Baseball No-Hit Friday Night; Bulls Make History against Army

[Brad]

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No-Hit Friday Night; Bulls Make History against Army 

USF recorded just the fourth no-hitter in program history and first combined; Bulls struck out a program record 22 in shutout win
 

TAMPA, FLA., MARCH 16, 2018 – Redshirt sophomore lefty Shane McClanahan and sophomore righty Carson Ragsdale combined to throw the University of South Florida baseball team’s first combined no-hitter, as the team had a Friday night to remember with its 12-0 series opening win against Army West Point. 

The Bulls (13-6) were well positioned to get their sixth-straight victory when they scored six runs on four hits in the first inning. USF then added runs in the next two innings to lead 8-0 after three.

But the night belonged to McClanahan (Cape Coral, Fla.) and Ragsdale (Wesley Chapel, Fla.), who both had career nights to lead USF to a night that would be etched in program history. The All-American lefty struck out eight-straight at one point, allowing just three walks over 6.0 innings pitched. 

Ragsdale entered in the seventh and immediately struck out a pair, retiring the Black Knights (7-10) in order. He then struck out the side on just 13 pitches in the eighth. Army threatened with a pair of walks in the ninth and a couple long at-bats, but Ragsdale closed the door and completed one of the most memorable nights in USF baseball history.

Up Next

USF and Army will continue the three-game series Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

 

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[BrassBulls12]

Shane was in cruise control all night. Even the runners walked never made it in scoring position with less than two outs. If this was later in the season, it would have just been his no hitter. 

That said Ragsdale looked really good as well. 

All in all, the defense only had to get six outs. It’s easy to win on those kind of nights. 

[JoeB]

14 hours ago, BrassBulls12 said:

Shane was in cruise control all night. Even the runners walked never made it in scoring position with less than two outs. If this was later in the season, it would have just been his no hitter. 

That said Ragsdale looked really good as well. 

All in all, the defense only had to get six outs. It’s easy to win on those kind of nights. 

Doubtful, Shane's problem is he throws too many pitches.  He will never pitch a 9 inning game, especially against greater competition.  I don't think he's ever gone more than 7. 

[BrassBulls12]

Strike out pitchers throw a lot of pitches, it’s the nature of the beast. At some point, he will have to get stretched out. It’s really not even about number of pitches, it’s about the number of stressful pitches. He never needed a strikeout that game, he stayed around 90-91 on his fastball, which is not max effort for him. Did you see him in the dug out after? He up walking around getting balls that accidentally were thrown on the field. He didn’t look like a guy that had fatigued legs. He is going to have to throw for more contact, but he will get past seven this season. If he physically can’t go past 7 innings, then everyone is wrong about him. I just don’t think that many people can be wrong. 

[CousinRicky]

46 minutes ago, BrassBulls12 said:

Strike out pitchers throw a lot of pitches, it’s the nature of the beast. At some point, he will have to get stretched out. It’s really not even about number of pitches, it’s about the number of stressful pitches. He never needed a strikeout that game, he stayed around 90-91 on his fastball, which is not max effort for him. Did you see him in the dug out after? He up walking around getting balls that accidentally were thrown on the field. He didn’t look like a guy that had fatigued legs. He is going to have to throw for more contact, but he will get past seven this season. If he physically can’t go past 7 innings, then everyone is wrong about him. I just don’t think that many people can be wrong. 

Disagree with you there. Non stressful (assume you mean mentally) pitches are still pitches physically.  Pretty sure when Phoenix was pitching with us the number of pitches he threw his last year was being determined by agents/family.  I don't think they were worried about the number thrown in stressful situations.  It was pure pitch count.

[BrassBulls12]

3 minutes ago, Bourbon Bull said:

Disagree with you there. Non stressful (assume you mean mentally) pitches are still pitches physically.  Pretty sure when Phoenix was pitching with us the number of pitches he threw his last year was being determined by agents/family.  I don't think they were worried about the number thrown in stressful situations.  It was pure pitch count.

It is physical. It’s about needing to get out of at- bats and reaching back for more vs just cruising through them. It’s also about the fatigue of your legs. If your legs are tired, you lose you bottom half and must create more velocity with your arm. This increases the torque on your elbow. Now, if his family and agents are getting a say in his use, then there’s nothing that can be done about that. 

https://www.fangraphs.com/plus/hot-stove-u-stress-pitches-vs-pitch-count/

[BrassBulls12]

Also, if the TJ issue is something that interest you, check out the baseball club, I’m posting about a book I read that really breaks down the epidemic. 

Edited March 18, 2018 by BrassBulls12

[JTrue]

I'll go personal on this one, since I can actually give a little bit of insight here (depending on whether you like me or not). I pitched in college. There is a HUGE difference in one pitch from the next. I was a starter my first year and it was a totally different mind and body experience from the my last couple years when I was the closer. My first year, I definitely tried to cruise and rarely bucked up and threw pitches with max effort in the first few innings. Yes, there were times when I humped up a bit and tried to put a little extra on it when guys were on base, etc. and I was going for the strikeout, but generally, you're working at 80% for the first few innings. When you realize you're pushing 100 pitches or so and the coach is thinking about going to the bullpen, you give max effort on a pitch here and there to get through an inning. But if you're pitching in a 5-0 game in the 6th inning, you're on cruise control. Absolutely, pitches in general wear you out, but to say 100 pitches is a 100 pitches is completely wrong. I threw complete games with a lot less effort physically than I did 7 inning starts that were more taxing depending on the score.

 

But to tie this all around to Shane, yeah, he's a strikeout pitcher and he will always throw a ******** more pitches, which is bad overall. Also, when you're throwing for strikeouts, which he typically is, he's going to max out a lot more than a guy who pitches to contact. As a competitor who has someone on the ropes, you're always going to give more effort when you can to get the punch out. No way you can even remotely assume he's getting every K without pushing it a bit when he has 2 strikes on a guy. His mind won't let him keep throwing at 80% or so when he has most of the batters with 2 strikes.

Edited March 19, 2018 by JTrue

[BrassBulls12]

1 hour ago, JTrue said:

No way you can even remotely assume he's getting every K without pushing it a bit when he has 2 strikes on a guy.

He probably does amp it up when he’s got a guy on the ropes, but the development of his change up will help that. I saw him go to it in K situations Friday night with good results. I posted an article a while back where an MLB guy called unhittable at times and it looked like it. He also buckled a lefty with a slider, so his fastball is being used as a set pitch. He has the stuff to only need to reach back when gets behind, or needs a strikeout to get out jams. He really avoided that for the most part on Friday. It really was a game that you could get bored watching because no Army hitter seemed like a threat.