Relief pitching so far

Sorry, boys, but your optimism is through orange-colored glasses. UNM and GCU are not Pac-12 caliber teams. So don't think for a minute that we will dominate conference opponents they way we dominated marginal teams.

We've proven nothing except good pitching [KSU] can beat us. And the Pac-12 will have a lot of it.

I think we will know more about GCU after this weekend when they travel to Stillwater and how we stack up.

Oklahoma State is unbeaten through two weeks for the first time since 2014 and looks like the most well-rounded team in the Big 12.

The Cowboys have outscored opponents 41-13 during a 6-0 start.

They hit six of their nine homers in a three-game sweep of Illinois State, and they allowed the Redbirds a total of four runs. Their 2.17 ERA is best in the conference.

The orange-colored eye test has this group slightly better than the 2017 team that didn't have Madrigal, not quite as good as the 2017 team that had him. Pitching is better, hitting about the same, defense not quite as good. If you can find a refundable flight to Omaha in late June at a good price, book it now.

Remember, GCU was coming off a sweep of an SEC squad, and a dominant one at that.  Might not have been the best of the SEC but most certainly a power 5 conference.  We have dominant pitching - remember the Pac-12 has to face our pitchers as much as we have to face the rest of them.

I might have orange colored sun glasses, but this is what I have seen that leads me to be very positive about this year's team.

1.  Pitching, pitching and more pitching - we've got a clear starting 4 and Verburg needing to heal, plus the monster bullpen.  A paucity of lefties, but some guys throwing 95+ consistently.  I thought GCU did a good job dealing with some of that speed by chopping at the ball rather than trying to catch up to the heat - got them some infield hits.  Not going to get those kind of high bounces off of the artificial turf in most stadiums.

2.  Defense, defense and defense - Fast experienced outfield, Army a vacuum at shortstop, and Claunch is a solid backstop.  Rest of the infield is solid as well.

3.  Versatility - A whole bunch of people got to play in these first eight games that will be ready to come off the bench or out of the pen when the regular starting group is set when we get to conference series.

4.  Hitting - We have power, speed and we tend to score runs in bunches.  Also, we might be down with 2 out in the 9th, but this team never quits - I feel a bit like when Kwan used to come to the plate - he'd get a quick 2 strikes and I'd be saying "They have him right where he wants them". 

Yes, we didn't look that great against the K State ace, but how many potential top 5 draft picks are you going to face in a season.  My one criticism, being too selective at the plate when you know the umpire's strike zone.  We had a bunch of bat on shoulder third strikes on pitches that were outside a few inches, but the ump had been calling them like that the whole game.  Crowd the plate and take it to the opposite field.  Do that a few times and you start forcing the pitcher to adjust to you; and our average goes way up.

5.  Last but not least - experience.  Yes, a lot of teams have the senior/red-shirt junior guys back due to the circumstances and short draft of last year, but there are only 3 teams walking around with a bunch of guys on the roster wearing National Championship rings.  There is only one team with an Ace who pitched perhaps the best game in college World Series history to anchor the staff.  There is only one team able to say "Goss got 'em!"

We can break the other team's will, and we will.

New Mexico swept Air Force, outscoring the Falcons 27-13.  Air Force handed LSU the Tigers lone loss of the year at Alex Box, too.  Based on common opponents alone, New Mexico is better than LSU.  And Gonzaga beat New Mexico in their game.

Grand Canyon beat Missouri in a four-game set, outscoring Missouri 36-19.  

Last year, Gonzaga beat Oregon State 10-4 in Surprise.  (I was at that game.  It was awful.)  Grand Canyon beat Stanford in Stanford.  And Grand Canyon beat New Mexico in Phoenix.

In 2019, Gonzaga beat Oregon State 6-3 in Corvallis.  Grand Canyon beat USC at a series at Dedeaux and beat Arizona at Hi Corbett.  New Mexico also beat Arizona at Hi Corbett.

All three are Pac-12 caliber, maybe not high-end Pac-12 caliber but Pac-12 caliber to be sure.

Good pitching?  Jordan Wicks is one of the 10 best pitchers in the country.  And he probably has the best breaking ball.  Wicks is the best pitcher that Oregon State will face until the field of 64 is set and it is not really even close.  The only pitcher that you will see at an Oregon State game who is comparable this season is Kevin Abel.

Great pitching can beat Oregon State.  But I am not sure that Oregon State will see much great pitching out of the other 10 Pac-12 teams.

Yeah, I know. I just felt the need to comment on how some posters on this board set themselves up for greater frustration when their early season expectations aren't met.

Take WBB for example: very high "we're better than 5th!" followed by [after a 3-5 start] "the sky is falling!", "Aleah's a terrible point guard!", and "Rueck is a marginal coach; his vision is limited; he needs to adjust!"

We see this every year with every sport. With baseball, I'm glad they're 7-1. But UNM, Gonzaga, and GCU are not Pac-12 caliber talent no matter how some posters want to spin it. We've played eight games of a 56 game [not counting the CWS] season. There will be disappointments, injuries, and kids not playing to their potential.