Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Diamond Diary by Kevin Cooney
3/27/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 27, 2002
FAU 11 HARVARD 0
Another night where we came out and did just what needed to be done. Harvard is a team that we should be able to beat. They are much more dangerous when their top four pitchers are on the mound. However, that was not the case last night as they played two doubleheaders in the past week. It's really hard for a northern team that is trying to play as many games as possible during their spring break in Florida. That is why you tend to see some high scoring games with northern teams. If we were to play these teams in a normal weekend three game series format, the results could be very different.
That said, it took us a while last night to finally break open the game. It was 5 - 0 going into the sixth when we finally got things going on offense. That was also due in part to some less than stellar relief pitching on the part of Harvard's bullpen.
The highlight of the night was the first FAU triple of the season. It was hit by none other than that speedster Shaen O'Connor. Everyone in the dugout exploded as the ball hit off the centerfield fence and Shaen started to get it in gear. He always kids about hitting triples. Last year he had one that took a funky bounce off the fence as the UCF outfielder fell down. This one was legit. Shaen also went from first to third on an errant pickoff throw and scored from third on a passed ball. I guess I need to start giving him the green light to steal. Mike Valdes broke out of his mini slump with a homerun to right. Our stretch of winning directly coincided with three weeks of torrid hitting by Mike. He was due for a little slump. Looks like it won't last long.
LJ had another good night. He really is having a great season. Last night he was three for three with an rbi and two runs scored. One of his hits was in the face of the old "Williams Shift", first employed by Lou Boudreau against Ted Williams. The defense puts the shortstop on the other side of second base, thus providing three infielders to defend a pull hitter. Williams would refuse to bunt to third, despite the fact that the third baseman was playing in the shortstop's normal position. Teddy Ballgame would just rip the ball between the first baseman and the second baseman. LJ looked at me to see if he should try to go to the opposite field and beat the shift. I indicated that if they pitched him away he should go with it. Part of LJ's success this year has been his ability to hit to the opposite field. After fouling the first pitch past third, he jumped on a high inside fastball and rocketed a single right past the first baseman. Old Ted would have been proud! Old Lyttle certainly was!.
One of the keys to our success thus far has been the year that LJ and Gabe have had so far at the plate. LJ is hitting over .400 and Gabe is above .350. But the real surprising stat is what they are doing against lefties... LJ .357 Gabe .414. Those averages come from over thirty plate appearances, so it is not a statistical anomaly. They are getting it done for us against southpaws.
Our pitching staff had a great night. Matt O'Brien worked the first three innings and was credited with the win. Matt gave up two hits and walked none as he improved to 4-1. Now he gets to move into the bullpen for the next few weeks. Our midweek games are over until the Miami game on April 24, so OB will bolster the right handed side of the pen. We are short there because of the freak wrist injury to Eubanks and the tendonitis of Eddie Young. Matt should be a big help in that role over the next month.
We followed Matt with Ingwell, Lopez, Callahan, Della Rocco, Cooney, and McNab for an inning apiece. The first five threw hitless innings and right after I made mention of that in the dugout, McNab gave up a single. Jinx. The staff combined to strike out nine, walk none and throw a mere eighty nine (89) pitches on the night! That's an unbelievable stat line.
Some people are probably wondering why we used our pitchers that way instead of using some others who haven't thrown as much. Fair question.
As we enter the bulk of our conference schedule, we need to have the weekend pitchers identified and prepared to pitch. This leaves the midweek practice sessions of simulated games against our hitters for the other guys to improve and stay ready in case of an injury or the failure of another pitcher. It's not a great situation to be in. But the fact of the matter is that we have a large, talented staff. The shakedown cruise portion of the season is over. As a coaching staff, we have evaluated our players and at this point feel we have a good sense of who the major players will be, and what role the others will play. This doesn't mean the others aren't important, but the sense of immediacy is greater for being sure the likely weeked bullpen guys are ready. The same is true for the position players. We have a pretty good idea of what we plan to do. There is the old saying that "they also serve who sit and wait". We need everyone ready to go when called. This means that players have got to buy into the team concept and set aside their egos for the duration of the season. Now is not the time to question what is being done. Everyone must get on the same page and accept his role as we focus on winning each weekend series the rest of the way. This won't be easy. Soon we will be facing the better conference teams. Our three remaining mid-week games are against Miami and FIU. There are no ducks left! What we are asking of are players is not easy. Everyone arrived here as a starter and a star player. Now some are playing a new role. If we are to be champions and a regional team, each player must do his share. Whether they like their role or not is irrelevant. That's cold... but that's life.
