Wins needed for 2019 NCAA Bid

[businesslawyer]

Anytime you win a weekend series you should be satisfied, but was really hoping for a sweep. My goal this week is to beat UHart, and take 3 of 4 from Mich St. Never easy to win 3 of 4 away, but this would put us in good position ( in regard to chart below).

Go Huskies




Current record.. season goal
3 - 3 / .500% .... 5 - 4 / .556 - Top 55 RPI
3 - 3 / .500% .... 7 - 4 / .636 - Over 55 RPI
1 - 0 / 1.000% ... 9 - 2 / .818 - New England games
0 - 0 / .000 % .... 14 - 10 / .583 % - AAC regular season
0 - 0 / .000% .... 2 - 2 / .500 - AAC tourney


Post season Criteria
(1) 7 -6 / .538 ..... 37-22 / .617 - Overall record

(2) 8 .... <50- RPI

(3) Top 4 AAC - Not yet applicable


CHART Code
red = below goal
green = at or above goal
black = not yet applicable

1. UHa game postponed.

2. To be clear, the MSU series is at a neutral site, not road games (although, to be fair, they will be "away" from Storrs).

 

[ucjoet]

Always good to start series with a win. I have a feeling this weekend is going to be a battle of bullpens. Obviously need our bats to be on, I think we are going to need to score some runs. Sweeping would get "Our Chart" to basically all Green. But need to take at least 2.

Go Huskies



Current record.. season goal
3 - 3 / .500% .... 5 - 4 / .556 - Top 55 RPI
4 - 3 / .571% .... 7 - 4 / .636 - Over 55 RPI
1 - 0 / 1.000% ... 9 - 2 / .818 - New England games
0 - 0 / .000 % .... 14 - 10 / .583 % - AAC regular season
0 - 0 / .000% .... 2 - 2 / .500 - AAC tourney


Post season Criteria
(1) 8 -6 / .571 ..... 37-22 / .617 - Overall record

(2) 7 .... <50- RPI

(3) Top 4 AAC - Not yet applicable


CHART Code
red = below goal
green = at or above goal
black = not yet applicable

 

[ucjoet]

Nice easy win for once. Hopefully we did not use all of our runs for the day. Lets get the sweep.

Go Huskies



Current record.. season goal
3 - 3 / .500% .... 5 - 4 / .556 - Top 55 RPI
5 - 3 / .625% .... 7 - 4 / .636 - Over 55 RPI
1 - 0 / 1.000% ... 9 - 2 / .818 - New England games
0 - 0 / .000 % .... 14 - 10 / .583 % - AAC regular season
0 - 0 / .000% .... 2 - 2 / .500 - AAC tourney


Post season Criteria
(1) 9 -6 / .600 ..... 37-22 / .617 - Overall record

(2) 6 .... <50- RPI

(3) Top 4 AAC - Not yet applicable


CHART Code
red = below goal
green = at or above goal
black = not yet applicable

 

[ucjoet]

Great double header win today. Pitching been superb and we are scoring runs. Lets get a sweep tomorrow, and we should be on verge of being ranked. We are tied for least amount of losses in AAC at 6, we have lowest RPI at 15 in AAC, and we have best winning % vs Q1 teams in AAC.

Plus our the most important factor (LOL), Chart below is almost all green.

Go Huskies.



Current record.. season goal
3 - 3 / .500% .... 5 - 4 / .556 - Top 55 RPI
6 - 3 / .667% .... 7 - 4 / .636 - Over 55 RPI
1 - 0 / 1.000% ... 9 - 2 / .818 - New England games
0 - 0 / .000 % .... 14 - 10 / .583 % - AAC regular season
0 - 0 / .000% .... 2 - 2 / .500 - AAC tourney


Post season Criteria
(1) 10 -6 / .625 ..... 37-22 / .617 - Overall record

(2) 15 .... <50- RPI

(3) Top 4 AAC - Not yet applicable


CHART Code
red = below goal
green = at or above goal
black = not yet applicable

 

[ucjoet]

Was out for afternoon and not able to follow game. But am ecstatic that we won 6-1, and swept series. This was huge. Can't remember us sweeping a 4 game weekend ( i realize usually don't play 4), but this is impressive. Going to go back to thread later to catch up on what happened. Looking almost all green below. Appropriate for St. Patrick's day.

Go Huskies


Current record.. season goal
3 - 3 / .500% .... 5 - 4 / .556 - Top 55 RPI
7 - 3 / .700% .... 7 - 4 / .636 - Over 55 RPI
1 - 0 / 1.000% ... 9 - 2 / .818 - New England games
0 - 0 / .000 % .... 14 - 10 / .583 % - AAC regular season
0 - 0 / .000% .... 2 - 2 / .500 - AAC tourney


Post season Criteria
(1) 11 -6 / .647 ..... 37-22 / .617 - Overall record

(2) 17 .... <50- RPI

(3) Top 4 AAC - Not yet applicable


CHART Code
red = below goal
green = at or above goal
black = not yet applicable

 

[HuskyHawk]

Very exciting weekend. Those two losses to College of Charleston are the only real negative on the season.

Need to keep momentum going and beat UVA. And please, please learn how to dominate those mid-week non-conference games. Those have held us back in recent years.

 

[huskymedic]

Interesting early view of UConn (from RPI perspective): Connecticut Huskies Nitty Gritty Report & Team Sheet 2019 College Baseball - WarrenNolan.com

 

[ucjoet]

Very exciting weekend. Those two losses to College of Charleston are the only real negative on the season.

Need to keep momentum going and beat UVA. And please, please learn how to dominate those mid-week non-conference games. Those have held us back in recent years.

HuskyHawk, I totally agree. In past we have had trouble winning mid-week games and had some terrible losses. These games usually don't do a great deal to help you when you win, but they do big damage when you lose. Hopefully with what seems like a deeper team, we can take care of business for mid-week games

Go Huskies

 

[dbmill]

And please, please learn how to dominate those mid-week non-conference games. Those have held us back in recent years.

But not last season. UConn dominated the New England non-conference games last season, going 8-1-1 (loss to Rhode Island, tie to Bryant, which always seems to have a solid team) in a weather reduced schedule. Given the oddness of baseball where an inferior team seems to always have a shot against a better team, that's an excellent record.

 

[HawkHusky]

Friday: Feole, Saturday: Kersten, Sunday: Wang/Haus

That leaves one of Wang/Haus along with Simeone & Dunlop for midweek New England games. I think those guys will be able to get the job done.

 

[huskymedic]

Sometimes I too forget ECU is in the AAC.

Obviously so does Fear the Wave - they left ECU @ #62 off their tweet.

 

[huskymedic]

Sometimes I too forget ECU is in the AAC.

Obviously so does Fear the Wave - they left ECU @ #62 off their tweet.

Fixed...

 

[dbmill]

Friday: Feole, Saturday: Kersten, Sunday: Wang/Haus

That leaves one of Wang/Haus along with Simeone & Dunlop for midweek New England games. I think those guys will be able to get the job done.

This is purely a guess, but based on his solid performance this past weekend I think Haus will start this Sunday. Jimmy Wang also did very well in his first start, but I'm inclined to go a little slower with him and not throw him to the wolves in a starting role against conference opponents. Wang is still very new to college baseball, and just hasn't pitched all that much since high school.

Of course, Coach Penders definitely has a tendency to try to stick young talented pitchers into the weekend starting rotation as quickly as possible, but in Jimmy Wang's case, I think he needs some time to develop and grow into this role. Obviously, we'll see in which direction Penders goes on this.

After this weekend, two weekday starters will be needed. Assuming he doesn't blow up in his presumed start against Virginia, I would think one will be Colby Dunlop, who has done well with his last two relief stints. I think the other will be Jimmy Wang. The weekday starting assignments are a great little training ground for future weekend starters, and I think that is where Jimmy Wang will eventually land, whether it is later this season or next season. Joe Simeone returns to the bullpen where he sounded very comfortable in his relief stint this past weekend.

As I have said before, the starting rotation is a work in progress, but after this past weekend, I'm encouraged that it is heading in the right direction. It may not be great, but I expect it to be at the very least serviceable. Both Haus and Wang got into the 5th inning in their last starts over the weekend, hopefully they just need to build their arm strength to be able to go a bit longer than that.

 

[businesslawyer]

This is purely a guess, but based on his solid performance this past weekend I think Haus will start this Sunday. Jimmy Wang also did very well in his first start, but I'm inclined to go a little slower with him and not throw him to the wolves in a starting role against conference opponents. Wang is still very new to college baseball, and just hasn't pitched all that much since high school.

Of course, Coach Penders definitely has a tendency to try to stick young talented pitchers into the weekend starting rotation as quickly as possible, but in Jimmy Wang's case, I think he needs some time to develop and grow into this role. Obviously, we'll see in which direction Penders goes on this.

After this weekend, two weekday starters will be needed. Assuming he doesn't blow up in his presumed start against Virginia, I would think one will be Colby Dunlop, who has done well with his last two relief stints. I think the other will be Jimmy Wang. The weekday starting assignments are a great little training ground for future weekend starters, and I think that is where Jimmy Wang will eventually land, whether it is later this season or next season. Joe Simeone returns to the bullpen where he sounded very comfortable in his relief stint this past weekend.

As I have said before, the starting rotation is a work in progress, but after this past weekend, I'm encouraged that it is heading in the right direction. It may not be great, but I expect it to be at the very least serviceable. Both Haus and Wang got into the 5th inning in their last starts over the weekend, hopefully they just need to build their arm strength to be able to go a bit longer than that.

Th problem with the starts last weekend wasn't Haus and Wang. It wa Mason and Kirsten.

 

[dbmill]

Th problem with the starts last weekend wasn't Haus and Wang. It wa Mason and Kirsten.

I don't think there is any question that Feole and Kersten are staying in the rotation for now. I was commenting on who was coming after them. Haus and Wang were the bigger question marks considering they had one UConn career start between them. Feole is still coming back and getting into pitching form. I'm not worried about him. Kersten gave up 4 runs in his start, but after his early rough patch in the 2nd inning he settled down and was able to get through 6 innings, and that definitely counts for something.

 

[ucjoet]

Thinking about what we need to do the next 4 games to have a possibility of being ranked. Without any research, I felt winning 3 of 4 would do the trick. But I think we need to sweep to have a shot. I based this on teams in front of us having decent weeks. Obviously if many lose big, that would change things.

Teams currently ranked 21 -25 in Baseball America and NCAA/ D1 Baseball.com, have an average winning % of .744 and RPI of 66. If we were to win our next 4 games, our record would be 15-6 (.714) and our RPI should still be below 20. Also we would have won 10 of last 11. This would all be accomplished without playing a home game.

That should get us good consideration for a top 25 ranking. With that being said, I would sign up for a 3-1 week right now.

Go Huskies

 

[huskymedic]

Conference play is shaping up to be incredible:

 

[huskymedic]

Very early but...

Baseball America: 2019 NCAA Baseball Tournament Projected Field of 64 (3/20/19)

UConn projected as a #2 seed in the Fayetteville Arkansas Regional.

ECU as a #1 and Houston as a #2 also projected in. UCF projected as next four out...

 

[businesslawyer]

Conference play is shaping up to be incredible:

That, or you fell for a misleading headline. What if the headline were the more relevant "AAC goes 1-4 in non-league play." Our league is lower rated by RPI than it was last year. Doesn't mean it isn't a good league, but broadcasting good wins and ignoring bad losses doesn't tell anyone anything.

 

[huskymedic]

That, or you fell for a misleading headline. What if the headline were the more relevant "AAC goes 1-4 in non-league play." Our league is lower rated by RPI than it was last year. Doesn't mean it isn't a good league, but broadcasting good wins and ignoring bad losses doesn't tell anyone anything.

Rated lower same time period YOY? AAC is sitting @ #5 now, I think they touched #4 last year but not till late in the season.

 

[businesslawyer]

Rated lower same time period YOY? AAC is sitting @ #5 now, I think they touched #4 last year but not till late in the season.

No, just noting the conference at the moment is rated one slot lower than where I remember it being last year.

My prior post probably came out more harshly than I meant it. Thank you for the link. My point, having nothing to do with you and directed at the AAC, is it takes politician level disingenuousness to have a positive headline on a night the conference went 1-4.

 

[HawkHusky]

4 bids in a 9 team league is pretty good.

 

[gtcam]

4 bids in a 9 team league is pretty good.

Totally agree
But pales in comparative to ACC and B10 Basketball!!!

 

[huskymedic]

Totally agree
But pales in comparative to ACC and B10 Basketball!!!

Huh?

 

[dbmill]

Rated lower same time period YOY? AAC is sitting @ #5 now, I think they touched #4 last year but not till late in the season.

If my memory from last year is correct, you are right. It seems to me every year the AAC RPI tends to rise a bit as the season progresses.

I also think there is a value in reporting these top 25 victories. One of the metrics for NCAA tourney selection seems to be wins over highly rated teams. As long as you don't have a bunch of losses to VERY lowly rated teams to cancel it out, it does seem to help in getting selected to the tourney.