[Husker] Husker Baseball

[Paul Dalen]

Lots of baseball robe played, but I like chances at Post-season play.



On Mar 17, 2012, at 8:18 PM, Tony Lambert <slimmer37 at hamilton.net> wrote:

> Skylar, Thanks for the break down. I have watched all the games that have been available and it seems that Bolt sends guys when they would have been held in the past. This team is fun to watch.
>
>
>
> Tony Lambert
> -----Original Message----- From: Skylar Dodds
> Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2012 7:07 PM
> To: 'Tony Lambert'
> Cc: 'husker List'
> Subject: RE: [Husker] Husker Baseball
>
> You know, I was thinking about doing that recently....glad you brought it
> up.  I wrote this before Saturday's games, so keep that in mind.
>
> Overall:
> =====================
> It's tough to draw any major conclusions about this team just yet.
> Honestly, if this were the B12, we would be saying "I like the way they're
> playing, but let's see what happens when the competition gets tougher in
> conference".   Being flat out realistic, the B1G is pretty bad.  There's
> only 3 teams in this conference that are even moderately good.  Purdue is
> the only team even being considered for rankings, they're ranked in roughly
> half the polls (we might be an 'also getting votes' if we sweep this
> weekend).   Though Purdue led off a 4 game series with Wichita State
> Thursday with an impressive 8-3 win and then another yesterday 10-5.  If
> they go 3-1 or sweep I think you'll see them firmly in the polls.
>
> As you know, Gonzaga swept us at the beginning of the year and for a while
> it looked like they were pretty solid winning their first 10 games, but
> they've now lost 5 of their last 6 (3 x New Mexico and 2 x Arkansas...tough
> to blame them for those two).
>
> Since then, we're 13-3 with 2 losses to Cal (and 2 wins...Cal is a ranked
> team and a CWS team last year) and a loss to West Virginia in the DQ Classic
> in Minneapolis.
>
>
> Attitude:
> Darin has changed this team's mental makeup in a short amount of time.  I
> mostly assumed that it was...let's call it 'fan speak' up to this point.
> We've seen them beat some teams (not a great level of competition mind you)
> and fans automatically start talking about swagger, etc.  Well, after I
> watched them in person I can tell you it's real.  This team just acts
> differently.  They greet each other at the top of the dugout stairs
> differently.  They look different in the dugout.  They have a confidence
> when they go to the plate.  They throw strikes and dare you to hit it (for
> the most part).  I would also say this has a lot to do with Bolt too.  He
> wasn't called, "Little Van Horn" for nothing.
>
> Offense:
> The "O" has probably been the most surprising thing so far.  I don't think
> we have the speed yet that Darin wants for his "chaos on the base paths"
> mentality (I think we're successful stealing around a 60% rate).  But the
> hitters clearly have a better approach at the plate (I think especially with
> a little more freedom to swing early in the count...something Anderson tends
> to not let hitters do).  The great thing is the team has gotten those big
> innings they lacked in previous years.  They've really tagged some decent
> pitchers.  Highlighted by Chad Christensen...holy cow.  Chad seemed like a
> guy destined to be a singles hitter the rest of his life.  Now he's driving
> the ball all over the field.  He leads the team in HRs (5), RBIs (25...next
> closest is 16), 4th in OBP (.460), 2nd in doubles (5) and sports a .413
> average (3rd best).   By comparison in roughly 3x the ABs he hit 1 HR and 6
> doubles last year.  Scheffert seems to be the same story pretty much.  Last
> year he bat an abysmal .220 and this year he's hitting .360.  Kale Kiser is
> an interesting story too....he's only batting .240 (3rd worst on the team),
> but he's got the 2nd highest OBP (.472).  He leads the team with 17 walks
> (more than double #2 at 8) and HBP with 5..  Man  just does whatever it
> takes to get on 1st base.
>
> Also, the newcomers have REALLY made an immediate impact.  True frosh Pat
> Kelly is leading the team with a .444 avg and will be the everyday starter
> at SS eventually (just needs to get a little more consistent
> defensively...more on that later).  Richard Stock has been a beast at the
> plate (.400 avg, 2nd in RBIs with 16, a homerun and 7 doubles).  He actually
> plays catcher, but isn't NEAR the defensive catcher Burleson is so he's
> played most games at 1st or DH.  Austin Darby and Rich Sanguinetti have been
> solid at the plate (.340 and .299 respectively), but they've brought a lot
> more of what Darin wants on the 'paths' with 4 steals each (out of 10 tries)
> and Sanguinetti is tied for 2nd on the team in RBIs (gets a lot of hits when
> we need them).  Sanguinetti has also really anchored down the CF position.
> He's got great speed so he covers a lot of ground and has a great glove.
>
> Darin shuffles the lineup a lot, but our most powerful hitting lineup looks
> like this:
>
> C: Burleson
> 1B: Stock
> 2B: Kelly
> SS: Christensen
> 3B: Scheffert
> LF: Pritchard
> CF: Sanguinetti
> RF: Kiser / Darby
> DH: Kash (when healthy)
>
> Defense:
> Defensively this team has been really solid except for Pat Kelly (and a
> little bit Kurt Farmer).  Kelly is actually really talented just needs to
> develop some consistency.  His natural position is SS, but after getting
> hurt early on Chad Christensen went back to short and hasn't left since so
> Kelly has been splitting 2B with Bryan Peters.  Chad has an incredible glove
> and a really accurate arm, but Kelly actually has a much stronger arm (which
> is why I said he's the SS of the future).  As a true freshman, he's got
> plenty of time to do it.
>
> At catcher Burleson is the best we have and he has an OK bat.  He's hitting
> .250, but he's the guy on the team (seems like there's one every year) who
> hits a ton of line drives just always seems to be at someone.  Sam Stucky
> isn't too bad defensively, but doesn't have the greatest bat and Richard
> Stock I think is the guy they want back there long term, but he's not as
> good defensively as Cory.
>
> Pitching:
> Early on, our starting pitching was a lot better than our bullpen, but that
> has reversed itself.  Our starting pitching has been OK, but definitely not
> great (maybe inconsistent is more accurate).  But lately, our relievers have
> been NAILS.  The Gonzaga series our relief pitching was the reason we got
> swept.  We really should have at least won 2 of those (lost 2 leads in the
> 9th) and we could have won a 3.  In that series, our relievers had a 9.00
> ERA.  Now, that ERA is around 1.90.  The best of the bunch have been Aaron
> Bummer, Ryan Hander, Dylan Vogt, and Brandon Pierce.  The four have combined
> for a 1.12 ERA over 40 1/3 innings (just 5 earned runs).
>
> For the starters, Tom Lemke has been the best (not really too surprising).
> He's got a 3.06 ERA and just really has been the most consistent.  I have
> said for a while I think Keller is the most talented.  He's got a great
> fastball and some really solid offspead stuff.  The problem with him is that
> he walks WAY too many people (and HBPs)  and then lets that get himself into
> trouble.
>
> Hirsch is very talented too, but had a really bad outing vs Cal last
> weekend.  He leads the team in strikeouts with 20.  He bounced back pretty
> well against La Tech on Thursday and he's young, so I think he'll do just
> fine.  The midweek starters are Tyler Neiderklein (who I think is very solid
> as a starter, but started the season with a disastrous relief appearance vs
> Gonzaga) and Kyle Kubat,
>
> While the bullpen seems like it's one of the strengths of this team, the
> Achilles heel might be the lack of the true 'Friday' guy.  We just don't
> have anyone that we know we can put on the mound and get us a series opening
> win, IMO.  Hopefully we can find that soon.  Really it's probably good
> enough for the B1G, but come regional/super time...I'm not as confident.
>
> Recruiting:
> This is probably been very promising so far.  You never know who's going to
> get here by the time they sign, but it's a good start.
>
>
> 2013 class so far:
> Ryan Boldt - OF - 6'1" - 185 - L/R - Red Wing, MN
> Ryan looks the part of what Darin wants.  Boldt is a very athletic prospect
> that is an aggressive hitter with raw power and a live bat. He also has very
> good speed winning the Fastest Man Contest (6.50) at the Kernels Foundation
> Championship this past fall. He is currently ranked #127 nationally and #3
> in Minnesota.   Boldt bats left and throws right because when he was young
> he broke something in his elbow and started throwing right handed and it
> just stuck.
>
> Derek Burkamper - RHP - 6'2" - 170 - R/R - Muscatine, IA
> Derek is another guy who is just a WOW recruit.  He is the #2 ranked player
> out of Iowa and the #69 pitcher in the country and #244 overall.  He's 6'2"
> 170lbs (room to grow) and already throws around 88-90.  He has a sharp break
> on his curve ball and his changeup is solid enough to be a good #3 pitch
> (comes in around 80-81).   He played in the "Midwest Top Showcase" game and
> struck out 5 batters in 2 innings.
>
> Beau Fandel - SS - 6'1" - 190 - R/R - Stacy, MN
> Never got a lot about this guy, but PerfectGame calls him a "High Follow"
> which means they will keep an eye on him and he may end up in their Top500
> ranking (their main H.S. athlete ranking).   Maxpreps listed him as the #10
> guy in Minnesota.
>
> Brayden Young - RHP - 6'0" - 160 - R/R - Lincoln, NE
> Good strike thrower with decent velocity.
>
> Ben Miller - LHP - 6'3" - 210 - R/R - West Des Moines, IA
> 87-88 Fastball with a good changeup. Very short and compact arm action,
> hides ball well, tight 3/4's release point. Gets on hitters quickly with
> deception from release. Change is best off speed pitch, very good sink at
> times, good feel for location. Rare slider, flashes spin but limited present
> feel. Will need to develop a breaking ball but has two solid present
> pitches.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: husker-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:husker-bounces at tssi.com] On Behalf Of
> Tony Lambert
> Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2012 7:17 PM
> To: husker at tssi.com
> Subject: [Husker] Husker Baseball
>
> Skylar, could you give the list your thought on the baseball team as they
> win today 9-2 over La. Tech to go 12-6.
>
> Tony Lambert
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