Monday March 23, 2009

Baseball Recap

Baseball Recap
If you were not a fan of either school this past weekend you would have loved the drama from the Florida State-Clemson baseball series.

Friday’s opener saw both teams squander opportunities but FSU in the late innings and came away with a 5-2 win.

Saturday FSU hit a ball down the line that many Seminole fans thought was the game winning walk-off home run in the ninth inning. However, the umpires called it a foul ball. That drama set up a three run 11-th inning from the Tigers including a 2-run homer from Kyle Parker. Clemson did have to sweat out the bottom of the 11th and hold on for an 8-7 win in the second game of the series.

Sunday’s contest was more of the same. The Tigers took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth only to give up four runs including a three-run walk-off homer to give the Noles a 7-4 victory.

Clemson made a bunch of mental errors and I am somewhat concerned about that as we are now 20 games into the season. The offense struggled with men in scoring position and that is a concern as well.

However, the biggest concern I have for this team is mental toughness in the close games. Don Munson and Bob Mahonney made a great point in the radio broadcasts this weekend when they pointed out how tough the Florida State hitters were. The Seminoles extended at-bats by fouling off pitch after pitch. They were also able to get the big hit at the crucial moment which is something this team has struggled with this season.

Maybe it is youth. Clemson plays a ton of freshmen but so does Florida State. Maybe it is talent. Maybe the Tigers play too tight. But the fact remains that this group of Tigers has struggled late in close games.

Clemson is 14-6 but four of their six losses have come in games where the Tigers were tied for the lead of led going into the ninth inning.

The Tigers and South Carolina were tied at one run a piece before the Gamecocks added two runs in the top of the ninth to give USC a win in Clemson.

Clemson had Furman down 2-0 with two outs in the ninth before giving up the Paladins first hit followed by a game-tying two-run home run in the top of the ninth. Furman went onto with game in extra innings.

The Tigers had an 8-7 lead against North Carolina as they put up five in the top of the ninth. But the Tar Heels added two in the bottom of the ninth to defeat Clemson 8-7 in Chapel Hill.

And yesterday the Tigers had the 4-3 lead in the bottom of the ninth before giving up four in the bottom of the inning and FSU came away with the 7-4 victory.

So what are the issues and how can they be fixed?

I don’t have the answers but my guesses deal with both the offense and the pitching.

Offensively the Tigers have to build bigger leads. Clemson has left too many runners on base and some of those losses could have been avoided if the offense would have been able to build bigger leads.

From the pitching end of things the answer may be in the younger Tigers. I could be wrong here but I have a lot more confidence in the freshmen in the bullpen. I am impressed with the stuff of Will Lamb, Scot Wesimann, Kyle Deese and the freshmen I the bullpen.

Despite losing two of three in Chapel Hill and Tallahassee, there is some room for the optimism. Those two programs were the favorites in the divisions and the Tigers should have won both series.

Also the ACC’s Atlantic Division is there for the taking. Boston College leads the division by percentage points over Clemson. The Eagles are 4-3 and the Tigers are 5-4. FSU improved to 3-4 while NC State and Maryland are 3-6. Wake Forest is last in the division with a 1-8 record.

This coming weekend brings a rarity to Clemson baseball. This weekend the Tigers have a huge series at Boston College. This is probably the first time a Clemson-Boston College baseball series can be considered this big. Maybe it is too early but I think this is a big series. Boston College is leading the division and tie-breakers can become important.

This weekend is the fourth weekend series in ACC play and this is the third time the Tigers will be on the road. Four of the Tigers final six ACC series are at home with Duke, Miami, Georgia Tech and Maryland. After this coming weekend the only road trips within the conference will be with Virginia Tech and NC State.

Clemson seemingly gets a break this season by missing Virginia on the schedule.

Last season the Boston College series was one of the series that helped turn the Tigers season south. The Eagles came to Clemson and won two of three and was a big reason why the confidence dropped. As a result, Clemson went on to an 11-18-1 ACC record.

If the Tigers want to make it back in the NCAA tournament, this is a big series. If the Tigers want to get back with a higher seed in the Acc tournament, this is a big series. It sounds weird but in almost every way you look at it, Clemson and Boston College play in a key ACC series.

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency

Prayer List
We have started a prayer list on the blog. Here are the guidelines:
*If you are offended by prayer or prayer lists then I apologize in advance. The blog is free and the prayer list will be on the bottom of the page so you don’t have to read it.
*If you would like to add someone to the list please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com
*If you want the reason for the prayer to be added to the name please specify in your e-mails.
*Please let me know when it is appropriate to take the person off of the prayer list

Those who need our prayers include:
Finn Brookover, Mrs. Kathleen Bowers, Larry in Naples, FL, RTG-Pawsitive Tiger, Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter), Sandy Wright, Jo Ann Bachman, Frank Taylor, Kenneth Bryant, Pruitt Martin, Got igers and his family, David Rowland, Leonard Gillespie and his family, Jim S, Christine Hepfer, Daniel Rosborough, Amy Murphey, Jack Huffman, Nancy Winkler, Dr. Nancy Strom Morgan, Edward Putman, John Reeve, Eileen Woodrum, Ethel Southard, Anna Rawl, Vinnie Brock, Jean-Pierre Bailey, Kaitlyn L, Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naemi, Saeid Rezaie, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli, Vahid Tizfahm,Vincent Lee.