Anderwatson has had fans (me in past years included) making excuse after excuse for him. Finally, this season, the competitive games against UCLA and Fresno State along with the unexpected talent of the bullpen and fans are beginning to see that the issues the program is experiencing is more on Anderson and less on the athletes.
Did Anderwatson call the pitches? No! He does however call the offense and again, lets have a look shall we?
Bottom of 2 (we just gave up 8 runs, inning begins for us with a run scored and a double with no outs, things look good)
Kalk is HBP, Farmer Doubles, Kalk scores .... still no outs
Christensen grounds out, Farmer advances (acceptable) 1 out
Sheppard strikes out swinging (unacceptable) (again, where was the short swing, get the ball in play and Farmer scores)
Cooper walks,
Burleson strikes out swinging (acceptable) (still no short swing, fences or bust)
Bottom of the 4th:
Another 3rd out, 3rd strike looking
Bottom of the 6th:
Farmer doubles, Christiansen singles scoring Farmer - No Outs
Christiansen advances to 2nd on a dropped 3rd strike - 1 out
Next to batters fail to hit.
Bottom of the 7th:
Lead off runner reaches,
No small ball attempts, next three batters fail to advance the runner
Bottom of the 8th:
Again the lead off reaches
Again, no small ball.. next three batters fail to advance the runner
Bottom of the 9th:
Lead Off Homer
Next Batter reaches - no outs, advances to 2nd on pass ball - still no outs
Out 1, batter strikes out looking, runner advances to 3rd - 1 out
next two batters fail to advance the runner.
Quick tally:
Final Score 12 - 7
In innings 2, 6, 7, 8 and 9 the skers have a runner in scoring position with 1 out and we come away empty.
Add in that innings 2 and 9, we had runners at 2nd with no outs.
and...
in all 5 innings, we had a runner at 3rd with 1 out.
We lose by 5 and we ask why? Hmm... it could be focus but... not likely and even if one blames it on a lack of focus then I ask, is it not the coaches job to ensure the athletes are mentally ready? Also, again I ask, where is the small ball. (twice, innings 7 and 8 lead off runners reach and no attempt to advance them? scratching my head)
and finally...
Yes, Erstad can be partially blamed but... again, why are the hitters not choking up and putting the ball in play? Might it be that Anderson felt the wind was his only opportunity so he continued to give the green light? I'm not privy to the base calls but... I can't help but wonder about it?
HuskerHacker, I know why you want to always talk about firing coaches rather than baseball, it's because you don't know baseball!!!
Bottom of 2 (we just gave up 8 runs, inning begins for us with a run scored and a double with no outs, things look good)
Kalk is HBP, Farmer Doubles, Kalk scores .... still no outs
Christensen grounds out, Farmer advances (acceptable) 1 out
Sheppard strikes out swinging (unacceptable) (again, where was the short swing, get the ball in play and Farmer scores)
Cooper walks,
Burleson strikes out swinging (acceptable) (still no short swing, fences or bust)
First of all, why is it alright for Burleson to swing and miss and not Scheffert? Secondly, choking up with 2 strikes is passe'. Some out there still teach that approach, but not many...Erstad is one of the "not many". By the way, if choking up was so effective, why wouldn't hitters do it all the time? IMO, hitting with 2 strikes is a mental approach, not physical. Are there runners on base? What is the score? What inning? What type of pitcher am I facing? Sometimes, you just have to tip your cap to the pitcher. However, since this is still a debatable subject, I will admit your opinion is valid...but not valid concerning Scheffert and Burleson.
Bottom of the 8th:
Again the lead off reaches
Again, no small ball.. next three batters fail to advance the runner
Your comment above is NOT debatable. When you are down by 5 runs in the 7th, 8th (late in the game) YOU DON'T PLAY SMALL BALL (1 OR 2 RUN INNINGS). You don't risk outs by stealing! You don't give away outs by sac. bunting! Your goal is base runners....the more the better. Once we fell behind 8-0, small ball was not an option.
My last comment has to do with the entire tone of you post. You decide to pick on our offense in a game where we scored 7 runs. 6 of those runs were against the starter who came into the game with a 1.05 era (there's a stat for ya). Starter had given up only 3 earned runs all year. Last night he gave up twice that many in less than 9 innings pitched. When you score 7 runs on a teams Friday night pitcher and lose, hitting/offense wasn't your problem. What is really interesting to me, is that last Sunday you were all over our pitching and pitching coach for giving up 3 runs on Sunday. Didn't focus on the fact that we scored "0" runs, you were more worried about first pitch fastballs
Defense: C+ (we continue to make defense mistakes (errors) and its cost us. In last nights game a defensive hesitation in the first inning led to 3 runs scored. Continue this and our Big 12 success will be at or near the bottom of the conference. On the other hand, our fielding % is up from a year ago.)
Here's another stat for you, NU is tied with A&M for fewest unearned runs allowed (in Big 12). Don't think defense is an issue like you graded it. We are as good or better in every area this year than in last couple of years. Significant upgrade at first and catcher....that was my last comment.
