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Todd4State
05-16-2016, 01:14 AM
The thing that really stuck out to me this weekend was how our team handled this weekend. I guarantee you that they know a lot is on the line and where we are in the standings and all of the other things that we discuss on Elitedawgs. But the question for all teams is how do you handle that situation? Do you pucker up and play tight? Or do you come out and play loose and play your game. I know Auburn is not very good right now- but as I said last week they had not (until now) lost a series at home and had been respectable at home. Including single wins over Texas A&M and LSU at home plus a series win over bubble team Kentucky. But we came out and took care of business on the mound and at the plate. We didn't let the moment get too big even though there are certain things that we need to happen that are beyond our control. I saw a team that was loose and having fun in our dugout. That is what you want to see this time of the year.

Our pitchers for the most part did a great job in a hitters ballpark limiting their top four hitters in their lineup. I thought Dakota Hudson's breaking ball was the best it has been all year. He had maybe his best outing of the year against Auburn and it looks like whatever was going on in the middle of the year is behind him. I thought Sexton was good despite the numbers. I think his weakness is pitching with a big lead because at first it looked like he was trying to throw everything down the middle of the plate after we scored 8. But then Wes talked to him and he was good for the next few innings. The problem was by getting hit some and then having some defensive miscues behind him caused his pitch count to run up. I was a little leery about throwing Daniel Brown with a 10-6 lead because I felt like we still had the game in control and someone like Blake Smith or Billingsley could have probably gotten the job done- but ultimately it worked out fine. Cohen probably felt like Auburn was basically out of pitching for the weekend and just wanted to make sure the game was over at that point. Daniel Brown looked great again after he got loose. He's a big reason why we are where we are right now after moving to the bullpen. Konnor Pilkington was very good again today. I think having faced lineups like Florida, Texas A&M, and LSU and having taken some lumps at times and also having some success is starting to pay off for him and us right now. He gave us 6 shutout innings and you can't ask for much more than that. Rigby struggled some early but he settled down and got outs. Humphreys was off for whatever reason. He's still learning how to pitch and unfortunately that is part of the process sometimes.

Getting Kruger back right at the plate has been a huge boost for us. He hit two key home runs for us this weekend and went 7 for 15 with 5 RBI's and added in a couple of doubles. Get ready to read that same line over and over again. He has really improved our defense behind the plate as well. Marrero looks better as a player. He had an RBI and he still has his freshman moments like throwing a ball down the first base line after a K.

Nate Lowe went 7 for 12 with a home run and 3 doubles and 6 RBI's. After going 0 for 5 in game one. The only bad thing I saw him do was throw the ball away when Sexton ran into him- but I think that was more on Holland not getting over to cover first from where I sat watching TV and I don't think the announcers picked up on it. I think Lowe saw that Holland wasn't going to get there and fired the ball to first but Sexton was too close to him and caused the ball to be thrown off line. Gavin Collins had a rough weekend among our hitters this weekend. He only went 4 for 13 with a double a home run and 3 RBI's. That's how good we hit this weekend. I loved his shot over their green monster. His defense just gets better each weekend. Cole Gordon killed three members of ISIS when he hit his triple. I thought he hit it out when I saw it leave the bat. No clue what he was doing between second and third. In the end it was beautiful.

John Holland played better and also went 4 for 13 with 3 RBI's on the weekend including a triple that almost left the park as well. Hopefully he is finding his stroke now since he is our only option at second base. He made fewer mistakes in the field aside from the one I mentioned above. Gridley went 4 for 14 but maybe more importantly was outstanding on defense yet again for us. When our middle infielders are hitting around .300 any weekend, it's a huge plus for us.

Our OF's mashed it this weekend. Humphreys went 3 for 8 with 3 RBI's and one ball that hasn't landed yet. He made sure that ball wasn't getting stolen by an outfielder. Rooker went 6 for 13 with 2 home runs, 2 doubles, and 5 RBI's including one in each game of the series. He was locked in the entire series. Robson is back- he went 3 for 10 with a double and a stolen base. I think it's time to move him back to the top of the order and have Mangum hit second and then drop Kruger down somewhere in the middle of the order. Speaking of Mangum- he went 5 for 15 with a couple of doubles and a couple of stolen bases. But the thing that stood out to me that I liked was how he responded to going 0 for 5 by going 4 for 6 the next day. The other thing that stood out to me was Mangum has been attempting to steal more bases lately. If he continues to do that along with Robson- we're going to give a lot of pitchers major headaches. With Robson getting on now- he puts pressure on defenses because he is a good bunter and can leg those out for hits or he can hit conventionally and is equally as dangerous. With him on, it forces pitchers to throw fastballs to Mangum if they were hitting 1 and 2 in the order. Plus, Robson can steal bases which puts a runner in scoring position for Mangum and the other hitters. If both Robson and Mangum are on first and second- then you have to worry about the double steal. And of course behind those two then you have Lowe, Kruger, Collins, Humphreys, and Rooker in some order. And then you finish up with Gridley and Holland. In that scenario I might even consider switching Gridley to 9 and Holland to 8 because Gridley is a better hitter. At least that is what I would like to see for the Arkansas series if not looked at during the SEC Tournament. And the SEC Tournament is a good time to experiment with things like that sometimes.

As everyone knows, we are in a great position to win the SEC West as we are tied with Texas A&M and also potentially win the SEC. So what we have to do against Arkansas is the same thing we did against Auburn. Just go out and play our game and take care of business. Looking at Arkansas- they are not a bad hitting team at all. They are second in the SEC in home runs right now and they have five hitters over .300. (Disclaimer- stats I am looking at didn't have stats for Sunday's game against Alabama). They have three guys with 8 home runs and two with 6 home runs. So, they spread it around and have some hitters that we have to be careful with. The reason that they have struggled is their pitching is dead last in the SEC. I know at one time they had to move their closer to the starting rotation and that just weakened their bullpen and I don't think their closer faired very well as a starting pitcher, so it just made them worse. As someone said today, they have struggled on the road having won only three games- one over Memphis who is terrible and two over Kentucky who has been inconsistent this year. I would have to say that they are comparable to Auburn.

The ironic thing about all of this and this season to me is it all comes down to we have to continue to win, but we also have to pull for what I would consider our three biggest rivals to win the SEC- Ole Miss, LSU, and Alabama. I know it has been talked about by MSU fans before about whether or not we would pull for Ole Miss if it would help us win a SEC Championship and it appears that is the case. It's a little bit easier pulling for Ole Miss knowing that we beat them during the regular series and have the Governor's Cup where it belongs. Same for LSU and Alabama for that matter.

At the end of the day we just have to take it one game at a time and take care of our business. Hail State my friends!

msbulldog
05-16-2016, 05:48 AM
Good read, it looks like everything standing wise is starting to fall in line for us, for a change. Hail State!

basedog
05-16-2016, 06:00 AM
One game at a time, I know we fans are looking ahead and I hope our players are just looking at Friday. It's exciting thinking about the possibilities but we have to stay focus and continue to be loose.

I may be in the minority but I wouldn't change the batting order, maybe Holland to 8th. Kruger has been hot at the plate, with Jake getting on base and a threat to steal I think it's much better having Kruger seeing fastballs because of his power, he runs decent as well. Robson is getting better at the plate but Kruger is hitting better right now and he's getting on base more which provides Lowe and Collins a better chance of getting better pitches to hit.

Our pitching is the most improved, defense is close and as I have said before Gridley is solid at shortstop, he may not be flashy but he is steady. Collins is beginning to look and play third base as if he has played that position a long time. I would love to get Stovall back this weekend, if for no other reason to give us a little depth and options at the plate.

Cohen looks pretty calm but yet has that "focus Look" in the dugout. Wes Johnson seems to have a calming affect on our pitchers when he goes to the mound. He knows when to smile and makes it look like everything is ok and he knows when to get the attention of the pitcher to buckle down. He's gonna be great when he starts recruitng and listening to the announcers talking about all of the pitchers he has coached to go get drafted was great.

One game at a time and Hail State!

DancingRabbit
05-16-2016, 09:05 AM
Good write-up Todd.

One correction. You said they had not lost a series at home. I think you meant they had not been swept at home.

They lost home series to aTm and LSU.

Great season! Hope we can finish it out on top.

confucius say
05-16-2016, 09:15 AM
I don't think I would mess the order right now either.

BeardoMSU
05-16-2016, 09:24 AM
Yeah, I wouldn't take Mangum out of the lead-off spot, either. Why not move Robson to the 9 spot?

SouthMSDog
05-16-2016, 09:39 AM
I was thinking about moving Robson in the order as well, but you can't move Kruger at the moment. He has just been too good in the 2 spot, and seems to have a comfort there. I think our optimal line up would be

1. Mangum
2. Kruger
3. Lowe
4. Rooker
5. Collins
6. Hump
7. Robson
8. Gridley
9. K or fly out to RF

AlmostPositive
05-16-2016, 09:55 AM
Auburn is not a good team by any stretch but nobody handled their hitters like we did and nobody blasted their pitchers like we did.

Nobody else swept them at home, and judging by the scores they were competitive against every other team, even A&M. (L 8-12 W 9-7 L 10-12)


State is clearly peaking at the perfect time. Number Four nationally and getting better is a lot of fun to watch.

Interpolation_Dawg_EX
05-16-2016, 10:11 AM
The thing that really stuck out to me this weekend was how our team handled this weekend. I guarantee you that they know a lot is on the line and where we are in the standings and all of the other things that we discuss on Elitedawgs. But the question for all teams is how do you handle that situation? Do you pucker up and play tight? Or do you come out and play loose and play your game. I know Auburn is not very good right now- but as I said last week they had not (until now) lost a series at home and had been respectable at home. Including single wins over Texas A&M and LSU at home plus a series win over bubble team Kentucky. But we came out and took care of business on the mound and at the plate. We didn't let the moment get too big even though there are certain things that we need to happen that are beyond our control. I saw a team that was loose and having fun in our dugout. That is what you want to see this time of the year.

Good points...Cohen pointed all of this out in the post game yesterday. He said they know what they are playing for and understand what's at stake. I think they're locked in and ready to claim OUR SEC Championship.

MarketingBully
05-16-2016, 10:22 AM
Yeah, but wouldn't you rather have Kruger have guys on when he hits those dingers? Keeping him in the 2 hole almost guarantees mostly solo shots and at the most 2 run shots. I like Todd's idea to move Robson up to the lead off spot and move Mangum to the two hole. Mangum (right now in his development) is a pure two hole hitter. He will develop into a lead off guy but right now having Robson and Mangum as your 1-2 punch would maximize our run producton. Spots 3-7 could be Lowe, Collins, Rooker, Kruger, and Humphreys. That is a murderers row that is unmatched in the SEC atm.

HoopsDawg
05-16-2016, 10:27 AM
I may be in the minority but I wouldn't change the batting order, maybe Holland to 8th. Kruger has been hot at the plate, with Jake getting on base and a threat to steal I think it's much better having Kruger seeing fastballs because of his power, he runs decent as well. Robson is getting better at the plate but Kruger is hitting better right now and he's getting on base more which provides Lowe and Collins a better chance of getting better pitches to hit. !

Definitely not in the minority. I would not change the batting order. Robson needs to be in the 6 or 7 hole. I kind of liked him 7th, but having Hump 7th makes sense too.

the59dawg
05-16-2016, 02:26 PM
Where Robson is now, he becomes the leadoff man or close to it in his first AB. Holland hit 3 or 4 balls to the warning track in the 3 games . He got the barrel on it several additional times.

Dawg496
05-16-2016, 02:31 PM
I kind of liked where Robson was - it so happened that we had Magnum-Robson-Magnum leading off the first three innings. I think Robson maybe lead off another as well. That's a pretty awesome luxury. But then again I like them both at the top setting the tone for the game as well.

Todd4State
05-16-2016, 05:48 PM
Yeah, I wouldn't take Mangum out of the lead-off spot, either. Why not move Robson to the 9 spot?

I think that's a possible good compromise. I do understand the "let's not fix what's not broke argument"- but I do wonder if we are maximizing our lineup. And we may very well be especially as productive as we have been- but I want to see what happens with Robson at 1 and Mangum at 2. If I am wrong we can always go back to what we are doing now. I also have a lot of confidence in our hitters that they can hit in different spots in the lineup and be productive.

Todd4State
05-16-2016, 05:49 PM
Good write-up Todd.

One correction. You said they had not lost a series at home. I think you meant they had not been swept at home.

They lost home series to aTm and LSU.

Great season! Hope we can finish it out on top.

Yes, I meant swept at home. Late night posting.