[d4cohn]

[T]his game was Cal's season. [Therefore], [t]hey threw their ace for a second straight game [on top of 150+ pitches she threw yesterday] after their #3 spotted us a 6-0 lead....

Stanford is in great position to sweep, because Ninemire really has no good options to start tomorrow....

D, I'm struggling to make sense of what you posted above.

Cal's pitching stats prior to Sunday's game:

K. Dung 8-4, 74.1 ip, 2.17 era
Z. Conley 6-6, 69.1 ip, 3.84 era
A. Perez 5-0, 40.1 ip, 1.39 era

Where is Dung (whose '19 stats more closely resemble that of an "ace" than Conley's) in all this? Is there possibly an injury situation of which you are unaware that effectually forced  Ninemire to go to Conley when Perez proved ineffective?

Re: Ninemire's starting options tomorrow, again, first and foremost, what's the story on Dung? Secondly, should a pitcher who, in spite of getting hammered in Sunday's game, nonetheless still  sports a 2.26 era (only slightly higher than Dwyer's following her early exit Sunday) necessarily be written off as a "no good option" for game 3? Though very lucky to avoid getting tagged with the loss Sunday, she remains, after all, undefeated.

Dung is having the better year, but Conley has led this staff for at least the last 2-3 years (Dung is a transfer from Fresno State). And yes, Dung is very likely hurt (When Dung didn't start either today or yesterday, it was pretty obvious that's what happened; I don't expect to see her tomorrow.). However, when you are down 5-0, Ninemire didn't have to turn to Conley; she could have written off the game, started Conley tomorrow, and either leave Perez in to somehow eat innings, or turn to Kourtney Shaw. Sure, either Shaw or Perez would have likely resulted in a Cardinal run-rule, but you save your best remaining pitcher to try to steal Game #3 when the deficit isn't six runs (despite our struggles in the circle today, and Cal's solid lineup, I generally don't place good odds on overcoming a six run deficit). 

And normally, I would agree with you that it would be potentially premature to write off Perez; however, she gave up 5 runs without recording a single out, whereas Conley is a RS Senior, who has led the staff for most of her career, and showed today that she can be effective in stretches. However, turning to Conley tomorrow (presuming no rainout) who has logged all 14 innings and 250+ pitches isn't a great option, on top of the fact that the Cardinal have seen her at least 6-7 times through the lineup. Dung is hurt, so she very likely won't be the pitcher tomorrow. Perez couldn't even record an out in her previous start the day before, and is a freshman (regarding her ERA, it also matters what competition she faced. When Dung was healthy, her and Conley faced the top competition in Cal's non-conference schedule, such as ULL, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State etc.; Cal doesn't have the player game-by-game stats working, so going through a couple of box scores for Cal's best competition, I only saw one significant appearance by Perez against Texas where she also got tagged for 3 runs while only recording 4 outs at the end of 10-0 run rule loss.) 

As the #3 option, Perez recorded those stats against the Incarnate Words of Cal's non-conference schedule. So I would expect her (and Cal) to have not lost any of those games. It was very clear watching the first inning that Stanford's lineup was the best lineup she had faced in her collegiate career.

And while Maddy may have gotten tagged for runs today, she has far more experience against top competition, with some proven results, over Perez (including an effective start against UCLA last year, 2 1/3 scoreless innings against LSU on the road to win that game etc.)

Let's hope for good weather tomorrow, but I like Stanford's chances for a sweep with C Lee getting the ball against either a tired Conley or a freshmen Perez who hasn't faced much of this caliber of competition yet in her career. If the game is moved to Tuesday, then I think that mitigates the advantage for Stanford.

[d4cohn]

[T]his game was Cal's season. [Therefore], [t]hey threw their ace for a second straight game [on top of 150+ pitches she threw yesterday] after their #3 spotted us a 6-0 lead....

Stanford is in great position to sweep, because Ninemire really has no good options to start tomorrow....

D, I'm struggling to make sense of what you posted above.

Cal's pitching stats prior to Sunday's game:

K. Dung 8-4, 74.1 ip, 2.17 era
Z. Conley 6-6, 69.1 ip, 3.84 era
A. Perez 5-0, 40.1 ip, 1.39 era

Where is Dung (whose '19 stats more closely resemble that of an "ace" than Conley's) in all this? Is there possibly an injury situation of which you are unaware that effectually forced  Ninemire to go to Conley when Perez proved ineffective?

Re: Ninemire's starting options tomorrow, again, first and foremost, what's the story on Dung? Secondly, should a pitcher who, in spite of getting hammered in Sunday's game, nonetheless still  sports a 2.26 era (only slightly higher than Dwyer's following her early exit Sunday) necessarily be written off as a "no good option" for game 3? Though very lucky to avoid getting tagged with the loss Sunday, she remains, after all, undefeated.

Dung is having the better year, but Conley has led this staff for at least the last 2-3 years (Dung is a transfer from Fresno State). And yes, Dung is very likely hurt (When Dung didn't start either today or yesterday, it was pretty obvious that's what happened; I don't expect to see her tomorrow.). However, when you are down 5-0, Ninemire didn't have to turn to Conley; she could have written off the game, started Conley tomorrow, and either leave Perez in to somehow eat innings, or turn to Kourtney Shaw. Sure, either Shaw or Perez would have likely resulted in a Cardinal run-rule, but you save your best remaining pitcher to try to steal Game #3 when the deficit isn't six runs (despite our struggles in the circle today, and Cal's solid lineup, I generally don't place good odds on overcoming a six run deficit). 

And normally, I would agree with you that it would be potentially premature to write off Perez; however, she gave up 5 runs without recording a single out, whereas Conley is a RS Senior, who has led the staff for most of her career, and showed today that she can be effective in stretches. However, turning to Conley tomorrow (presuming no rainout) who has logged all 14 innings and 250+ pitches isn't a great option, on top of the fact that the Cardinal have seen her at least 6-7 times through the lineup. Dung is hurt, so she very likely won't be the pitcher tomorrow. Perez couldn't even record an out in her previous start the day before, and is a freshman (regarding her ERA, it also matters what competition she faced. When Dung was healthy, her and Conley faced the top competition in Cal's non-conference schedule, such as ULL, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State etc.; Cal doesn't have the player game-by-game stats working, so going through a couple of box scores for Cal's best competition, I only saw one significant appearance by Perez against Texas where she also got tagged for 3 runs while only recording 4 outs at the end of 10-0 run rule loss.) 

As the #3 option, Perez recorded those stats against the Incarnate Words of Cal's non-conference schedule. So I would expect her (and Cal) to have not lost any of those games. It was very clear watching the first inning that Stanford's lineup was the best lineup she had faced in her collegiate career.

And while Maddy may have gotten tagged for runs today, she has far more experience against top competition, with some proven results, over Perez (including an effective start against UCLA last year, 2 1/3 scoreless innings against LSU on the road to win that game etc.)

Let's hope for good weather tomorrow, but I like Stanford's chances for a sweep with C Lee getting the ball against either a tired Conley or a freshmen Perez who hasn't faced much of this caliber of competition yet in her career. If the game is moved to Tuesday, then I think that mitigates the advantage for Stanford.