Okay, deep breath.
First off, I want to toss you over to a great post from my friend [and fellow UVA sports blogger] Mike, who breaks down the decision to start Danny Hultzen on Sunday against Cal and how it adversely affected our game against South Carolina last night. Cocks 7 Hoos 1 There are a couple of really funny lines in there. My favorite:
Now all we can do is hope Tyler Wilson can rise to the challenge and defeat Cal, who according to an ESPN report has Jesus Christ on the mound with the Pope and the President of the United States in relief for the next game. Hopefully they’ve run out of montauges for this game and we can actually hear about the game instead of how terrible California’s state budget is.
Secondly... I'm personally having a hard time wrestling with the way I feel about last night's loss. It was the worst game we've played all season. Shaky pitching, bad defense, no hitting. But I can't really be too scathing, because we're playing in Omaha in the College World Series with a team that twelve months ago, I thought would be lucky to even make the NCAA Tournament, and a team that nine days ago was down to its last out with two strikes before miraculously rallying to defeat UC Irvine in the Super Regional. "Playing with house money" I believe is the term, and I think it applies.
This team had a GREAT season, but how great is this team, really? I think a lot of our success this season came from smoke and mirrors, especially offensively. I don't want to say we're in the process of being quote-unquote exposed here in the CWS, but I also don't think we have the bats to hang with these upper-crust SEC teams.
Look, this is hard for me to write and it will be hard for you to read. But it needs to be said and it needs to be understood. We are not going to beat South Carolina. If we get past California on Thursday night, we'd then need to beat the Gamecocks on Friday AND Saturday to advance to the championship series. It's not going to happen. I'm not being pessimistic, I'm being realistic.
We'll be pitching Tyler Wilson against Cal. Then Hultzen takes the mound against the Cocks on Friday. If we win that one, who starts on Saturday? Will Roberts (who threw 62 pitches last night and should be able to go on four day's rest, but who got shelled last night by South Carolina)? Winiarski? Johnny Wholestaff?
I'll say it again -- We are not going to beat South Carolina. We are not going to play in the championship series. We are not going to win the national championship.
Come to grips with that today. Reconcile the reality of the situation. Then settle into this...
We need to beat Cal tomorrow night, crush them, end their cute little story, and terminate ESPN's annoying over-the-top love affair with that team.
We need to give South Carolina all it can handle. With our ace on the bump on Friday, and playing with our backs against the wall, we need to win that game and force a decisive game on Saturday. That puts the pressure on the Gamecocks.
We've done it all year, and we have one more chance -- we need to bounce back from adversity. Prove the character of this team and the resolve of this program to force its way into the group of college baseball elite.
Nothing to lose, everything to gain, it's time to go balls out.
GO HOOS!
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