It was an embarrassing end to the conference season. We played like we didn't belong in the field of eight. I'm sure the fans that were there and hadn't seen IU play this season are probably scratching their head as to how this team won the regular season title, since we played that poorly. We will be in the NCAAs, but if we play like this at whatever regional we are at, we will be the first team eliminated there.
IU faces Iowa to open the B1G tournament...
- Thread starter ptrich
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With all the other warts this team continues to show, I hope we at least throw the Big Ten's Pitcher of the Year sometime soon.
That was one thing I was going to mention. The Big Ten pitcher of the year did not even play in the tournament. And if you look at the Minnesota series, the only starter that pitched well against them was Saalfrank. He gave up 1 ER in 5 2/3, while Gordon gave up 4 in 5. (Milto gave up 7 in 7 INN's.) Have to question Mercer on that one.
Also interesting that the 2 highest RPI teams in the big ten were the first two eliminated.
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First, don't even get me started on the freaking RPI. There has to be a better way. When we sweep another conference team and fall in the ratings, it just rubs me the wrong way.
I think what this tournament shows us is that Coach Mercer is a loyal guy. He put his Friday & Saturday guys out there to do the job. At some point, you've got to trust your veteran leaders to step up in the crunch and get it done. Neither did. Nor did 3/4 of their lineup. It's a shame to leave the hottest pitcher on the bench, but I understand it.
One thing that I've noticed about baseball coaches in general, and certainly college coaches, and certainly Mercer, is that they really emphasize routine, adhering to a plan, loyalty et al. They don't like to rock the boat on these kind of things. The point is that Milto pitches 1st, then Gordon, then Saalfrank, and that's that. We can't change things in consideration of match-ups, recent performance, or other factors. I think a good example was Milto in the 7th inning against Minnesota. You could tell he was struggling, and it probably wouldn't end well. But we have to give him a chance to get out of the inning on his own. Has had a lot of trouble going past 6 innings in recent games. But we can't take him out until the game's lost.
The extent to which coaches stick to the 'plan' drives me crazy sometimes. How many times have you seen situations where a team has a lead, with runners on base and 2 outs in the 8th inning....and the coach won't bring in the closer because.....the closer only pitches 1 inning, period......meanwhile the game is lost.
I know some will want to tell me about the benefits of routine, roles, consistency, loyalty etc....I understand all that.....but I think coaches sometimes are trapped by those considerations.......would just like to see a little flexibility in important situations.
I believe you can make a solid argument both ways on this topic. And of course, hindsight is always 20/20. Here's another thing I'm curious about. Isn't Coach Mercer (and his staff) supposed to be cutting-edge analytics gurus? How does that factor in to the old-school, be-loyal-to-my-guys approach. Surely it has some impact in his in-game decision making, right?
