Packchem91 said:
Alex Gee said:
Packchem91 said:
FLWolf said:
For those that say we don't use Smith on Fridays, this is not a three day weekend. It is managed totally different. We are off today win or lose vs KY. How things were managed during the season really doesn't matter.
Personally, I think you bring Smith in to close in the 9th. Maybe EA preferred Duden vs that part of the line-up?? Who knows but how he managed a 3 game weekend should have no bearing on Friday's strategy.
Agreed, but to say that we didn't use Smith on Fridays was also just wrong. Maybe not all season, but we were using him regularly on Fridays once we turned the season and started winning series over top 10 teams.
And, to your point, we didn't have to worry about overuse today
Nobody is saying he didn't pitch on Fridays ever haha. What I've said this entire time is that it's not black and white here. It's not like we had Fanning on the mound in the ninth. It was freaking Jacob Dudan lol. Who got 3 outs on 6 pitches the inning prior and who everyone here should agree is a damn stud.
They hit 2 home runs off our two best guys. It happens and was unfortunate but it's not some egregious mistake.
You said it was the routine thing to do with Highfill during the season as if that was the normal approach and so justifies pitching Dudan two innings instead of relying on the guy you turned to more than anyone else to win G1.
Brother they relied on Dudan plenty of times to close big games. They relied on him to get Condon out with bases loaded in the super. They relied on him to close out FSU. They relied on him to close out UVA, Wake, UNC
Avent said as such in postgame. It's what we did against Bryant. It's what we did multiple times throughout the year. If Dudan was in for the 8th, he stayed in for the 9th.
ETA: I'm pretty tired of this discussion at this point. We have a stud that has closed out/bailed State out of multiple jams this season and had a really nice 8th so they ran him out for the 9th. We would be thrilled if he went 1,2,3 and we'd be talking about how fresh we were for the rest of the tourney.
Instead both guys who have been excellent for State give up home runs. Would Smith have won it in the 9th? Who the hell knows? That conversation is as dumb to me as "we should've thrown it instead of run it on that 4th down" or "well if he didn't sac bunt he could've hit a 3 run home run". We don't know that. Players make plays. It's not an egregious decision to leave Dudan out there when there's a track record for doing so