[d4cohn]

[quote author=BobK link=topic=16598.msg190715#msg190715 date=1490641525]  the Oregon Coach

Ha!  you have reminded me of one of the major villains in this sad story!  Boo on him!!!  May he trip on his Nike shoelaces!
[/quote]

Mike White and the Ducks are the only undefeated team in the country (29-0), and finished off a double- header road sweep of a top-10 Utah team (Utah swept UCLA on the road last weekend), who we face next weekend at home. Meanwhile, we got swept today at Cal, losing 7-1. (An interesting aside: Mike White apparently recommended Coach Hanson to Bernard back in 2014).

Cal is not a great offensive team (8th in BA at .288), but they manufactured offense every inning, like they have done all weekend, scoring two runs in the first, a run in the third, two runs in the fourth and two runs in the sixth. Cal stole four bases, and generally had productive outs over the final two games that allowed runners to advance.

Stanford, on the other hand, has attempted only 1 sacrifice bunt and stolen 9 bases all year (lowest in the Pac-12). We don't manufacture offense; instead, our offensive strategy consists of desperately trying to string together hits (when we are only hitting .158 as a team in conference), or if that fails, use the long-ball.

Coach Hanson's offensive game plan is like a blackjack player who hits every round. Occasionally, the gambit succeeds in getting a 21 (i.e. grand-slam or extra base hit). However, far more often, the strategy goes bust, stranding runners and allowing us to gradually fall further and further behind, thereby increasing the pressure to come up with several runs in later innings with very few outs to work with (as our opponents are just gradually adding to their run totals).

[d4cohn]

[quote author=BobK link=topic=16598.msg190715#msg190715 date=1490641525]  the Oregon Coach

Ha!  you have reminded me of one of the major villains in this sad story!  Boo on him!!!  May he trip on his Nike shoelaces!
[/quote]

Mike White and the Ducks are the only undefeated team in the country (29-0), and finished off a double- header road sweep of a top-10 Utah team (Utah swept UCLA on the road last weekend), who we face next weekend at home. Meanwhile, we got swept today at Cal, losing 7-1. (An interesting aside: Mike White apparently recommended Coach Hanson to Bernard back in 2014).

Cal is not a great offensive team (8th in BA at .288), but they manufactured offense every inning, like they have done all weekend, scoring two runs in the first, a run in the third, two runs in the fourth and two runs in the sixth. Cal stole four bases, and generally had productive outs over the final two games that allowed runners to advance.

Stanford, on the other hand, has attempted only 1 sacrifice bunt and stolen 9 bases all year (lowest in the Pac-12). We don't manufacture offense; instead, our offensive strategy consists of desperately trying to string together hits (when we are only hitting .158 as a team in conference), or if that fails, use the long-ball.

Coach Hanson's offensive game plan is like a blackjack player who hits every round. Occasionally, the gambit succeeds in getting a 21 (i.e. grand-slam or extra base hit). However, far more often, the strategy goes bust, stranding runners and allowing us to gradually fall further and further behind, thereby increasing the pressure to come up with several runs in later innings with very few outs to work with (as our opponents are just gradually adding to their run totals).