On the weekends, college teams play conference games that count toward their shot at making the NCAA tournament.  The games played against conference foes are the most important of the year, and as such call on coaches to put forth their premium lineups.

Typically, a team throws their best starters in order from friday to sunday, and the best relievers get used up in the same fashion.  In a three, and especially a four game series, the Sunday games get awfully interesting due to pitching depth.  

In Major League games the difference between top relievers and lower relievers is not nearly as great as it is in college.  Major leaguers are the top in the world, and every single one can hold his own, or they would not be there.  

In college baseball, the effectiveness of pitchers varies much more as one progresses down the depth chart.  When the top and the middle-tier arms are used up on Friday and Saturday, Sunday often becomes a slugfest, coming down to the talent left in the bullpen.  Teams that are deep in their pitching staffs have the ability to sweep a series, but those who run thin have a tough time finishing with their brooms.

Friday night often features a lower scoring game with a starter going deep, and one reliever finishing off the night.  Friday starters have to be sharp because if they have a rough go early on, coaches know to hook them early to prevent the game from getting out of reach against the opponent’s ace.  

But Sunday games are different.  Final Score: 15-12?  Sounds about right.  On this day a deep start is a dream, and a good long relief outing is worth its weight in gold.

It is interesting to watch the last game of a long weekend series, partly because coaches and players are prepared for an interesting fight.  The mindset is different and everyone understands that giving up runs early is not a death sentence, and that they have to keep playing.  No Sunday game is decided by an early crooked number, and everybody keeps pitching and hitting until the final out.  Its sort of like the way an army isolates an enemy and simply waits for them to deplete their resources.  

This phenomenon is yet another example of how every baseball team needs more and better pitching.  The only team who, on paper, doesn’t seem to be lacking arms is the Red Sox, but then again, the common cure for the stacked staff is the arm injury (see Daisuke Matsuzaka for more details).