WEEKLY THOUGHTS
Over the weekend the Red Raiders swept a tough and determined UCONN Huskies team in four games. Tech ran the Friday starter after 5 innings, his shortest outing of the season, but pushed him to his highest pitch count at 106 tosses. Impressive defensive plays punctuated each game as Tech won Friday 4-3 and, until a six-run 8th inning pushed them to 10, was leading the Saturday contest 4-3 as well.
The Sunday game was an offensive slugfest with Tech coming out on top 15-13, once again is was defensive highlights that earned Tech the win on a windy and dusty day with a game extending to 4 hours and 17 minutes. On Monday, back-to-back-to-back home runs in the 10th inning by Nate Rombach, Cal Conley, and Braxton Fulford, pulled Tech up from an 8-6 deficit to a 9-8 walk-off victory prior to the getaway day curfew.
Coach Tadlock was extremely thankful to the impressive and active crowd of more than 2,700 fans who turned out at 10 a.m. on a morning in the 40s. Dru Baker emerged on the weekend and grew into his leadoff role before our eyes. He hit .533 over the four games and now leads the nation in runs at 26. Baker reached base safely in his first 11 at-bats this weekend.
Cal Conley also had a solid weekend and was named the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger of the Week.
Congrats to Cal Conley of @TTU_Baseball, our Week 3 Slugger of the Week!
He had an outstanding week with a slash line of .625/.696/.813. In 5 games against Gonzaga & UConn, Conley posted 10 hits, 6 RBI, scored 3 runs and had 3 extra-base hits, all doubles. #BraganCSA pic.twitter.com/PvYTLsxEF8
— Bragan Slugger Award (@braganslugger) March 17, 2021
Did you miss the weekend action? You can read the recaps of each game to catch up!
RECAPPING THE HUSKIES | GAME 1
RECAPPING THE HUSKIES | GAME 2
RECAPPING THE HUSKIES | GAME 3
RECAPPING THE HUSKIES | GAME 4
SWEEPING THE HUSKIES & PREVIEWING THE COWBOYS | DINGER DERBY
A few things about the rankings:
DO THEY ALL MATTER?
No, absolutely not, most of them are worthless and only exist because a baseball/statistics nerd decided to make them. Some are an attempt by various outlets to keep RPI live rather than updated weekly by the NCAA. Many are wholly subjective in the case of those from various news outlets or composites of many rankings affected by outliers. Some also update at odd times, like on Friday.WHICH ONES ARE MOST IMPORTANT?
There are six rankings in college baseball that are recognized and respected: D1 Baseball, Baseball America, Perfect Game, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, NCBWA, and the USA Today Coaches Poll. In my humble opinion D1 Baseball is the single most reliable source of information at the national level, but the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association rankings are probably the most balanced. Unfortunately, they release rankings on Tuesday afternoons so they are often overlooked.DOES THAT MEAN I WON’T INCLUDE THEM?
Also, absolutely not. I’m going to include every ranking, RPI, composite, and strength of schedule I can find. It doesn’t matter how “legit” they are, I’m going to put them on the list. I like seeing them change and move fluidly over time. It’s also nice to see that even some of the top recognized lists are subject to knee-jerk reactions.
WHY INCLUDE IT IF IT DOESN’T MATTER?
We count everything in baseball. – Billy Chapel
