A glance at the 10-2 LSU win over Southern yesterday would make you think the Tigers had an easy time of it. Nothing could be further from the truth. Southern came out swinging and took a 2-0 lead in the first inning and it stayed that way until the sixth and more than a few of the 10,000+ Tiger fans in attendance had to be squirming. The Tigers scored a run in the sixth inning and tied the game with two outs in the seventh. At that point, Southern removed their starter, Chase Richard, who didn't allow an earned run until the seventh and turned in a terrific performance. The Jaguars, who had played extremely well until then, disintegrated. Their bullpen gave up hits and their defense contributed 4 errors and it was 8-2 before they got that last out in the 7th inning. With their top two starters well rested, the Tigers are in pretty good shape but baseball is a funny game. Baylor up next.
Kinda surprised at some of the comments in the Minneapolis Star Tribune this morning. The Gophers took a tough loss yesterday but they've had a pretty good season and they're not out yet. From larryhanson:
All 3 Big 10 baseball teams lost yesterday in blow outs. Maybe the 10 Big Ten baseball teams need to get a clue from Wisconsin and quit playing baseball.
Geez, lighten up. Northern college baseball teams are at an extreme disadvantage against southern and western teams. The college baseball season starts in late February. Northern teams are still shoveling snow in February. Southern and western teams get in more practice and get in more games. That's why they do better. The NCAA closed the gap a few years ago by limiting teams to 60 regular season games so you no longer see southern teams who have played 75 games playing against northern teams who have only played 40 but the scales still tip to the teams that have better baseball climates. The only real way to address it is for northern teams to travel to southern and western teams to play. That's expensive and it can only be done on weekends because of school. Baseball is an every day game. Still, don't give up.
Today's QOTD is from Stephen Strasburg of San Diego State University. He is expected to be the top pick in MLB's draft in a few weeks. He's apparently never heard of the University of Virginia. That team beat him. It was his first, and probably last, loss of the season.
Quote of the Day
I was pretty excited to be out there, but it's pretty tough to pitch against a team that you've never really heard of, you don't really have a good scouting report on them.
Stephen Strasburg, San Diego State
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "Unless San Diego State can win their way out of the regional through the loser's bracket, Stephen Strasburg has likely pitched his final college game."
Baylor got a great game from their pitchers, that's the way it goes sometimes. We'll see what the Gophers do against Southern today. Even if they don't advance, they put together a pretty darn good season this year and I'm glad to see that. Good luck to your Tigers.
Almost every team in the tournament has at least 1 stud pitcher so the first game is always tough. Baylor ran three pitchers at Minnesota yesterday. Unusual to see three combining for a shutout. When you get deeper into the staffs on the 2nd and 3rd days, you'll see more slugfests. I expect today's Minnesota-Southern game to be a slugfest. Good Luck to the Gophers, too. I'd like to see them in the finals this weekend ... against LSU, of course. :)