Stanford Series Recap

School has been an absolute time-sucking nightmare as of late. For this reason the best I can do series recap wise is paste my story that is running in the Evergreen tomorrow. Since its mine, I can do whatever I want with it. So after the break, my not so in-depth review of the Stanford series.

Some Info To Pass Along

I just recently got an email from WSU Sports Info telling me that the team has added two new games to our schedule. The two game will be:

May 9: @ Portland - 3 p.m.
May 25: @Seattle in Bellevue - 6 p.m.

Also, tonight is $2 Tuesday admission for the Gonzaga game. So get out and support our Cougs!

Chad Arnold Possibly Back

It looked like everything was pointing towards Chad Arnold making his first start of the 2011 season this Sunday at home against Utah Valley. Donnie had talked about it, and so did Craig Lawson of Sports Info. I'd say this press release from the WSU Sports Information Department would only confirm that. As of right now Arnold is scheduled to face off against Utah Valleys Kyle Beecher (1-0, 3.60 ERA) this Sunday.

This is huge, I'd say that throwing the 1-2-3 of Adam Conley, James Wise and Chad Arnold (in order) at Utah Valley should make for a very successful series this weekend.

EDIT: Here's Chad's line from last year. I won't go into any analysis right now, other than to say this kid is good, very good.

Pitcher	IP	H	HR	K	BB	HBP	ER	ERA	WHIP	FIP	K/9	BB/9
Chad Arnold	108.1	94	6	80	49	7	45	3.74	1.32	4.51	6.65	4.07

6-4 Postgame Interviews: Game 2 Against Dallas Baptist

So instead of writing up a game recap I decided to throw up my postgame interviews with Coach Marbut and starter Brandon Williams for you guys. I'd write a recap but I'm in the middle of studying for my Soc exam, not enough time.

Anyways, click on for the transcript after the jump! The questions for Donnie were asked by Craig Lawson of sports info, questions for Brandon Williams were me.

5-4 Game Recap: Game 1 Against Dallas Baptist + What's Wrong With This Team?

Nothing to see here, this game never happened. If only it was that easy... This game did happen, this game went horribly, and Head Coach Donnie Marbut summed it up perfectly for me after the game.

"We're not very good."

But why? Why is this team underachieving as much as it is? A team we all had high hopes for, a team admittedly with sights set on Omaha. Do not get me wrong, this season is not over, all our problems can be fixed. I'm here to tell you how to fix them.

What's the best way to present these ideas? Why in bullet point form of course! Let's do this.

Todays Baseball Game Cancelled

It snowed a good amount last night and it continues to fall right now. Due to the snow, WSU and UCSB have decided to cancel their final game of the series today.

Donnie Marbut Post Game Interview

Going to leave the intro short here, the questions on this were asked by my fellow Evergreen baseball writer, Adam Lewis. Transcript after the jump!

4-1 Game Recap: Doubleheader Game 2, WSU-UCSB

Walking away with a doubleheader sweep is always nice; winning the second game today, 7-3 WSU was able to wrap up the day up 2-0 in the series against UCSB looking to sweep during tomorrows game. Get the brooms out Coug fans! UCSB got out to an early lead but Wise settled down and turned in a great performance riddled with zeros.

• Again, good pitching will almost always trump good hitting in cold weather, and boy was today the definition of cold weather. Wise struggled a little early, giving up 3 in the 2nd but got into a groove after that, putting three zeros on the board after that before being pulled for J.D. Leckenby. In his 5 IP, Wise strung up 6 Ks while only walking one on only 3 hits. Quite impressive, a good day for WSU starting pitching.
• When Leckenby came in he looked strong, for the first batter. He lost control quickly after that and only made it through the 6th before being replaced by Paris Shewey to close out the 7th.
• Shewey pitched a good 7th in a non-save situation, only giving up one hit and racking up a K in the process.
• Jason Monda had one stellar day on the diamond for WSU, at the plate and in the field. Batting, Monda went 3-6 (.500) while driving in two. He continued to show his ability to get extra base hits, smacking a double in the first game of the day. In the 6th during the second game, Monda made one incredible diving catch in left to save two runs. Sprinting to his right he laid out full extension to grab a smoked line drive, causing the crowd to erupt, well as much as 50 people can "erupt". 
• Cougars played a lot of small ball, stealing as often as possible, showing bunt and putting on the hit-and-run regularly. I'm a big fan of small ball, and it's hard to argue against it when a team is able to execute it so well anyways.
• On a side not I need to talk about Butch really quick. This is by far the best Butch I've seen in my nearly two years at WSU. It says even more that this great performance came in 14 degree weather DURING A BASEBALL GAME! Usually at baseball games, Butch stays for 1-2 innings and leaves, even during decent weather games. This Butch was all over the place, either handing out free coffee, playing with kids, singing into his tail as a microphone, and doing Angels in the Outfield and Titanic impressions. Huge props to Butch, very well done sir, we all appreciate it.

Tomorrow the final game goes off at Noon, assuming we don't get the 4-5 inches of snow we're predicted to get tonight. Even with snow, they may clear the field and play anyways. I'll listen to my post game interview with Coach Marbut in a few and post the transcript in another post. Go Cougs! 

3-1 Game Recap: Doubleheader Game 1, WSU-UCSB

It takes a lot to stand outside in 14 degree weather. It takes even more to run in it. It takes extreme dedication to play baseball in it. Despite the cold, WSU pulled off a 5-1 win in the first game of their Saturday doubleheader. In cold weather pitching will always dominate, combine the cold weather advantage with an already stellar pitcher and you have a scary combo.

• Adam Conley started for WSU in game one and threw a gem. 9 Ks for his second consecutive outing in 6 IP while issuing his first two walks of the season. He had great command of his pitches throughout, seeming to work away from right handed hitters nearly the whole time. Even the few times he went inside on a righty he blew it past them with inside heat. At least 4-5 of his strikeouts came on some sick changeups, totally fooling the hitters. By the time he left (after the 6th) he had 111 pitches and a great outing.
• This game was defined by small ball on the part of the Cougs. Stealing and taking advantage of their openings to jump out to a 5-0 lead. 
• Collin Slaybaugh hit an impressive triple early in the game. Impressive not because of the actual hit (a misplayed ball by the UCSB left fielder) but because of the speed Slaybaugh displayed to turn the hit into a triple. Most hitters, that is a double, Slaybaugh used his speed to help create a run, very impressive.
• Me and my fellow Evergreen writer noted that Taylor Ard could stand to practice some better pitch selection. Might be the pressure of being "that guy that hits" or transitioning into D1 pitching, but he was swinging at pitches that make a hitting coach want to pull his hair out. If he corrects that he's going to be a even more of a force at the plate than he already is.
• The UCSB team seemed to come out flat and only got more complacent as the game went on. Not a good sign for them, seeing as they still have 7 more innings to play.
• Near the end of the game there were a few scoreboard problems, but that's bound to happen with a new system. Apparently, inputting double plays breaks the scoreboard, who knew. 
• More fans than I anticipated would be out here in this weather. The paying section (with the seats, right in front) was cleared but the two student sections on the sides were not. The cleared section was probably about 50% filled.

That's it for the first game, second game scheduled to go off at 3:00.

Weekend Baseball Schedule Update

Just got the email from Sports Information on the weekend schedule, so here it is!

Todays postponed game is moved to Saturday, turning Saturday into a doubleheader. First game will start at Noon and go 9 innings. Second game will start soon after the first, and go 7 innings.

Sunday game scheduled for Noon is staying as scheduled.