For fun: Josh Barnhill compares 2013 and 2018 teams

[bostondawg]

Thought this would make for good conversation fodder here. Josh Barnhill (@Barne2017) stacks up the 2013 and 2018 teams against each other. He gives the 2018 team a pretty sizable advantage.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DfftInzUcAM6Ib5.jpg

Some initial thoughts:
- I can't think that Ethan Small is a push vs Graveman.
- Are Neff, McQuary, James really that much better than Bracewell, Gentry, Cox?

[Jarius]

Mitchell in 2013 was ten times the pitcher Cole Gordon is and it's not even close. McQuary is not a big advantage over anyone on the 2013 staff. Other than that it lookds pretty good

[Johnson85]

Thought this would make for good conversation fodder here. Josh Barnhill (@Barne2017) stacks up the 2013 and 2018 teams against each other. He gives the 2018 team a pretty sizable advantage.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DfftInzUcAM6Ib5.jpg

Some initial thoughts:
- I can't think that Ethan Small is a push vs Graveman.
- Are Neff, McQuary, James really that much better than Bracewell, Gentry, Cox?

Good post. Points I'm skeptical of:
Is ammo only a slight advantage over Skelton
Is Renfroe only a decent upgrade over Macnamee? I know Macnamee is hot right now, and Renfroe disappeared at times, but Renfroe was also a plus fielder compared to Macnamee too, right?
Is Pilkington a decent advantage based on the way he has been pitching lately? I really don't remember Fitts so have no clue.
Is billingsley an advantage over POllo? I would have thought they were approximately equal.
I would have thought Mitchell and Girodo were big advantages over Gordon and France. I know you can't compare stats because of the change in balls and bats since 2013, but they were lights out.
I'm also skeptical that our last three pitchers are big advantages, but that's not based so much off of memory as I just know we basically lived off of our bullpen in 2013, and with the question marks we've had this year, I find it hard to believe we are that much deeper.

[deltadawg99]

I’ve got a disagree with a few of these:
Rea was better then Allen. I think Allen will be better eventually, but Rea has more experienced.

Pirtle slightly over Stovall. Just because Pirtle was a switch hitter

Graveman was much better then Small. Graveman is in the majors and has been for a few seasons.

Mitchell was much better then Gordon. Gordon has pitched good lately, but Ross was consistent and Gordon is either feast or famine.

I don’t think Neff, Mcquary and James are big advantages over Bracewell, Gentry and Cox. This may be closer to a push if not an advantage to the 2013 team for those 3.

[Big4Dawg]

Girado>>>>>>>France.

Dude had a 1.36 ERA

[BB30]

I?ve got a disagree with a few of these:
Rea was better then Allen. I think Allen will be better eventually, but Rea has more experienced.

Pirtle slightly over Stovall. Just because Pirtle was a switch hitter

Graveman was much better then Small. Graveman is in the majors and has been for a few seasons.

Mitchell was much better then Gordon. Gordon has pitched good lately, but Ross was consistent and Gordon is either feast or famine.

I don?t think Neff, Mcquary and James are big advantages over Bracewell, Gentry and Cox. This may be closer to a push if not an advantage to the 2013 team for those 3.

In college Graveman and Small are pretty comparable statistically speaking.

Graveman had a 3.09 ERA and Small has a 3.1, Graveman threw like 110 innings and small is up around 90 IP. I would definitely say that is a push. Also Small has been pretty dang good his last several starts.

Graveman didn't really figure it out until he got into pro ball.

[MetEdDawg]

I actually think these are pretty accurate if you go back and statistically compare these guys. Tea and Allen statistically speaking are about the same. Allen better in some categories and area better than others.

McQuary has better stuff than he's given credit for. Yes he walks a lot. But dude can run his FB up to 94. He's got good stuff. I think Holder is a Big advantage over Self. Holder was dominant. Self is good but not dominant. Neff probably only decent over Bracewell. Detz should be a Decent to Big over Westburg. Detz hit .318 and had a .980 fielding percentage. Westburg is hitting .250 and has a .925 fielding percentage. Plus Detz had experience.

Overall though I think it's pretty close. Detz to me is the biggest mistake in comparison but for the most part I think everything else looks right.

[5049]

That's pretty sheeptastic

Renfroe only a 'decent' advantage over McNamee? LOLOLOL

Graveman a 'push' over Small? LOLOLOL

Girodo and Rubber Arm only 'slight' and 'decent' over Gordon and France

Get this dude outta here, go back to work

[smootness]

I don't know who this is, but holy crap that is some terrible analysis.

I'll just focus on the pitching. First, I hate this kind of analysis that just tries to compare player against player. It's inadequate. All you need to know is this:
2013: 2.79 ERA; .227 BAA; 1.19 WHIP
2018: 4.39 ERA; .267 BAA; 1.46 WHIP

Any analysis that gives 2018 any kind of pitching advantage, much less a huge pitching advantage, is absurd.

Second, his individual analyses are insane. A few highlights:
- Giving Pilkington (4.61 ERA) any kind of advantage, much less a 'decent' one, over Fitts (3.03) is....interesting.
- Billingsley has an ERA over 5. He's not a 'decent' advantage over anybody.
- Mitchell, Girodo, and Holder are all massive advantages over Gordon, France, and Self. Holy crap. They all had ERAs well below 2, and Girodo and Holder struck out everybody.
- I don't even know where to start with giving Neff a big advantage over Bracewell. Bracewell was clearly better.
- McQuary a big advantage over Gentry?! I honestly have no idea what he's even looking at.
- James is not an advantage over Cox, where he lists James' advantage as 'big'...and that is one of the least egregious things about that list.

Even going by his own system, the 2013 pitching staff should have about 16 more points than 2018.

[5049]

I don't know who this is, but holy crap that is some terrible analysis.

I'll just focus on the pitching. First, I hate this kind of analysis that just tries to compare player against player. It's inadequate. All you need to know is this:
2013: 2.79 ERA; .227 BAA; 1.19 WHIP
2018: 4.39 ERA; .267 BAA; 1.46 WHIP

Any analysis that gives 2018 any kind of pitching advantage, much less a huge pitching advantage, is absurd.

Second, his individual analyses are insane. A few highlights:
- Giving Pilkington (4.61 ERA) any kind of advantage, much less a 'decent' one, over Fitts (3.03) is....interesting.
- Billingsley has an ERA over 5. He's not a 'decent' advantage over anybody.
- Mitchell, Girodo, and Holder are all massive advantages over Gordon, France, and Self. Holy crap. They all had ERAs well below 2, and Girodo and Holder struck out everybody.
- I don't even know where to start with giving Neff a big advantage over Bracewell. Bracewell was clearly better.
- McQuary a big advantage over Gentry?! I honestly have no idea what he's even looking at.
- James is not an advantage over Cox, where he lists James' advantage as 'big'...and that is one of the least egregious things about that list.

Even going by his own system, the 2013 pitching staff should have about 16 more points than 2018.

Josh Barnhill is the Croom Diaries guy who used to post a good bit here, and yeah, I agree, the analysis is terrible

What's funny to me is when I see people on social media post articles from these fansites like they are some sort of confirmation of something

[Tbonewannabe]

Not saying the analysis is correct but 2013 had a completely different baseball which accounts for Mitchell's era blowing up the next year. That needs to be taken into account. Renfroe was a pretty big advantage in RF but I might give Allen a slight nod at 1B.

[Matty Dispatch]

I don't know who this is, but holy crap that is some terrible analysis.

I'll just focus on the pitching. First, I hate this kind of analysis that just tries to compare player against player. It's inadequate. All you need to know is this:
2013: 2.79 ERA; .227 BAA; 1.19 WHIP
2018: 4.39 ERA; .267 BAA; 1.46 WHIP

Any analysis that gives 2018 any kind of pitching advantage, much less a huge pitching advantage, is absurd.

Second, his individual analyses are insane. A few highlights:
- Giving Pilkington (4.61 ERA) any kind of advantage, much less a 'decent' one, over Fitts (3.03) is....interesting.
- Billingsley has an ERA over 5. He's not a 'decent' advantage over anybody.
- Mitchell, Girodo, and Holder are all massive advantages over Gordon, France, and Self. Holy crap. They all had ERAs well below 2, and Girodo and Holder struck out everybody.
- I don't even know where to start with giving Neff a big advantage over Bracewell. Bracewell was clearly better.
- McQuary a big advantage over Gentry?! I honestly have no idea what he's even looking at.
- James is not an advantage over Cox, where he lists James' advantage as 'big'...and that is one of the least egregious things about that list.

Even going by his own system, the 2013 pitching staff should have about 16 more points than 2018.

I am Josh Barnhill. I've been using this account because I forgot the password to my Croom Diaries account. So I'll defend my analysis here....

1. I did not base everything strictly on stats, but I did use stats. I more heavily relied on who was playing well at the time of the College World Series.
2. Bracewell, Cox and Gentry were not used past the Regionals, and very little even then. Lindgren was not used whatsoever in the 2013 postseason. McQuary, Neff and James have all made significant contributions in the 2018 postseason, therefore, they have more value.
3. The main point of this comparison was to show that the 2018 team is not that far off from the 2013 team in front line talent, however, the 2018 team does have pitchers we are at least willing to use and have used in the postseason. Even though we swept through our side of the bracket in 2013 we were left very short on pitching in the championship series, unable to use Graveman. Once Mitchell finally had a bad outing in Game 2, we were toast.

[5049]

3. The main point of this comparison was to show that the 2018 team is not that far off from the 2013 team in front line talent, however, the 2018 team does have pitchers we are at least willing to use and have used in the postseason. Even though we swept through our side of the bracket in 2013 we were left very short on pitching in the championship series, unable to use Graveman. Once Mitchell finally had a bad outing in Game 2, we were toast.
This is a myth

Most all teams who win the first two games of the CWS, turn around and use their ace again in their 3rd game, then they'll turn around and use him again in the Finals, either in Game 2 or 3. Cohen knew after we lost the first game that we'd have to use a pitcher not named Graveman at least one time if we were going to win it all, so he elected to go with the other guys, and give Graveman one more day of rest

That CWS Finals was lost when we gave up Game 1, and it was there to be won

[Matty Dispatch]

This is a myth

Most all teams who win the first two games of the CWS, turn around and use their ace again in their 3rd game, then they'll turn around and use him again in the Finals, either in Game 2 or 3. Cohen knew after we lost the first game that we'd have to use a pitcher not named Graveman at least one time if we were going to win it all, so he elected to go with the other guys, and give Graveman one more day of rest

That CWS Finals was lost when we gave up Game 1, and it was there to be won

Yes, but my point is that Graveman was our only decent starter. Now we have two front line starters and a third in Billingsly who has performed really well in the last two postseasons as a starter. In 2013, we ran out Fitts - who was good for 2-3 innings, and Pollo - who had only pitched 3.2 innings in the Regional and barely made it out of the first inning. We needed Graveman in 2013 way worse than we need Pilkington or Small in 2018.

[smootness]

I am Josh Barnhill. I've been using this account because I forgot the password to my Croom Diaries account. So I'll defend my analysis here....

1. I did not base everything strictly on stats, but I did use stats. I more heavily relied on who was playing well at the time of the College World Series.
2. Bracewell, Cox and Gentry were not used past the Regionals, and very little even then. Lindgren was not used whatsoever in the 2013 postseason. McQuary, Neff and James have all made significant contributions in the 2018 postseason, therefore, they have more value.
3. The main point of this comparison was to show that the 2018 team is not that far off from the 2013 team in front line talent, however, the 2018 team does have pitchers we are at least willing to use and have used in the postseason. Even though we swept through our side of the bracket in 2013 we were left very short on pitching in the championship series, unable to use Graveman. Once Mitchell finally had a bad outing in Game 2, we were toast.

I don't think it's that we're willing to use more guys this year, it's that we have to use more guys this year because we don't have guys like Mitchell, Girodo, and Holder who we can depend on to come in night in and night out and shut down an opposing team for multiple innings. That's why you saw fewer guys used that year, not because they weren't as good. We're using more this year not because we're deeper but because we don't have as many we can depend on.

[Tbonewannabe]

Yes, but my point is that Graveman was our only decent starter. Now we have two front line starters and a third in Billingsly who has performed really well in the last two postseasons as a starter. In 2013, we ran out Fitts - who was good for 2-3 innings, and Pollo - who had only pitched 3.2 innings in the Regional and barely made it out of the first inning. We needed Graveman in 2013 way worse than we need Pilkington or Small in 2018.

2013 only had one actual starter, everyone else was bullpen. We just elected to use Fitts and Pollo as the first guys up instead of middle relief. Neither normally went more than once through the line up but you use what you have. Cohen and Butch manipulated that pitching staff amazingly even though it was short on arms.

[smootness]

Yes, but my point is that Graveman was our only decent starter. Now we have two front line starters and a third in Billingsly who has performed really well in the last two postseasons as a starter. In 2013, we ran out Fitts - who was good for 2-3 innings, and Pollo - who had only pitched 3.2 innings in the Regional and barely made it out of the first inning. We needed Graveman in 2013 way worse than we need Pilkington or Small in 2018.

We definitely got fewer innings out of our starters, no question. But our bullpen was unbelievable and the entire reason for our postseason run. It was the talk of college baseball, so much so that it caused debate about whether the norms about how pitchers are used would change as a result. Our bullpen, particularly Mitchell and Girodo, were immaculate. How you have them as 'slight' and 'decent' advantages over Gordon and France, I genuinely don't understand.

We won the regional and SR, so of course you can look back and find guys who played well. That doesn't mean we're in better shape this year. That 2013 team was super talented, especially on the pitching side.

[BrunswickDawg]

I am Josh Barnhill. I've been using this account because I forgot the password to my Croom Diaries account. So I'll defend my analysis here....

1. I did not base everything strictly on stats, but I did use stats. I more heavily relied on who was playing well at the time of the College World Series.
2. Bracewell, Cox and Gentry were not used past the Regionals, and very little even then. Lindgren was not used whatsoever in the 2013 postseason. McQuary, Neff and James have all made significant contributions in the 2018 postseason, therefore, they have more value.
3. The main point of this comparison was to show that the 2018 team is not that far off from the 2013 team in front line talent, however, the 2018 team does have pitchers we are at least willing to use and have used in the postseason. Even though we swept through our side of the bracket in 2013 we were left very short on pitching in the championship series, unable to use Graveman. Once Mitchell finally had a bad outing in Game 2, we were toast.

Context definitely helps - The things you forget over time too, like Lindgren not pitching in the post season.

I do wonder how much the ball and bat changes since 2013 have impacted the stats.

[smootness]

I do wonder how much the ball and bat changes since 2013 have impacted the stats.

They haven't really changed things a whole lot. And if you say they've hurt the pitching, then you have to also say they've helped the hitting, which put up roughly equivalent numbers to 2013 this year.

So either the pitching is worse, or the hitting is worse. It is amazing that this team is at this point. I don't think it's an issue to say that. The 2013 team was better. Does that mean this team can't win it all? Heck no. It would make it all the more amazing.

[bostondawg]

I am Josh Barnhill. I've been using this account because I forgot the password to my Croom Diaries account. So I'll defend my analysis here....

1. I did not base everything strictly on stats, but I did use stats. I more heavily relied on who was playing well at the time of the College World Series.
2. Bracewell, Cox and Gentry were not used past the Regionals, and very little even then. Lindgren was not used whatsoever in the 2013 postseason. McQuary, Neff and James have all made significant contributions in the 2018 postseason, therefore, they have more value.
3. The main point of this comparison was to show that the 2018 team is not that far off from the 2013 team in front line talent, however, the 2018 team does have pitchers we are at least willing to use and have used in the postseason. Even though we swept through our side of the bracket in 2013 we were left very short on pitching in the championship series, unable to use Graveman. Once Mitchell finally had a bad outing in Game 2, we were toast.

I enjoy your twitter content. Hope you don't mind me sharing it here.

[Tbonewannabe]

They haven't really changed things a whole lot. And if you say they've hurt the pitching, then you have to also say they've helped the hitting, which put up roughly equivalent numbers to 2013 this year.

So either the pitching is worse, or the hitting is worse. It is amazing that this team is at this point. I don't think it's an issue to say that. The 2013 team was better. Does that mean this team can't win it all? Heck no. It would make it all the more amazing.

I think if you add either Pilk or Small to 2013 and they might have won the title. This team could definitely use Mitchell, Girodo, and Holder. The biggest difference would probably be Frost for 2013 had a better avg than Alexander.

[Jarius]

I would take Ethan Small 100 times out of 100 and beat you more times than not as a college pitcher. This is about who was better at the time of the CWS, not now that they are in the MLB. Graveman was not an elite pitcher in 2013. Nowhere near.

[smootness]

For the record, I'm not trying to be a d-bag. I appreciate any discussion of State sports, and I just want to talk baseball right now. Just offering my thoughts.

[shoeless joe]

One major difference is experience. Our top line players back then had been around a while. Not the case with a lot of the guys on this team.

[KOdawg1]

I would take Ethan Small 100 times out of 100 and beat you more times than not as a college pitcher. This is about who was better at the time of the CWS, not now that they are in the MLB. Graveman was not an elite pitcher in 2013. Nowhere near.
This. While at State, Small > Graveman. Small is pitching really well. Now, pretty much every other 2013 pitcher is better than what we have now.

[KOdawg1]

One major difference is experience. Our top line players back then had been around a while. Not the case with a lot of the guys on this team.
Yeah, most of the guys on that team had won an SEC tournament championship the year before. They were a battle tested bunch

[msstate7]

Small's numbers are more impressive than graveman's except in one area, IP. Small would have to pitch 28 innings in the CWS to match graveman's IP. Small's advantage in era is 0.25. I think I would rather have the extra innings pitched considering our pen

[Matty Dispatch]

We definitely got fewer innings out of our starters, no question. But our bullpen was unbelievable and the entire reason for our postseason run. It was the talk of college baseball, so much so that it caused debate about whether the norms about how pitchers are used would change as a result. Our bullpen, particularly Mitchell and Girodo, were immaculate. How you have them as 'slight' and 'decent' advantages over Gordon and France, I genuinely don't understand.

We won the regional and SR, so of course you can look back and find guys who played well. That doesn't mean we're in better shape this year. That 2013 team was super talented, especially on the pitching side.

The 2013 team used only 5 pitchers from the Super to the CWS finals: Graveman, Mitchell, Holder, Fitts and Girado. Those 5 I agree are better than the best 5 we could offer this year, however, we have 4 other guys this year who have all made significant contributions this year. So while the CWS is pretty spread out for the first week, there's a crunch that comes when you make a deep run where you need a 3rd starter and a 4th bullpen guy. That crunch for the 2013 team came in Game 2. It was exacerbated by the fact that we used Mitchell and Girodo for 5-7 innings each time, so if one of them didn't have it that night the other one was unavailable. Mitchell didn't have it in Game 2, and Girodo wasn't available because he just went 7.2 innings the night before.

We used 9 pitchers in the Super Regional. We used those same 9 + Blake Smith in the Regional. That's a lot more options. And hopefully we can spread them out so that each pitcher is available for nearly every game and we aren't burning them by having to use two pitchers for 4 innings each game.

I'd like to have the 2013 pitching staff for the first week of the CWS and the 2018 staff for the second week. Nevertheless, I think it's a wash - point is, this team has just as good of a chance as the 2013 did, in my opinion.

[Matty Dispatch]

I enjoy your twitter content. Hope you don't mind me sharing it here.

Thanks, glad someone enjoys it, ha

[Matty Dispatch]

Small's numbers are more impressive than graveman's except in one area, IP. Small would have to pitch 28 innings in the CWS to match graveman's IP. Small's advantage in era is 0.25. I think I would rather have the extra innings pitched considering our pen

Small: 89.2 IP / 16 starts = 5.58 innings per start
Graveman: 113.2 / 19 starts = 5.96 innings per start

So basically Small gives you 5.2 innings, and Graveman gives you 6 innings. Not much difference. Statistically, they are almost identical other than Small gets way more strikeouts and Graveman way more ground balls.

[Matty Dispatch]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DfftInzUcAM6Ib5.jpg

?

In retrospect, I should've given a "big" advantage to Renfroe over Mac if I'm giving it to Mangum over Bradford. And a "big" advantage to Girodo and Holder. So instead of 20-13, I'll re-score it as 20-17. I wasn't exactly combing through everything, but just drafting something up in 15 minutes. This was for the twitter crowd rather than the ultra-critical message board crowd.

[smootness]

The 2013 team used only 5 pitchers from the Super to the CWS finals: Graveman, Mitchell, Holder, Fitts and Girado. Those 5 I agree are better than the best 5 we could offer this year, however, we have 4 other guys this year who have all made significant contributions this year. So while the CWS is pretty spread out for the first week, there's a crunch that comes when you make a deep run where you need a 3rd starter and a 4th bullpen guy. That crunch for the 2013 team came in Game 2. It was exacerbated by the fact that we used Mitchell and Girodo for 5-7 innings each time, so if one of them didn't have it that night the other one was unavailable. Mitchell didn't have it in Game 2, and Girodo wasn't available because he just went 7.2 innings the night before.

We used 9 pitchers in the Super Regional. We used those same 9 + Blake Smith in the Regional. That's a lot more options. And hopefully we can spread them out so that each pitcher is available for nearly every game and we aren't burning them by having to use two pitchers for 4 innings each game.

I'd like to have the 2013 pitching staff for the first week of the CWS and the 2018 staff for the second week. Nevertheless, I think it's a wash - point is, this team has just as good of a chance as the 2013 did, in my opinion.

We didn't use more pitchers in 2013 because we didn't need more pitchers, not because they weren't as good. We're using more now because we need more now.

Regardless of how much guys like Bracewell and Gentry pitched beyond the regional, they were still better options than guys like Neff and McQuary.

The 2013 team gave up 3.8 runs/game throughout the postseason. The 2018 team so far has given up 7.7 runs/game. I don't understand how we're claiming 2018 is better because we're currently using more pitchers.

[5049]

One thing we can all agree on - we HOPE you are right

[Matty Dispatch]

We didn't use more pitchers in 2013 because we didn't need more pitchers, not because they weren't as good. We're using more now because we need more now.

Regardless of how much guys like Bracewell and Gentry pitched beyond the regional, they were still better options than guys like Neff and McQuary.



I'll just say this - for as much as we all loved how dominant our bullpen was in 2013, using them like we did ultimately cost us. At the end of the day Cohen and Thompson chose not to use Bracewell and Gentry and Cox or Lindgren at all the last 3 weeks of the season...so their position on the roster was ultimately rendered worthless.

What I'm saying is, that by having more pitchers we can use them each less without burning them. For example, if Girodo had only pitched two innings in Game 1 of the CWS, then Bracewell came in and so on, then he wouldn't have been burned for the rest of the series. I know that's how we'd been winning throughout the postseason run, but it was highly unorthodox and finally caught up with us when we lost Game 1 and Ross Mitchell finally faltered in Game 2.

This year, I like the fact that we have 9 guys who have all gotten big, high pressure outs THIS postseason. Plus, the starters (Pilk, Small, Billingsly) are all greater than or equal to Graveman, Fitts, Pollo. We may not have the quality arms, but the quantity is there, so if one guy doesn't have it we just move to the next one. In 2013, if one guy didn't have it we were screwed.....fortunately we had a great run where they were all on fire until the end.

[smootness]

I'll just say this - for as much as we all loved how dominant our bullpen was in 2013, using them like we did ultimately cost us. At the end of the day Cohen and Thompson chose not to use Bracewell and Gentry and Cox or Lindgren at all the last 3 weeks of the season...so their position on the roster was ultimately rendered worthless.

What I'm saying is, that by having more pitchers we can use them each less without burning them. For example, if Girodo had only pitched two innings in Game 1 of the CWS, then Bracewell came in and so on, then he wouldn't have been burned for the rest of the series. I know that's how we'd been winning throughout the postseason run, but it was highly unorthodox and finally caught up with us when we lost Game 1 and Ross Mitchell finally faltered in Game 2.

This year, I like the fact that we have 9 guys who have all gotten big, high pressure outs THIS postseason. Plus, the starters (Pilk, Small, Billingsly) are all greater than or equal to Graveman, Fitts, Pollo. We may not have the quality arms, but the quantity is there, so if one guy doesn't have it we just move to the next one. In 2013, if one guy didn't have it we were screwed.....fortunately we had a great run where they were all on fire until the end.

And I'm just telling you that regardless of how and when we used them, I think it's clear we had more pitchers in 2013, even if we've used more so far in this tournament.

And I don't think it cost us. We scored 1 run in game 1 of the finals and 0 runs in game 2. Our offense failed us. Yes, our pitching let us down in game 2 as well, but when you don't score, you're done no matter what. I mean, shoot, we all point to the 8 runs we gave up in the last game that year to the national champs, but we gave up 8 to Samford in the regional, and 8 and 6 to Vandy in the SR. We just happened to win those.

Our offense is playing well, and our pitching has stepped up when it has mattered. And I hope like crazy we somehow end up pulling this off. I'm just saying I don't see any way someone can say our collection of pitchers this year is better than our collection of pitchers in 2013.

[shoeless joe]

Pollorena also pitched in the CWS so that's 6 pitchers

[Tbonewannabe]

And I'm just telling you that regardless of how and when we used them, I think it's clear we had more pitchers in 2013, even if we've used more so far in this tournament.

And I don't think it cost us. We scored 1 run in game 1 of the finals and 0 runs in game 2. Our offense failed us. Yes, our pitching let us down in game 2 as well, but when you don't score, you're done no matter what. I mean, shoot, we all point to the 8 runs we gave up in the last game that year to the national champs, but we gave up 8 to Samford in the regional, and 8 and 6 to Vandy in the SR. We just happened to win those.

Our offense is playing well, and our pitching has stepped up when it has mattered. And I hope like crazy we somehow end up pulling this off. I'm just saying I don't see any way someone can say our collection of pitchers this year is better than our collection of pitchers in 2013.

It seems like when you get to this time of year that what you do in the critical moments is what matters. We had huge moments to get to the title game in 2013 but then fell flat in those 2 games. This team has kept having big moments and if they keep stepping up when their back is against the wall then that is how you win Championships.

[WeWonItAll(Most)]

Girado>>>>>>>France.

Dude had a 1.36 ERA

Girodo's transformation from his junior to senior year has to be one of the most incredible things I've ever seen. He went from 3 years of arguably being the worst pitcher on our staff to that. Lefties literally couldn't touch him.

[Tbonewannabe]

Girodo's transformation from his junior to senior year has to be one of the most incredible things I've ever seen. He went from 3 years of arguably being the worst pitcher on our staff to that. Lefties literally couldn't touch him.

Lefties couldn't touch him and righties couldn't do anything with his inside stuff. He has been pretty good in the minors, it surprises me that he hasn't come up as a left on left match up guy.

[smootness]

It seems like when you get to this time of year that what you do in the critical moments is what matters. We had huge moments to get to the title game in 2013 but then fell flat in those 2 games. This team has kept having big moments and if they keep stepping up when their back is against the wall then that is how you win Championships.

Sure, but everybody has big moments until they lose. I just don’t think we can read into anything upcoming based on what has happened so far.