Xavier Baseball 2016

[X-band '01]

Tricky grounder hit to 1st, but now 2 outs and a runner on 3rd.

And now Garrett Schilling will be asked to get the 3rd out.

[xu82]

Now it's a dangerous spot. Schramm starts the 9th with a walk and a sac bunt; the Gauchos have a man in scoring position for the first time since the 4th inning.

I don't want to lose to no Gauchos!

[X-band '01]

Still not sure why the broadcasters think Xavier is the Big 10 champion.

[X-band '01]

No damage. 5-4 UCSB going into the bottom of the 9th.

[Nigel Tufnel]

Thanks for updates X-band. Following closely. Give us some good news in the next 15-20 mins.

[X-band '01]

And that's the ballgame. Justin Kelly struck out the side.

See everyone at 9 PM tonight.

[GoMuskies]

Fuckity fuckity fuck

Great effort, though. Amazing bullpen day

[xu82]

Fuckity fuckity fuck

Great effort, though. Amazing bullpen day

That does not sound encouraging....

[X-band '01]

Only Brad Kirshner threw more than an inning.

Just win tonight and get to tomorrow.

[X-band '01]

No time wasted here - Rylan Bannon leads off the game with a homer and Andre Jernigan follows suit. Nice to get an early 2-0 lead.

[paulxu]

NCAA game tracker not working.

[X-band '01]

Matt Kent is starting this elimination game - he struck out 2 of the first 3 UW hitters.

[X-band '01]

So far, so good - Rylan Bannon gets a 2-out double and Dan Rizzie follows with an RBI single.

5-0 X.

[X-band '01]

And a Gellenbeck RBI hit will drive the Huskies' starter out of the game.

6-0 X

[paulxu]

Nice start.

[X-band '01]

Let's see if Washington responds - Xavier loaded the bases but couldn't throw the KO punch.

[X-band '01]

25 pitches through 2 innings for Kent - 6 up and 6 down.

[GoMuskies]

Awesome start. We really need Kent to go the distance tonight.

[X-band '01]

Small ball in the 3rd - a walk, steal and base hit plated another run.

7-0 X going into the bottom of the 3rd.

[paulxu]

Loaded now.

[GoMuskies]

Brutal outing for Kent. That just kills us.

[X-band '01]

Kent's control disappeared - as does Kent.

Trey Schramm will come in with a 7-2 lead and a 2-0 count on the Husky hitter (2 outs).

[X-band '01]

OTOH, maybe Kent comes back tomorrow (assuming X wins tonight) for an inning or two somewhere. 59 pitches isn't terribly high.

[paulxu]

Come on. Get out of this awful inning.

[XMuskieFTW]

HUGE out. Lucky he hit that one to dead center. Let's get those two back now.

[GoMuskies]

One more inning for Schramm? You'd like to have him for another high leverage situation tomorrow.

[X-band '01]

No further damage; 7-2 Xavier after 3.

Elsewhere, Miami blew a 7-run lead at home against Long Beach State (although they're threatening late in their game); no lead is safe, much less an early one.

[paulxu]

Thank you.

[X-band '01]

One more inning for Schramm? You'd like to have him for another high leverage situation tomorrow.

If so, I wouldn't count on Kirschner after he threw 3 2/3 innings in relief in the earlier game.

[X-band '01]

1-2-3 inning for Xavier in the 4th.

[XMuskieFTW]

Ump behind home having a really rough night. We aren't helping ourselves though.

[X-band '01]

And now Schramm can't find the zone. Not good.

[XMuskieFTW]

Not looking good. Can't get an out.

[X-band '01]

And an RBI single combined with an error shrinks the lead to 7-4. Still no outs.

[GoMuskies]

We collapsed and blew a big lead against Oregon in this same game in this same stadium two years ago.

[X-band '01]

Finally get out of the 4th, but not before surrendering another run. 7-5 Xavier without the momentum.

[XMuskieFTW]

Huge error there. We need to plate both these runs.

[XMuskieFTW]

That's killer. 2nd and 3rd no outs and we don't score. Ugh.

[GoMuskies]

Not feeling too good after squandering that opportunity.

[X-band '01]

Ugh. Rizzie flies out with the bases loaded.

[XMuskieFTW]

Needed a quicker inning like that.

[X-band '01]

At least Schramm had a quick inning. Hopefully he can sneak in 1 or 2 more innings.

[GoMuskies]

Has the offense shut things down for the evening?

[X-band '01]

Unfortunately, Xavier had a quick 1-2-3 too.

[GoMuskies]

9 more outs

[X-band '01]

Allowed an infield hit, but no damage in the 6th.

Still 7-5 X.

[X-band '01]

Meanwhile, regional winners so far:

East Carolina
Louisville
Boston College
Florida
Florida State
Miami
TCU

Win or go home tomorrow:
Texas Tech/Dallas Baptist
South Carolina/UNC-Wilmington

[X-band '01]

Is it good or bad to see Nesbitt come out of the game for Washington? Runner on 1st with 1 out.

[X-band '01]

Popcorn fart.

Huskies escape without allowing a run.

[GoMuskies]

That big hit is just not coming for Xavier.

[Strange Brew]

I think I hate the flat brim hat look as much as my Dad hated when I wore mine backwards. I'm getting old. :)

[X-band '01]

Schramm has held the fort - gave up a single with 2 outs and now Taylor Williams will come in with an 0-1 count on the hitter.

Still 7-5 X.

[X-band '01]

Williams gets his feet out of the fire - 7 innings are complete.

[XMuskieFTW]

Yes! Huge strikeout. 6 more outs.

[GoMuskies]

Nice. Now let's go get a run with 2, 3 and 4.

[Strange Brew]

Phew, onto the 8th. X could use a little State Farm.

[GIMMFD]

I'm surprised there's not live chat for this, seems like a lot of people are tuning in!!

[Strange Brew]

Maybe this will work?

http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=XavierHoops

[GoMuskies]

Still can't get a clutch hit. Troubling.

[X-band '01]

Another missed opportunity at the plate with an inning-ending double play. 7-5 X going into the bottom of the 8th.

[X-band '01]

A walk and wild pitch didn't haunt; it remains 7-5 X going into the 9th.

[X-band '01]

1-2-3 Top of the 9th. It's up to Schilling now to close the door with a 2-run lead.

[X-band '01]

And Schilling closes the door for a school record 14th save!

[GreatWhiteNorth]

Congrats to our baseball team. Outstanding!

[GoMuskies]

Congrats to the Muskies on making history.

[GoMuskies]

The Muskies have reached the Final 23. I expect t-shirts from Snipe.

[xudash]

Congratulations to Xavier baseball!

What a difference the Big East has made to Xavier athletics.

[GoMuskies]

I'm not sure the Big East has much to do with it. Baseball is one sport where tha A-10 was probably a better league.

Nevermind, just looked at the numbers, and the A-10 is absolutely brutal. I thought Richmond and (back in the day) Charlotte brought the league up a bit, but I was wrong. The Big East is a bad baseball league, but it actually is a slight improvement over the A -10.

[paulxu]

Nice job !

(boy we left a lot of guys on base last night)

[muskiefan82]

I'm not sure the Big East has much to do with it. Baseball is one sport where tha A-10 was probably a better league.

Nevermind, just looked at the numbers, and the A-10 is absolutely brutal. I thought Richmond and (back in the day) Charlotte brought the league up a bit, but I was wrong. The Big East is a bad baseball league, but it actually is a slight improvement over the A -10.

But it is not full of dominant programs which allows a team like X to struggle early in the season and then put together a ridiculous league season and make the NCAA's. I'll take it.

[X-band '01]

I'm not sure the Big East has much to do with it. Baseball is one sport where tha A-10 was probably a better league.

Nevermind, just looked at the numbers, and the A-10 is absolutely brutal. I thought Richmond and (back in the day) Charlotte brought the league up a bit, but I was wrong. The Big East is a bad baseball league, but it actually is a slight improvement over the A -10.

Richmond had one decent year when they had a high MLB draft pick in their pitching rotation, but I think VCU has been better than Richmond once they joined the A-10. As for Charlotte, I don't remember if they even made the NCAA Tournament, to be honest with you.

But make no mistake -the Big East in baseball became a lot easier after Louisville, Notre Dame and Miami eventually left. You look at the American in contrast; they have East Carolina in the super regionals and Tulane who was also a regional finalist.

And we did offer a cold one to Paul last night in Live Chat when Clempson was eliminated.

[GoMuskies]

If Xavier can somehow get two wins today, they'll go to Louisville for the Super, where the world will be watching. OK, the world's focus might be about 5 miles north at the KFC Yum Center for Ali's funeral, but they WILL be watching.

[paulxu]

Following up in Xband's post of winners, here they are so far and their regional (seed).

Florida (1)
Florida State (1)
East Carolina (3)
Texas A&M (1)
TCU (1)
Louisville (1)
Okla State (2)
Miss State (1)
Miami (1)
BC (3)

If X can advance, I think they'll be the only 4 seed to do so. Also, with BC, one of 2 schools north of the Mason Dixon line.

[Masterofreality]

The length of that game last night was absolutely brutal. Not quite as brutal as the home plate umpire last night who absolutely screwed Kent out of an inning ending called strike out in the 3rd, prolonged his pitch count and gave Washington an extra undeserved run, but brutal nonetheless.

Of course, blue's incompetence also was a big reason for that game's length. Luckily, I doubt he'll be behind the plate for either of today's games, Thank Gawd.

[GoMuskies]

Umpiring in these college games is terrible. Makes you appreciate MLB umps.

[GoMuskies]

I just got added to a 2pm Central meeting. Having a job is so inconvenient sometimes!

[X-band '01]

Looks like Greg Jacknewitz will get the start for today's first game. He did pitch the 9th inning on Saturday against Vandy.

[bobbiemcgee]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4rXNlXQplw

[X-band '01]

Anyone else notice a resemblance between head coach Scott Googins and the Weather Channel's Jim Cantore? No wonder there were weather delays the first 2 days in Nashville.

[Chalmers0]

Looks like Greg Jacknewitz will get the start for today's first game. He did pitch the 9th inning on Saturday against Vandy.

No deep digging but just looking at rosters/stats and who has pitched during the weekend, Xavier pitching is going to be awfully thin while UCSB seems to be pretty fine. Definitely going to be an uphill climb for the Muskies today.

[GoMuskies]

No deep digging but just looking at rosters/stats and who has pitched during the weekend, Xavier pitching is going to be awfully thin while UCSB seems to be pretty fine. Definitely going to be an uphill climb for the Muskies today.

So I decided to take the dangerous step of going to the roster...

Schilling should be available today for a few innings. Best pitcher on staff with a 1.91 ERA.
Matt Kent should be able to come back for a few innings if needed. He's 2-1 with a 3.20 ERA, but he's been bad of late.
Taylor Williams should be available for a few innings. Solid reliever, 0-3, 3.91 in 46 innings. 39Ks vs. 17 walks.
One assumes Damian Richard gets the ball in game 2, if it happens. 4-3, 4.14 in 46 innings. 31 BB vs. 29 Ks is very troubling.
Jacknewitz has been, well, awful this year. 1-6, 7.07 ERA in 50 innings. 36Ks and 31BB, but hitters are a robust .327 against him.
Hall, Czabala, Johnson and Malone should be well rested (no more than 7 innings all year for any of them), with ERAs ranging from 9 to 40.50. They'd all better be ready to go.

Johnny Wholestaff indeed! Really, the key to the whole thing is Jacknewitz pitching he game of his life, and the offense mashing. If we manage to get to game 2 tonight, I like our chances.

[X-band '01]

That's the built-in advantage of winning out of the winner's bracket and needing 1 win as opposed to needing 2 wins after winning out of the loser's bracket. Jacknewitz wasn't as good a starter earlier in the year as he was a reliever later in the year.

The hope here is to get an early lead and put the onus on the Gauchos to come back and avoid a winner-take-all Game 7 tonight.

[X-band '01]

Ideally, Brad Kirschner would have been the starter for the 3 PM game today, but he was used for about 50 pitches in the game yesterday against UCSB after Trent Astle was ineffective.

In a perfect world, Taylor Williams would be the setup man and Schilling would be the closer. A starting outing of 5-6 innings would be great; anything beyond that is gravy.

[GoMuskies]

I think Schramm would probably throw an emergency inning if we made it to tonight. Maybe even Lowther? I've seen crazier things in college regionals.

[X-band '01]

It wouldn't be unusual for Lowther to be throwing on the side a day or two after his usual outing, but I can't see him getting in unless a night game necessitates an inning or if the afternoon game today goes extras.

Matt Kent wouldn't totally be out of the question after throwing only about 50 pitches; he started off smoking before he lost his control. That was one reason why he got the early hook. It would be harder to go to Astle in an emergency after throwing 80 pitches yesterday.

[GoMuskies]

I'm saying 3 innings for Schilling, 2 for Kent and 2 for Williams. That's 7. That leaves 11 innings combined for the two starters to give us.

[GoMuskies]

Is this historic event in Xavier baseball history worthy of its own game thread? There have been plenty of losses throughout this thread, so Strange Brew cannot require us to use this thread for superstitious reasons!

[XMuskieFTW]

My office picked a good day to have a transformer blow and lose power for the entire day. Going to be able to watch the game now.

[GoMuskies]

Teams facing elimination right now are out to a combined 10-0 lead. Hopefully Xavier can keep that trend rolling here in about 20 minutes!

[Strange Brew]

Is this historic event in Xavier baseball history worthy of its own game thread? There have been plenty of losses throughout this thread, so Strange Brew cannot require us to use this thread for superstitious reasons!

Hmm, too late to change threads now. 2-0 X!

[X-band '01]

Board is back up - Xavier has jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after the middle of the 2nd inning.

[X-band '01]

Hmm, too late to change threads now. 2-0 X!

You don't jerk with a winning streak, and you take extra pride that these games caused the board to crash.

[GoMuskies]

Damn, Jack is dealing!

Now, we need runs, runs, runs. This pitching is not likely to hold out all day. Need to put them in a big, big hole.

[XMuskieFTW]

Great start so far. Exactly what we've needed out of our starter for the first 3 innings after using so many pitchers the past two days.

[X-band '01]

3 Ks, 30 pitches, no baserunners.

Now Xavier just needs to be able to get a hit with runners in scoring position; 4 runners have been stranded at 2nd and 3rd so far.

[GoMuskies]

This UCSB guy has a hard, nasty hook.

We got hosed. I mean, not even fucking close.

[XMuskieFTW]

safe by a mile. awful call.

[X-band '01]

1-2-3 inning for UCSB, although they got help from the umpire on a grounder deep into 3rd. Replays showed that Chris Givin beat the throw, but there's no replay system this early in the tournament.

[GoMuskies]

Walks will haunt.

Tough error there.

[X-band '01]

Error on Bannon, but at least they avoid a double and an extra base for each runner.

[GoMuskies]

Throw strikes when they try to give you an out!

[GoMuskies]

Falling apart.

[X-band '01]

Better just to eat that ball than force a bad throw. As it is, it's 2-1 Xavier with no outs and runners on the corners.

[XMuskieFTW]

Dammit. Unraveling.

[GoMuskies]

Okay, we're gonna need runs.

[X-band '01]

And now their big gun gets a 3-run homer. Not good.

[GoMuskies]

Go get Schilling and let him throw as long as he can. Jack is done.

For the love of God, go get him.

[X-band '01]

Here comes Captain Hook and Damien Richard out of the bullpen.

[GoMuskies]

So...our game 2 starter is now coming in. If we can rally, maybe Jack starts game 2 as well. LOL

[X-band '01]

Finally a much-needed strikeout.

[XMuskieFTW]

Wow. That went to shit quickly...

[GoMuskies]

Another hit and run. 6-2 now. Need to get out of it now and show some life on offense.

[GoMuskies]

See you in '17.

[XUglow]

Well, back to work. Sigh.

[X-band '01]

Mercifully, middle of the 4th.

9 runs on 4 hits for UCSB. Yikes.

[GoMuskies]

Well, back to work. Sigh.

Wait. Is this real? Did someone steal Glow's password or something. :)

[GoMuskies]

No quit. 1st and 2nd with no one out.

[X-band '01]

1st 2 runners aboard for Xavier in the 4th.

Get something out of this inning, fellas.

[GoMuskies]

Juiced. Need a big hit to make this a game again.

[X-band '01]

Their starter wanted Gellenbeck. Will he pay?

[XUglow]

Wait. Is this real? Did someone steal Glow's password or something. :)

I am going to post once every 6 months whether I need to or not.

[GoMuskies]

Need Jernigan to do something here to justify his Big East Player of the Year status.

[X-band '01]

Sac fly and nothing further.

[XUglow]

Damn. That was a nice play at 3rd.

[GoMuskies]

Killer. Jernigan should have had a double.

[X-band '01]

Tough to give the run back, but at least a nice outfield catch saves 2 runs.

10-3 UCSB, middle of 5

[GoMuskies]

Xavier easily could have scored 10 runs today, but they're not going to do it with all the chances they've already wasted.

[XMuskieFTW]

Can't waste innings like that down 7.

[XUglow]

3rd, short, 2nd... that was nice of us.

[X-band '01]

One more web gem for Joe Gellenbeck saves another baserunner.

[XMuskieFTW]

That pitch was a foot outside. What the hell?

[GoMuskies]

We're struggling enough that we don't need to keep getting fucked by the umps.

What an awful baserunning decision.

[XMuskieFTW]

Why are we stealing down 7 in the 6th? Stupid decision.

[X-band '01]

Still 10-3 through 6.

[GoMuskies]

Hopefully Kirschner's arm doesn't fall off.

[XMuskieFTW]

I liked the first 3 innings better.

[xeus]

One more web gem for Joe Gellenbeck saves another baserunner.

St X Bomber

[XMuskieFTW]

Alright. Time to put up another 13 spot in the 7th.

[xeus]

Some of these calls make me want to do this:

xeus is gettin' upset! (http://www.infowars.com/video-obese-woman-starts-trashing-store-after-ebt-card-gets-refused/)

[X-band '01]

Fun fact about Xavier's brief history in regionals:

1-2 record against #1 seeds (W vs. Vandy, L vs. Rice-09 and Vandy-14)
0-3 record against #2 seeds (L vs. Kansas State-09, Oregon-14 and UCSB)
2-0 record against #3 seeds (W vs. Clemson-14 and Washington)
1-0 record against #4 seeds (W vs. Sam Houston State-09)

[X-band '01]

Still chipping away; Nate Soria had a 2-run homer to cut the lead to 12-5.

Now the Gauchos bringing in their closer with 2 out and runners on the corners.

[paulxu]

We left a lot of folks on base today.

[X-band '01]

13-5 through 8 innings.

[bobbiemcgee]

No quit in these guys. Great Year.

[GoMuskies]

Comeback fell just short. 14-5 final

[X-band '01]

No shame whatsoever to end the season.

[GoMuskies]

Dallas Baptist was eliminated earlier in the day, so Xavier made the final 22.

[XMuskieFTW]

Hell of a season. Nothing to hang their heads about. The run they had the past month has been fun to follow.

[paulxu]

Thanks to the Muskie baseball team for some great off season entertainment.

Great year!

[THRILLHOUSE]

Rizzie goes in the 13th Round to the Mets, and Jernigan in the 14th Round to the Twins.

[Masterofreality]

@ShannonRussell .@XavierBASE seniors Daniel Rizzie, Andre Jernigan taken in MLB draft: cincinnati.com/story/sports/c…

[GoMuskies]

At least the team who beat us was legit. Gauchos just hit a walk-off grand slam to eliminate Louisville.

[X-band '01]

That wasn't long after Miami hit a grand slam to take a 9-3 lead against BC; that one also saw the benches clear after the Miami hitter did a bat flip and yelled at the BC pitcher as he touched home plate.

[gladdenguy]

That Santa Barbara ending was ridiculous. A freshman pinch hitter against a closer who was picked in the first round of the draft. Down 3 in the bottom of the 9th and a walk off salami. Unbelievable.

[paulxu]

There's not really a thread for this, but it's fascinating that Coastal Carolina is in the final with Arizona.

Go Chanticleers! (they're sort of like a Gamecock wannabe)

[Cheesehead]

My wife played hoops for X and they played at Coastal Carolina. The only thing she said about that school is that she would have never graduated on time if she went there.

[paulxu]

Ahhhhh....Myrtle Beach.

[GoMuskies]

That. Ball. Was. Crushed.

[paulxu]

Chanticleers! Congrats.

[GoMuskies]

Jernigan is 1-14 with 10 Ks in his first 6 professional appearances. That's not great.

Rizzie is a more respectable 9-39 (with a decent .318 OBP and only 4Ks) in his first 10 games.

[GoMuskies]

Jernigan is apparently catching on. Only 3 more Ks over his last 15 ABs and is now hitting .241 in 33 ABs with a .371 OBP and an .820 OPS (assisted by three doubles and a bomb).

He's 6 for 13 in the last three games, by the way.

[GoMuskies]

I'm not planning to do an every day update on Jernigan or anything, but I noticed he was 3 for 5 last night, making him 9 for 19 over the last 5 games and getting the average all the way up to .286 after his tough start. Fantastic stretch for Andre.

[X-band '01]

I think I remember Jernigan getting drafted into the Twins organization - what level is he playing at?

[GoMuskies]

Rookie League

[GoMuskies]

Dan Rizzie is now part of Brooklyn Cyclones history. Pretty cool that his home field is the same one that he won his first Big East title on back in 2014.

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20160710&content_id=189179376&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb&sid=milb

[bobbiemcgee]

Anybody going to XBB World Series Softball game Wednesday? Heard Stainbrook will announce.

[X-band '01]

That Santa Barbara ending was ridiculous. A freshman pinch hitter against a closer who was picked in the first round of the draft. Down 3 in the bottom of the 9th and a walk off salami. Unbelievable.

4 years later - not hard to see how UC-Santa Barbara made it to the College World Series. Their ace pitcher (who Xavier did not even face in the tournament that year):

Shane Bieber.

[Masterofreality]

4 years later - not hard to see how UC-Santa Barbara made it to the College World Series. Their ace pitcher (who Xavier did not even face in the tournament that year):

Shane Bieber.

Cy Young Award Winner Shane Bieber. #Tribe