Looking at BA from last year to this for OM, UVA & Vandy

[blacklistedbully]

Top 4 returning starters

OM
Bousfield Up 91 points
Allen Up 110 points
Anderson Up 16 points
Orvis Up 56 points

UVA
Papi Down 67 points
McCarthy Down 32 points
Cogswell Down 51 points
Towns Down 11 points

Vandy
Conde Down 4 points
Norwood Down 43 points
Turner Down 41 points
Wiel Down 31 points

Ole Miss top 4 returning hitters are all up with an average of 68 points.
UVA & Vandy top 4 hitters are all down on average of 40 points for UVA & 30 points for Vandy.

Why in the world should anyone be suspicious of Ole Miss? There's only a 108 point swing for them in BA over UVA and a 98 point swing from Vandy.*****

[messageboardsuperhero]

I bet those numbers would be even more dramatic if you looked at slugging percentage and extra base hits...

This whole bat thing is, if nothing else, at least a little suspicious.

[blacklistedbully]

Just looked at UC Irvine.

Top 4 returning starters

Spencer Down 5 points
McCarthy UP 71 points
Sparks Down 46 points
Rabago Down 16 points

So far, out of 3 other CWS participants, there is but 1 returning starter out of 12 in the Top 4 hitters that actually saw an increase in BA instead of a decrease.

Nothing to see here. Move along, you obsessed, conspiracy theorist, envious Rebel-haters!*****

[blacklistedbully]

Now Texas Tech

Top 4 returning starters

Gutierrez Up 56 points
Burleson Down 3 points
Barrios Down 25 points
Proudfoot Up 82 points

[Goat Holder]

This whole bat thing is, if nothing else, at least a little suspicious.

This is it. It's JUST suspicious. Sorry if that hurts your feelings rebel bears. Nobody's accusing you of cheating besides the fanatical sector of the fanbase. All anybody is saying is that it appears it might be more than just Godwin and a senior-laden team.

[Original48]

Orvis 2013...3HR 3 doubles 21RBI ABs169
Orvis 2014..14HR 13 doubles 51RBI ABs222

Allen 2013...4HR 5 doubles 23RBI ABs208
Allen 2014...7HR 23 doubles 61RBI ABs264

ESPN pointed this out last night.

[Pioneer Dawg]

Proudfoot Up 82 points

http://middle-earthencyclopedia.weebly.com/uploads/3/8/2/9/3829140/241756.jpeg?271

Proud feet!

[Dawg61]

The biggest WTF dramatic change besides Ole Miss is the ULL team jumping from something like 18 total team HR to over 75 in one year. Yea nothing suspicious going on there.

[blacklistedbully]

Now Texas

Payton Down 73 points
Hinojosa Down 9 points
Marlow Up 28 points
Johnson Up 50 points

[blacklistedbully]

Orvis 2013...3HR 3 doubles 21RBI ABs169
Orvis 2014..14HR 13 doubles 51RBI ABs222

Allen 2013...4HR 5 doubles 23RBI ABs208
Allen 2014...7HR 23 doubles 61RBI ABs264

ESPN pointed this out last night.

So, Orvis this year is 3.25 times more likely to hit a double, and 3.5 times more likely to hit a HR compared to last year.
Allen is 3.62 times more likely to hit a double and 1.42 times more likely to hit a HR.

[blacklistedbully]

TCU

White Up 4 points
Cron Up 70 points
Jones, K Up 44
Jones, C Up 3

This is the only other CWS besides OM that has more than 2 that have gone up, and 2 of these are virtually the same as previous year. By contrast, 3 of 4 from OM have gone up dramatically.

Louisville

Sturgeon Down 16
Gardner Down 24
Whiting Down 92

They do not have a 4th returning starter or a returning backup with a large % of starts.

[blacklistedbully]

CWS teams with all top 4 returning starters having higher BA:
Ole Miss (Average improvement 68 points)
TCU (Average improvement 30 points)

CWS teams with all top 4 returning starters (3 for Louisville) having lower BA:
UVA
Vandy
Louisville

CWS teams with at least 1/2 their top 4 returners having lower BA:
UVA
Vandy
Louisville
Texas
Texas Tech
UC Irvine

6 of 8 CWS teams have at least half their returners with lower BA's. Ole Miss has all 4 with higher, and 3 of those 4 with BA's 56 points or more higher. The only other team with 4 higher, TCU actually has 1/2 of theirs with virtually the same BA as the previous year.

Now tell me this isn't worthy of suspicion.

[RougeDawg]

This is more than suspicious. The only thing else we really need from OM is a confession, which we'll never get. Too much circumstantial evidence pointing to one conclusion. Period.

And there's no way the NCAA would disqualify a team this far along. It would only make them look more incompetent than they already look. They need to start checking the bats at all tournament sites next year at minimum, and should have the umps checking every weekend series.

[Bear@Work]

Top 4 returning starters

OM
Bousfield Up 91 points
Allen Up 110 points
Anderson Up 16 points
Orvis Up 56 points

UVA
Papi Down 67 points
McCarthy Down 32 points
Cogswell Down 51 points
Towns Down 11 points

Vandy
Conde Down 4 points
Norwood Down 43 points
Turner Down 41 points
Wiel Down 31 points

Ole Miss top 4 returning hitters are all up with an average of 68 points.
UVA & Vandy top 4 hitters are all down on average of 40 points for UVA & 30 points for Vandy.

Why in the world should anyone be suspicious of Ole Miss? There's only a 108 point swing for them in BA over UVA and a 98 point swing from Vandy.*****


Uhm, guys.

Renfroe UP 93 points/ Slugging UP 246 points
Rea UP 46 points/ Slugging UP 78 points
Frost UP 88 points/ Slugging UP 83 points

Bradford UP 23 points
Henderson UP 29 points
Fullerton UP 48 points
Slauter UP 10 points

Basically, everyone with significant at bats returning was UP by a large margin. The only person I can tell that was down was Frazier (19 points) but it's kind of hard to improve on .371 from the year before!

[blacklistedbully]

Uhm, guys.

Renfroe UP 93 points/ Slugging UP 246 points
Rea UP 46 points/ Slugging UP 78 points
Frost UP 88 points/ Slugging UP 83 points

Bradford UP 23 points
Henderson UP 29 points
Fullerton UP 48 points
Slauter UP 10 points

Basically, everyone with significant at bats returning was UP by a large margin. The only person I can tell that was down was Frazier (19 points) but it's kind of hard to improve on .371 from the year before!

That is interesting. I wonder how that compared to other teams, though. May be similar, but this time, Ole Miss is definitely an outlayer. Were we in 2013? Hadn't we also just moved from what had been considered the absolute worst of the bats to a better brand, or was that this year?

[Bear@Work]

That is interesting. I wonder how that compared to other teams, though. May be similar, but this time, Ole Miss is definitely an outlayer. Were we in 2013? Hadn't we also just moved from what had been considered the absolute worst of the bats to a better brand, or was that this year?

I think we changed bats this year and the numbers were down. I'm joking, of course, but we should get OUR juiced bats back!

[maroonmania]

This is it. It's JUST suspicious. Sorry if that hurts your feelings rebel bears. Nobody's accusing you of cheating besides the fanatical sector of the fanbase. All anybody is saying is that it appears it might be more than just Godwin and a senior-laden team.

Well its ESPECIALLY suspicious when they immediately have bats confiscated as soon as they show up in Omaha. If that little tidbit hadn't occurred nobody would even be scouring over these numbers like this.

[blacklistedbully]

Hold on, Bear@work. I just checked using the same criteria. You're pulling up some guys who were not our top 4 returning starters.

I've got:


Frazier Down 19 points
Renfroe Up 93
Rea Up 47
Hendu Up 29.

That's not nearly as dramatic as Ole Miss. Only Renfroe was 56 points or more higher compared to 3 of 4 for Ole Miss. Rea's numbers can be partially explained by his getting protected hitting before Renfroe. And Renfroe had proven he had legitimately improved by his work over the summer using wood bats.

[Dawg61]

I think we changed bats this year and the numbers were down. I'm joking, of course, but we should get OUR juiced bats back!

I'm not joking. Adidas bats suck and I think we should go with Louisville Slugger Cajun Swamp specials.

[Todd4State]

Uhm, guys.

Renfroe UP 93 points/ Slugging UP 246 points
Rea UP 46 points/ Slugging UP 78 points
Frost UP 88 points/ Slugging UP 83 points

Bradford UP 23 points
Henderson UP 29 points
Fullerton UP 48 points
Slauter UP 10 points

Basically, everyone with significant at bats returning was UP by a large margin. The only person I can tell that was down was Frazier (19 points) but it's kind of hard to improve on .371 from the year before!

The difference is with Renfroe, unlike Orvis, he did so well with his summer ball team, they retired his number. A lot of people saw that coming. Rea may have gone up, but he went down significantly last year. I would think that if you are using a hot bat, you would keep doing so.

[Todd4State]

I'm not joking. Adidas bats suck and I think we should go with Louisville Slugger Cajun Swamp specials.

We could just roll them and get a similar effect.

[RougeDawg]

The difference is with Renfroe, unlike Orvis, he did so well with his summer ball team, they retired his number. A lot of people saw that coming. Rea may have gone up, but he went down significantly last year. I would think that if you are using a hot bat, you would keep doing so.

This and what blacklisted said. All of the 4 bears mentioned did not see much if any improvement in summer. It wasn't until they stepped back onto Swayze with doctored bats, did they averages jump dramatically and their power numbers at least twice as much as the year before.

[messageboardsuperhero]

The difference is with Renfroe, unlike Orvis, he did so well with his summer ball team, they retired his number. A lot of people saw that coming. Rea may have gone up, but he went down significantly last year. I would think that if you are using a hot bat, you would keep doing so.

I'd be interested to see the summer ball stats for their other big hitters who have made jumps- just out of curiosity. I remember seeing a table of summer stats for their players at some point last summer and being very unimpressed.

I will say, Anderson was very solid last year, so his year hasn't been too surprising. The ones that jump out to me the most are Allen and Orvis- especially Orvis, since I really don't think he has very good bat speed. Those two were borderline terrible last year- now Allen is maybe the best offensive catcher in college baseball, and Orvis has hit 13 home runs. It's very bizarre. And when you have a power hitting lefty with 13 HRs that doesn't even get drafted, it tells me scouts see something they really don't like (ie, they don't think that power will translate).

[Todd4State]

I'd be interested to see the summer ball stats for their other big hitters who have made jumps- just out of curiosity. I remember seeing a table of summer stats for their players at some point last summer and being very unimpressed.

I will say, Anderson was very solid last year, so his year hasn't been too surprising. The ones that jump out to me the most are Allen and Orvis- especially Orvis, since I really don't think he has very good bat speed. Those two were borderline terrible last year- now Allen is maybe the best offensive catcher in college baseball, and Orvis has hit 13 home runs. It's very bizarre. And when you have a power hitting lefty with 13 HRs that doesn't even get drafted, it tells me scouts see something they really don't like (ie, they don't think that power will translate).

True. And I think there may be some of their hitters that may be on the up and up. But another thing to think about- their new additions all happened to be world beaters as well. They had two freshmen who came in and happen to hit .300 in Robinson and Woodman and then a guy from a Mississippi JUCO come in and hit right away as well. The odds of all of that happening in one season in today's college game is very, very rare.

To me, it's pretty clear that:

1. They really hated seeing us in Omaha and going to the NC series. I think they hated the attention and love that we got- the Bench Mobb, the beards, etc. I think it put them over the top.

2. It caused them to see that they weren't the top team in the state anymore. And there wasn't any question about it. Really it had been that way since 2011, but us going to Omaha pretty much ended anything else that they could spin.

3. All of that caused them to go into a "do whatever it takes" mentality- which means bats getting rolled.

4. And on top of it, you have a coach who was on the hot seat at this time last year- which means he was more than willing to turn a blind eye to anything.

When we played them in Starkville this year- they went all out. We got lucky in the Governor's Cup because we just happened to find Laster plus we got to their rag arms in that game- plus we were probably ready to turn the tables on them at that point- which contributed to us winning that game. That and Laster was so wild at that point that they couldn't square them up plus the ball at Trustmark Park doesn't carry all that well.

The thing that they had no idea would happen is the bat inspection in Omaha- and Mike Bonner reporting it.

There are still a lot of unanswered questions such as- did other teams really have bats confiscated? And if so, how many did they have confiscated compared to Ole Miss? I think it's very feasible that a team could have at least one bat that has a dent in it- and thus confiscated. But having one bat confiscated vs. Ole Miss's SEVERAL is what makes me raise my eyebrows.

[messageboardsuperhero]

True. And I think there may be some of their hitters that may be on the up and up. But another thing to think about- their new additions all happened to be world beaters as well. They had two freshmen who came in and happen to hit .300 in Robinson and Woodman and then a guy from a Mississippi JUCO come in and hit right away as well. The odds of all of that happening in one season in today's college game is very, very rare.

To me, it's pretty clear that:

1. They really hated seeing us in Omaha and going to the NC series. I think they hated the attention and love that we got- the Bench Mobb, the beards, etc. I think it put them over the top.

2. It caused them to see that they weren't the top team in the state anymore. And there wasn't any question about it. Really it had been that way since 2011, but us going to Omaha pretty much ended anything else that they could spin.

3. All of that caused them to go into a "do whatever it takes" mentality- which means bats getting rolled.

4. And on top of it, you have a coach who was on the hot seat at this time last year- which means he was more than willing to turn a blind eye to anything.

When we played them in Starkville this year- they went all out. We got lucky in the Governor's Cup because we just happened to find Laster plus we got to their rag arms in that game- plus we were probably ready to turn the tables on them at that point- which contributed to us winning that game. That and Laster was so wild at that point that they couldn't square them up plus the ball at Trustmark Park doesn't carry all that well.

The thing that they had no idea would happen is the bat inspection in Omaha- and Mike Bonner reporting it.

There are still a lot of unanswered questions such as- did other teams really have bats confiscated? And if so, how many did they have confiscated compared to Ole Miss? I think it's very feasible that a team could have at least one bat that has a dent in it- and thus confiscated. But having one bat confiscated vs. Ole Miss's SEVERAL is what makes me raise my eyebrows.

This year just seemed like a perfect storm for them personnel-wise.

All the talented players they had finally stepped up after being pretty mediocre for most of their career (Bousfield in particular).
Orvis started hitting bombs after showing underwhelming power before (bats may or may not have something to do with his numbers).
How do they replace a Johnny Bench Award winner? Just plug in last year's backup who hit .230. That sounds like it would be a disaster, right? Well, somehow Allen may have been even better than Turner was last year.
How do you replace your top two starters/innings eaters? Plug in a guy coming off an arm injury (which unfortunately didn't work for us) and a JUCO player/LSU reject- suddenly both of them somehow end up better than what they had last year.
Then every new player they needed to step up and play a role did that as well (Lee, Robinson, Woodman, etc.).

Everything seemed to bounce well for them this season in that respect. I'd say it's a combination of maturation, good coaching by Godwin mostly, and definitely a lot of good fortune as well- 49 times out of 50, you don't lose what they did last year (with pretty much everyone who follows them saying that they don't have anyone better behind those guys) and end up with a considerably better team. I just can't see them being that fortunate two years in a row, considering what all they're about to lose at the end of this season in the middle of their lineup.