ECU @ VU on ESPN2 at 12 PM ET Stanford @ TTU on ESPNU at 3 PM ET NC St @ Arkansas on ESPNU at 6 PM ET Ole Miss @ Arizona on ESPNU at 9 PM ET
Scouting report (anonymous coach breaks down the Red Raiders) Spoiler “People didn’t expect them to go on the run they have (after the injuries) but they just keep rolling. It all goes through Jace Jung, just like it has for the last five years with his brother. One through five, they’re as talented an offense as you’ll see in the country. It all revolves around Dru Baker, Jung and Cal Conley. When the other guys are clicking too it’s really tough. You can pitch to Jung, Conley and Baker a little easier when there’s nobody on base. “I think you try to get in on (Jung). You’ve got to try to take it away. You can’t fall into patterns. He might look bad on a pitch, but he doesn’t look bad on it twice. You can throw a changeup and he looks bad, but you throw it again and he’ll hit it out of the park. You have to be a step ahead of him, but he’s such a good baseball mind that he’ll guess right there with you. When he gets to it, it goes. He can spray it, pull hit, hit it 500 feet, slap it. He’s as complete a hitter as they come “The biggest thing for them is they have success when their starters go deep in the game. One area where they probably struggle a bit – and a lot of it is because of the injuries – is that middle part of the game to get to Ryan Sublette. Micah Dallas, Mason Montgomery, their starters are pretty consistent. As long as they get good starts out of them, keep the other team at bay and let the offense score some runs, they’re good. “For Sublette, it’s a combination of power to the pitches, good stuff and obviously there’s some deception in there from the funk of the delivery and arm angle. He’s a typical, competitive back-end guy that doesn’t give in. With his combination of stuff and competitiveness, it never makes for an easy at bat for any hitter. It’s the perfect storm of having a really good relief pitcher. Those are the type of guys you want at the back end. “They’re athletic. Their outfield defense is real good. Conley is a nice piece. I think the infield defense outside of Conley is just OK. Braxton Fulford is an exceptional catch-and-throw guy. Defensively, they can at time stray a little bit. They’re not as defensive as a Texas, but I don’t think their defense is in a spot where it’s going to create a major problem because they’re so good at catcher, short and center. “Playing in Lubbock will be very interesting, especially with Stanford probably used to calm skies. It’s going to be hot, windy and it’s going to feel like all of Lubbock is going to be there. Especially in the postseason and in big-time weekends, they show out in full force. It goes both ways. The fans feed off the energy of the players and the players feed off the energy of the fans. That’s why they’re so good there. There are very few places in the country where they feed off each other. Once they get rolling, it’s hard to stop.” Scouting report (anonymous coach breaks down the Cardinal) Spoiler “I thought the power stood out at first but now all of a sudden in the postseason they’re creating depth in the lineup. When you’ve got lefthanders, righthanders and power, look out because who are you going to pitch to? At first it started with power, but when you see what happened (in regionals) they’re getting hot at the right time. And that power travels. It’s not just home stadium power. That power is going to translate anywhere. “Brock Jones’ physicality scares you. You look at the man in the box and you’re like, ‘How do you get him out without him hurting the baseball?’ Not many holes. He hits the ball so hard. He’s going to hurt the baseball if he makes contact with it. You can pitch around him and hope you get some other guys out. I don’t see why anyone would pitch to him at this point. If you pick your spots, you can maybe get him in situation where only hits a solo bomb. But he’s surrounded by guys who can do just as much. I don’t know that it’s a good idea to give them free bases. “They’ll steal third base, they’ll hit-and-run, Brock Jones will run the bases, he’ll steal. They have every ability to manufacture or hit the three-run home run. They’re not just sitting around waiting for the home run. They’ll put action on if they need to. They have such a veteran lineup. It’s amazing when you see these veteran lineups that have the identity. It’s not one guy going up to save the day. They understand how to keep the line moving. “When you have a lineup like that, it takes pressure off being perfect on the mound. They can pitch at a high level, but when you walk out there knowing the offense will give you runs, that takes off the pressure. Not to mention they’ll run out Brendan Beck and he’ll beat anyone in the country. Then when it comes to matching up No. 2s and No. 3s, then their aren’t many lineups that are as good as those guys. “Their bullpen, it depends on what situation they’re put in. Are they going to roll out 96-97, no, but they bring out matchups and pitchability. They’re not scaring anyone but they’re going to bring in matchups left and right. But those guys don’t have to be perfect. They’re not running out there with that pressure. Their closer has 13 saves. Just because he doesn’t throw 95 doesn’t mean he doesn’t get the job done. “Their outfield is pretty athletic, their catcher can catch and throw, they have veterans on the infield. When you don’t notice the defense, you know it’s doing a good thing. They’re going to pick it up and play catch. “They’re an extremely sound team. It all matches up. You always think it would be nice to get good pitching when you don’t have good hitting, and good hitting when you don’t have good pitching, but they’ve done it day in and out. They’re a battle-tested team, not to mention mentally. They battled Covid and a tough fall situation. You have to give a ton of credit to those coaches and those players. When you have football player in the middle of the lineup, he’s bringing the mentality. That’s a tough, tough team.” Scouting report (anonymous coach breaks down the Razorbacks) Spoiler “I’ve never seen anything like Kevin Kopps. You could go back to the best pitchers that have thrown in this league over time. You could go back to David Price, Luke Hochevar, has anybody ever been that dominant? To not talk about that would not be giving any credit to the truth. The truth is, has anyone ever been that dominant, that good? You can see the stuff on TV, you see the hitters and you think, ‘What’s wrong with these guys, they’re just not hitting it?’ Then you get to the field and you see the spin on that slider. It’s at such another level, the spin on that ball and stuff. Nobody’s figured him out yet. Everybody’s been waiting, when he’s going to get tired or fatigued but it hasn’t happened yet. It’s been crazy. To me, it’s absolutely crazy what he’s done. “It’s Kopps and then what Casey Opitz has done behind that plate handling all those arms is just incredible to me. It’s a very good team. A lot of guys can hurt you. He’s been incredible behind home plate. “What Robert Moore has done has been impressive. It feels like he has a thing for the moment. That’s the thing that’s been most impressive. Most of those hits come at big times. He’s just a guy that isn’t fazed by the moment and it’s to the point where when he’s up in the moment, you think something is going to happen. That’s what’s been most impressive. “You’re talking about a really good catcher, an unbelievable center fielder and a really good middle infield. “You talk about all the home runs they hit and the defense, but the separator has been they’ve gotten some good starting pitching and then Kopps.” Scouting report (anonymous coach breaks down the Wolfpack) Spoiler “I thought they were awesome. I thought the lineup was awesome. They do damage throughout, they’ve got good at bats throughout. The issue early on was the bullpen, but their starting pitching is really good. They were able to shorten what they needed in the bullpen with good starts. They just weren’t throwing the ball well early in the year. When we played them, I thought they could go to Omaha. Their lineup is scary top to bottom. “They play defense all over the place. At times in the past, their defense would be their weaker point They’ve had teams in the past that were just OK defensively. But this year they have speed in the outfield, Jose Torres is awesome at shortstop. I would probably say I thought the issue would be the bullpen, but it hasn’t been that way. “To compete with Arkansas, you’ve got to be able to score and NC State can bang with them. They can mash. They’ve got five good arms. After that, they’re in trouble. They’ve got two good lefties in the pen and three righthanders that can throw multiple pitches for strikes. They’re very competitive. This will not be a cake walk.”
Rocker needed 6 pitches in T1. I'll take that Gavin Williams went to Cape Fear HS? That's awesome Bradfield walks on four pitches to open B1. His plate approach is insanely advanced
williams has overcome a lot in his life. its always tough having to grow up in the shit hole that is fayetteville, nc
Not often you see Bradfield reach 1st with no outs and end up stranded there. Wow Breaking ball got Young to chase which isn't too hard. But 99 MPH fastballs to get Keegan and LaNeve swinging is crazy good Gavin Williams gonna make some MLB team really happy down the road
Rocker in a Super Regional setting = 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 6 SO/1 BB on 51 pitches Williams with 6 Ks through 3 IP but he did give up a run in B3. VU leading 1-0 to B4
Hopefully Rocker has a couple quick innings because I'd love to see Maldonado not have to pitch multiple innings
Holy shit at that carom off the SS. Not sure I’ve ever seen something like that. Must’ve hit his spikes.
i was harassed and threatened into joining blind dog 's parlay against my will so we need vandy to win
Gavin Williams through 6 IP: 4 H, 1 ER, 12 SO/2 BB on 97 pitches. Good grief he might be in the top 10-15 now
23 strikeouts combined between these two monsters after 7 1/2 innings Pitch #100 from Williams is a 97 MPH heater
Jayson Gonzalez swinging at that first pitch is so awful. GIDP gets Williams out of a jam in B7. 1-0 to T8
Norby 2-out single in T8. Rocker leaving after 7.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 11/3 BB on 117 pitches with 72 strikes. What a fucking legend. Super Regional machine
Wow Maldonado came in and got squeezed super hard but gets a 3-0 pop-up in foul territory to send it to B8 at 1-0
Why they gotta start the supers and the euros at the same time? They’re like two of my favorite things.
Bradfield at 3rd with 1 out and he comes home on a grounder to the left side of the infield. Called out but replay clearly shows his hand got in 2-0 VU in B8
Williams being lifted with a runner at 1st and 1 out in B8. His line: 7.1 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 13 SO/2 BB on 116 pitches. Incredible stuff from him