut kick it receives, and that quality usually does not go away.
It's been ages since Tulane was swinging the bat well enough to put a guy like David Bedgood on the bench. Given his first at-bat of the weekend today, he crushed the walk-off two-run homer. Trever Jensen is an excellent hitter. Kody Hoese is white hot. Grant Mathews is a very good hitter. Kobi Owen had a huge day and is hitting above .400. Hudson Haskin and Owen give Tulane two of the best athletes it has had in a while.
Sal Gozzo, very sure of himself at shortstop, made three outstanding plays today. His range has gotten better, but more significantly, he makes the play every time if he gets his glove on the ball.
The pitching is good enough. Kaleb Roper is a legitimate Friday starter, and even though he gave up five runs Friday, he will not face a lineup as potent as Ole Miss's the rest of the year. He made a few mistakes and paid for all of them, but he held those guys to five hits in 6-plus innings.
Keagan Gillies has not pitched well and does not have dominant stuff. but he showed a lot today by striking out four of the last five batters he faced, and it was the 1-2-3-4-5 part of the order.
Chase Solesky. who gave up more hits than he pitched innings even in his solid freshman year, needs to get better in that department, but if he doesn't, there are other candidates for the weekend rotation. Josh Bates looked really sharp against overmatched Lamar, and Trent Johnson, despite his horrific error today, is pitching better than a year ago.
Krishna Raj appears to be the real deal out of the bullpen, which is thin. Connor Pellerin still has to prove he can get the job done and that his great stuff translates into outs. Everyone else is an adventure at this point, but Tulane can get by with seven arms for the most part since it has no more five-game weeks. If Pierce's first team could make a regional with the very average Patrick Duester as his starting pitcher for the regional opener, this team can do it with a deeper lineup and its ability to make contact. I like Roper's chances to throw a gem in the postseason more than any pitcher on Pierce's two regional teams.
The mental mistakes have to be addressed, though. Three guys picked off in two games? No bueno. The hesitation by Roper when he fielded the bunt, and the airmailed throw by Trent Johnson after he did not field a one-hopper cleanly? Can't happen again.
One caveat about the hitting. Ole Miss lost its entire weekend rotation, and Will Ethridge, its Friday starter this year, will not pitch this weekend because of a blister issue. He pitched 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball against Wright State last Friday. The rest of the starters have given up 15 earned runs in 13 2/3 innings, so Tulane will face much better starters in upcoming weekend series.
Tomorrow's game is huge because Tulane needs all the quality out-of-conference victories it can get in a schedule that is considerably easier than last year's brutal one. A series win against Ole Miss would look awfully good come NCAA regional selection time.
The bats are potent and the resiliency reminds me of David Pierce's first year. Tulane responds to every gut kick it receives, and that quality usually does not go away.
It's been ages since Tulane was swinging the bat well enough to put a guy like David Bedgood on the bench. Given his first at-bat of the weekend today, he crushed the walk-off two-run homer. Trever Jensen is an excellent hitter. Kody Hoese is white hot. Grant Mathews is a very good hitter. Kobi Owen had a huge day and is hitting above .400. Hudson Haskin and Owen give Tulane two of the best athletes it has had in a while.
Sal Gozzo, very sure of himself at shortstop, made three outstanding plays today. His range has gotten better, but more significantly, he makes the play every time if he gets his glove on the ball.
The pitching is good enough. Kaleb Roper is a legitimate Friday starter, and even though he gave up five runs Friday, he will not face a lineup as potent as Ole Miss's the rest of the year. He made a few mistakes and paid for all of them, but he held those guys to five hits in 6-plus innings.
Keagan Gillies has not pitched well and does not have dominant stuff. but he showed a lot today by striking out four of the last five batters he faced, and it was the 1-2-3-4-5 part of the order.
Chase Solesky. who gave up more hits than he pitched innings even in his solid freshman year, needs to get better in that department, but if he doesn't, there are other candidates for the weekend rotation. Josh Bates looked really sharp against overmatched Lamar, and Trent Johnson, despite his horrific error today, is pitching better than a year ago.
Krishna Raj appears to be the real deal out of the bullpen, which is thin. Connor Pellerin still has to prove he can get the job done and that his great stuff translates into outs. Everyone else is an adventure at this point, but Tulane can get by with seven arms for the most part since it has no more five-game weeks. If Pierce's first team could make a regional with the very average Patrick Duester as his starting pitcher for the regional opener, this team can do it with a deeper lineup and its ability to make contact. I like Roper's chances to throw a gem in the postseason more than any pitcher on Pierce's two regional teams.
The mental mistakes have to be addressed, though. Three guys picked off in two games? No bueno. The hesitation by Roper when he fielded the bunt, and the airmailed throw by Trent Johnson after he did not field a one-hopper cleanly? Can't happen again.
One caveat about the hitting. Ole Miss lost its entire weekend rotation, and Will Ethridge, its Friday starter this year, will not pitch this weekend because of a blister issue. He pitched 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball against Wright State last Friday. The rest of the starters have given up 15 earned runs in 13 2/3 innings, so Tulane will face much better starters in upcoming weekend series.
Tomorrow's game is huge because Tulane needs all the quality out-of-conference victories it can get in a schedule that is considerably easier than last year's brutal one. A series win against Ole Miss would look awfully good come NCAA regional selection time.