Non-Conference Baseball Round Up!

Hello, it's me.

These recaps are probably going to look somewhat different than they did last season, so bear with me as I play around with layout and stuff.  Experiments are fun, right?  #Science.

ANYWAY.

Baylor Baseball Did A Thing!

The Bears opened play with a series against Washington.  They lost 1, smashed 1, and dropped the Sunday rubber match.  On Wednesday, they faced the UTA Mavericks and dropped a big one, failing to overcome a rough pitching game.  They swept the second series against Stony Brook, scoring 42 runs in 3 games.  What.  Even.

Before I get too far, let me urge you to not read too much into these wins against SBU.  SBU, while they may have advanced to the NCAA Fort Worth Regional last year (and made it to the CWS in 2012), is really not that good.  Do NOT read too much into these clobberin's.  That said, they provided a good springboard for this team to build up some momentum and confidence, especially at bat.

This momentum translated into two more wins: one at SHSU, and one at (then #21) U of H.  ROAD WINS!  Road wins are great in any sport, but a road win in baseball is something special, because the mechanics of various ballparks differ just enough to cause bobbles for visiting teams.  (This is obviously a much bigger factor in The League: see also the weird hill thing in Minute Maid, the Green Monster at Fenway...I digress.) But then...

Baylor Baseball Did Not Do A Thing! :(

First, U of H is a really good team.  They are strong, and have a great pitching staff to go with their smokin' batters.  We're in the inaugural season of a new coach.  There's been a lot of upheaval.  Things are changing, and this season is probably going to be somewhat shambly.  It.  Happens.  The past three games (10-4, 11-2, 12-3 losses to UH, UH, Texas State, respectively) have shown that these Bears sometimes get out-batted.  Our bullpen at the moment isn't quite as strong as our bats.  Patience, my young padawan, it will come.

So....?

What difference has Coach Rod made immediately?  This team is much better at the plate than the team last year.  It's difficult to put my finger on, but I think it's confidence more than anything.  A confident hitter is much more likely to do something at the plate than a meek hitter.  The guys this year are more attacking their time at the plate than last season, which is something

A positive to take away from these losses is this: long gone are the 2-hit, 0-run games.  These Bears are able to get around the diamond and score.  They do offense things.  The number of homers during the entirety of last season? 17 (including the 5 from the Big 12 Tournament).  This season?  The guys have been through 12 games and have 8 homers.  Things are looking up.

Next:

The Bears play 4 games in 3 days at Baylor Ballpark this weekend.  That's a lot of baseball in a short period of time: the way life should be.

Don't count these Bears out of wins--they'll likely surprise you.

--XOXO, KimboSmash

PS. I'll (hopefully) be posting these more often, but big girl life gets real busy real quick, so...bear with me.  :)