Rebs snatch defeat from jaws of victory
by One Man To Beat on May 31, 2009 10:43 PM EDT
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PrintThere's not much to say after a game like that in my opinion.
The Rebels had a 9-3 lead and the bullpen couldn't hold on to the win. Bianco made some very questionable decisions without a doubt.
We'll tell you the starting pitcher for tomorrow and more information after the jump.
Drew Pomeranz will start tomorrow against WKU and give the Rebels as many innings as possible. We'll still have a bullpen by committee most likely, because I can't see Pom going more than five innings. Maybe he's got more in the tank than that, but five strong innings doesn't solidify a win after the way WKU rallied today.
I hate to say it, but it feels like WKU has all of the momentum for this series. The Rebels need to do exactly what they did today early on. Tack on some early runs and hold on like hell for the second half of the game.
There's still the possibility of Aaron Barrett coming in and stringing together some outs. Jake Morgan can't possibly go again tomorrow. Nathan Baker might have an inning in there somewhere.
Mike Bianco might have to coach his way to a victory tomorrow, because the players for both teams are fatigued after a 60+ game season. They're looking to their head coach for answers when they are winning or losing. Bianco needs to come through tomorrow or it might be time for our players to look for someone else at his position.
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The person at fault for the loss....
Tim Ferguson, for his poor taste in music, lack of range at second base, and any other reason you’d like to insert. Also he’s a right handed batter, so it’s his fault Evan Button came in only to be the last out.
by unidentified black male on Jun 1, 2009 12:34 AM EDT reply actions
UCI loses to UVA, 4-1
The door is wide open for the Rebels to host a super regional.
Win and we’re hosting.
If I predict it, there's an 50 percent chance it happens.
Gotta disagree.
I can’t say that Bianco made a questionable call in going to Morgan. I was calling for Morgan when we got to the 8th myself.
That’s the situation you want. Put your closer on the mound with a decent lead and a chance to go ahead and pitch you into the next round. It just didn’t work out. The only gripe you can have is if you wanted him to have another arm up in the pen just in case.
However, I can see why he wouldn’t do that even. With your closer on the mound and a 6 run lead, the last thing you expect is for the game to be tied before you can get a guy down to the pen and warmed up. It just wasn’t Morgan’s night last night, and unfortunately, we have to step up tonight.
I tried to blame it on Mike last night, but after thinking about it, I don’t know how I would’ve played it differently. With the benefit of hindsight, I’d have played it differently, but in the moment, I probably would’ve done exactly what he did.
Just curious...
how would you have played it differently? And tell me if you would’ve played it differently at the time. Also, let me know if in the 8th inning you were saying, “oh no, don’t go to Morgan right now”.
I for one, was saying exactly that
Jake has been great, but when was the last time you saw Mariano Rivera come in to start the 8th inning with a 6-run lead? Jake is a closer, which involves a psyche that none of us can fully understand. He should not be pitching with more than a 3 run lead or to start the 8th inning.
Why not let Goforth keep chucking until he got into some real trouble and then bring in Jake in a closing situation to slam the door. We could do the same things tonight and he may go 1,2,3,4,5,6 and be done, but I still don’t like the move now and didn’t like it at the time.
Bianco saw the opportunity, got all excited and stopped doing what we’ve done all year and it blew up in our face. For a coach that plays the percentages, he can’t affort to change things up. He is however still quite awesome and will hopefully lead the team to a win tonight.
by HaterOfAllThingsCrimsonAnd-OrTide-ish on Jun 1, 2009 12:44 PM EDT up reply actions
Good question
I would’ve stuck with Goforth longer. He’d only pitched 0.2 innings plus about five pitches on Saturday.
Obviously, once you bring in Morgan, you can’t bring back Goforth. I just thought it was a hasty decision considering the circumstances. Let Goforth try to pitch out of the jam, he’s not incompetent or so devoid of talent compared to Morgan.
Morgan has been lights out, no doubt, all that being said, and fans are exactly that, fanatics, and we’re always going to second guess the hell out of any coach that loses.
If I predict it, there's an 50 percent chance it happens.
by One Man To Beat on Jun 1, 2009 7:55 PM EDT up reply actions
Hard to question Bianco on this loss.
Maybe he could have started Goforth in the 8th and see how pitched to the first batter. But with a 6 run lead going into the 8th and bringing in Morgan to close, seemed like the right decision. If Goforth would have stayed in and got rocked and THEN we put Morgan in, we’d have second guessed that as well.
No one knew that Morgan was going to be serving up batting practice. His stuff was not nasty, his fastball’s were flat and his breaking pitches had no bite. Recipe for disaster. Could he have taken Morgan out sooner, maybe so, but you expect your closer to want the ball, that’s his mentality. He’s used to the pressure and used to working out of jams. Unfortunately, he got shelled and gave up 6 runs without recording an out.
Another sub-question.
If you have a 1 run lead or 2 run lead going into the 8th or 9th inning tonight, do you go back to Morgan? Personally, knowing his mentality, I’d go back to him, but I am wondering if everyone else would be comfortable giving him the ball again for a third night in a row.
Hm...
I don’t think he’s screwed over mentally. He shakes things off too easily for that.
I just worry that his arm may not have it tonight.
by Juco All-American on Jun 1, 2009 3:44 PM EDT up reply actions
That would be my concern as well.
He struggled last night because his pitches didn’t have their normal movement and bite.
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