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Zips Baseball


Staton14

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I'm a huge baseball fan so I pay more attention to the Zips baseball team than most on the board do. Anyways, I thought we could start a thread to discuss anything noteworthy that may happen, such as them beating NCAA Tournament participant (last year) Saint Louis University earlier tonight.

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Did they!? Epic! I remember last year every time I looked at how baseball was doing, they were on the heels of some sort of losing streak. :(

Are there any major changes to the team this year that make it more apt to compete in both inside and outside of conference play?

No major changes, just a more experienced team. I think they only lost 1 starter on offense from last year.All of their main pitchers in both the rotation and the bullpen are back as well. Still gonna be tough at times as it always is, especially out of conference, for northern teams but they have a good chance at qualifying for the MAC tournament for the first time since 2005 (only 8 of the 12 teams qualify).

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  • 2 weeks later...

Zips baseball won 2 of 3 this weekend in Tennessee, beating Austin Peay and UW-Milwaukee by the scores of 10-0 and 13-5. The Zips are now 6-6 this season. It took them 12 games to get their first win last season. Definitely improved from last year.

Is their schedule easier this season?

I'd be more inclined to follow Zips baseball if they had actual stands to watch the games from. Or lights so they can play in the evening. Or a field that doesn't flood after a mild drizzle. Or if they played a home game before their season was already half over.

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Is their schedule easier this season?

I'd be more inclined to follow Zips baseball if they had actual stands to watch the games from. Or lights so they can play in the evening. Or a field that doesn't flood after a mild drizzle. Or if they played a home game before their season was already half over.

Well the late home opener isn't their fault, and is the norm for college teams in the north. As far as the field goes, I agree. The field is pretty awful. They seemed to be moving to playing more games at Canal Park but this year they only play three games there and none of the are even conference games.

In regards to the schedule, its certainly easier because last year they opened against three very good, power conference teams (Georgia Tech, Louisville, and Kentucky). But they also lost plenty of games last year against below average teams. And they have already beat a couple teams this season who were in the NCAA tournament last year.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I went to the game at Ohio State last night and I must say that despite losing 6-5 in 11 innings, I saw a lot of good things from the Zips. Even though I have seen them have better results against OSU this was the most confident I have seen a Zips team. At times in the past I thought they seemed almost intimidated but definitely not last night. They fought and clawed for every run as did OSU. The difference in the game was really Akron overthrowing errors to first base (especially a couple of times when the ball was a bunt or dribbler down the third base line that only traveled about 40 or 50 feet), which could be as much the fault of being a little over-amped as much as anything.

I just hope this team makes the MAC tourney this year and my prediction is that they will. They certainly have the ability to do it and once you get there you never know what might happen.

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I went to the game at Ohio State last night and I must say that despite losing 6-5 in 11 innings, I saw a lot of good things from the Zips. Even though I have seen them have better results against OSU this was the most confident I have seen a Zips team. At times in the past I thought they seemed almost intimidated but definitely not last night. They fought and clawed for every run as did OSU. The difference in the game was really Akron overthrowing errors to first base (especially a couple of times when the ball was a bunt or dribbler down the third base line that only traveled about 40 or 50 feet), which could be as much the fault of being a little over-amped as much as anything.

I just hope this team makes the MAC tourney this year and my prediction is that they will. They certainly have the ability to do it and once you get there you never know what might happen.

I saw that they had two chances to close out the game (in the 9th and 11th innings) but couldn't get it done. Nonetheless, they played a good game against a good, power conference team. Ohio State is currently 12-6 and have beaten a couple top 25 teams already this year. I expect the Zips to make the MAC tournament this year, which would be a big step in the right direction.

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The home opener is on Friday, with a double-header against EMU starting at 1:00 at the retention basin Lee Jackson Field.

I walked by the field a couple days ago and it didn't look to be in good shape. They were blowing leaves off the field and cutting the grass (which is still brown and dead) but it was in bad shape. Not that this is anyone's fault, it was an extremely harsh winter. I was watching St. John's baseball earlier today and their field was also still brown. More teams in the north need to invest in artificial surfaces (like the ZIps have played on the last two days at Ohio State and Pittsburgh) but that obviously isn't a concern of the university right now.

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I imagine most fields north of the Mason Dixon line are facing the same problems. It's March 20th and we just had one of the worst winters ever.

And turf? Man, seems sacrilegious. You get games in and true hops every time and all but I guess I'm old school. I don't consider it a baseball game unless I come home and my jersey is a smelly mix of brownish green.

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I imagine most fields north of the Mason Dixon line are facing the same problems. It's March 20th and we just had one of the worst winters ever.

And turf? Man, seems sacrilegious. You get games in and true hops every time and all but I guess I'm old school. I don't consider it a baseball game unless I come home and my jersey is a smelly mix of brownish green.

I feel the same way but at least they would be able to get more home games in.

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Apparently they managed to get in a game today. Zips beat EMU 6-3.

Yeah after they postponed the games yesterday around 2, they decided to play one after all starting at 4:30. They are playing a doubleheader today so they don't have to play tomorrow when its supposed to be below freezing.

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EMU was rated higher than Akron last season, though I don't think they played each other. To take the series from them is a good sign.

They took the third game of the series as well, 6-0. Myles McVeigh made his first start since 2012, after missing last year with an injury, and let up 1 hit in 6 innings. Zips now 10-10 (3-0 MAC).

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I imagine most fields north of the Mason Dixon line are facing the same problems. It's March 20th and we just had one of the worst winters ever.

And turf? Man, seems sacrilegious. You get games in and true hops every time and all but I guess I'm old school. I don't consider it a baseball game unless I come home and my jersey is a smelly mix of brownish green.

I don't mind turf instead of grass, especially if your city is known as the Rubber City, but I didn't really like what Ohio State does. The dirt portion of the infield should still be real dirt and not carpet as well.

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