I've noticed that it appears as though Brett is giving up harder contact than he typically does. He's still able to lock in and strike guys out (30% K-rate), but when opponents make contact they're hitting .421 BABIP (Batting Average on Balls In Play), which is an absurd increase from his BABIP in the previous 2 seasons. This means when the ball is hit in play, hitters are getting on base almost half the time. Which likely means they're barreling the ball well and getting good exit velo's. BABIP is more typically in the low to mid .300 range for college pitchers. If hitters make contact against Brett, it is not typically weak contact. Weak contact is usually found in having a high ground ball rate. In previous seasons, Brett has carried a 41-44% ground ball rate. He's currently carrying a 22% ground ball rate. I'm not sure what is causing this dropoff, but combined with the high BABIP, it would appear opponents are currently hitting the ball well against him. We typically have a good infield and this helps if you have pitchers with high ground ball rates to get quick, easy outs. That doesn't seem to be happening as much this year. The Hokies currently have a 0.53 double plays per game rate. Thats worse than more than 200 teams in college baseball. The team isn't able to get easy outs or outs in bunches when they need them. If the Hokies are going to limit damage and minimize the runs scored against them in future games, they need to draw more ground balls and utilize their infield to get easy outs and reduce pitch counts. There's a lot of season left and there are plenty of issues that need to be addressed. I think pitching to weak contact is going to help a lot, even if it means we get less strikeouts.