I went to both the Friday night game and yesterday afternoon's game at Goodman Field - home of the Durham Bulls.
- Pitt did not look out of their league at all against Duke in either game. Of course, it helps to have had great starting pitching in both games.
- Duke is loaded with guys from Florida and Georgia in their starting lineup. Really surprised to hear some of the catcalls out of their dugout though - pretty cheap stuff such as hooting at our pitcher with a 3-0 count. Yesterday came calls of "NOONAN" (from Caddyshack) just as our pitcher was going into his windup.
- Really got great pitching yesterday from Sandefur. He had Duke batters really off-balance all day with his breaking stuff. Used his off speed stuff 85% of the time - which made his fastball look all the faster. Hobie Harris also pitched very well.
- On Friday night, TJ threw hard, but Duke also hit him hard at times. For the most part, it was often right at a Panther fielder though. Aaron Schnurbusch is a stud in CF, and made two outstanding catches in the game Friday night.
- Jacob Wright is lightning on the basepaths.
- I thought Coach Jordano was content to play small ball on Friday night and we got a number of guys picked off or caught stealing. I sat directly behind him and the dugout yesterday, and it's also clear he gets frustrated with some of the plays made or not made. To wit: a bunt that was popped up for an easy out by the catcher, a run and hit that was missed by the runner, and a missed double play at first on a line drive caught by LeBlanc at SS.
- Duke did catch Pitt in a pony-league play on Friday night. Down 2-1 with 2 outs in the 5th inning, with Duke at bat and men on 1st and 3rd and the batter with 2 strikes, the runner on first left for second while TJ was still in his stretch. He stepped off in order not to balk, and threw to second. The runner had slowed down as not to be tagged, while the runner from third sprinted home, beating the throw from Le Blanc. TJ struck out the batter at the plate on the very next pitch to end the inning. It was a hail-Mary by Duke, and it worked. It really should not happen at this level.
- Yarnell's homers yesterday were impressive. It's a big park for a left hander. Maldonado's homer went over the high, but shorter left field fence (much like Boston's green monster).
- Not sure if I'll be headed back over to the park again today, but I'll be certain to see at least one of the games next weekend vs NC State.
This post was edited on 3/22 9:34 AM by 20-20Hindsight
- Pitt did not look out of their league at all against Duke in either game. Of course, it helps to have had great starting pitching in both games.
- Duke is loaded with guys from Florida and Georgia in their starting lineup. Really surprised to hear some of the catcalls out of their dugout though - pretty cheap stuff such as hooting at our pitcher with a 3-0 count. Yesterday came calls of "NOONAN" (from Caddyshack) just as our pitcher was going into his windup.
- Really got great pitching yesterday from Sandefur. He had Duke batters really off-balance all day with his breaking stuff. Used his off speed stuff 85% of the time - which made his fastball look all the faster. Hobie Harris also pitched very well.
- On Friday night, TJ threw hard, but Duke also hit him hard at times. For the most part, it was often right at a Panther fielder though. Aaron Schnurbusch is a stud in CF, and made two outstanding catches in the game Friday night.
- Jacob Wright is lightning on the basepaths.
- I thought Coach Jordano was content to play small ball on Friday night and we got a number of guys picked off or caught stealing. I sat directly behind him and the dugout yesterday, and it's also clear he gets frustrated with some of the plays made or not made. To wit: a bunt that was popped up for an easy out by the catcher, a run and hit that was missed by the runner, and a missed double play at first on a line drive caught by LeBlanc at SS.
- Duke did catch Pitt in a pony-league play on Friday night. Down 2-1 with 2 outs in the 5th inning, with Duke at bat and men on 1st and 3rd and the batter with 2 strikes, the runner on first left for second while TJ was still in his stretch. He stepped off in order not to balk, and threw to second. The runner had slowed down as not to be tagged, while the runner from third sprinted home, beating the throw from Le Blanc. TJ struck out the batter at the plate on the very next pitch to end the inning. It was a hail-Mary by Duke, and it worked. It really should not happen at this level.
- Yarnell's homers yesterday were impressive. It's a big park for a left hander. Maldonado's homer went over the high, but shorter left field fence (much like Boston's green monster).
- Not sure if I'll be headed back over to the park again today, but I'll be certain to see at least one of the games next weekend vs NC State.
This post was edited on 3/22 9:34 AM by 20-20Hindsight
