THE GOOD:
*First series win on the road since 2011; one win shy of last year’s total in away games.
*The overall pitching effort was strong enough to win all three, with solid starting leading the way. Charley Sullivan turned in what was arguably the best game of his career, working five innings on a pitch limit, allowing two runs (none earned) and striking out five without surrendering a walk. Jon Keller delivered a workmanlike six innings, allowing only an unearned run. Spencer Turnbull had one rough inning, but managed to finish with a quality start (6 IP/3 ER). Ray Castillo picked up a three inning-save. Jake Hubbard worked out of a huge jam to preserve the win on Saturday and Justin Kamplain did the same to keep the Tide close on Sunday. Tucker Hawley worked a pair of shutout innings and earned the win in the series opener.
*Georgie Salem carried the Tide at the plate on the weekend, hitting .538/.571/.538 with a stolen base.
*Kenny Roberts hit a respectable .300/.364/.300 with a stolen base and a run batted in, and Austen Smith added three hits in ten trips to the plate.
THE BAD:
*Two-out-of-three on the road is nothing to complain about, by any means, but the offensive performance against FAU was, on the whole, pretty weak. Three games, zero extra-base hits...not good. Getting shutout by the Owls’ #3 starter speaks for itself, but the Tide only managed to score five unearned runs in the series. Granted, there’s something to be said for taking advantage of an opponent’s mistakes in the field, but five unearned in three games just isn’t going to cut it. Cary Baxter had a particularly difficult time, going 0-for-the-series with strikeouts in half of his at bats. His home run against VMI notwithstanding, Ben Moore is off to a slow start, with just 4 hits and an uncharacteristically high 8 strikeouts. Undoubtedly he’ll get heated up soon enough, so long as he concentrates on doing what he does best – using the entire field and hitting line drives rather than swinging for the fences; the homers will come.
FINALLY...
*Despite some offensive struggles, finding a way to win two on the road against a decent opponent was a much-needed step in the right direction for this program. The pitching staff appears to be improved considerably, yet remains a work in progress. The jury is still out on the offense; there's clearly some potential, but it remains to be seen how the lineup will fare against superior pitching. Tulane's staff is respectable, with a legitimate Friday night ace in Tony Rizzotti, and Louisville represents the first test against a truly elite opponent.
*Definitely need to regain some momentum back home against a surprisingly talented, albeit quite beatable, Samford team, before the Green Wave comes to town next weekend.
*First series win on the road since 2011; one win shy of last year’s total in away games.
*The overall pitching effort was strong enough to win all three, with solid starting leading the way. Charley Sullivan turned in what was arguably the best game of his career, working five innings on a pitch limit, allowing two runs (none earned) and striking out five without surrendering a walk. Jon Keller delivered a workmanlike six innings, allowing only an unearned run. Spencer Turnbull had one rough inning, but managed to finish with a quality start (6 IP/3 ER). Ray Castillo picked up a three inning-save. Jake Hubbard worked out of a huge jam to preserve the win on Saturday and Justin Kamplain did the same to keep the Tide close on Sunday. Tucker Hawley worked a pair of shutout innings and earned the win in the series opener.
*Georgie Salem carried the Tide at the plate on the weekend, hitting .538/.571/.538 with a stolen base.
*Kenny Roberts hit a respectable .300/.364/.300 with a stolen base and a run batted in, and Austen Smith added three hits in ten trips to the plate.
THE BAD:
*Two-out-of-three on the road is nothing to complain about, by any means, but the offensive performance against FAU was, on the whole, pretty weak. Three games, zero extra-base hits...not good. Getting shutout by the Owls’ #3 starter speaks for itself, but the Tide only managed to score five unearned runs in the series. Granted, there’s something to be said for taking advantage of an opponent’s mistakes in the field, but five unearned in three games just isn’t going to cut it. Cary Baxter had a particularly difficult time, going 0-for-the-series with strikeouts in half of his at bats. His home run against VMI notwithstanding, Ben Moore is off to a slow start, with just 4 hits and an uncharacteristically high 8 strikeouts. Undoubtedly he’ll get heated up soon enough, so long as he concentrates on doing what he does best – using the entire field and hitting line drives rather than swinging for the fences; the homers will come.
FINALLY...
*Despite some offensive struggles, finding a way to win two on the road against a decent opponent was a much-needed step in the right direction for this program. The pitching staff appears to be improved considerably, yet remains a work in progress. The jury is still out on the offense; there's clearly some potential, but it remains to be seen how the lineup will fare against superior pitching. Tulane's staff is respectable, with a legitimate Friday night ace in Tony Rizzotti, and Louisville represents the first test against a truly elite opponent.
*Definitely need to regain some momentum back home against a surprisingly talented, albeit quite beatable, Samford team, before the Green Wave comes to town next weekend.
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