quote:
Whatever. That's the limitation. TCU threw garbage at our batters and we chased ALL OF IT. Our hitters panic in a close game and we are too impatient to work a count and chase a good pitcher. That's how you beat LSU in the postseason. Stony Brook did it. Houston did it. TCU did it.

I agree.

Above all baseball is a game of repetition...I'm a firm believer that if you play the game like it's close when you're winning by 6 runs then you'll be able to properly play the percentages of the game when you have too. Not sure of the final pitch count with the 15 straight that were retired, but when 11 straight were retired, the TCU pitcher had thrown something like 33 pitches...that's approximately 3 pitches per out. That allows the pitcher to be on cruise control. But, with the exception of Bregman, who obviously knows how to hit, we are not a disciplined hitting team and while that may work well a lot of the times with average pitching, when you're not coached how to be a hitter, it definitely shows when you face good pitching like you most certainly will in Omaha.

An analogy to this lack of a sound hitting philosophy and the need for a consistent approach would be Kade Scivicque's phenomenal ability to block a pitch in the dirt...he can do it extraordinarily well with runners on base because he does the right way when he doesn't have too.

There's no denying that this team had a phenomenal year at the plate...but, with the proper plate discipline this team could have had that extra bullet that could have been the difference between playing on in Omaha or coming home today. The "extra bullet" is about the percentages and the game of baseball is all about the percentages.

All that said, the philosophy and the strategy of the game rests with the coaches, the execution rests with the players.