The guys go into Terre Haute this morning at 6:30 after the long trip from Charleston, SC. Encountered a detour and two wrecks on way back.
Talked about decision to remove Jake Hartley's red shirt status. Coach Heller talked with Jake and his family before season started and decided that becasue there were players ahead of him that he should red shirt his freshman year. Liniger had some minor injuries and it appears that Steve Ball may miss rest of season with an elbow injury, so the decision was made to put him on the active roster and see what he could do. He was told that there would be no guarantees of how much playing time he would get. He needed to produce to win a starting spot. His first game against Butler he had eight RBI's, including a two-run homer and a grand slam and he hit strong against good pitching at The Citadel.
ISU took two of three from The Citadel and came close to a sweep. The pitching match-up between Petricka and Wojo in game one drew more than 20scouting directors to watch the duo. Ort produced two homers and we had them beat into the ninth but couldn't hold them. This game had a playoff atmosphere to it...as did the whole series...a good warm-up for Wichita State.
In the Saturday game, Joe Rodriguez pitched well enough to win, but didn't have his best stuff early. He settled down in the middle innings and he probably stayed in too long, but they wanted to give him a chance at the complete game. The offense really stepped up throughout the line-up to produce. Looking at The Citadel offense, they were scary with power hitters that could hit it out of the park, especially considering the winds was blowing out for all three games. Heller had noticed that relief pitchers, harlan, Mann and Browning were starting to tire at Butler and it was good to get some time off Saturday.
Ben Ferrell was tremendous on offense and defense this weekend. That field was burmuda grass and hard-baked clay so the ball moved fast and jumped sharply. Ferrell has been on-fire the past month on both sides of the ball. Our team committed just two errors in 27 innings of play.
Of the last nine games, ISU has won seven--and was close to winning the two we lost. We knew that Creighton, The Citadel (11-1 in their conference so far) and Wichita State would be the toughest run in the schedule.
We are 20-9 this season and are the ONLY MVC team to have winning records at home and on the road!
This is a very stressful time for the players, having to travel so much and keep up with their studies...especially for the graduating seniors. Finals not far off. Once finals are done, we play for another three weeks and they can focus on baseball and have fun. It takes a toon of bricks off their backs.
Strausborger is one of the top three or four players in the country. When he goes...we go. He's hitting more ground balls...instead of the fly-outs he was getting earlier in the season. He puts a lot of pressure on the opponents with steals (21 of 23 this season), he beats out infield singles and he's the best in the outfield. Looking for him to get even better at the plate as the season progresses. Coach heller says guys like Straus come along once in a coach's career and he's sorry he only got to have him for one year.
Looking to take two of three from Wichita State. They are very much like The Citadel in pitching and fielding. Wichita State has had issues with fielding the ball and they have not played as well on the road.
Talked about pitching. Petricka has done better each week. Having him pitch one inning during mid-week games has shown him how to focus. He won't pitch this Wednesday as its just two days before his start. Joe Rodriguez is going to turn it on during the second half of the season. Joe needs to get everything clicking at once. His arm feels good...sometimes too good as he throws too hard at times. Trying to stress variable speed and accuracy rather than 90 mph fastballs. Van Skike continues to get stronger. This week he did not have a weak inning that had been his trade-mark. It was his best outing of the season.
Need to keep relievers strong. Dorsett stepped up in a tough situation Sunday. When he throws strikes, he's very effective. His ball has good movement. JT was solid in his inning of work, too. Looking to get Merkley, Drake and Flora more into the games. It will be nice to have more relievers in the arsenal to take the pressure off of Harlan and Mann. Browning, after faltering on Friday, came in Sunday as a different person with an 88 mph fastball and a sharp breaking ball.
Talked about decision to remove Jake Hartley's red shirt status. Coach Heller talked with Jake and his family before season started and decided that becasue there were players ahead of him that he should red shirt his freshman year. Liniger had some minor injuries and it appears that Steve Ball may miss rest of season with an elbow injury, so the decision was made to put him on the active roster and see what he could do. He was told that there would be no guarantees of how much playing time he would get. He needed to produce to win a starting spot. His first game against Butler he had eight RBI's, including a two-run homer and a grand slam and he hit strong against good pitching at The Citadel.
ISU took two of three from The Citadel and came close to a sweep. The pitching match-up between Petricka and Wojo in game one drew more than 20scouting directors to watch the duo. Ort produced two homers and we had them beat into the ninth but couldn't hold them. This game had a playoff atmosphere to it...as did the whole series...a good warm-up for Wichita State.
In the Saturday game, Joe Rodriguez pitched well enough to win, but didn't have his best stuff early. He settled down in the middle innings and he probably stayed in too long, but they wanted to give him a chance at the complete game. The offense really stepped up throughout the line-up to produce. Looking at The Citadel offense, they were scary with power hitters that could hit it out of the park, especially considering the winds was blowing out for all three games. Heller had noticed that relief pitchers, harlan, Mann and Browning were starting to tire at Butler and it was good to get some time off Saturday.
Ben Ferrell was tremendous on offense and defense this weekend. That field was burmuda grass and hard-baked clay so the ball moved fast and jumped sharply. Ferrell has been on-fire the past month on both sides of the ball. Our team committed just two errors in 27 innings of play.
Of the last nine games, ISU has won seven--and was close to winning the two we lost. We knew that Creighton, The Citadel (11-1 in their conference so far) and Wichita State would be the toughest run in the schedule.
We are 20-9 this season and are the ONLY MVC team to have winning records at home and on the road!
This is a very stressful time for the players, having to travel so much and keep up with their studies...especially for the graduating seniors. Finals not far off. Once finals are done, we play for another three weeks and they can focus on baseball and have fun. It takes a toon of bricks off their backs.
Strausborger is one of the top three or four players in the country. When he goes...we go. He's hitting more ground balls...instead of the fly-outs he was getting earlier in the season. He puts a lot of pressure on the opponents with steals (21 of 23 this season), he beats out infield singles and he's the best in the outfield. Looking for him to get even better at the plate as the season progresses. Coach heller says guys like Straus come along once in a coach's career and he's sorry he only got to have him for one year.
Looking to take two of three from Wichita State. They are very much like The Citadel in pitching and fielding. Wichita State has had issues with fielding the ball and they have not played as well on the road.
Talked about pitching. Petricka has done better each week. Having him pitch one inning during mid-week games has shown him how to focus. He won't pitch this Wednesday as its just two days before his start. Joe Rodriguez is going to turn it on during the second half of the season. Joe needs to get everything clicking at once. His arm feels good...sometimes too good as he throws too hard at times. Trying to stress variable speed and accuracy rather than 90 mph fastballs. Van Skike continues to get stronger. This week he did not have a weak inning that had been his trade-mark. It was his best outing of the season.
Need to keep relievers strong. Dorsett stepped up in a tough situation Sunday. When he throws strikes, he's very effective. His ball has good movement. JT was solid in his inning of work, too. Looking to get Merkley, Drake and Flora more into the games. It will be nice to have more relievers in the arsenal to take the pressure off of Harlan and Mann. Browning, after faltering on Friday, came in Sunday as a different person with an 88 mph fastball and a sharp breaking ball.
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