Todd4State
04-05-2016, 11:07 PM
Tonight the best thing is we looked like a top 10 team in the country going up against a 7 win team. And we did it by going Johnny Wholestaff with almost ALL freshmen. They've come a LONG way already- and that's a very good thing to see.
Most of us figured that Pilkington was just going to get a short outing- and as we all know he's going to get the start Sunday against Florida. We're going to have to play that like we did against USM when Pilkington started- only ask him to go about 3-4 innings and then go to Rigby. I hope it works- it did against USM and they are a good hitting team plus it was in a big environment. We certainly got better results than we have with our Sunday guys in SEC play so far.
Ryan Cyr has quietly had a really good freshman year. We may need to consider him throwing more. Keegan looked good, Noah Hughes looked a lot better- although I hope he isn't hurt too bad, Breaux looked good, and then good to see Billingsley step it up and strike out the side. I'm glad we got Padgett in and he got his hitter out. But seeing Zac Houston go out there and close it out throwing in the mid 90's was probably THE best thing I saw tonight from our pitching staff. If he can step it up it will help us out immensely. Some of the guys we pitched tonight were the same ones getting shelled a few weeks ago by Eastern Kentucky. Now they are shutting out inferior opponents like they should.
And even though he didn't pitch tonight- Ethan Small has made a lot of progress as well.
Great to see Jack Kruger catching behind the plate and then go out and hit a bomb. We need him to get going again. Whether that is at catcher or DH. Of course, Elih has stepped up and performed really well there.
Nate Lowe continues to perform well- although Cole Gordon seems to keep getting big hits when he gets to play too. He's going to be really good for us as well. People forget about his huge hit against Vandy that won our game in extra innings for us.
I think it's time to start Hunter Stovall over Holland at second for now. Stovall is a lot like Mangum- he just plays the game hard and makes mostly good things happen. Gridley still looks good at SS.
Gavin's batting average is slowly creeping up as he continues to get better and better at third. I wouldn't be shocked at all if he is over .300 by the end of the year.
Hopefully Robson will come back soon- it sounds like he will or is at least expected to. Jake Mangum got on base SIX times tonight. Oh- and he's hitting over .400 now also. He's a badass. Nothing more to say. Good to see Rooker get a ground rule double- he needs to get going again. Cody Brown had a solid night and now he is over .300 again for the year currently. Reid Humphreys didn't have a great night at the plate- he's the only starter that didn't get a hit. Not worried about him though.
Florida is up next. They're number one in the country for a reason- their Sunday guy will be a first round pick and most were saying he would be possibly the top pick in the entire draft although he has struggled some this year. They've won 28 games in a row at home- and they don't play a lot of Grambling's there either. Obviously, if they swept us it wouldn't shock me at all. I'd be OK if we win ONE game to be honest. The good news is Hudson and Sexton will give us as good a chance as anyone to at least win a game- although Sexton has been a LOT better at home than he has on the road. And then starting a true freshman against them on Sunday is scary in and of itself. If Pikington gets knocked around, I don't know that I would put a ton of stock into it. At the same time, it's an opportunity to show the nation what we can do. If they do sweep us, we're going to have to sweep someone like Auburn or Missouri to make up for it to stay on schedule. And as we all know, O'Sullivan and Cohen aren't exactly the best of friends so there could very well be some chippiness and some douchery on the part of Florida this weekend.
Regardless of what happens this weekend good or bad- the good news is I see our team improving a LOT right now. That's a VERY good sign for us. Right now our biggest issue is finding that third guy and strengthening the bullpen- but we have a LOT of options and I think we will find those options by the end of the year. If y'all remember it wasn't until late in the year that Girodo became really dominant for us. There is still plenty of time for someone to step up like that and I think that will probably happen.
Most of us figured that Pilkington was just going to get a short outing- and as we all know he's going to get the start Sunday against Florida. We're going to have to play that like we did against USM when Pilkington started- only ask him to go about 3-4 innings and then go to Rigby. I hope it works- it did against USM and they are a good hitting team plus it was in a big environment. We certainly got better results than we have with our Sunday guys in SEC play so far.
Ryan Cyr has quietly had a really good freshman year. We may need to consider him throwing more. Keegan looked good, Noah Hughes looked a lot better- although I hope he isn't hurt too bad, Breaux looked good, and then good to see Billingsley step it up and strike out the side. I'm glad we got Padgett in and he got his hitter out. But seeing Zac Houston go out there and close it out throwing in the mid 90's was probably THE best thing I saw tonight from our pitching staff. If he can step it up it will help us out immensely. Some of the guys we pitched tonight were the same ones getting shelled a few weeks ago by Eastern Kentucky. Now they are shutting out inferior opponents like they should.
And even though he didn't pitch tonight- Ethan Small has made a lot of progress as well.
Great to see Jack Kruger catching behind the plate and then go out and hit a bomb. We need him to get going again. Whether that is at catcher or DH. Of course, Elih has stepped up and performed really well there.
Nate Lowe continues to perform well- although Cole Gordon seems to keep getting big hits when he gets to play too. He's going to be really good for us as well. People forget about his huge hit against Vandy that won our game in extra innings for us.
I think it's time to start Hunter Stovall over Holland at second for now. Stovall is a lot like Mangum- he just plays the game hard and makes mostly good things happen. Gridley still looks good at SS.
Gavin's batting average is slowly creeping up as he continues to get better and better at third. I wouldn't be shocked at all if he is over .300 by the end of the year.
Hopefully Robson will come back soon- it sounds like he will or is at least expected to. Jake Mangum got on base SIX times tonight. Oh- and he's hitting over .400 now also. He's a badass. Nothing more to say. Good to see Rooker get a ground rule double- he needs to get going again. Cody Brown had a solid night and now he is over .300 again for the year currently. Reid Humphreys didn't have a great night at the plate- he's the only starter that didn't get a hit. Not worried about him though.
Florida is up next. They're number one in the country for a reason- their Sunday guy will be a first round pick and most were saying he would be possibly the top pick in the entire draft although he has struggled some this year. They've won 28 games in a row at home- and they don't play a lot of Grambling's there either. Obviously, if they swept us it wouldn't shock me at all. I'd be OK if we win ONE game to be honest. The good news is Hudson and Sexton will give us as good a chance as anyone to at least win a game- although Sexton has been a LOT better at home than he has on the road. And then starting a true freshman against them on Sunday is scary in and of itself. If Pikington gets knocked around, I don't know that I would put a ton of stock into it. At the same time, it's an opportunity to show the nation what we can do. If they do sweep us, we're going to have to sweep someone like Auburn or Missouri to make up for it to stay on schedule. And as we all know, O'Sullivan and Cohen aren't exactly the best of friends so there could very well be some chippiness and some douchery on the part of Florida this weekend.
Regardless of what happens this weekend good or bad- the good news is I see our team improving a LOT right now. That's a VERY good sign for us. Right now our biggest issue is finding that third guy and strengthening the bullpen- but we have a LOT of options and I think we will find those options by the end of the year. If y'all remember it wasn't until late in the year that Girodo became really dominant for us. There is still plenty of time for someone to step up like that and I think that will probably happen.