Well as great as day one was, day two was the opposite - pretty bad.
TN was never in contention against Fresno State losing 7-3 after falling behind 6-0. Bush had trouble finding the plate, so did Aucoin, and Moss came in and did a little better, but basically Fresno State clocked the TN pitchers. One of their hitters needed to be walked, she was hammering everything. All three TN pitchers lost their composure and were throwing pitches in the dirt and wild high. A very disappointing effort.
The hitters fared no better. Fresno State threw nothing but off speed junk all game and TN batters never adjusted well enough.
As good as Vines and Leach looked on day one, today they looked like kids playing against a major college team. They were indecisive in the box and in the field.
The team came out flat and with no energy. Coaches call this kind of an effort a failure to compete.
The second game against ASU started out bad, got better bit by bit then ended terribly.
Gabriel got clocked a bit in the first inning to the tune of 3 runs (1 unearned due to a passed ball and a stupid play by McSwain trying to throw out a runner at home that was standing on third base not going anywhere).
But Gabriel settled down and pitched brilliantly for the next 7 innings not giving up a hit or a walk and getting 11 strike outs.
Overstreet hit a three run blast to tie the score and then in the 8th inning TN gets the go ahead run to take the lead 4-3.
The bottom of the inning was a meltdown. Gabriel suddenly got shaky and fell behind batters but still managed to record the first two outs. Then Gregg mishandles a grounder and a run scores. A decision to intentionally walk the next batter proves disastrous as the first pitch gets by Overstreet and the runner scores and ASU wins 5-4 in walk off fashion.
Gabriel deserved a better fate. She pitched near-brilliantly for all but one inning and if she had had any fielding help at all she would have got the win.
The takeaways from the day are this: TN has to bring it every game. They are not going to win games just by showing up. They have to compete. Gabriel is better than last season, but Moss and Bush are still freshman after all and have a ways to go it looks like. I wish Karen didn't have to use Aucoin, but if Moss and Bush are undependable as they have been for two days then Karen has little choice - Gabriel doesn't have the stamina to pitch every day.
The fielding is apparently no better than last season. And that is bad news cause it was pretty bad last season. The entire infield has made errors or missed plays they should have made. Vines has made an error in the outfield. It has to improve.
The bats must get going. The 15 run game against BYU was the exception so far. The team has scored some runs but I'm waiting for them to bust out.
A disappointing day after a great day one. Let's see what day three brings.
TN was never in contention against Fresno State losing 7-3 after falling behind 6-0. Bush had trouble finding the plate, so did Aucoin, and Moss came in and did a little better, but basically Fresno State clocked the TN pitchers. One of their hitters needed to be walked, she was hammering everything. All three TN pitchers lost their composure and were throwing pitches in the dirt and wild high. A very disappointing effort.
The hitters fared no better. Fresno State threw nothing but off speed junk all game and TN batters never adjusted well enough.
As good as Vines and Leach looked on day one, today they looked like kids playing against a major college team. They were indecisive in the box and in the field.
The team came out flat and with no energy. Coaches call this kind of an effort a failure to compete.
The second game against ASU started out bad, got better bit by bit then ended terribly.
Gabriel got clocked a bit in the first inning to the tune of 3 runs (1 unearned due to a passed ball and a stupid play by McSwain trying to throw out a runner at home that was standing on third base not going anywhere).
But Gabriel settled down and pitched brilliantly for the next 7 innings not giving up a hit or a walk and getting 11 strike outs.
Overstreet hit a three run blast to tie the score and then in the 8th inning TN gets the go ahead run to take the lead 4-3.
The bottom of the inning was a meltdown. Gabriel suddenly got shaky and fell behind batters but still managed to record the first two outs. Then Gregg mishandles a grounder and a run scores. A decision to intentionally walk the next batter proves disastrous as the first pitch gets by Overstreet and the runner scores and ASU wins 5-4 in walk off fashion.
Gabriel deserved a better fate. She pitched near-brilliantly for all but one inning and if she had had any fielding help at all she would have got the win.
The takeaways from the day are this: TN has to bring it every game. They are not going to win games just by showing up. They have to compete. Gabriel is better than last season, but Moss and Bush are still freshman after all and have a ways to go it looks like. I wish Karen didn't have to use Aucoin, but if Moss and Bush are undependable as they have been for two days then Karen has little choice - Gabriel doesn't have the stamina to pitch every day.
The fielding is apparently no better than last season. And that is bad news cause it was pretty bad last season. The entire infield has made errors or missed plays they should have made. Vines has made an error in the outfield. It has to improve.
The bats must get going. The 15 run game against BYU was the exception so far. The team has scored some runs but I'm waiting for them to bust out.
A disappointing day after a great day one. Let's see what day three brings.
