Baseball Team

[preachermatt83]

I?ll start by saying?. I think we have a good chance at being pretty decent and there are glimpses of greatness in several of our players. Frei, Sullivan, Reese, stallman and downs have all looked really really good at times. Our Friday night starting pitcher is legit. Our bullpen I can?t really tell much about. Nolan Stephens and change are both solid. I don?t get this one simple thing considering that??..


We have played 3, at MOST 4 teams with any pulse at all. And all 4 have beaten us. Not even any that are great. Just decent. 2 seeds southern miss and Arizona, 3 seeds okie st and Troy?. So.. what?s our problem?

[CaptainObvious]

I?ll start by saying?. I think we have a good chance at being pretty decent and there are glimpses of greatness in several of our players. Frei, Sullivan, Reese, stallman and downs have all looked really really good at times. Our Friday night starting pitcher is legit. Our bullpen I can?t really tell much about. Nolan Stephens and change are both solid. I don?t get this one simple thing considering that??..


We have played 3, at MOST 4 teams with any pulse at all. And all 4 have beaten us. Not even any that are great. Just decent. 2 seeds southern miss and Arizona, 3 seeds okie st and Troy?. So.. what?s our problem?

Coaching! They cannot evaluate.

Take Frei! We cannot lose his bat in the line up but his hitting cannot make up for his lack of defense where his errors have led to multiple scores for the opp. We continue to trot 10th year Stone Simmons and Hunter Hines out there like the staff owes a loyalty to them for staying! That is a Polk trait, and ai thought we blew that loyalty to players out with the winning formula of playing your best!

Troy started 3 freshmen. 2 at the top of their lineup.
Arizona has a couple of freshmen playing well.
OSU has a freshman who was hitting .476 (10-21) starting the day and he got a hit his first AB, raising his average to a cool .500!

We ain't getting the "cool" kids to come in and play 3 years and get better every year any more. They actually get worse except for C 34's favorite, Bryce (Trout) Chance who is definitely better this year! He must have his own personal hitting coach!

[BuckyIsAB****]

100-83 since the natty. School record margin of losses and consecutive conference losses records broken. Problem is our president is so lazy and out of touch he doesn?t have the ability to fix baseball, football, or his hand picked AD that might as well be Bigfoot as visible as he is

[Ranchdawg]

Lemonis I really wanted him to succeed here. I like the guy! But we don’t have the best baseball stadium in all of college baseball, we don’t have attendance records, we don’t have the most avid fan base to just produce average to below average baseball teams. Something has to give. Lemonis you have got to get it together this season and make a serious run to Omaha or you need to be fired. From what I’ve seen so far this year Lemonis and this team will be real lucky just to make a regional. I am angry!

[EdwardDrayton]

I?ll start by saying?. I think we have a good chance at being pretty decent and there are glimpses of greatness in several of our players. Frei, Sullivan, Reese, stallman and downs have all looked really really good at times. Our Friday night starting pitcher is legit. Our bullpen I can?t really tell much about. Nolan Stephens and change are both solid. I don?t get this one simple thing considering that??..


We have played 3, at MOST 4 teams with any pulse at all. And all 4 have beaten us. Not even any that are great. Just decent. 2 seeds southern miss and Arizona, 3 seeds okie st and Troy?. So.. what?s our problem?

Well just a tidbit to add for some context maybe. The #1 team in the country lost to Arizona and Oklahoma State both this weekend.

[parabrave]

Lemonis I really wanted him to succeed here. I like the guy! But we don’t have the best baseball stadium in all of college baseball, we don’t have attendance records, we don’t have the most avid fan base to just produce average to below average baseball teams. Something has to give. Lemonis you have got to get it together this season and make a serious run to Omaha or you need to be fired. From what I’ve seen so far this year Lemonis and this team will be real lucky just to make a regional. I am angry!

the dude was built for one reason and one only. To host not only a regional but a super on a consistent basis, like yearly. If we don't host then that means we limped into the post season praying our schedule gets us an invite.

[MetEdDawg]

I think you'll see Ligon and Simmons removed from starting roles over the next few weeks. I'm guessing Ligon goes first.

I don't know that Grant is ready to eat 4-5 innings yet but I could see him getting a shot sooner rather than later.

We lost the last two games scoring 5 and 7 runs. So it's not like we are getting beat up offensively.

I see the concern, but I'm not ready to blow it up yet when I still think we've got starting pitching options that can make this team better in the long run.

[HoopsDawg]

Strength of the team is the bullpen but that doesn't do much good if you are down 3+ runs when you get to them. Solution would be Pico + 2 openers.

We thought we had great competition at 2nd base but in reality we need to go with the best defender.

Stallman, Downs, Sully, and Stevens need to be in the lineup so unfortunately that leaves Hines as the odd man out. At least for now, Hines and Frei have to be used as pinch hitters.

Lineup should be:

1. Chance, CF
2. Reese, 3B
3. Sully, DH
4. Stallman, 1B
5. Downs, LF
6. Stevens, RF
7. Highfill, C
8. Reeves/Buckner 2B
9. Cupp, SS

And go from there.

[Coursesuper]

Strength of the team is the bullpen but that doesn't do much good if you are down 3+ runs when you get to them. Solution would be Pico + 2 openers.

We thought we had great competition at 2nd base but in reality we need to go with the best defender.

Stallman, Downs, Sully, and Stevens need to be in the lineup so unfortunately that leaves Hines as the odd man out. At least for now, Hines and Frei have to be used as pinch hitters.

Lineup should be:

1. Chance, CF
2. Reese, 3B
3. Sully, DH
4. Stallman, 1B
5. Downs, LF
6. Stevens, RF
7. Highfill, C
8. Reeves/Buckner 2B
9. Cupp, SS

And go from there.

We can do without Highfill. Not a plus hitter and a pass ball just waiting to happen.

[Ranchdawg]

Last couple of seasons we have players making base running errors that little league teams don’t make. We have had hitters with .200 batting average still in the lineup. We have left so many players on the bases I’ve lost count. We have lost games to occ teams we have no business losing to.

And Texas A&M lost games this weekend but they are well known to do less with more than anyone in the country!

[TNDawg35]

It would also help to not be down 6 runs in the 2nd inning…

[Pancho]

being unprepared in responding while spotting teams several early runs won't cut it in the SEC. Someone on the team and staff must be a leader.

[CaptainObvious]

Well just a tidbit to add for some context maybe. The #1 team in the country lost to Arizona and Oklahoma State both this weekend.

Well then by that little stat of supposed lesser teams beating #1, shouldn't State, as a "lesser" team beat both Arizona and Okie State? I guess we should forfeit those 2 wins over Ole Miss in Basketball because they beat Bama at Tuscaloosa. Poor Philadelphia! You need to give that Lombardi trophy back! Everyone knows Kansas City was the better team! Damn Dodgers! How dare you only win 89 regular season games in 2024 and then win the World Series!

[EdwardDrayton]

Well then by that little stat of supposed lesser teams beating #1, shouldn't State, as a "lesser" team beat both Arizona and Okie State? I guess we should forfeit those 2 wins over Ole Miss in Basketball because they beat Bama at Tuscaloosa. Poor Philadelphia! You need to give that Lombardi trophy back! Everyone knows Kansas City was the better team! Damn Dodgers! How dare you only win 89 regular season games in 2024 and then win the World Series!

Au contraire. Think it characterizes AZ and OK State as anything but lesser teams. They are top five teams.

[HoopsDawg]

We can do without Highfill. Not a plus hitter and a pass ball just waiting to happen.

He's our best option at catcher. If you don't think so, explain who and why.

[Coursesuper]

He's our best option at catcher. If you don't think so, explain who and why.

No, I think I would like to hear why he is the best option we have?

[somebodyshotmypaw]

We could have won all 4 of these games. You can make a case that we should have won all 4. We would be undefeated and everyone would feel differently. But the bottom line is that we lost all 4 (southern miss, troy, arizona, and oklahoma state). We aren't getting the big out when we need it. We certainly aren't getting the big hit when we need it. We are still finding our way. Ultimately I think we will be fine. But I believe a National Seed won't happen, and hosting a Regional could be fading quickly as well. We badly need to win every game between now and the Texas series.

Highfill, Chance, Hines, and Reese might be the key to the season. Because Lemonis is going to play them no matter what they do. So if they are guaranteed to play, we need them to hit. The rest of the players could see some pine time if they don't produce.

[Cooterpoot]

Strength of the team is the bullpen but that doesn't do much good if you are down 3+ runs when you get to them. Solution would be Pico + 2 openers.

We thought we had great competition at 2nd base but in reality we need to go with the best defender.

Stallman, Downs, Sully, and Stevens need to be in the lineup so unfortunately that leaves Hines as the odd man out. At least for now, Hines and Frei have to be used as pinch hitters.

Lineup should be:

1. Chance, CF
2. Reese, 3B
3. Sully, DH
4. Stallman, 1B
5. Downs, LF
6. Stevens, RF
7. Highfill, C
8. Reeves/Buckner 2B
9. Cupp, SS

And go from there.

Highfill is just as bad at C as our 2b spot has been and he's not hitting. I'd try someone else for defense if nothing else. Highfill has never been a good defensive catcher.

[WSOPdawg]

Lemonis I really wanted him to succeed here. I like the guy! But we don?t have the best baseball stadium in all of college baseball, we don?t have attendance records, we don?t have the most avid fan base to just produce average to below average baseball teams. Something has to give. Lemonis you have got to get it together this season and make a serious run to Omaha or you need to be fired. From what I?ve seen so far this year Lemonis and this team will be real lucky just to make a regional. I am angry!

Not talked about enough was that of the 6 teams in Houston, one was an outlier (Rice). So why in Hades do we not juggle Pico to Saturday to face a higher-caliber Arizona squad? We still win against Rice (probably something like 11-5) and will arguably shut down Arizona with Pico. This was akin to a top 8 national seed burning their ace against a SWAC-type school in the opening game of a regional. It's these dumb decisions that continue to cause my angst toward Lemonis.

What does he not get in that we have an M-over-S standard that we expect his team to live up to every time they take the diamond??? It's just baffling.

[Thick]

We scored 26 runs this weekend, and went 1-2. Our weekend rotation (Saturday/Sunday) will change I hope, we need to address second base, and we have a catching issue (maybe no one believes it) that needs to be addressed too. I?m sorry but we don?t have Benito Santiago behind the dish. As soon as I see Ross drop down to one leg, I?m stealing every time. If I?m an opposing coach, I?m going to force Ross to prove me wrong?.run Forest run! I like Downs too, but his defense scares me just saying.

[Cowbell]

Well just a tidbit to add for some context maybe. The #1 team in the country lost to Arizona and Oklahoma State both this weekend.

Yeah okstate is a 1-2 seed at the end of the year

[Cowbell]

Not talked about enough was that of the 6 teams in Houston, one was an outlier (Rice). So why in Hades do we not juggle Pico to Saturday to face a higher-caliber Arizona squad? We still win against Rice (probably something like 11-5) and will arguably shut down Arizona with Pico. This was akin to a top 8 national seed burning their ace against a SWAC-type school in the opening game of a regional. It's these dumb decisions that continue to cause my angst toward Lemonis.

What does he not get in that we have an M-over-S standard that we expect his team to live up to every time they take the diamond??? It's just baffling.

Yeah not moving Pico was a head scratcher

[The Federalist Engineer]

We can do without Highfill. Not a plus hitter and a pass ball just waiting to happen.

Remember when people were saying that MSU did not need a portal catcher because Highfill was on the roster? Wake got the good St John kid and Clemson got a Mechanical Engineer from Purdue. Both now having nice seasons.

To me, RH is a 230 Hitter that will hit 8 HRs this year. Has power and speed to make things interesting on the base pads. Usually hitters start with fat numbers before SEC ball and then fall to earth with SEC competition. Not always. Brett Pirtle, Rowdey, and Tanner Allen hit the SEC better than non SEC.

Acknowledgment that I am no expert on catching. I wonder if the pitching situation with walks and close misses is not somewhat RH related, somewhat. Crazy idea, I would like to see Johnny Long for a weekend to see if the K:BB ratio becomes 1:4 or 1:5 again.

[Coach34]

Yeah not moving Pico was a head scratcher

Exactly. Parker is ****ing up and he needs to be held accountable. Our pitching coach needs to be better. He is ****ing up our season.

Parker is killing us right now with the pitching decisions

[Coach34]

We gave up 9 runs today. That is losing baseball

[Coursesuper]

Remember when people were saying that MSU did not need a portal catcher because Highfill was on the roster? Wake got the good St John kid and Clemson got a Mechanical Engineer from Purdue. Both now having nice seasons.

To me, RH is a 230 Hitter that will hit 8 HRs this year. Has power and speed to make things interesting on the base pads. Usually hitters start with fat numbers before SEC ball and then fall to earth with SEC competition. Not always. Brett Pirtle, Rowdey, and Tanner Allen hit the SEC better than non SEC.

Acknowledgment that I am no expert on catching. I wonder if the pitching situation with walks and close misses is not somewhat RH related, somewhat. Crazy idea, I would like to see Johnny Long for a weekend to see if the K:BB ratio becomes 1:4 or 1:5 again.

Agree, Powell looks more confident and comfortable back there, and neither are going to tear it up with a bat.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Remember when people were saying that MSU did not need a portal catcher because Highfill was on the roster? Wake got the good St John kid and Clemson got a Mechanical Engineer from Purdue. Both now having nice seasons.

To me, RH is a 230 Hitter that will hit 8 HRs this year. Has power and speed to make things interesting on the base pads. Usually hitters start with fat numbers before SEC ball and then fall to earth with SEC competition. Not always. Brett Pirtle, Rowdey, and Tanner Allen hit the SEC better than non SEC.

Acknowledgment that I am no expert on catching. I wonder if the pitching situation with walks and close misses is not somewhat RH related, somewhat. Crazy idea, I would like to see Johnny Long for a weekend to see if the K:BB ratio becomes 1:4 or 1:5 again.

Johnny Long is not on the team. So I have no idea what you are talking about.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Johnny Long is not on the team. So I have no idea what you are talking about.

He is gone. Talking hypothetically of course. Long was the head scratcher last year that our pitchers loved but whose value a true catcher evaluators (not me) all seemed to like. Yeah he's gone, was a senior last year.

[Todd4State]

I think the biggest issue is the rotation so I'll start there.

Fri- Pico
Sat- Pruitt
Sun- McPherson

The biggest issue I see with the bullpen is we need to start to define some roles although I think that's kind of starting somewhat. I would move Stone Simmons to the bullpen- I think he is much better as a relief pitcher than he is as a starting pitcher.

Closers- Williams and Black
Set-up- Burns and Grant
Relief ace- Simmons and Ben Davis
Arm angle guys- Hungate and Mannell
Midweek starter/weekend long relief- Siary and Foster

Now let's tackle the lineup. The issue we're having there is our best hitting lineup isn't great defensively. And our best defensive lineup has hitting issues. So we have to balance it out some way. Here's how I would personally do it.

1. Frei- DH
2. Nolan Stevens- RF
3. Ace Reese- 3B
4. Noah Sullivan- 1B (Yes, he can play there)
5. Reed Stallman- LF
6. Bryce Chance- CF
7. Lukas Butkner or Sawyer Reeves 2B
8. Highfill, Powell, or Owen- C I would give all three a tryout next weekend and see who performs the best
9. Dylan Cupp- SS


Let Aaron Downs platoon in against LH for Stallman or Stevens.

[StateDawg44]

Well just a tidbit to add for some context maybe. The #1 team in the country lost to Arizona and Oklahoma State both this weekend.

Sorry but A&M isn?t the number 1 team in the country at the moment. Don?t see them climbing back up there after they drop this week either. This doesn?t hold the merit you think it does.

[DawgFromOxford]

If we can find a new Saturday and Sunday starter, there?s still hope for the season. The bats have been more or less ok to where we probably should have beat Troy and Ok St. Highfill at catcher is going to let some balls go by, is what it is. Then pick your poison at 2nd, more offense and less defense or vice versa.

Currently looks like its going to take another 18+ SEC wins for a chance to host.

[3dawgnight15]

Exactly. Parker is ****ing up and he needs to be held accountable. Our pitching coach needs to be better. He is ****ing up our season.

Parker is killing us right now with the pitching decisions

66th nationally in Batting Average.
90th nationally in On-Base Percentage.
18th nationally in Home Runs
173rd nationally in Walks Forced.
86th nationally in Runs Scored.

25th nationally in ERA.
3rd nationally in Hits Allowed.
3rd nationally in Strikeouts per 9 Innings.
6th nationally in WHIP.

[StarkVegasSteve]

66th nationally in Batting Average.
90th nationally in On-Base Percentage.
18th nationally in Home Runs
173rd nationally in Walks Forced.
86th nationally in Runs Scored.

25th nationally in ERA.
3rd nationally in Hits Allowed.
3rd nationally in Strikeouts per 9 Innings.
6th nationally in WHIP.

These stats would seem to contradict his statement just a tad bit. We actually look like the same exact team as last year. Decent hitting team that hits a bunch of HRs and tenses up when runners are on base.

[Coach34]

66th nationally in Batting Average.
90th nationally in On-Base Percentage.
18th nationally in Home Runs
173rd nationally in Walks Forced.
86th nationally in Runs Scored.

25th nationally in ERA.
3rd nationally in Hits Allowed.
3rd nationally in Strikeouts per 9 Innings.
6th nationally in WHIP.

We scored 26 runs this weekend.

[Coach34]

These stats would seem to contradict his statement just a tad bit. We actually look like the same exact team as last year. Decent hitting team that hits a bunch of HRs and tenses up when runners are on base.

This team is going to hit. We still have the same concerns as we did coming into the season- starting pitching, 2nd base, catcher

[DawgFromOxford]

These stats would seem to contradict his statement just a tad bit. We actually look like the same exact team as last year. Decent hitting team that hits a bunch of HRs and tenses up when runners are on base.

I was thinking the same thing. And a lot of solo shot homeruns. We hit 8 homeruns out in Houston. 5 were solo shots. 2 homeruns against Rice had runners on base. 1 against Ok St had runners on base.

[basedog]

This team is going to hit. We still have the same concerns as we did coming into the season- starting pitching, 2nd base, catcher

But we shouldn't be in this position. You didn't seem to have many concerns coming into the season. You are very much on board with our coaching staff and players from what I read in pre-season.

We are not playing like a top 25 team right now. I hope we host a regional but right now we are next to last in overall standings with 4 losses, Missouri is last with 6. Yeah, I know it's early, but we are late right now. LOL

[maroonmania]

Sorry but A&M isn?t the number 1 team in the country at the moment. Don?t see them climbing back up there after they drop this week either. This doesn?t hold the merit you think it does.

What A&M is showing is how much difference coaching can make even in one year. With Schloss A&M might still be worthy of either a 1 or 2 ranking.

[Brobi-wan]

We still have a LONG way to go. It will be figured out. You hate to lose when one hit would make the difference, but you hate to lose more when you would’ve needed another 8 hits to win. Everything will fall together, or it won’t and half of you will get to say I told you so.

[maroonmania]

This team is going to hit. We still have the same concerns as we did coming into the season- starting pitching, 2nd base, catcher

I think so too, but yesterday was the first game we scored more than 5 runs against a decent team and most of that came after the game had been decided. Its a combination of offense and pitching, but in 36 innings against good competition we haven't led after the completion of any of those 36 innings. Our starting pitching is struggling out of the gate as well as our offense struggling out of the gate. All 4 of those games we've been trying to dig ourselves out of pretty big deficits. Still not much on Gotro preparing our hitters for the season or whoever is coaching our situational baserunning.

[maroonmania]

But we shouldn't be in this position. You didn't seem to have many concerns coming into the season. You are very much on board with our coaching staff and players from what I read in pre-season.

We are not playing like a top 25 team right now. I hope we host a regional but right now we are next to last in overall standings with 4 losses, Missouri is last with 6. Yeah, I know it's early, but we are late right now. LOL

At this stage, the USM game (if it gets played) has become critically important to show we can beat a quality team. Its way more important now than it should be. And heaven help us if we manage to somehow drop a game to the Queens.

[Coach34]

What A&M is showing is how much difference coaching can make even in one year. With Schloss A&M might still be worthy of either a 1 or 2 ranking.

Their bigger problem is the loss of one of their best players for the season

[Coach34]

But we shouldn't be in this position. You didn't seem to have many concerns coming into the season. You are very much on board with our coaching staff and players from what I read in pre-season.

We are not playing like a top 25 team right now. I hope we host a regional but right now we are next to last in overall standings with 4 losses, Missouri is last with 6. Yeah, I know it's early, but we are late right now. LOL

I clearly stated over and over that SP was a concern but that the bullpen would be among the best in the country. So far that has pretty much played out.

I also talked about the concern that Reeves could hit consistently enough to be the 2nd baseman and he is off to a slow start. This has allowed Frei to work at a new position in hopes of playing time. He is not very good defensively right now but he is hitting .455 so we have to decide what are we willing to trade off?

Highfill has got to be better- period

[Pancho]

Appears we need pitching in the early innings to not give the game away.

[confucius say]

We're 10-1 if we just throw our best pitchers when it matters. Parker has to figure the staff out now.

And if you're going to start Ligon and stone, at least have a short leash and not wait until they completely implode before going to your very good pen.

[Coach34]

And if you're going to start Ligon and stone, at least have a short leash and not wait until they completely implode before going to your very good pen.

that's my biggest knock on Parker- we wait too long to make the call or we try to overextend RP's to steal extra outs. It almost always backfires on us

[maroonmania]

We're 10-1 if we just throw our best pitchers when it matters. Parker has to figure the staff out now.

And if you're going to start Ligon and stone, at least have a short leash and not wait until they completely implode before going to your very good pen.

Yea, I was royally ticked when it went to 4-1 yesterday with 2 men still in scoring position with 2 outs and we didn't pull Simmons. 4-1 was recoverable but after the next batter doubled down the line to put them up 6-1 the game was basically over

[schddog72]

Lemonis I really wanted him to succeed here. I like the guy! But we don?t have the best baseball stadium in all of college baseball, we don?t have attendance records, we don?t have the most avid fan base to just produce average to below average baseball teams. Something has to give. Lemonis you have got to get it together this season and make a serious run to Omaha or you need to be fired. From what I?ve seen so far this year Lemonis and this team will be real lucky just to make a regional. I am angry!

THIS, THIS, A THOUSAND TIMES THIS!!!

[Coursesuper]

Lemonis I really wanted him to succeed here. I like the guy! But we don?t have the best baseball stadium in all of college baseball, we don?t have attendance records, we don?t have the most avid fan base to just produce average to below average baseball teams. Something has to give. Lemonis you have got to get it together this season and make a serious run to Omaha or you need to be fired. From what I?ve seen so far this year Lemonis and this team will be real lucky just to make a regional. I am angry!

The kids playing the games don?t give a shit about any of the things our fan base holds sacred. If they did we could pick and choose any coach or player in the country. You version of reality its just not real. It?s a missippy pipe dream.

[CaptainObvious]

The kids playing the games don?t give a shit about any of the things our fan base holds sacred. If they did we could pick and choose any coach or player in the country. You version of reality its just not real. It?s a missippy pipe dream.

Maybe not all players, but I guarantee you a lot of players still want to play at State or Arkansas or LSU for many of the reasons the fans hold in high regard about our Baseball "Program".

[Coursesuper]

Maybe not all players, but I guarantee you a lot of players still want to play at State or Arkansas or LSU for many of the reasons the fans hold in high regard about our Baseball "Program".

The previous post was about why we are exceptional and listed reasons that are only relevant to 40 plus year old alumni and fans. We are not the exception we are one of many in our own league and nation wide with the same advantages. And now NIL is the exception.

[R2Dawg]

Not talked about enough was that of the 6 teams in Houston, one was an outlier (Rice). So why in Hades do we not juggle Pico to Saturday to face a higher-caliber Arizona squad? We still win against Rice (probably something like 11-5) and will arguably shut down Arizona with Pico. This was akin to a top 8 national seed burning their ace against a SWAC-type school in the opening game of a regional. It's these dumb decisions that continue to cause my angst toward Lemonis.

What does he not get in that we have an M-over-S standard that we expect his team to live up to every time they take the diamond??? It's just baffling.

This frustrated me too. We wasted Pico on Rice. We could have likely won AZ with Pico starting.

[R2Dawg]

Maybe not all players, but I guarantee you a lot of players still want to play at State or Arkansas or LSU for many of the reasons the fans hold in high regard about our Baseball "Program".

This is still true. Nothing like playing at the Dude - even visiting teams talk about it. We are a good draw. NIL stuff has certainly changed it for a few players though.

[StarkVegasSteve]

This is still true. Nothing like playing at the Dude - even visiting teams talk about it. We are a good draw. NIL stuff has certainly changed it for a few players though.

But players can get that same feeling at Swayze, The Box, Baum, Founders, Blue Bell, heck now Lindsay Nelson.

And the visiting teams don't talk about it like it's a hard place to play. They talk about it because they get fed. We care more about being nice and feeding the other teams like kings than we do making it an intimidating place to play. There's nothing intimidating about Dudy Noble Field except you might get heartburn from too much jalapeno and cheese sausage.

[KOdawg1]

But players can get that same feeling at Swayze, The Box, Baum, Founders, Blue Bell, heck now Lindsay Nelson.

And the visiting teams don't talk about it like it's a hard place to play. They talk about it because they get fed. We care more about being nice and feeding the other teams like kings than we do making it an intimidating place to play. There's nothing intimidating about Dudy Noble Field except you might get heartburn from too much jalapeno and cheese sausage.

Ding, ding, freaking ding.

Our ballpark is nice. But it's like #12 on a long list of things players care about.

[BrunswickDawg]

But players can get that same feeling at Swayze, The Box, Baum, Founders, Blue Bell, heck now Lindsay Nelson.

And the visiting teams don't talk about it like it's a hard place to play. They talk about it because they get fed. We care more about being nice and feeding the other teams like kings than we do making it an intimidating place to play. There's nothing intimidating about Dudy Noble Field except you might get heartburn from too much jalapeno and cheese sausage.

I'm going to call BS on this a bit. Any big time facility, regardless of sport, is an intimidating place to play WHEN THAT TEAM IS WINNING. So many on here lament for the "way the Hump used to be in 2004" or "DWS when Mullen had us rocking". WE can produce big time intimidating atmospheres. Go back and look at our games in 2019 when baseball was 37-5 at the Dude or in '21 when we were 30-9 and we had CWS teams. There are multiple games where we came back or stepped on some team's throat for a big win and you could see the atmosphere at the Dude get to them. The difference now and in the "old days" at the Dude, is that we aren't unique in the fact that we can have a great atmosphere. Players can get big crowds and crazy atmospheres throughout the SEC (except maybe Mizzou and Oklahoma). When we aren't winning, its just a very good place to go to game.

[Coach34]

When its full and loud it can be a tough place to play.

ND's SP pissed down his leg in Game 3 vs them in 21

[Coursesuper]

When its full and loud it can be a tough place to play.

ND's iSP pissed down his leg in Game 3 vs them in 21

Per usual this board misconstrues the point, it?s not that it can be an intimidating place to play because it can. The issue is that many of our people believe that because of the stadium, the fan support and tradition we are an exception, we are not. There are at least 15 other places in the country that are the very same way. We are a legend in our own very limited minds and it holds us back from seeing what we really are and doing things to make ourselves what we want to be.

[CaptainObvious]

Au contraire. Think it characterizes AZ and OK State as anything but lesser teams. They are top five teams.

So does that mean Ole Miss is top 5 since they beat Arizona? No. I'm not devastated that State LOST to Arizona and Okie State. It is HOW they keep finding ways to lose the same way a different lineup lost last year and more importantly the 2 years before that. Lack of leadership. Inability to get a key hit with RISP game after game and year after year when the competition is a little bit above G5 quality. Pitchers that still want to nibble and hope for swing and misses in balls way out of the zone. Coaches watching the first 2 batters walk and not already having someone loosing in the pen after the first 4 pitch walk the next inning after the pitcher threw 30 pitches like they don't recognize he is struggling before it blows up. Having to play a guy at 2nd base who has never played there because we can't do without his bat. Platooning two guys who are actually both solid hitters when we could use both their bats but having a catcher who can't hit a beach ball with a base fiddle and can't throw out runners because he goes to his knees on every pitch!

Yeah I'm pissed overall but really not surprised by the current lack of success against good competition!

[Pancho]

all goes back to portal evals and recruiting. we have a huge 25 class incoming but how many will be ready to play immediately? that goes straight back to another portal season to fill gaps in roster....... I sense a pattern which isn't what many of us want.

[Coach34]

Per usual this board misconstrues the point, it?s not that it can be an intimidating place to play because it can. The issue is that many of our people believe that because of the stadium, the fan support and tradition we are an exception, we are not. There are at least 15 other places in the country that are the very same way. We are a legend in our own very limited minds and it holds us back from seeing what we really are and doing things to make ourselves what we want to be.

oh well you know I completely agree with you here

[Coach34]

all goes back to portal evals and recruiting. we have a huge 25 class incoming but how many will be ready to play immediately? that goes straight back to another portal season to fill gaps in roster....... I sense a pattern which isn't what many of us want.

Thats the case going forward for everybody. What we do have is a freshman group of pitchers that could make one helluva weekend rotation next season.

[StateDawg44]

So does that mean Ole Miss is top 5 since they beat Arizona? No. I'm not devastated that State LOST to Arizona and Okie State. It is HOW they keep finding ways to lose the same way a different lineup lost last year and more importantly the 2 years before that. Lack of leadership. Inability to get a key hit with RISP game after game and year after year when the competition is a little bit above G5 quality. Pitchers that still want to nibble and hope for swing and misses in balls way out of the zone. Coaches watching the first 2 batters walk and not already having someone loosing in the pen after the first 4 pitch walk the next inning after the pitcher threw 30 pitches like they don't recognize he is struggling before it blows up. Having to play a guy at 2nd base who has never played there because we can't do without his bat. Platooning two guys who are actually both solid hitters when we could use both their bats but having a catcher who can't hit a beach ball with a base fiddle and can't throw out runners because he goes to his knees on every pitch!

Yeah I'm pissed overall but really not surprised by the current lack of success against good competition!

Hear, hear!