D1 Baseball Super Regional Preview: Starkvegas Edition

[Big4Dawg]

I'll share some interesting/funny quotes from an un-named coach about us.

"You only need two words out of me about Mississippi State, and that's, 'Jake Mangum.' Period. I've never seen anything like that before. I've seen some good guys, but I've never seen anything like that.How do you get Mangum out? Make him hit righthanded is your best chance. They've got that damn turf in front of the plate, they know it, they use it, and it's a factor."

"They're pretty athletic, and Reid Humphreys, the left fielder who closes now, is a lot more physical than he used to be. It’s real noticeable how much bigger some of these guys are from last year, that includes the closer."

"(Jack) Kruger’s a good player too. I’m so friggin’ stressed out when Mangum's up, then I’m worried about Lowe on deck, but you look at Kruger's numbers, they’re pretty good."

"Gavin Collins almost kind of lulls you to sleep over there at third base ‘ you don’t think he knows what he’s doing then he makes a great play."

"Robson and Mangum back-to-back early on was working for them, but since Robson came back (from injury), I think Coach Cohen’s pretty smart to have him in the middle. It’s almost like lineup A and lineup B. Would I take Mangum over him’ Yes, but there’s not much disparity. Lineup B is pretty good too, and he kind of kickstarts it. I’ve always thought Cohen was one of the better guys I’ve observed with coaching them up, using their speed, using their strike zone."

"Robson was really frustrating for us with the ground he covers out there. Their center field probably plays bigger than any center field in our conference, and he really frustrated our hitters."

"And I’m not sending a runner on Reid Humphreys."

"Austin Sexton has loads of athleticism, and presence out the ass. The game comes slow to him. He’s got a real good feel for how to use pitches and how to locate."

"We saw (Zac) Houston, it was a really big fastball but it was a little erratic."

"Konnor Pilkington is gonna be really good; good freshman arm, big kid. Kind of all or nothing, really high energy. I think it worked against him on that particular day. He wore himself out, a lot of balls middle."

"Ryan Rigby was awful for us to hit, that wasn’t fun. To be throwing that velo down there, 89-91 from that low slot, that wasn’t fair."

"I think the only team that can beat Florida is probably Florida. But I think if you take Florida out of the equation, Mississippi State is the Las Vegas favorite. The other thing they have going on is the mojo, you can just feel it. Finishing last last year, Mangum being what he is this year, they just seem to have that mojo, like Fresno State when they pulled it out, or Virginia, lost it (in the CWS Finals) the year before, you could tell they had a little bit of an edge last year. That’s like Mississippi State this yea."