Bear Down Wildcats

Haha, wanted no part of the ‘Cats.

EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Sat Apr 27, 2024 11:44 am Haha, wanted no part of the ‘Cats.

He also wanted no part of having to throw 60 feet 6 inches overhand wearing a mansierre.

Cats are finally off of 5 losses.

Lots to the Mutts by a run in Stinktown.

How does GCU always look like a major league team every time we play them?!

Candiotti with a complete game shutout. Cats take the first 2 games against Furd.

Cool.

Gonna come down to the wire to see who can win the final Pac 12 regular season title.

Another great comeback by the Cats!

Love this attitude! BTFD!

Despite the pre-game yapping and in-state rivalry stuff, we're in the hunt for the final Pac-12 Baseball title, up 2 games and playing the other top contenders in the final two series of the season.



Our final one-off non-conference game is against somebody we always want to beat, and it would even our season record with them. But, it doesn't affect the conference race. So, while we want to keep our momentum going, I just hope we don't mess up our pitching for the upcoming series at Utah. They can do whatever they want; at this point, I'm not sure if getting a win over a ranked team does anything for them or not. But, it's their only game against us in Phoenix this year, and taking 2 from us at Hi Corbett has been the highlight of their season to date.

Their legion of lefties hits the ball pretty well, and they can certainly score runs. In any event, regardless of the outcome tonight, the bigger deal starts at 10 am (WTF?) Friday in Salt Lake. Here's ASU's roster and stats:

No doubt you can’t go all in with a bull pen game with the lead in the conference on the line. Give 6 guys the 9 innings and if you are getting rocked after 5, throw the very bottom of the pen like they did against GCU

So they're interviewing some ASU player and asking him why he chose ASU. He said growing up they were the premiering baseball program in the west.

One second later TJ Adams homers.

Edit: A few minutes later Mason White hits a two run bomb. This might be the best ASU interview ever. We hit a homer as long as he keeps talking.

That was a perfect outcome. Got the lead, got the game over early, and scattered innings over 9 pitchers. Now, back to conference play.

Not sure what to make of these guys; seems like they came out of nowhere. Players seem to mostly be from Utah and the surrounding region.
Looks like they've got a couple of good LHPs and some decent bats. Unimpressive non-conference schedule. Then, in league play, they went 1-2 with #3 Oregon State and at #4 Oregon, and they went 2-1 at both #6 Cal and #7 ASU. They were very happy to sweep last-place UCLA for the first time in school history. It seems very do-able, but you never know with umps on the road. Weather shouldn't be a factor, just cool and clear. Against UCLA, they averaged a little under 2K in attendance. A Pac-12 Baseball flag would be nice on our way out the door, but regardless of whether that happens, our mentality should be that we're in playoff mode from here on out.

Ugh. Morning baseball with snow on the mountains. In May. Bryson Van Sickle (complete game) outduels Jackson Kent (6.0 IP) 6-1. More 10 am nonsense tomorrow.

Yeah I really wish Utah would get their own stadium so we wouldn't have these ridiculous start times.

Hopefully we can play better tomorrow.

Cats beat Utah in another early game, 8-4. White and Cain both ent yard and Candiotti pitched another quality game. Susec closed it out in the 9th. Big one tomorrow night

The Golden Retriever for Player of the Game.

AZCatGirl wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2024 4:44 pm Yeah I really wish Utah would get their own stadium so we wouldn't have these ridiculous start times.

Hopefully we can play better tomorrow.

They have one in the plans, maybe in time for next season, but it's pretty minimalist, seating only 1,200. They'll just take their current on-campus practice field, wrap about 5 rows of bleachers around home from about halfway out to the foul poles, have the press box atop a building behind the third base side, and that's about it. Looks like it'll have lights, so at least they can schedule however they wish without having to deal with the local minor league team.

We can't expect any help from last-place UCLA at Oregon State, so if we want any kind of pad for the climactic series with the Beavers, the rubber match tomorrow is critical (also to keep Utah out of a potential multiple-tie scenario.) OSU had a rainout at USC (their temporary home in Irvine) after losing the first two games. Seeding for the league tournament is determined by best conference won-lost percentage. So theoretically, if we tied with them in the loss column, we'd get the one-seed (and regular season title) with one additional conference win.

AZCatGirl wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2024 4:44 pm Yeah I really wish Utah would get their own stadium so we wouldn't have these ridiculous start times.

Hopefully we can play better tomorrow.

The minor league team is moving out of Smiths next year.

The Utes should look to what The Cats did and take it over.

U of A Facilities Management manages the playing surface now in Hi. They have a permanent crew of 2-3 guys there everyday.

Cats beat Utes 10-4 in the rubber match to knock them out of contention! Cats just need to win one this weekend at home against OSU to clinch the 1 seed and regular season title.

So, here we go. If we can't get one win at home, we don't deserve it. Goes without saying that It would be nice if we could get it over with as soon as possible and not have it come down to the final game of the regular season on Sunday. Regardless, getting to this position after being picked near the cellar is a good season. (And once again: good riddance, Pac-12.)



But, that was then, and this is now. They're ranked in the top 10, and we're ranked in the top 20. They get on and score runs, and they've got a good pitching staff. 7 of OSU's 9 conference losses were on the road, so hopefully that bodes well, as we've only lost 2 conference games at Hi Corbett. Hopefully, big and vocal crowds this weekend.

Going to face Aiden May who was the cats Friday night guy last year. He left because he didn’t like the pitching guidance he was receiving and wanted a different voice he said.

He is really tough and that game will be very tough to win but not impossible. Kent for us hasn’t been his usual self the last two outings but Candiotti and Walty have been great.

Well so far things are not going well

I guess Corona got his hand broken last night.

Ugh, these game aren't even close

We're going to fuck this up and not win the Pac 12, aren't we...

They will hit tomorrow.

That's a pretty good bed-shitting the last 2 nights.

mofo wrote: ↑Fri May 17, 2024 9:43 pm That's a pretty good bed-shitting the last 2 nights.

It's hard to play worse in a situation where you're playing for everything than we just did these past two nights and it was at home. Good lord.

Yeah,
Not being able to throw the ball back to pitcher successfully, after a play at first, kinda of sums things up so far.

To be fair, Candiotti couldn’t see as he was looking straight into the sun. Cain should have known that though because on a previous pitch CC told him.

We are all banged up. Breyfogle out, Adams out, Corona out. Hints is our 4th outfielder and he hardly even put the ball in play from the 8 hole.

The moment certainly looks to big for our guys. Two errors in the first inning led to two unearned runs. The play has been pitiful. Watching the last two nights I am shocked this team has won 19 conference games.

Hopefully they pull it together and at least be one competitive tonight and beyond

Great catch in CF

Not sure why the PA guy played “charge” while NTOSU was batting

Lfg

1-0 after second

We needed some runs there

Bad AB by Guzman

This ump has a large zone, top to bottom.

Ugh, another blown opportunity, this time with the bases loaded.

Should’ve bunted again

9th inning all tied up

Anyone watching?

I thought he was out. I’m at game.

Yessssssssss.!!!

Pac12 champs

HOLY SHIT WE DID IT AGAIN!

PAC 12 CHAMPS BITCHES!

lol I guess they're just using the same shirts for every sport? Not gonna miss this cheap ass conference.

Hell yeah! What a win, especially how bad they played the last two games. Hopefully they can get healthy before the postseason begins.

That was a hell of a game! I'm not sure why Rogers was told to bunt with 2 strikes in the 9th (that just sticks in my damn head) but holy cow what a finish in perfect harmony with the other 83 walk-off wins we've had this year