Tops #5 Miami 14-3. I haven't seen them play yet this year and they weren't very good last year. What are their chances of improving and making a run like they did three years ago?
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Their chances of making a run like they did when they hosted a regional? Highly unlikely. They return a lot of pitching but not a lot of the big bats. It is huge to see some hot bats so far with such an ice cold start against Citadel. I would expect to see the hot and cold team that tortured Hokieball fans last season and also the same trend of unacceptable errors costing the Hokies big in some of their games, as shown in one of their games against Campbell this season already. Only time will tell if they can rise above the struggles of last year's team to be relevant in the ACC come tournament time.
10-5 with a young team is not terrible. Pitching wins games...
Basically all I see is VT upsetting Miami teams lately. So suck one canes! Wooooo!
VT has to dominate their mid week games. Period.
Until we do that, we aren't going to the NCAA tournament. That being said - huge win tonight and great hitting.
First step is making the ACC tournament. Do that and you have a chance. Spot on observation about mid week games. Hokies cannot afford to overlook those opponents.
Hate to bring it up, so I'll bring it up. We seem to be sporting a 12 game losing streak. I really enjoyed the baseball last year, but this year it is getting tough to tune in. Anyone have any thoughts as to what's going on?
Simple answer is terrible pitching. We have a 6 ERA OOC and a dreadful 8.16 in conference. You aren't going to win many games giving up 8 runs per contest. Keep in mind half of the losing streak is against ranked teams in Miami, Georgia Tech, and Louisville. Losing to Radford though there is no excuse for. If you had to point the finger at one guy it has to be Packy Naughton, who has an 8.90 Era over 29+ innings, third most innings on the team.
The team also gives up an unacceptable number of unearned runs that costs them a chance at winning any close games. They don't hit well enough to cover for poor pitching or bad fielding.
So basically, can't hit, can't pitch, can't field. Not much else you can do in baseball. I remember a few years ago we hosted a regional. Now I realize there are two things that greatly effected this team: losing coach Pete Hughes, and the nature of college baseball in losing kids to the draft. But it happens to everyone. When Hughes left I knew it was going to be a blow but I didn't think it would be this bad. His teams you knew could knock the ball all around the yard and score with anyone.
I just don't get that feeling with coach Mason. I wasn't thrilled with the hire initially. Not because I didn't think he couldn't do it, rather because I hated how Mr. Weaver went about hiring him. It was like Hughes left us and 2 hours later Mason was hired.
I know baseball isn't going to be a money sport but you still have to do your due diligence when evaluating the direction of a VT sports program. I don't want to say that Coach Mason shouldn't be coaching because I honestly don't know enough about the college baseball coaching landscape to say that he needs more time or if this is as good as it gets. However if I'm Mr. Babcock I'm definitely reviewing the progress the baseball team has been making over the past few years and evaluating the direction of the program.
I played baseball in high school at a what was once one of the top programs in NJ. I mostly rode the bench, but I remember coming to Tech hearing the stories that the club baseball team was better than the varsity team. I remember thinking I might have a better shot at trying out for varsity rather than the club team. That's when coach Hughes was really getting this team ramped up and as time went on it was clear that variety was a whole other level compared to the club team. Following the team now, it seems like they've regressed and that's not something Whit will let stand.
Hey didn't they sweep LOLUVA at home in 3 games last season??