2021 College Baseball Season

It's not as good as we had hoped at Iowa. Eight games in, we are 5-3. As my dad keeps saying, in a normal season, we would have worked out the kinks in some preseason games. instead, we started the season with a four-game series against Michigan, so we're working out the kinks in real time, which is rough.

Son kind of reflects that, went 3.1 innings against Michigan the first weekend and gave up four runs. Then this week threw 5.1 innings of no hit baseball. Nebraska finally bunted their way to first. Ended up with one run charged to him and two hits over 6 innings.

Nice win and fun to watch.

Waiting to see what the schedule will look like this week. It's our first three game series, up to now it's all been four game weekends, which is different. Home opener!

There are some good and bad parts to you guys not playing non-conference.  But it does not allow you room to figure out lineups and allow young guys to get time in the box or on the mound.  We have a true freshman who has hit 100 in fall and has hit 97 in games.  I cannot imagine throwing him right in against SEC teams.  Even for my son, he has built up confidence in the non-conference stuff so he is ready for SEC knowing it will be tough.

The good part is fewer teams to take a chance of getting COVID from but I don't think college students are doing very little to stay away from each other.  As I've been on various campuses so far this year, they are looking like every other time pre-covid with just about 50% wearing masks at any time.  The Cumberland Avenue scene in downtown Knoxville is still packed as always.

Good luck.  I keep up with his stats each week.

Conference games with double headers start soon and RPI comes out tomorrow. 

Then it's a brand new ball game.

If anyone has been paying attention, there has been a lot of teams having to cancel due to covid.

Son pitched longest inning in his life this weekend.  He came in down 1 in top of the 9th against LSU.  Had full count on batter and lightning hit so delay.  Came back on Sunday at 12:30 in the afternoon to finish out game.  Struck out the batter and continued to pitch 2.2 innings.  UT won on walk-off in 11th.  He said it was the weirdest thing to come back that long afterwards and throw one pitch to get strikeout.  There was much debate as to what that one pitch would be whether curve, slider, change-up or fastball.  Went with fastball up.  I'm sure it was just as stressful on the batter wondering for 14 hours what pitch would be thrown.

@PitchingFan posted:

Son pitched longest inning in his life this weekend.  He came in down 1 in top of the 9th against LSU.  Had full count on batter and lightning hit so delay.  Came back on Sunday at 12:30 in the afternoon to finish out game.  Struck out the batter and continued to pitch 2.2 innings.  UT won on walk-off in 11th.  He said it was the weirdest thing to come back that long afterwards and throw one pitch to get strikeout.  There was much debate as to what that one pitch would be whether curve, slider, change-up or fastball.  Went with fastball up.  I'm sure it was just as stressful on the batter wondering for 14 hours what pitch would be thrown.

Congrats to your son.  I was watching that game when the delay hit and had to see what happened the next day.  Also, I was watching the game on the walk off with no sound.  Did the ball hit that little metal piece on the back of the fence? 

TTU is 19-4 and ranked #4 in a couple polls. Lost their first three to SEC teams opening tournament. Have been rolling since. Son has been OK, with a few good outings and a few "mixed" outings. (If you call giving up a 3 run HR a mixed outing). Unbelievably, they brought him in to start the 8th inning with a one run lead vs Arkansas in the opening game of the year in Globe Life. They also brought him in to start the 7th with a one run deficit to Texas State. He finished the game, Tech scored several times and he got his first win. No midweek games for four weeks, so the bullpen has gotten more crowded.

He seems to have a similar problem to a lot of freshman pitchers.  Starts out strong but has difficulty closing out an appearance. Pitcher list is going to get shorter during conference. We'll see how it goes. Lots of arms.

I am batting 20 for 23 in appearances at games. Lubbock is 547 mi from my front door. TTU has had two neutral site series in Houston and Dallas, and the rest of the games have been in Lubbock. The miles are racking up on my speedometer. I leave for Manhattan, Kansas tomorrow morning for three vs Kansas State.  Looking forward to seeing Jordan Wicks pitch.

If anyone has knowledge of the great plains, particularly near Manhattan, I'm up for recommendations.  Human and natural history are a foremost interest. I am thinking of staying in Milford State Park just to the west of Manhattan.

@Go44dad posted:

If anyone has knowledge of the great plains, particularly near Manhattan, I'm up for recommendations.  Human and natural history are a foremost interest. I am thinking of staying in Milford State Park just to the west of Manhattan.

Your son has done well.  I have been looking forward to conference play.  We've had a rockier road

Husband and BIL played at K-State and most all of both families went there.  Rock-a-belly Deli was one of my favorites (still go there at least once a year).  Kite's is a staple sports bar but not great on food. Taco Luche is also really good.  We always stay at the Bluemont Hotel, which is across the street from those Aggieville spots.  Off Campus on Poyntz Street, Tallgrass Tap House is good.  Bourbon and Baker is good. El Patron is good Mexican food.  I can't help you much on the Cultural front, but I like to eat.

Son's team, Crowder College, is #6 in most JUCO polls.  They are 23-4 and have won 15 in a row.  Son's role is late inning high leverage and he has done well up until his last outing.  7 appearances 7.1 IP, 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA so far.  He's pretty much a one inning guy and get it to the closer.  It's the same as everywhere else, lots of talented players with not a lot of margin for error.   

@d-mac posted:

Congrats to your son.  I was watching that game when the delay hit and had to see what happened the next day.  Also, I was watching the game on the walk off with no sound.  Did the ball hit that little metal piece on the back of the fence?

Never have seen what it exactly hit other than the back of the top of the fence which they declare a home run.  It takes way too long for reviews in college baseball right now, even with all the camera angles in the SEC.

@baseballhs posted:

Your son has done well.  I have been looking forward to conference play.  We've had a rockier road

Husband and BIL played at K-State and most all of both families went there.  Rock-a-belly Deli was one of my favorites (still go there at least once a year).  Kite's is a staple sports bar but not great on food. Taco Luche is also really good.  We always stay at the Bluemont Hotel, which is across the street from those Aggieville spots.  Off Campus on Poyntz Street, Tallgrass Tap House is good.  Bourbon and Baker is good. El Patron is good Mexican food.  I can't help you much on the Cultural front, but I like to eat.

Thanks.  Hope to see you guys weekend after next in Lubbock.

Coach son's .500 mid-major has been able to keep a great non-conference schedule in tact so far.  They upset then-seeded Alabama and face three of the top four teams in the country with remaining games.  I'm going to try to head over to Vandy next week.

They had last weekend's conference series cancelled due to opponent Covid issues so they made a last-minute trip to Grambling.  He sent me a text with an image and I could tell he was excited about something.  I was expecting to see some Eddie Robinson statue or the like.  Nope.  The team was staying in West Monroe and they had taken a group tour of the Duck Dynasty business

Keep em coming, love to hear about the players, parents and teams.

2020 RHP made his collegiate debut yesterday in 35 degree weather ;-). Came in with team down 3 runs in the 7th. K'd first batter, stood up a hitter trying to bunt and eventually got an IF pop up. Overall a good outing. 2IP, 0R, 3K, 2BB, 1H. One of 2 freshmen that have seen time this year.

I did make it to Vandy last night.  Wow... they rolled out four guys who are not weekend starters, all big bodies and 97, 98 from the left, 95 and 95.

@cabbagedad posted:

I did make it to Vandy last night.  Wow... they rolled out four guys who are not weekend starters, all big bodies and 97, 98 from the left, 95 and 95.

Close game! That's why I like mid week games.

I think any college baseball fan would enjoy the 11.7 podcasts. Two young former players are very knowledgeable and entertaining. They know a lot about many players and programs, and something about most of the rest. Sometimes PG13 or more rated. Especially if you have a D1 connection, because that is most the content, you should check it out. Very keen insights, occasional guests, series reviews and predictions, and rankings.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/...podcast/id1452000247

https://community.hsbaseballwe...22#69302817929244822

Our son is buddies with the first Vandy pitcher. He’s a young 2021 who went to college early. Great kid and great family.

BIG HSBBWEB/SEC matchup this weekend. Should be a great series.

The SEC battles of TN and MS - big time fun

I guess this thread is as good as any for this post. There have been ongoing discussions for months about how Covid and related NCAA rulings have impacted college baseball. Many (including me) have speculated that because of the events that gave unfolded talent will be pushed down to lower levels and all of college baseball will become more competitive. I think there have been plenty of examples in D1 & D2 where this has played out as expected. More D1 players staying on campus due to reduced MLB draft, larger roster sizes all across D1 & D2 landscape, seniors returning for 5th & 6th years, D1 talent going D2 to get on the field, etc. This week I saw evidence of the same at D3. The University of Texas at Dallas is a good (but not great) D3 program. It is a rare bird, however, in that it’s a public HA university that offers graduate programs. Business & Engineering departments are particularly respected. Their current travel roster lists 8 transfers; 3 D1, 1 D2, and 4 JuCo. Starting 2B is a grad transfer from Cornell. Completely unheard of before Covid.

adbono;

Project your analysis to the Summer Collegiate Leagues. The competition will be "extreme".

Bob

To adbono's point; My son's D3 team has 6 graduate students and 2 transfers- one a D1 who is excellent (grad student too).  The team was already excellent, currently ranked top 10.  My son is a Freshman but he understands that it will take a lot of hard work to get on the mound.  That is especially true when you have sometimes only 2 games a week due to Covid.  Some conferences also only play 7 inning DH so rotations are also shorter due to two fewer innings.   It's a good lesson though, nothing is ever given to you, you got to take it.   The most important thing (for us/him) is the education but he will find his way between the lines.  Will be interesting to see if coaches bring in more transfers this year, if the seniors stay to become graduate students and also to see how many kids were recruited.  All good though.

First off, hats off to Fairfield University for being 20-0. On the flip side 20-0 has them as the #2 ranked RPI in the nation. They only have MAAC teams on their schedule. Could they possibly be named a regional host if they keep it up? It’s usually the top sixteen in RPI. In a normal season a great record would likely only bump a MAAC champion up to a #3 seed.

Should be interesting how the committee will decide, but remember that teams are already submitting bids and it's not cheap to host a regional and the conference has to have a good ranking as well. They would have to win their conference. Talk I hear is that they could be  a #1 seed at a location but not home.

Who knows?

Anyone know about the B10. I heard that they aren't even having a conference championship.

Don't you have to have lights to host a regional?

@JCG posted:

Don't you have to have lights to host a regional?

You can host at any location.

What I meant was that you do not have to host a regional at your facility, but if they accept your bid you have to guarantee certain attendance #s.

Fairfield was good, not great (35-25) in 2019. They lost to Penn State three times. They upset UConn when they started a back of the staff pitcher with a 10.00 ERA. I randomly checked box scores for attendance. The highest I found was 265. Here’s the entire stands ...

No way they host there.  I will agree with TPM that they may be a #1 or #2 seed somewhere else.  This year is weird because to bid to host a regional you have to agree to host a super regional even if you are not in it.  There are some bidding to host that may not even make the field but have great facilities and are willing to host.  I believe UT has had to prove they can bring in the old right field line seats to be considered for a host site even with a great RPI  at #3.  But many in the know seem to believe we may still not get super regional host.

Man I hope you are wrong. I am already making plans to CT.

@2022NYC posted:

Man I hope you are wrong. I am already making plans to CT.

A few years ago UCSB hosted a regional at a minor league park that is nearly 2 hours from the school.  CT has a few MiLB parks. I think one, in Norwich, is empty this year.

That may happen but I have a hard time believing that they will let them host with the culture this year.  Especially if they are only playing MAAC teams.  But who knows with the selection committee.

I’ll give Fairfield credit for getting to 20-0. It’s hard to do in any conference. But it’s hard to believe Fairfield would get a host seed when they’ve only played MAAC teams. Therefore, they don’t have any what a tournament seeding committee would call “quality” wins. Chances are they would go 0-25 against the real top 25.

Note: I ran into someone yesterday bragging his son is on the #2 team in the country. I was shocked when I found it in RPI.  

@TPM posted:

Should be interesting how the committee will decide, but remember that teams are already submitting bids and it's not cheap to host a regional and the conference has to have a good ranking as well. They would have to win their conference. Talk I hear is that they could be  a #1 seed at a location but not home.

Who knows?

Anyone know about the B10. I heard that they aren't even having a conference championship.

B10 is not having a conference tournament.  Since they are playing only within the B10, the standings at EOS determine the champion. They delayed the start of their season and by not having a tournament week, they have an extra week to complete their season.

I follow Fairfield baseball because they are the closest D1 (15 mins away) and my wife went there.  I have watched many games played on that field as well by the prep team.  I don't think they could host at Fairfield U.   I think 20-0 is an incredible feat no matter who the competition.   It's a great story for now and I hope they run the table.   

At this point in time Fairfields projection is as a 4 seed.

BIG 10 is a zoo with different "rules" this year.

Some Ad's told their teams to stay at 35 and some "used" the NCAA rules to go to 42 (with super grad transfers from great programs).

Hard to compete in that arena.

@TPM posted:

At this point in time Fairfields projection is as a 4 seed.

Do you mean the #4 seed as in hosting or #4 seed in a region?

Predicted as #4 seed in Louisville's regional with Georgia and Indiana by D1Baseball

@PitchingFan posted:

Predicted as #4 seed in Louisville's regional with Georgia and Indiana by D1Baseball

IMO that’s where they should be. I will be surprised if they win any games at a Regional. But you never know. Just like in the NCAA basketball tournament, those are the stories that grab people’s attention