Peyton Holt's deke, A&M-UGA craziness, fungo golf + Indiana State • D1Baseball
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What a week it was in college baseball. We've seen guys like AJ Gracia set the record for RBIs (44) in a single season by a Duke freshman, to Charlie Condon breaking Georgia's single-season home run record (29) and home run record (54) in one. the swing of the bat. We also saw a 17-run game in the first inning in college baseball nightmare fashion, so let's start there.
Georgia and Texas A&M Don't Care About Your Pitch Clock
This is an absolute nightmare for every college baseball team. The best outcome you can hope for after a game like this is to completely forget it ever happened. Win, lose, or draw, it's just a tough feeling to spend that much time in the first inning. It's like when you go to a buffet you enjoy going to and fill your first plate with nothing but noodles and chicken. That's a heavy plate to go through, and subsequent plates are likely to be much less in quality. For the Georgia Bulldogs, that's exactly what happened, they went to the buffet and loaded up on carbs instead of looking for a small portion, high flavor, sampler plate. I say all of this to say that Georgia got all of its points early and after going up 9-0 in the first, Texas A&M kept filling the plate, ended up with 19 runs to their name by the time the check cashed, and were back in the car loosening their seat belts (post culture a buffet unlike any other).
Although as a player it was difficult, as a fan I had a great time. The hype that went into this matchup was on full display and within the first 55 minutes fans were able to witness names like Corey Collins, Fernando Gonzalez, Charlie Condon, Jace LaViolette, Ted Burton, and Travis Chestnut all walk off the court.
No one summed it up better than a good friend of the program, Texas A&M's Hayden Schott: “I've never seen an inning of baseball like that in my life. It was the scariest and most exciting hour of one-inning baseball I've ever been a part of or seen.” Seeing what we've achieved this season, I can only imagine what the environment in the pit was like, but it's safe to say the bogs have been kicked out and we're glad everyone made it through.
Also, just a quick tip of the hat to Georgia Starter Brian Zeldin, who pitched a no-hitter and gave up some runs, then limited the nation's best team to one run over the next 5 innings. That is not done easily and is honestly huge for the team's success.
Peyton Holt, Deke Heard Around the World
College baseball is great because every weekend there is a new game that makes us think, wait for what just happened, and this was one of those games. This is the kind of play you need to watch a few times to fully understand what's going on. This game came out with one out in the eighth inning of the game, the Razorbacks won by one run with the bases loaded. To say it's a game saver is an understatement. It's a standard fly ball to center, and looks like a guaranteed sacrifice fly. As the ball passes overhead and begins to descend, Holt pretends to catch the ball. Moments later the ball landed in his glove and he was able to field the ball to complete the final double play. That was a lot, but the simplified version is, Holt faked a catch before he caught it, causing the Florida runners to be confused as to when to tag, saving the game. If we're being honest, this game was so impressive that it probably made people forget that Peyton's home run at the beginning of the game was the main reason why they had a defensive offense in the first place.
Trees Bend They Don't Break (Hope You Have a Good Arbor Day)
The Indiana State Sycamores have won 16 straight conference games, which should be talked about a lot. The interesting point about that race is that they went 16-0 on Saturday. I need to know more about their killer weekend routine because it clearly works. The streak had the potential to be ended as SIU took the opening game, but naturally on Saturday the tide quickly turned in the Sycamores' favor. Already leading 3-1, redshirt senior Grant Magill stepped up to score a grand slam out of Itchy Jones Stadium. Until Sunday's game, the Fellas held their own, winning the rubber match with a score of 7-2. On Sunday, Magill had a two-run home run to his name, while Luis Hernandez also hit a two-run bomb of his own.
It's hard to imagine a world where Sycamores fall, but if they do, don't be surprised if people try to make a boat out of them… I remember being taught in the second grade that sycamore trees were considered the Ferrari of boats long ago. , so naturally, I needed to work that in there.
Pitchers Are Economically Sound Athletes
Look, I'm like any other American out there and I'm very selfish, I see a 3-for-1 or something and I buy it. You're just losing money if you don't, especially when those guys at Frito Lay are running that 3-for-1 promo on Tostitos Scoops. However, there is a lot to talk about when it comes to this piece. First, why do we include six without leaving the fifth? I thought the point of climbing so high was to find it so I could get close and test how far the human body can run from home. However, in baseball you will hear it a lot, whether from players, coaches, or fans, “The Game Knows”. Is bunt the right call here? Basic baseball production will tell us it's possible.
Cole Carlon on the mound, on the other hand, had different plans, such as an inning-ending triple of 1-3-6. At its core, this game was able to happen because Cole threw a strike, and then allowed the batter to field the ball. Then as soon as he saw him coming up the child was on top of him like a forest cat. He's just going to show you, kids, how to throw strikes and do your job, and the game will reward you from time to time.
(Full disclaimer: I'm not a coach, and I'm sure USC knows what they're doing better than I do. It feels like they're going to make dudes defend bunts in the bottom of the 6th).
Student Manager Fungo US Open
If anyone doubts conference realignment and is upset that Oklahoma and Texas are joining the SEC, this clip is for you. Oklahoma and Texas had weather delays over the weekend with lightning in the area and while both teams sought shelter the student administration made sure any fans on the court got a show. In true “backbone of this nation” style, managers from both Oklahoma and Texas braved the elements to put on a show. Now some answers have said that it's not a good idea to do this because you might get struck by lightning, but the management doesn't care about the risks. The optimists heard that and probably thought, well, we can't either, so they hit the ground running and got to it. As far as I understand, the two Texas managers took the cake to give them some extra love and Chase Anderson, bullpen and Longhorns head coach, for sending this my way!
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