BB: NESCAC: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Rick Vaughn]

Who will Tufts throw this afternoon? 

I also wouldn't be shocked if Trinity went out and sent a message to NE by dominating the tourney from the start.  I will be rooting for the home team, but it is tough to pick anyone but the Bantams.  Now the weather in the Berkshires needs to cooperate, hopefully there won't be any tripleheaders this year.
  

This is looking to be very true.  I'd assume Janiga to throw today.  Against Williams yesterday, Trin played pretty poorly (4 E's, Bayer walked 5) and still won easily.  They just know how to win.  The best example of this was when Williams cut the lead to 3 runs in the sixth.  Trin immediately went out scored the next half to extend the lead back to 4. 

[Nuke LaLoosh]

You'll probably see a committee, Mike Stefaniak didn't throw too much Friday so he will most likely throw at some point.

[Stump]

Did Trinity really survive committing 8 errors?   Wow!

[ECSUalum]

Looks like the big D may be the Bantams achilles heal, I think thier team FP is 0.945 ish.

Pitching is excellent and they can certainly hit!!!

[dgilblair]

Looks like the big D may be the Bantams achilles heal, I think thier team FP is 0.945 ish.

Pitching is excellent and they can certainly hit!!!

That can be said about a few of the top ranked teams.

After looking at the feilding % of the top ten or so teams it appears I was wrong, all with the exception of ECSU (.949) and Trinity are in the .960's one was .958 I think.  I guess exactly when E's come has a lot to do with it hurting you or not.  A .968 team can still make an error in a big spot as well as a .940 team can.

[ECSUalum]

D, 

Maybe look at total runs - Earned runs, (unearned), divided by total runs or calculate unearned run average:

Player   era    w-l  app-gs  cg  sho  sv  ip         h      r      er    bb    so   2b  3b  hr  ab    b/avg
Totals   3.09  34-6  40-40  0    3/3  8  349.0  301  173  120 129  377  64  3  15  1319  .228 
For ECSU as of today:
53 unearned runs/173 total runs =  .306  (lower is better)
Unearned run average = 1.37

Totals  5.09  35-7  42-42   3    2/0  6  359.0  402  249  203  159  302  79  3  25  1439  .279
For USM as of today
46 unearned runs/249 total runs = .185
Unearned run average = 1.15

Could run the numbers on top 10 teams for example.

Or calculate some kind of ratio using total unearned runs and total team errors??

Any flaws in this?
Just some thoughts

Sorry NESCAC fans, this probably should be in LEC thread

[ECSUalum]

Interesting,

While I  was posting above, CBS 60 Minutes was running a article on Bill James, the Red Sox Statistical Guru

Pretty cool guy 8)

[dgilblair]

D, 

Maybe look at total runs - Earned runs, (unearned), divided by total runs or calculate unearned run average:

Player   era    w-l  app-gs  cg  sho  sv  ip         h      r      er    bb    so   2b  3b  hr  ab    b/avg
Totals   3.09  34-6  40-40  0    3/3  8  349.0  301  173  120 129  377  64  3  15  1319  .228 
For ECSU as of today:
53 unearned runs/173 total runs =  .306  (lower is better)
Unearned run average = 1.37

Totals  5.09  35-7  42-42   3    2/0  6  359.0  402  249  203  159  302  79  3  25  1439  .279
For USM as of today
46 unearned runs/249 total runs = .185
Unearned run average = 1.15

Could run the numbers on top 10 teams for example.

Or calculate some kind of ratio using total unearned runs and total team errors??

Any flaws in this?
Just some thoughts

Sorry NESCAC fans, this probably should be in LEC thread

Your scaring me now Alum......you trying to be the next Bill James?

[ECSUalum]

Maybe I will ask coach H to be the ECSU stat guru as part of his recruiting program

This subject interesting, as very important to pick the future "All Americans" for ECSU.   Or for any team for that matter.

James advises BoSox who to draft, who to sign, who to resign, (ie they think he recommended not resigning Pedro and J. Damon based on his stats that say best years are 25-29 yrs old!!  All based on his statistical analysis.  OBP, slugging P were his I believe

[Rick Vaughn]

8 Errors?!?!  Wow! LEC Board guys - I'll forgive you if you give me an unearned run average for Trinity...It would be interesting to see how the three top teams in NE matchup in that fashion. 

Not sure if the poor performance this weekend shows how good this team is at winning time, or how down the NESCAC was this year outside of Trinity.

[ECSUalum]

8 Errors?!?!  Wow! LEC Board guys - I'll forgive you if you give me an unearned run average for Trinity...It would be interesting to see how the three top teams in NE matchup in that fashion. 

Not sure if the poor performance this weekend shows how good this team is at winning time, or how down the NESCAC was this year outside of Trinity.

Player                 ERA   W-L   APP  GS  CG SHO/CBO SV    IP     H      R    ER  BB  SO
Totals..............  2.90  26-5    31     31   7      1/0    1     251.0 206 134  81 112 221
For Trinity as of May 3rd stats off TrinBB website:
53 unearned runs/134 total runs = .396
unearned run average 1.90

[Rick Vaughn]

That is ugly - Graham and Killeen are great defensively, but INF defense is key and Trinity will not repeat in the NE Regional without stepping up their game.

[Stump]

That is ugly - Graham and Killeen are great defensively, but INF defense is key and Trinity will not repeat in the NE Regional without stepping up their game.

Rick-- do you see Trinity staying in NE or going to NY?  I originally thought they'd be shipped to NY but now I'm thinking they stay in NE(keeping them on campus) and USM gets shipped to NY

[JustAFan]

The NESCAC may have been a bit down this year but I saw a bright future for the league this weekend.  Williams batted freshmen at the 1, 2 and 4 spots in its lineup this weekend (Maier, Oliva and Susk)and Susk in particular has the tools to develop into a real power hitter. Plus an Eph freshman (Grossman) threw well in relief against Trinity. Wesleyan started 3 freshmen (Meadow, Rosenblum and Cooper)  and sophomore Julian Sonnenfeld was one of its top hitters this weekend. I thought Wesleyan freshman Brett Yarusi has some of the most electric stuff I've seen in many years in the NESCAC and has the potential to develop into a dominant pitcher. Add in fellow freshman pitcher Mike Barsotti and the Cardinals have some young talent to build upon.

With the exception of Mike Stefaniak, Tufts only pitched sophomores and a freshman all weekend, and started a bunch of freshmen and sophs in the field as well.  And let's not forget that Trinity got it done this weekend with a freshman (Ramsey) and 2 sophs (Yaniga and O'Sullivan-Pierce) on the mound in key situations.  

I'd also note that Amherst has 3-4 of the top young pitchers in the league in sophs Healy, McKenna and Keenan as well as the likely rookie of the year in Heller, Bowdoin is loaded with juniors and sophs, Bates started 5-6 sophs in the field most of the year, and Colby soph Will Hartigan may be one of the most under-appreciated pitchers in the league.  All in all, I think the NESCAC was in transition this year, perhaps down from past years, but not for long with the young talent coming up the ranks.  Trinity's upperclass experience certainly gave it an edge this year, but the Bantam's sloppy and unenthused performance this weekend should be of concern to the Trinity faithful.

Finally, a tip of the hat to the Tufts team for a gritty performance this weekend.  A Tufts parent told me that a bug ran thru the team the past 2 weeks and that Laresche, Rose and O'Donnell were in the infirmary thru Thursday and played sick all weekend but they and their teammates showed a lot of resilience and heart after their opening game shellacking from Williams.  

[ECSUalum]

That is ugly - Graham and Killeen are great defensively, but INF defense is key and Trinity will not repeat in the NE Regional without stepping up their game.

Rick,

For those infielders, it is just about FOCUS,FOCUS,FOCUS. ECSU has to focus as well!

Trinity has the pitching and the bats to keep them competitive in the NE Regionals.

However, what I wonder sometimes is, in Appleton, where the creme of the crop defensively is playing.

IMO, Defense is really the third leg that separates the CWS participant from the CWS National Champion