Thoughts on the opener?

[Political Hack]

Mitchell looked great and we got into their bullpen pretty good after they made the switch. Their starter is good which raises questions about how we're going to fare on Friday nights.

[msstate7]

If woodruff is our best starter, we're in trouble.

[bannedwayne]

Bats never came alive.

I'm not concerned, but that wasn't the game I expected. I was expecting a relatively high scoring game - certainly didn't think it would take us 8 innings to score.

Its early though. Baseball can be weird - its impossible to tell anything from one game. We started slow last year too - we just need to focus on constant improvement and figuring out a lineup that gets our best 8 on the field.

[Dawg61]

I wouldn't read much into this game. The weather sucked. It's really hard to hit when it's cold. The pitcher has a huge advantage.

[Bass Chaser]

I liked it not that we lost but the competition because it won't be easy. Any team in the nation can have a starting pitcher like we faced tonight. Lot of baseball to be played.

[Political Hack]

Woody having nerves in game one isn't an issue. I've seen Major League. It can work out.

[bannedwayne]

I've seen Major League. It can work out.

These are the facts of life.

[Dog]

Mitchell was great, but I'm worried about a reliever going 8 innings on day 1. Does anyone know his pitch count? Has Thompson been giving him starter reps in the offseason? Most college starters have a limit around 80 on the opening weekend. Where does that put a utility reliever?

I think Woodruff will be alright. He struggled with control, but that could just be due to a bad night. All the tools are there. Butch just needs to find the right tuning.

I'm a little worried about the offense finding runs. Null is a damn good pitcher, but I think we're really going to miss Frazier and Renfroe. They were catalysts 1a and 1b last year.

[Coach34]

That was a tough guy to face out the chute. Hitting will get better

Woody hasnt pitched in almost a year...he will be fine

[HancockCountyDog]

1 game.

I'm not worried in the least. Mitchell is a stud.

[AlSwearengen]

I'd like to see woodruff string some good starts together to make me feel better about him. I hope tonight, he was just off. Regardless, he hasn't shown anything other than good stuff to be considered our ace and he is a junior now. Their pitcher was good and he was on.

I will be disappointed if we don't score at least six runs in each of the three remaining games. On the other hand, with the way cohen plays early in the year, it could happen.

Baseball is a long season and you can't take much from the first game.

[shoeless joe]

Woody having nerves in game one isn't an issue. I've seen Major League. It can work out.

I might would agree that it was season opener nerves except for the fact that he's a junior and this start looked exactly like a majority of his outings last year. Hope he figures it out.

[Coach34]

I Seen It Dawg brought up a good point about it being interesting we batted Heck with the game on the line as opposed to Humphries

[bully99]

For those who watched, was woody off a little or a lot.

[Dog]

For those who watched, was woody off a little or a lot. Stuff looked good. Control did not.

[Political Hack]

For those who watched, was woody off a little or a lot.

both. he was all over the place a few times and looked unsettled. It was clearly nerves.

[Political Hack]

and like C34 said, it's the first time he's pitched in a really long time.

[msstate7]

Stuff looked good. Control did not.

Evan Mitchell 2.0?

[bully99]

Final LSU 2 New Orleans 0
Final A M 10 northeastern 2

[Bark]

In a way I think this loss will be good for us long term...we have been way too cocky all off season so maybe this will humble them and show them they aren't invincible.

[LC Dawg]

Thanks to those that kept us radioless people updated and thanks to Western Carolina for answering a last minute call and screwing up our opener. Not that big of a deal but it would have been nice to win the opener after last year's run.

[State82]

Well, you know the old adage in baseball. Pitching is always ahead of hitting at the start. The bats will come around well enough. We won't set any offensive records, but I feel we will be adequate. Ross looked like he just stepped off the bus from TD Ameritrade. Never missed a beat. Yeah, the Woodruff situation is concerning but there are others to step in. Also, WCU is ranked 31st in Collegiate Baseball's poll. As soon as I heard about this series yesterday I had a little sinking feeling. Plain and simple, this is just like a typical SEC weekend. I would be willing to bet that we have never opened a season with 3 tougher games than this. But, it will be a very definite RPI boost. And if we can pull out a series win, this will be a very big weekend.

[Political Hack]

I'm with 82. I saw enough out of the bats late to know we'll hit and that Rea is still clutch.

Rea, Pirtle, CT, Vickerson, & Hendo will generate runs.

[Todd4State]

I've kind of said my thoughts in another thread.

We should have won tonight. Woodruff HAS to step up and be an ace for us to reach our potential. If he was getting into 2 strike counts and not finishing, it's probably because he was trying to be too fine. He just needs to pitch and not try to strike everyone out. It's weird- when a pitcher stops trying to strike everyone out, they seem to get more strikeouts. Now, there's probably some BS sabermetric stat that is going to tell me I'm wrong- but regardless, the object is to get outs whether you strike them out or not.

Next thought- about the hitting- teams that don't have a lot of power tend to struggle against power arms. Power arms in this case being defined as a guy with a swing and miss pitch like this guys slider. We are what we are- and we're not going to all of a sudden see guys like Pirtle hit 10 home runs this year. And if we get down, it's going to shut our running game down like tonight. Although in hindsight I would have double stealed there in the 9th which probably would have gotten the tying run home on Robson's fly ball. I understand why Cohen didn't- but I tend to be aggressive and unpredictable at times. And admittedly, the runner could have gotten thrown out and I would have looked like a moron. The other thing I would have done is pinch hit Reid Humphries for Heck. I know it's high school ball- but I've seen Reid hit game winning home runs off of Dandy Dozen pitchers in big district rivalry games. It's all we've got to go off of so far- and I would have played the odds there. Especially with a left hand pitcher on the mound.

Back to out hitting as I strayed away there for a second- we're going to be more like 2012 than 2013 this year. I believe I said that a few times. I know people like home runs- as do I- and I know people are going to say that we need to recruit power hitters (we are), but we have to work with what we've got for now in the present. And if Cohen puts that lineup out there, we're going to have to manufacture runs. We can either do that or lose playing station to station Polk-ball.

I didn't particularly care for the lineup tonight. Reid Humphries needs to be in the lineup. Either at DH or 3B, or maybe even RF. I'd let Garner catch and if he is at least halfway decent keep him there and maybe platoon with Gavin Collins. If he's Jason Burkley 2.0, we'll do something else. I'd also sit Demarcus and start Robson. If Vickerson hits like he did tonight, I wouldn't be opposed to putting Robson in LF, CT in CF, and then Gavin Collins in RF. That's probably our max offensive potential lineup right there:

C- Garner
1B- Rea
2B- Pirtle
3B- Humphries
SS- Britton
LF- Robson
CF- CT
RF- Gavin Collins
DH- Detz

[I seen it dawg]

Evan Mitchell 2.0?

No. He was overthrowing trying to put a whole missed season into tonite. He will be fine.

[tcdog70]

There goes our undefeated season****

[Will James]

It's one game. Nuff said

[Todd4State]

Woody having nerves in game one isn't an issue. I've seen Major League. It can work out.

Nerves against Western Freaking Carolina? 17 me.

[Will James]

Lindgren to Fri night starter if that continues out of 24

[mstatefan91]

Lol at anybody who thought we would have an undefeated season, let alone sweep this series. I saw this coming when I saw that we were going to open against WCU instead of Hofstra. I think we will look different tomorrow and have some good hitting with a start at 4 and temps in the 60's.

[msstate7]

Lindgren to Fri night starter if that continues out of 24

Id rather see lindgren on Fridays assuming he's worked out the kinks

[Todd4State]

Well, you know the old adage in baseball. Pitching is always ahead of hitting at the start. The bats will come around well enough. We won't set any offensive records, but I feel we will be adequate. Ross looked like he just stepped off the bus from TD Ameritrade. Never missed a beat. Yeah, the Woodruff situation is concerning but there are others to step in. Also, WCU is ranked 31st in Collegiate Baseball's poll. As soon as I heard about this series yesterday I had a little sinking feeling. Plain and simple, this is just like a typical SEC weekend. I would be willing to bet that we have never opened a season with 3 tougher games than this. But, it will be a very definite RPI boost. And if we can pull out a series win, this will be a very big weekend.

This was your typical mid major win. Their ace pitcher was on. Our guy was off. Early season before the lineup is settled.

I still think we win the series.

[bully99]

Cohen said Fitts tomorrow

[Todd4State]

Lindgren to Fri night starter if that continues out of 24

I'd love for him to start. In fact I WANT him to start. But the reality is he's probably a relief pitcher. And he'll make a good living doing it.

[preachermatt83]

it all boils down to 3 things to me...

1. Woody was off.. why ? I don't know. I tend to agree with I seen it dawg here. I think he was just overthrowing.. adrenaline and nerves combined with a year off is not a good recipe. I may be wrong. He could never get back his accuracy but hopefully he will be fine.

2) Null is a really really good pitcher. As soon as he comes out we come alive at the plate. That is not a coincidence.

3) There is no way our heads were right completely. I mean we had fully scouted and planed to play Hofstra up until 2 days ago. That goes a long way in an opening series.


all that said, I think we win the next two and oh by the way, Ross Mitchell did Ross Mitchell things.. That dude is unreal.

[preachermatt83]

Lindgren to Fri night starter if that continues out of 24

I am not saying Lindy couldn't be a good starter but I believe Cohen when he says he is much more valuable out of the pen because he can cut loose without having to try to pace himself.

Have you seen Hudson pitch? This guy could end up being the Friday starter coming into league play. He is really really good.

[preachermatt83]

This was your typical mid major win. Their ace pitcher was on. Our guy was off. Early season before the lineup is settled.

I still think we win the series.

exactly

[msstate7]

it all boils down to 3 things to me...

1. Woody was off.. why ? I don't know. I tend to agree with I seen it dawg here. I think he was just overthrowing.. adrenaline and nerves combined with a year off is not a good recipe. I may be wrong. He could never get back his accuracy but hopefully he will be fine.

2) Null is a really really good pitcher. As soon as he comes out we come alive at the plate. That is not a coincidence.

3) There is no way our heads were right completely. I mean we had fully scouted and planed to play Hofstra up until 2 days ago. That goes a long way in an opening series.


all that said, I think we win the next two and oh by the way, Ross Mitchell did Ross Mitchell things.. That dude is unreal.

They didnt scout for us either.

[preachermatt83]

I'd love for him to start. In fact I WANT him to start. But the reality is he's probably a relief pitcher. And he'll make a good living doing it.

agreed again.

[preachermatt83]

They didnt scout for us either.

True but I mean do you really have to do much scouting when you have a guy that can throw 100 pitches plus on opening day and be lights out?

[preachermatt83]

Cohen said Fitts tomorrow

I look for fitts to be a very solid weekend starter for us

[State82]

Lol at anybody who thought we would have an undefeated season, let alone sweep this series. I saw this coming when I saw that we were going to open against WCU instead of Hofstra. I think we will look different tomorrow and have some good hitting with a start at 4 and temps in the 60's.

Speaking of weather, NWS now says high tomorrow of 48 with 5-10 mph winds. Not so comfortable after all. Paging Ref for some clarification.

[Todd4State]

it all boils down to 3 things to me...

1. Woody was off.. why ? I don't know. I tend to agree with I seen it dawg here. I think he was just overthrowing.. adrenaline and nerves combined with a year off is not a good recipe. I may be wrong. He could never get back his accuracy but hopefully he will be fine.

2) Null is a really really good pitcher. As soon as he comes out we come alive at the plate. That is not a coincidence.

3) There is no way our heads were right completely. I mean we had fully scouted and planed to play Hofstra up until 2 days ago. That goes a long way in an opening series.


all that said, I think we win the next two and oh by the way, Ross Mitchell did Ross Mitchell things.. That dude is unreal.

1. Woody needs to step up. Dead horse. But I'm tired of Devin Jones, Lindgren, etc. not living up to their potential causing us to tax our bullpen and moving people around. It's ridiculous.

2. Yep.

3. They had just as much time to scout us AND they had to travel from the Smoky Mountains. You have to come to the ballpark prepared to play no matter what. And I don't think we were unprepared- we had too many walks and HBP and gave them two runs because our pitcher felt the need to prove that he is Sandy Koufax. We gave them runs. And then you combine that with a good pitcher on their side- you can't do that and win a lot of baseball games against anyone in any league. I mean, Ross's head was certainly in the game. CT's head was in the game. Same for everyone else. We shut them down pretty much aside from the first inning.

[mstatefan91]

Speaking of weather, NWS now says high tomorrow of 48 with 5-10 mph winds. Not so comfortable after all. Paging Ref for some clarification.

Damn. Was looking forward to some comfortable weather after tonight.

[Todd4State]

True but I mean do you really have to do much scouting when you have a guy that can throw 100 pitches plus on opening day and be lights out?

Unless you have Sandy Koufax and can throw 100 MPH fastballs with movement and locate it, then yes you do have to scout.

[preachermatt83]

Unless you have Sandy Koufax and can throw 100 MPH fastballs with movement and locate it, then yes you do have to scout.

haha. The guy tonight looked like Koufax for 8 innings . we will be fine. guarantee you we win the next two. We just ran into a heck of a pitcher on opening day.

[bully99]

Final St. Louis 2 Alabama 1

[Coach34]

Way too much analyzing going on

1. Their Ace was ready to go tonight and was on
2. Ours was not

[RAYn_Man]

C- Garner
1B- Rea
2B- Pirtle
3B- Humphries
SS- Britton
LF- Robson
CF- CT
RF- Gavin Collins
DH- Detz

Gavin Collins is a catcher...while we're at it, why don't we put Wes Rea at SS

[BLC]

A couple thoughts from the game. One, it's just one game - no big deal. I was very impressed with the post-game thoughts by the players. Very grounded and they understand and have the experience to get them to the promised land. They know this game was no big deal. Second, I was surprised by who pinch hit, etc. too (this notion about freshman not being ready for college ball is not valid anymore - check the box scores from around the country), but was really surprised by our lack of aggressiveness. We played for the big hit on a cold night in a big park against a legit arm. Against pitchers like Null, you have to push the envelope, and we didn't. Make that giant field his position!

Didn't try one theft attempt, including the situation when Britton was on 1st with two outs and Vick swings at the first pitch. I thought all their pitchers were really readable and I thought we could grab some bags, particularly late in the game. We did nothing to get them out of their comfort zone, save for stepping out of the box a few times.

At any rate, the horses are out of the gate. I expect State to roll the next two games and have fun doing it. The great thing is, we've got tons of depth. Lots of chances for guys to contribute.

[Todd4State]

Gavin Collins is a catcher...while we're at it, why don't we put Wes Rea at SS

Catcher is his primary position. He can play RF/3B/DH as well. And "while we're at it" it's totally unheard of for a catcher to play the outfield- like Hunter Renfroe did. In fact, there is a better than average chance Collins moves if we get Vallot.

[JohnnyQuid]

If he continues to be our #1 starter im concerned. He looks EXACTLY like he did against valley last year when he couldnt get out of the first. 0-2 HBP, walk , hit, walk etc etc. It's a terrible cycle. The kid is a prospect so they say, but ross mitchell makes him look like shit and throws the ball 85 mph. anyone who evaluates based on MPH should be ****ing institutionalized. if you throw 95 and cant get a single mf'er out, it's an issue. evanmitchell v2.0.\

You can sit back and try to justify this loss as its good for the club, it will ground us etc etc. This is a game we should win with a real friday night guy that doesnt put us behind the 8-ball from the first inning. Give one of the other guys (sat sun) a shot a friday, or give a freshman a shot (dakota etc). They can't do any ****ing worse than woody did.

I just wish we stopped getting pumped about these guys (OMFG THIS GUY IS A DIFF PLAYER AFTER THIS BLAH BLAH BLAH). If nothing changes nothing changes. Woody may be a great kid, but a friday starter he is not. I see the same subpar shit from last year - HBP and walks - THAT SHIT WILL KILL YOU. Maybe its mental.

[JohnnyQuid]

Didn't try one theft attempt, including the situation when Britton was on 1st with two outs and Vick swings at the first pitch.

Even when we have speed on the bases we rarely attempt (last year go back and look). It's a troublesome stat.

[Todd4State]

A couple thoughts from the game. One, it's just one game - no big deal. I was very impressed with the post-game thoughts by the players. Very grounded and they understand and have the experience to get them to the promised land. They know this game was no big deal. Second, I was surprised by who pinch hit, etc. too (this notion about freshman not being ready for college ball is not valid anymore - check the box scores from around the country), but was really surprised by our lack of aggressiveness. We played for the big hit on a cold night in a big park against a legit arm. Against pitchers like Null, you have to push the envelope, and we didn't. Make that giant field his position!

Didn't try one theft attempt, including the situation when Britton was on 1st with two outs and Vick swings at the first pitch. I thought all their pitchers were really readable and I thought we could grab some bags, particularly late in the game. We did nothing to get them out of their comfort zone, save for stepping out of the box a few times.

At any rate, the horses are out of the gate. I expect State to roll the next two games and have fun doing it. The great thing is, we've got tons of depth. Lots of chances for guys to contribute.

That's because when you are behind, you don't want to risk running yourself out of an inning. That's why we didn't run or try anything. That's another reason getting behind hurt us- if it's a tie game we probably try to do something with CT on or late in the game. When you are behind you want base runners.

Pitchers know that too- and they take liberties if they can.

And if you do run in those situations, you better make it. Otherwise the coach is going to feel like an ass and probably have to answer a question from the media about it after the game.

Some people have these unwritten rules about "you don't steal this base with two outs" or whatever- but my personal rule has always been if you steal a base, make sure that you make it.

[Todd4State]

Even when we have speed on the bases we rarely attempt (last year go back and look). It's a troublesome stat.

Yep. And there's two reasons for it:

1) Our faster guys are not great base runners/base stealers.

2) We had more power last year.

[Todd4State]

If he continues to be our #1 starter im concerned. He looks EXACTLY like he did against valley last year when he couldnt get out of the first. 0-2 HBP, walk , hit, walk etc etc. It's a terrible cycle. The kid is a prospect so they say, but ross mitchell makes him look like shit and throws the ball 85 mph. anyone who evaluates based on MPH should be ****ing institutionalized. if you throw 95 and cant get a single mf'er out, it's an issue. evanmitchell v2.0.\

You can sit back and try to justify this loss as its good for the club, it will ground us etc etc. This is a game we should win with a real friday night guy that doesnt put us behind the 8-ball from the first inning. Give one of the other guys (sat sun) a shot a friday, or give a freshman a shot (dakota etc). They can't do any ****ing worse than woody did.

I just wish we stopped getting pumped about these guys (OMFG THIS GUY IS A DIFF PLAYER AFTER THIS BLAH BLAH BLAH). If nothing changes nothing changes. Woody may be a great kid, but a friday starter he is not. I see the same subpar shit from last year - HBP and walks - THAT SHIT WILL KILL YOU. Maybe its mental.

I'll give him a pass on Valley since we know he had a broken arm that he was throwing with last year. What's odd to me is he looked pretty good in scrimmages- and then he lays this turd burger down tonight. He has pitched and pitched well in big games before- SEC Tournament Championship Game. I can't figure it out, and it's just disappointing. He'll start against Holy Cross and if he does this again, I wouldn't waste a lot of time with him.

Heck, I might put him in the batting cage and see if he can hit since he came to us as an P/OF. Hopefully he'll turn it around.

[C222]

I wouldn't read much into this game. The weather sucked. It's really hard to hit when it's cold. The pitcher has a huge advantage.

You don't think we should cut some people and go get 4 hitters??