Success and what it means for the New Dude.

[bulldogcountry1]

About a month ago, things were pretty grim. We had followed a sweep of Oregon with two midweek losses, and a road trip to #2 Vandy was looming. The fan base was beginning to split over Cohen, and it was getting ugly. Some were encouraged by the young talent, but others just saw a continuation of last year's highly disappointing performance. The timing of it all couldn't have been worse. A little over a year ago, we were riding high with the prospect of building the baddest stadium in college baseball, and here we were hearing rumors about potential big donors wanting Cohen out and holding back. There was a feeling that it was all about to hit the fan and go south.

My how things have changed. Here we sit at #2 with SBW around the corner, and excitement is building. While MSU baseball is bigger than any coach, the new stadium probably would have eventually been built anyway, but this kind of success is the best kind of grease to loosen up everyone's wallets and get them excited about contributing. Success always makes a large project like the New Dude much easier and results in a better product that most everyone is proud of. Success is the main spark that helped create the atmosphere we have at Dudy Noble now, and we need to keep that spark as we transition to a new stadium. The atmosphere will follow.

[Tbonewannabe]

Yes, we need to have a CWS run and the Taj Mahal of baseball will be built sooner than later.

[TaleofTwoDogs]

Yes sir, winning is the grease for the wheel.

[maroonmania]

Yes, we need to have a CWS run and the Taj Mahal of baseball will be built sooner than later.

I assume that 2017 is still the earliest we will break ground regardless. Is that correct?

[Todd4State]

I assume that 2017 is still the earliest we will break ground regardless. Is that correct?

According to what Scott just put out, yes.

Even if we win the National Championship I don't think that would change.

It might get those lofts built a little bit sooner though!

[djaymsu5]

I have a crazy feeling this is the year we win it all. I hope I'm not putting the cart ahead of the horse but I swear I think we do it. We will not be denied if we get to that national championship series again. We have to grind each and every game out and finish this thing. If we can get that one under our belt we will get many more. We have been so close so many times. We have to get it done!

[Political Hack]

I have a crazy feeling this is the year we win it all. I hope I'm not putting the cart ahead of the horse but I swear I think we do it. We will not be denied if we get to that national championship series again. We have to grind each and every game out and finish this thing. If we can get that one under our belt we will get many more. We have been so close so many times. We have to get it done!

I haven't said it because I'm somehow worried that saying it will make us fall on our face. Like talking about a no hitter during a no hitter. I can see this team beating any team in the nation though on any given night. I love our rotations defensively right now and we're getting deeper and deeper on the mound.

[BrunswickDawg]

I have a crazy feeling this is the year we win it all. I hope I'm not putting the cart ahead of the horse but I swear I think we do it. We will not be denied if we get to that national championship series again. We have to grind each and every game out and finish this thing. If we can get that one under our belt we will get many more. We have been so close so many times. We have to get it done!

<fingers in ears> I'm not listening. If I can't hear you it was never said.

[Todd4State]

I have a crazy feeling this is the year we win it all. I hope I'm not putting the cart ahead of the horse but I swear I think we do it. We will not be denied if we get to that national championship series again. We have to grind each and every game out and finish this thing. If we can get that one under our belt we will get many more. We have been so close so many times. We have to get it done!

We have a LOOOOOONNNNNGGGG way to go. We have to improve our defense a little bit and we have a true freshman as our third starter- and time will tell if he can maintain his level of performance throughout the rest of the year.

[maroonmania]

We have a LOOOOOONNNNNGGGG way to go. We have to improve our defense a little bit and we have a true freshman as our third starter- and time will tell if he can maintain his level of performance throughout the rest of the year.

And this point I have a better feeling that the young pitching will continue to improve than I do that the defense will be any more than average. I mean Humphreys in LF and Collins at 3B are just never going to be stellar at those positions. Gridley is a decent SS but is prone to miss on some plays and Mangum has already made some rookie mistakes in RF that may still pop up from time to time. But, the folks in the field right now give us the best offensive lineup so probably best to live with what we've got out there.

[shoeless joe]

This is a solid team...but we may very well be peaking rite now. With our young talent we may also be just hitting our stride. Way to early to even predict anything. Let's just stay healthy and keep improving on the mound.

[bgover4]

I just want to win the SEC outright. We do that and we will put ourselves in a very nice position for postseason play.

[Taog Redloh]

This is a solid team...but we may very well be peaking rite now. With our young talent we may also be just hitting our stride. Way to early to even predict anything. Let's just stay healthy and keep improving on the mound.

We aren't peaking right now. That's silly. A few weeks ago we lost to Eastern Kentucky and Oral Roberts at home. A couple of our alleged leaders are hurt. Another is hitting like .200 in SEC play.

[Tbonewannabe]

According to what Scott just put out, yes.

Even if we win the National Championship I don't think that would change.

It might get those lofts built a little bit sooner though!

This is more what I was referring to. Instead of getting most of what is in the drawings, hopefully we get it all. A deep run will definitely help us get it instead of scaling back like the East Deck at Scott Field having the lights not match because it saved some money.

[Tbonewannabe]

We aren't peaking right now. That's silly. A few weeks ago we lost to Eastern Kentucky and Oral Roberts at home. A couple of our alleged leaders are hurt. Another is hitting like .200 in SEC play.

People think we are peaking because our pitching is coming around. Wes didn't have a lot of time to work with the pitchers so we are just developing our staff.

[Taog Redloh]

People think we are peaking because our pitching is coming around. Wes didn't have a lot of time to work with the pitchers so we are just developing our staff.

Understand but I think that is silly as well. Hudson and Sexton have been consistent all year. We are just now finding out what some guys can do and others have not even begun to tap their potential. What happens when Brown and Tatum get going? The mother of all peaks?

[AlSwearengen]

Yeah, no way to predict anything at this point. To win it all, you have to have a damn good team, peak at the end, not run into some pitcher that has the game of his life, catch a few breaks here and there, etc., etc.

What we need to do is stay very high in the polls so that people talk about us and use it to build the program and perception.

[Ralph]

Im optimistic bc the team hasn't peaked yet. For the most part our offense has been consistent for the first time in forever. Even our Sunday losses we avg 6 runs. We had two different 6 run leads on EKU late in the game and lost scoring 12 runs.

I think the team is finally starting to gel, and room for the pitching staff and defense to peak at the halfway point. That's what's so exciting about this team.

[Homedawg]

We lead the sec in era in league games only. Thought that was an interesting stat.

[maroonmania]

Yeah, no way to predict anything at this point.

Exactly, one injury to the wrong pitcher (namely Hudson or Sexton) and we would be in a pinch for sure.

[Backspin]

I predicted the team would win 13 - 15 conference games and now it looks like I was off and I'm glad with that. I was concerned with the bullpen (which looked much better this past weekend) and hitting. Hitting has been far better than I expected and when your team average is .320+ you can overcome a few random errors and a leaky pen. Really good hitting including timely hitting overcomes a lot of other issues. This team is probably the most balanced team we've had in years in terms of pitching, defense and hitting. Pretty solid all the way around so far. BTW, saw a comment on Gridley making some errors at SS. The kid is allowed a few because he makes some really nice plays, has solid range and hits over .300. Every SS is going to make a few errors because other than catcher its the most demanding position to play. Gridley is salty. A players' player. I like him and I like him at SS. He's a leader with his glove, his bat and his swagger. 18 - 20 conference wins now seems more realistic.

The intangibles this team has are confidence and swagger. That swagger has been missing for some time. This team has it.

[Dawg61]

I think we'll get to Omaha but our bullpen or lack of one halts me from predicting national titles this year.