Sec is just better top to bottom than everyone.
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Sec is just better top to bottom than everyone.
FWIW those check swing type plays after making a pitch to get out of the inning take a mental toll on pitchers and players. Have a couple early in a game, you most often see a hitting performance like yesterday. Seems like those fluke plays took us out of the game mentally. Add in the pitcher kick saving two in a row and the ?well maybe today isn?t our day? starts to creep into players heads.
On the flip side. That?s the best thing about baseball. Flush it and come out focused. Additionally in the regionals and supers, teams that cruised to fairly easy wins like ND yesterday and Ark in game one can also get into the heads of players. They think ?we have got this in the bag. We just have to show up?.
There is always a chance these things won?t impact the teams mindsets going into game 3, but these are 18-23 yr old kids with little life experience. I fully expect ND to come out thinking they can just cruise to a win. We just cannot give free passes. Seems like most of their runs have come from walks or errors, leading to many ducks on the pond. Good thing is we do not have to wait long to see what mindset each team comes out with.
Who will ND pitch?
This, that play in the first inning was more on Mac than Hancock. Mac didn't break to first quick enough and wasn't busting it very hard and then he compounded his mistake by getting frustrated and forgetting their were runners and allowed the second run to score. Tanner made a poor throw into the runner. That's a play catchers practice everyday and that throw has to go inside. Tanner sometimes likes showing off his arm to much and instead of setting his feet and throwing it firm overhand he tried that side arm crap and the ball ran into the runner with sink. Could Hancock of caught? maybe but Tanner made it a much more difficult play on what should have been an out.
Hancock hasn't had a hit since the Samford game, which obviously isn't good. Even still, over that stretch his OBP is .210, which is less than 40 points below Hatcher's OBP for the entire year.
The last month, even including the last 4 games? Hancock is hitting .262/.367/.405. Not great, but miles better than Hatcher.