A few thoughts on the game:
1. I thought the decision to bring the infield in in the 4th was the wrong one. One, that sends a pretty bad message that you're just "trying to hold on" that early in the game, and it felt like we were on the defensive ever since. Two, the popup landed about 10 feet away from where Manning is normally playing, so we'd be looking at 2 outs with a runner on 3rd, still leading 4-3, rather than a tie game with a runner on 2nd and 1 out.
2. Obviously the worst game for Finnerty in a while. He didn't really have his best "stuff" or his best command, and that was a tough game to be in if you're a pitcher that primarily gets fly outs. Balls were just carrying for miles out to left. I think his tendency to give up a lot of hits finally came back to bite him. That said, he battled continuously, and he kept us in it, and that's really all you can want/expect from him.
3. LOB is such a misleading stat. For instance, both teams had 9 LOB. The difference is we were 2-13 with RISP, while A&M was 6-9. Most of those hits came in their big inning. Our RISP performance has been a problem all year, though, so it's nothing new. I think we are what we are now with RISP (which is probably why Bo chose to play infield in in the 4th)
4. 2-hole production is non-existent. It's time to either move Breaux down in the order, sit him for a few games, or make him an automatic SAC bunt if he comes up with runners on. He's been a black hole in the 2-spot for a while. I know that some of his issues may be due to seeing a lot of lefty-on-lefty matchups, so maybe we need to think of platooning or maybe hitting farther down in the lineup will give him a different look.
5. Hopefully last night got Holcombe out of his doldrums. Granted that a couple of his hits weren't hit particularly well, but sometimes just not getting out is key for re-building confidence. Next is to get CT producing more.
6. I thought it was an interesting decision to go with Adams (who hasn't been in an SEC game since game 2 vs UGA) in a crucial situation in a tough environment. I thought the crowd was able to get to him immediately. Same with Davis. Both of those guys can be so "mental" that I just thought they were interesting choices to go to in a crucial situation late in the game with a very hostile (re: annoying) crowd.
Anyway, just my thoughts immediately after the game. All in all, this one stings a bit because we had a perfect opportunity and a ton of momentum going into the last few innings, but the pen really had their only third "bad" game (game 2 vs OU, and game 1 vs UT being the others)
Hopefully we can put it behind us fast and come out and try to take this one tonight against a very good pitcher in Kilkenny.
