Todd4State
05-08-2016, 12:01 AM
We got the sweep monkey off of our backs! I think that's the key thing that happened for us this weekend. And despite Mizzou's record, it wasn't easy because Houck can beat anyone on any given night. But the key thing is we have pitchers that can match aces like that whether their ceiling is as high as the opposing ace or not. That's one key difference between us now and last year. I see and hear a lot of analysts talking about our offense being key- and that certainly helps- but our pitching is a LOT better too. I believe we lead the SEC in ERA in SEC games only- that's pretty impressive.
Dakota Hudson looked a lot better. It sounds like they made a mechanical adjustment that helped whatever was going on with him. He gave up some hits, but most of them were off of weak contact. That happens when your stuff is filthy. Sexton was very good again. He drew a tough assignment against Houck and then he got into a jam when we were down 2-0 and he got out of it. I think that probably was the key moment that won the game for us and then allowed us to sweep. If he allows a run there, it would have been really difficult to come back on Houck. But Sexton bore down and with the bases loaded and no outs he gets an infield fly, a K, and then the final out. He pretty much cruised from there on out. Pilkington was good but we're only going to get 4-5 IP out of him for now just because he is still learning how to pitch in the SEC. Daniel Brown was outstanding this weekend. His ERA as a relief pitcher is just north of 1. Reid didn't look quite right on Saturday- and I thought it was a good move by Cohen to take him out because their LH hitters had been hitting him. Including a guy that was hitting .167. A lot of coaches wouldn't have done that- but Cohen did and Brown finished off the win. But to Reid's credit- he came back today and struck out the side and was throwing gas like he does when he is right. And I noticed his velocity was up about 4 MPH today compared to last night. It's just difficult to be a dual position guy and he's trying to learn how to pitch on the fly on top of everything else. He has been pretty much untouchable since LSU.
Jack Kruger had a great weekend at the plate this weekend and also behind the plate. I personally would prefer for Kruger to be our catcher going forward simply because he is more mature as a player than Marrero is at this point. And don't get me wrong Marrero is very good- but things like standing around and not throwing down on a K with first base open and then throwing a bunt into RF are the kinds of things that happen because he is a freshman and he is learning how to play in the SEC. That said, to his credit he took some of our best AB's against Houck. So, I can see him progressing as well.
Nate Lowe might win SEC hitter of the week. He smoked a ball into the RF Lounge on Friday and then got a HUGE double off of Houck on Saturday that turned the momentum in our favor. They just couldn't get him out. Gavin Collins had a really good weekend even though it may have gone unnoticed somewhat because a lot of his hits were singles. His average is slowly creeping up towards .300 as the season goes along. Gavin also made a HUGE play on defense in the 9th to make the final out for us on Saturday and then he had another RBI today.
Holland has to do better- and that is as nice as I can say that. He got thrown out at home on a ball that barely made the outfield, misplayed a ball today that led to their only run scoring which tied the game, and had some bad AB's like the one where he swung at the first pitch and got out. He also got into it with their catcher today and I totally understand after he got spiked on Friday- but it makes me think that may have got into his head some and it caused him to be out of control at times. We need to get Stovall and or LA healthy enough to play again. Yes they have their freshman moments too- but they are still better at the plate and in the field. Gridley was really solid all weekend. He battles and just makes the plays. It's a shame that LA won't be 100% until next year because Gridley at second and LA at SS would make us one of the the best defensive MIF's in the SEC. Stovall is going to be very good too- remember he played catcher most of his HS career and is learning second to a degree.
I liked the OF we had yesterday with Mangum in LF, Robson in CF, and Rooker in RF. If Hump needs to be in the field to be ready to pitch I'm totally OK with him being out there as well. I just like Rooker's arm although to Reid's credit he made a really nice play and then Gridley made a nice relay to gun down a runner at the plate which was a key play today. Rooker hit a bomb into the wind which shows just how strong he is plus he got an RBI today. The fake bunt steal was beautiful. Plays like that make baseball fun for me. Great call by Cohen right there and I wish we would see even more of that. It's good to see Robson back and he is getting closer to being 100%. Robson had a rough day today- but he also a good day on Friday. Mangum had yet another great weekend at the plate. One thing I like about him is he has shown that he can play anywhere in the OF and do it well. If I were Cohen I would hit Robson 1 and Mangum 2 and then drop Kruger down to 5. Robson can run and has shown that he can hit leadoff. He can bunt for hits and when he is on base he can steal almost whenever he wants to. When Robson gets on, that means fastballs to Mangum because throwing breaking balls with Robson on pretty much gives your catcher zero chance. And that usually means a hit for Mangum. Mangum handles the bat well obviously. I think we need to run Mangum more- maybe not give him the green light all the time but some called steals from the dugout. Cody Brown did a great job coming off the bench and getting the bunt down and then using his speed to force the issue and beating the second baseman to the bag.
Up next we have our final midweek game of the year on the road against Troy. They won't get an at large bid or win the Sun Belt in all likelihood- but they are a solid team with 27 wins on the year. They have defeated Auburn and they have lost to Alabama twice and all three games were competitive. Interestingly enough, they play Auburn on Tuesday before we play them on Weds. They have four starters hitting over .300 and they don't have a ton of power. They have some pitchers with some good stats too- but we'll see what their situation is since they will likely use some guys before we play them. We're probably going to start Zac Houston and I suspect we are going to try to get Rigby and Billingsley in to get some work since they didn't pitch this weekend. I think it will be a pretty tough game because they are a good team and this is probably a game that they have had circled on the calendar since school started. It could end up being like the last Sun Belt team we played- ULM.
After that we play Auburn in a huge SEC series for us. They are the opposite of Alabama in that they hit well statistically but they have had some issues pitching. They are a LOT better at home than they are on the road. They've only won once in the SEC on the road this year and they have defeated Kentucky and Tennessee at home and they defeated LSU and Texas A&M once at home as well. It's going to be interesting because you know Butch knows a lot about our players, but our players are going to want to do well since it is Butch's team. At the end of the day it comes down to execution though. Anfernee Grier is a possible first round pick and Grier vs. Mangum is going to be interesting to watch as well. We'll see what happens tomorrow but Auburn had a deflating loss in extra innings today to Alabama so we'll see what happens to them tomorrow.
You have to like where our team sits in the standings right now. We'll see what happens tomorrow- but we know that we will be only one game back going into Auburn. We can analyze the standing as fans which is fun to do. But the bottom line is we just need to take care of business and just keep winning. We're playing with a lot of energy and our guys look like they are having fun. That's what you want to see right now. Buckle up gentlemen and Hail State!
Dakota Hudson looked a lot better. It sounds like they made a mechanical adjustment that helped whatever was going on with him. He gave up some hits, but most of them were off of weak contact. That happens when your stuff is filthy. Sexton was very good again. He drew a tough assignment against Houck and then he got into a jam when we were down 2-0 and he got out of it. I think that probably was the key moment that won the game for us and then allowed us to sweep. If he allows a run there, it would have been really difficult to come back on Houck. But Sexton bore down and with the bases loaded and no outs he gets an infield fly, a K, and then the final out. He pretty much cruised from there on out. Pilkington was good but we're only going to get 4-5 IP out of him for now just because he is still learning how to pitch in the SEC. Daniel Brown was outstanding this weekend. His ERA as a relief pitcher is just north of 1. Reid didn't look quite right on Saturday- and I thought it was a good move by Cohen to take him out because their LH hitters had been hitting him. Including a guy that was hitting .167. A lot of coaches wouldn't have done that- but Cohen did and Brown finished off the win. But to Reid's credit- he came back today and struck out the side and was throwing gas like he does when he is right. And I noticed his velocity was up about 4 MPH today compared to last night. It's just difficult to be a dual position guy and he's trying to learn how to pitch on the fly on top of everything else. He has been pretty much untouchable since LSU.
Jack Kruger had a great weekend at the plate this weekend and also behind the plate. I personally would prefer for Kruger to be our catcher going forward simply because he is more mature as a player than Marrero is at this point. And don't get me wrong Marrero is very good- but things like standing around and not throwing down on a K with first base open and then throwing a bunt into RF are the kinds of things that happen because he is a freshman and he is learning how to play in the SEC. That said, to his credit he took some of our best AB's against Houck. So, I can see him progressing as well.
Nate Lowe might win SEC hitter of the week. He smoked a ball into the RF Lounge on Friday and then got a HUGE double off of Houck on Saturday that turned the momentum in our favor. They just couldn't get him out. Gavin Collins had a really good weekend even though it may have gone unnoticed somewhat because a lot of his hits were singles. His average is slowly creeping up towards .300 as the season goes along. Gavin also made a HUGE play on defense in the 9th to make the final out for us on Saturday and then he had another RBI today.
Holland has to do better- and that is as nice as I can say that. He got thrown out at home on a ball that barely made the outfield, misplayed a ball today that led to their only run scoring which tied the game, and had some bad AB's like the one where he swung at the first pitch and got out. He also got into it with their catcher today and I totally understand after he got spiked on Friday- but it makes me think that may have got into his head some and it caused him to be out of control at times. We need to get Stovall and or LA healthy enough to play again. Yes they have their freshman moments too- but they are still better at the plate and in the field. Gridley was really solid all weekend. He battles and just makes the plays. It's a shame that LA won't be 100% until next year because Gridley at second and LA at SS would make us one of the the best defensive MIF's in the SEC. Stovall is going to be very good too- remember he played catcher most of his HS career and is learning second to a degree.
I liked the OF we had yesterday with Mangum in LF, Robson in CF, and Rooker in RF. If Hump needs to be in the field to be ready to pitch I'm totally OK with him being out there as well. I just like Rooker's arm although to Reid's credit he made a really nice play and then Gridley made a nice relay to gun down a runner at the plate which was a key play today. Rooker hit a bomb into the wind which shows just how strong he is plus he got an RBI today. The fake bunt steal was beautiful. Plays like that make baseball fun for me. Great call by Cohen right there and I wish we would see even more of that. It's good to see Robson back and he is getting closer to being 100%. Robson had a rough day today- but he also a good day on Friday. Mangum had yet another great weekend at the plate. One thing I like about him is he has shown that he can play anywhere in the OF and do it well. If I were Cohen I would hit Robson 1 and Mangum 2 and then drop Kruger down to 5. Robson can run and has shown that he can hit leadoff. He can bunt for hits and when he is on base he can steal almost whenever he wants to. When Robson gets on, that means fastballs to Mangum because throwing breaking balls with Robson on pretty much gives your catcher zero chance. And that usually means a hit for Mangum. Mangum handles the bat well obviously. I think we need to run Mangum more- maybe not give him the green light all the time but some called steals from the dugout. Cody Brown did a great job coming off the bench and getting the bunt down and then using his speed to force the issue and beating the second baseman to the bag.
Up next we have our final midweek game of the year on the road against Troy. They won't get an at large bid or win the Sun Belt in all likelihood- but they are a solid team with 27 wins on the year. They have defeated Auburn and they have lost to Alabama twice and all three games were competitive. Interestingly enough, they play Auburn on Tuesday before we play them on Weds. They have four starters hitting over .300 and they don't have a ton of power. They have some pitchers with some good stats too- but we'll see what their situation is since they will likely use some guys before we play them. We're probably going to start Zac Houston and I suspect we are going to try to get Rigby and Billingsley in to get some work since they didn't pitch this weekend. I think it will be a pretty tough game because they are a good team and this is probably a game that they have had circled on the calendar since school started. It could end up being like the last Sun Belt team we played- ULM.
After that we play Auburn in a huge SEC series for us. They are the opposite of Alabama in that they hit well statistically but they have had some issues pitching. They are a LOT better at home than they are on the road. They've only won once in the SEC on the road this year and they have defeated Kentucky and Tennessee at home and they defeated LSU and Texas A&M once at home as well. It's going to be interesting because you know Butch knows a lot about our players, but our players are going to want to do well since it is Butch's team. At the end of the day it comes down to execution though. Anfernee Grier is a possible first round pick and Grier vs. Mangum is going to be interesting to watch as well. We'll see what happens tomorrow but Auburn had a deflating loss in extra innings today to Alabama so we'll see what happens to them tomorrow.
You have to like where our team sits in the standings right now. We'll see what happens tomorrow- but we know that we will be only one game back going into Auburn. We can analyze the standing as fans which is fun to do. But the bottom line is we just need to take care of business and just keep winning. We're playing with a lot of energy and our guys look like they are having fun. That's what you want to see right now. Buckle up gentlemen and Hail State!