Diamond Dogs Open NCAA Regional by Dropping One-Run Decision to Creighton
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia Bulldogs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Creighton Bluejays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | X | 2 | 7 | 0 |
The Diamond Dogs opened the Corvallis Regional with a game against the Bluejays in which Georgia’s Michael Palazzone and Creighton’s Jonas Dufek put on a pitching clinic for the first half-dozen innings. The Bulldog starter conceded a one-out single in the first frame, a one-out single in the third canto, and a one-out single in the sixth stanza, while the Bluejay hurler surrendered a one-out single in the first, a two-out single in the second, and a leadoff single in the fourth.
The deadlock was broken in the top of the seventh inning, when designated hitter Chase Davidson carded a first-pitch single with one out away and first baseman Jonathan Hester followed it up with an RBI double. The Jays evened the hits at five per side with back-to-back singles to start the bottom of the canto, then tied the runs at one apiece with a one-out base hit down the right field line.
The fourth single of the frame gave Creighton a 2-1 lead before the side at long last was retired, but all the Bulldogs could manage in reply was to go three up and three down to open the eighth stanza. The Bluejays likewise went in order in the bottom of the inning, bringing the Red and Black up to the plate for their final chance at redemption.
This chance, like so many before it, was squandered, as the first two Georgia batters struck out in succession before the last batter flied out to left field to bring down the curtain on a disappointing outing. Michael Palazzone threw a fine game, lasting eight innings in which he struck out five, walked none, and gave up two earned runs on seven hits. Unfortunately, his teammates failed to pull their weight at the plate, as the first five hitters in the Georgia order had three hits and no RBI between them.
Go ‘Dawgs!
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Rats.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
by DavetheDawg on Jun 3, 2011 8:45 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Watched it at a Creighton bar on Omaha...
….not fun.
Let’s win the next one then knock the Jays out in an elimination game.
Need I say, we need more runs.
Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the Dawgs of war; - Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene 1
In case anyone is curious, . . .
. . . Oregon State overcame a 4-0 deficit to win, 7-4, so Georgia will face Arkansas-Little Rock at 4:00 tomorrow.
Go 'Dawgs!
UGA up 1-0 over A-Little Rock, Lead Off Homer in Top of the 1st
Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the Dawgs of war; - Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene 1
And the USA is about to kick off against Spain in about 10 minutes!
In addition, it’s one of Kyle’s favorite kinds of soccer games… a meaningless exhibition!
/ducks
Lineup:
Lihaj, Ream, Gooch, and Spector in back.
Rogers, Jones, Edu, and Bob Bradley’s apparent love-child Kljestan in the middle (how in the **** does Kljestan keep getting on the field).
Agudelo and Altidore up top.
Definitely not our best team. Other than the front 2, it’s a “b” team.
We’re going to get creamed.
And Spain's lineup is an "A" team.
Pique, Raul, Xabi Alonzo, Busquets, David Silva, David Villa, et al.
Good lord, this could get ugly.
Game on ESPN, if anyone else is following.
Kickoff in about 30 seconds.
On a side note, it’s really nice to see that substantial portions of our crowd are pro-USA. That’s not always the case.
Wow, Jermaine Jones looks incredibly sloppy in midfield.
That would figure. We get the German who’s sloppy and inefficient. (Jones was born in Germany to parents who are US citizens.)
Of course, we have a track record for that kind of thing. We have a Brazilian, too… but he’s Benny Feilhaber.
Dogs letting Ark-LR hang around ...
Dogs left 5 on base in first 2 innings …now 2 on nobody out for the Trojans bottom 3rd
Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the Dawgs of war; - Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene 1
Spain scores to go up 1-0...
… but it’s called back on a phantom offsides call. Still scoreless in the 10th minute.
This could get ugly.
Spain scores to go up 2-0...
… but somehow the ball manages to hit the post instead of going into the net after an(other) embarrassing failure by our “b” team defense.
Still scoreless, 14th minute.
Watching Spain play on the field against the USA...
… is kind of like watching Georgia play on the field against Boise State.
/trollgaze
Well, it's still scoreless in the 26th minute.
Given the wide disparity in talent on the field, I didn’t figure we’d make it this long without surrendering a goal. It looks like it’s just a matter of time, though. They’re just leaning on us & waiting for us to make a mistake.
Yep, I jinxed it...
… but not really, since it was clearly just a matter of time.
Cazorla scores on a(nother) horrible embarrassing failure by the “B” team defense. Spain 1-0.
Georgia 1 Ark-LR 0, end of 4
Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the Dawgs of war; - Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene 1
Negredo scores on (guess what)...
… a(nother) horrible embarrassing failure by the "B"ack line. Should be 4-0, but it’s actually just 2-0 to Spain.
Spain is clearly demonstrating that they’re the best team in the world, and we’re clearly demonstrating that we’re a good team with virtually no depth playing our “B” team. And that’s why we’re gettin’ our little behinds’ paddled. Real hard.

3-run Homer B Deloach for the Dogs....5-0 Dogs Still Batting top 5
Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the Dawgs of war; - Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene 1
Cazorla gets a brace...
… Spain up 3-0. Cazorla ran through the defense completely unmarked. They just watched him like he was on their team.
Colorblind?
When does the Gold Cup start up?
"90% of everything is crap. Except crap. 100% of crap is crap."
by Wonton Beef Stew on Jun 4, 2011 5:28 PM EDT up reply actions
The games start tomorrow with Mexico v. El Salvador and Costa Rica v. Cuba.
The USA’s first game is on Tuesday vs. Canada.
Is the USA/Canada game being televised anywhere?
"90% of everything is crap. Except crap. 100% of crap is crap."
by Wonton Beef Stew on Jun 4, 2011 5:46 PM EDT up reply actions
I think the Gold Cup rights are held by Fox.
So it’s likely to be on Fox Soccer Channel. I’ll double-check, though.
Confirmed.
The USA group matches should all be on FSC. The other group-stage matches probably won’t be televised in the U.S. consistently, though you can probably catch the Mexico games on Univision or Telefutura.
First half mercifully ends, Spain up 3-0.
This is maddening. In college football parlance, this is like defending national champion Alabama playing a game against Boise State to start the season, and Boise says, “Ah, screw it, we have a challenging conference schedule coming up. We’ll just sit our starters and only play the second-string guys.”
Boise’s first string would have difficulting being Alabama’s second team. If you reversed it and put Boise’s second team against Alabama’s first team… it would look like Bama was playing Georgia State.
This is where we are. The USA is now playing the part of Georgia State.
Dogs 5, Ark-LR 3 at the end of 5
Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the Dawgs of war; - Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene 1
Well shucks.
"90% of everything is crap. Except crap. 100% of crap is crap."
by Wonton Beef Stew on Jun 4, 2011 5:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Basically, Tim Howard was welded into this position for the entire first half.

He played as well as he possibly could, but his defense failed him on a Willie-Martinez-scale.
The US Soccer team looks good…. and then they play a team from UEFA. It’s at that point we realize what “Good” actually is….
Then again, playing our reserves against what’s essentially Spain’s starting lineup will do that too.
"90% of everything is crap. Except crap. 100% of crap is crap."
by Wonton Beef Stew on Jun 4, 2011 5:36 PM EDT reply actions
Absolutely.
This is a reminder that our confederation is the WAC, or at best the Mountain West, of the soccer world.
When we play our first team against their first team, we have a chance if we play a great game, as we did in the Confederations Cup when we beat Spain 2-0. When we send out a squad that is an afterthought against their first team, though, it gets embarrassing. Quickly. I mean, this is basically the same team that just won the World Cup.
I'm also following the Sports Illustrated live blog of the game...
… here, and one of the SI guys just wrote the following:
To be honest, I’m lost for words in terms of analysis. The U.S. was massively deficient in every single capacity so beyond that, there isn’t much to add.
That pretty much says it all.
Subs at halftime:
Michael Bradley, Steve Cherundolo, Clint Dempsey, Clarence Goodson and (?) Wondolowski on, Jones, Edu, Altidore, Rogers, and Gooch off.
It’s a start.
BTW, as a point of clarification:
In non-exhibition matches, you’re typically allowed only 3 subs all game. Since this is an exhibition, however, the subs are going to basically be unlimited.
And Spain subs in Fernando Torres.
Also known as the “Hell no, we won’t have mercy on you” strategy.
The U.S. subs (almost all from the "A" team) show the bench riders how defense is supposed to be played.
Spain is always going to be dominating, but our defense early in this half has been holding up much better.
It must be improvement.
I don’t watch alot of soccer, but from all the hockey I watch, I’m assuming that it’s a really bad thing concerning seeing Spain basically streak down the midfield at will during the 1st half :-P
"90% of everything is crap. Except crap. 100% of crap is crap."
by Wonton Beef Stew on Jun 4, 2011 5:54 PM EDT up reply actions
Georgia 7, Ark-LR 3 end of 5 1/2. Trojans coming to bat.
Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the Dawgs of war; - Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene 1
Hey! Good news for a change.
"90% of everything is crap. Except crap. 100% of crap is crap."
by Wonton Beef Stew on Jun 4, 2011 5:56 PM EDT up reply actions
I really haven't been paying attention since the World Cup,
but has Altidore done anything significant at all whatsoever since the Confederations Cup?
"90% of everything is crap. Except crap. 100% of crap is crap."
by Wonton Beef Stew on Jun 4, 2011 5:59 PM EDT reply actions
Not really...
… but, in all fairness, neither has any other U.S. striker. It’s hard to fault Agudelo or Altidore in this game, though, when they’ve had such incompetent support behind them for the entire first half.
Our attack has actually looked a little better in the second half. (Which is to say, it exists at all.)
Well, Torres still looks like the Chelsea Torres and not the Liverpool Torres...
… thankfully. He had a 1:1 against Howard for a split second and failed to take a serious shot at all.
Hey, a corner kick!
We did something!!!!!
"90% of everything is crap. Except crap. 100% of crap is crap."
by Wonton Beef Stew on Jun 4, 2011 6:08 PM EDT reply actions
Sadly, you're right.
Getting a corner kick is literally just about the only good thing this team has done all game. We’ve put up a better fight since we subbed in a lot of our “A” team guys in the second half, but when you’re down 3-0 to the World Cup Champions, you’re just playing damage control from that point on.
It’s not as miserable to watch after you’ve downed a couple of Strongbows ya know :-P
"90% of everything is crap. Except crap. 100% of crap is crap."
by Wonton Beef Stew on Jun 4, 2011 6:12 PM EDT up reply actions
I like it.
I am intrigued by your ideas, sir, and would like to subscribe to your newsletter. :-)
Actually, I do have some homemade mead that is just about ready to pop open… might open a bottle just to see if it’s ready. You know, just to test it. Gotta worry about quality control and all.
I take that back….
"90% of everything is crap. Except crap. 100% of crap is crap."
by Wonton Beef Stew on Jun 4, 2011 6:15 PM EDT up reply actions
Oh Torres…
"90% of everything is crap. Except crap. 100% of crap is crap."
by Wonton Beef Stew on Jun 4, 2011 6:15 PM EDT up reply actions
71st minute...
… and it seems clear that Spain have finally decided to have mercy on us. Unless Torres can pull off some kind of magnificent individual effort, 3-0 will be your final score. 19 minutes left in the game.
End of 7, Georgia 7, Ark-LR 3. Georgia batting top of the 8th.
Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the Dawgs of war; - Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene 1
You know that magnificent individual effort by Torres I mentioned?
Well, shit.
4-0 Spain. 74th minute.
Tim Howard's response to the US backfield:

"90% of everything is crap. Except crap. 100% of crap is crap."
by Wonton Beef Stew on Jun 4, 2011 6:22 PM EDT reply actions
Alright.
Mental note taken.
"90% of everything is crap. Except crap. 100% of crap is crap."
by Wonton Beef Stew on Jun 4, 2011 6:26 PM EDT up reply actions
This horrible humiliating disaster has been brought to you by...
… Sunil Gulati and Bob Bradley.
Gulati, who is the President of U.S. Soccer, is first to blame because he made the boneheaded decision to schedule an exhibition game against the World Cup Champions 3 days before the U.S. plays it’s first game in the Gold Cup, which is a tournament that actually matters.
Bob Bradley, the U.S. coach, is responsible because he chose a “B” team starting lineup against the World Cup champions, which led to such a demoralizing, humiliating first half that it could literally cause the team’s confidence and morale to be dragged down for the entire Gold cup tournament.
Make no mistake… if the U.S. fails to make it to the Gold Cup final, this game is the reason.
Top of the 9th, Dogs batting leading Ark-LR 7-3
Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the Dawgs of war; - Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene 1
And that mercifully comes to an end...
"90% of everything is crap. Except crap. 100% of crap is crap."
by Wonton Beef Stew on Jun 4, 2011 6:32 PM EDT reply actions
God that was as about as ugly as I've ever seen the U.S. get beaten.
We should be a better team that that, but today we were just not.
The ref mercifully doesn't add any stoppage time onto the end of the 2nd half.
Final Score, Spain 4, Georgia State 0.
See my analysis 3 posts above this one.
Bottom of the 9th. Trojans come to bat trailing 7-3
Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the Dawgs of war; - Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene 1
3 more outs….
"90% of everything is crap. Except crap. 100% of crap is crap."
by Wonton Beef Stew on Jun 4, 2011 6:40 PM EDT up reply actions
Diamond Dogs win, 7-3!
Thanks to everyone for keeping a thread going today. . . . I spent the day with the fam, so, when I came in and saw nearly 60 new comments in this thread, I thought Rangers1K had shown up and questioned our fandom in the wake of the SEC’s oversigning decision.
I’m glad it was just soccer! :)
Go 'Dawgs!
I’m glad it was just soccer! :)
It’s not exactly high praise, but I’ll take it! Especially after a game like that.
Final UGA 7, Ark-LR 3. Georgia lives for another day.
Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the Dawgs of war; - Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene 1
Woooooooooooooooo

"90% of everything is crap. Except crap. 100% of crap is crap."
by Wonton Beef Stew on Jun 4, 2011 6:46 PM EDT up reply actions

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