Gopher Baseball in trouble vs. Indiana

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Yeah, tough start. Handran is getting cuffed all over the yard and we can't seem to figure out Bashore. Give the Hoosiers credit. They jumped all over Handran, who looked a little tentative early (maybe due to nerves, but, who knows?) and have not let up.

But on another note, the last two starts feel like our pitchers have been throwing meatballs up there, not exactly the way you want to head into the postseason.
 

I've seen alot of people picking Indiana to win the tournament and it's because they have two really good pitchers. It's our biggest problem and the main reason why i think we will struggle in BT and NCAA tournament. We really don't have a #1.

I didn't get home until the third so i didn't see handran get rocked but out hitters look clueless. Now part of that is obviously a very good pitcher but we also are taking some really bad at bats and the third time through the order we still have no clue and are taking alot of hitable pitches and getting behind in the count everytime. Nohelty just watched strike 2 and 3 with two on in the fifth in a terrible at bat.

A loss today and the #1 seed talk is over, still might get a 2 if we bounce back and get to the final game. Will play purdue, who we can beat, so we will need Rosin to take down either Illinois, indiana, or OSU in the first game Sat
 

I'm not sure what our approach has been at the plate today, but I agree, it hasn't exactly been encouraging. We've been watching a lot of pitches sail by for strikes. Overall, we've been basically a befuddled bunch of ballplayers since the first pitch, both at the plate and on the mound.

To the other point, I think Rosin will one day become a dominant No. 1 starter. He looks to have the right combination of stuff. That's more of a nod towards next season at this point.

For the rest of this one, we have to hope that Handran and Buske can find a way to keep us in games. The last two games have not exactly inspired confidence however.
 

The Gophers are not playing well at all. I would obviously love to see the Gophers win this tourney, but a loss here would hurt. I am just hoping they can win a game or two and at least keep a 2 seed for the tourney. On another note, these announcers on BTN are idiots, I cannot listen to these guys. Who are they and what the hell are their credentials?
 


The color guy is Danan Hughes, who used to play baseball and football for Iowa.

The lead guy's first name is Brian. That's all I know and frankly, that's all I want to know about that dude. But yeah, I agree, they've sounded pretty clueless for three games now.
 

I will take that back, the lead guy is actually ok, but this Danan Hughes guy is a moron, he has absolutely no clue what he is talking about.
 

I'm not sure why they selected Danan Hughes for these broadcasts anyway. Maybe he wasn't their first choice. I don't think he did too many games during the year for BTN, so it seems like he was kind of plucked from out of nowhere.

As for the play-by-play guy, for a minute during the games yesterday, I thought I was hearing Dave Lee (tone of voice being the main reason). Then I heard him referred to as "Brian" by Hughes, which cleared that up. As for the two guys' bios, I only know about Hughes.

At this point, I'm just looking forward to this game being over.
 

Your point on Rosin, he definately has the stuff to be an ace but he needs to read that article on Strasberg and see what a change in your diet can do do your performance. Seth needs to drop 20 pounds and really hit the weight room and it's not crazy to see him get in that mid 90's range.
I think we're really hoping that TJ Oakes can come in a be a star right away and Lubinsky looks to have the stuff to make a good starter, not sold on Klabunde.
 



Rosin has the ability to add some velocity with his size and arm speed, but with that said he has done a nice job molding his body from high school. I know Seth a little from being around the team and he has deffinately firmed up his body, but he can still get into a little better shape. He is never going to look like Strasberg though, he is just one of those guys who will always be a big bodied kid, big bones and all. Seth does have some potential though, and I think the work the team does with the team pyschologist has really helped him alot. Also, Klabunde needs to figure it out. He has all the ability in the world, but he needs to get his mind right. I hope he really takes to all work the gophers do with Aberman (team pyschologist), that guy has made better players out of alot of players who have come through the program.
 

Gophers get three in the 8th but waste an opportunity to at least make Indiana sweat a little, 11-3. These announcers are complete tools. didn't they do any research, they we're just talking about Minnesota's NCAA chances should they not win the conferece tournament. i think anybody who has any clue or has checked up at all knows the Gophers and Buckeyes are NCAA locks, reallys it's Indiana and Illinois fighting for that last spot.
 

This was as flat as I've seen the team play all year long, which is not a good omen for the rest of the season. I'm really hoping that we haven't blown our wad before we even get to the NCAAs. But if today is any indication, it's going to be a pair of very short stays in the Big Ten and NCAA tourneys.

As for Rosin, I agree with Johnny, I think that if Rosin works hard on lifting and losing weight, he'll be very good before all is said and done. I also agree with both Johnny and Boogey that Klabunde needs to figure it out at some point. If he doesn't, that will add up to Rosin, Lubinsky and possibly TJ Oakes being the guys for next year. Sexton I suppose could be a possibility as well, but at this point, Klabunde and Isaakson are unreliable at best, so there's a couple of holes there for sure.

The game today was really a first-rate butt kicking. One team focused on winning and the other, not so much. Not sure what to say other than we are not in a good place right now.
 

I always have been worried about our starters!

Two years ago when we went to the NCAA tournament I knew we didn't have good enough starting pitchers to make a run. I think this year Buske, Chandran, and Rosin are better then any starting pitching we had two years ago. Despite being better this year I felt we lacked a dominating starting pitcher. Top teams seem to have two starters that are down right tough to stop.

I think next year Rosin and Oakes have a chance to be in that category. Oakes has been pitching for the US baseball team and will not be a typical kid coming from High School. He has the potential to be Glen Perkins like. Adding Lubinsky to the mix will make the Gophers top three starting pitchers a very strong combination.

Then you add a seasoned bullpen will Sexton, Mayatas, Rassmussen, Fern, Issaaccson, and Ryan. We should by far be the best pitching team in the Big Ten next year.
 



The other thing that we improved at but we need to get better at is hitting homeruns. Teams that make deep runs in the NCAA seem to have power. We improved a lot but we clearly don't have the power hitting like Michigan, OSU and Indiana. If MacCallum stayed for next year (which I doubt) we probably would be the top home run hitting team in the Big Ten. McCallum would probably hit over 20 and Kvasnicka and Oshean would probably be around the 15 homerun club. Then guys like Gominsky and Knudson have a chance to be around 10 homers.
 

If Mcallum and Decker stayed clearly next year this team would be able to compete with anyone in the nation. We'd have great starting and relief pitching plus a powerful hitting lineup. Plus a lot of depth with another round of reshirt freshmen players added to the mix. We'd be tough to beat.
 

gold04 said:
The other thing that we improved at but we need to get better at is hitting homeruns. Teams that make deep runs in the NCAA seem to have power. We improved a lot but we clearly don't have the power hitting like Michigan, OSU and Indiana. If MacCallum stayed for next year (which I doubt) we probably would be the top home run hitting team in the Big Ten. McCallum would probably hit over 20 and Kvasnicka and Oshean would probably be around the 15 homerun club. Then guys like Gominsky and Knudson have a chance to be around 10 homers.
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I think the Gophers hit a pretty fair number of HR compared to most teams. Many successful teams in the NCAA don't hit many HR. Texas and LSU come to mind with NCAA chanpionships and hit very few HR. They are nice, but college teams can be successful without them.
 

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