Bulldogs heading into Gainsville

[PKADogs55]

Alright E.D. ... give me your thoughts. From reading a lot of your posts the last day or two, seems like we are about to see what the Diamond Dawgs are made of this weekend. I have no doubt we are bringing in the better ball club (Do we take 2 of 3, Sweep, hard fought pitching match-ups, bullpen bounce back, slumping bats break out this series) ... how do you guys think we truly stack up against UF? Haha Gainesville .. my bad.

[StarkVegasSteve]

I think with Small and Ginn you bring the best 1/2 punch in the conference. It's similar to three years ago when we went in there with Hudson and Sexton and Hudson got worked the first game. If a similar thing happens on Friday you've got to rely on Ginn, the bats, and the bullpen to win the series. However, I think Small is able to handle it on Friday night. If he can continue to effectively attack the zone we'll be fine. Saying all that, our bats do need to wake up cause they're going to score some runs. I don't feel like our bullpen performance on Sunday will be a trend so I still think we can rely on them in a jam. Would love to have gotten Spencer Price some innings last weekend to see where he is in recovery. That breaking ball against their lineup would be deadly.

[Tbonewannabe]

Geautru might need to dump the bats in the dugout to wake them up. We need Tanner Allen and Rowdy to heat up. It will probably be a 3-2 type of ball game on Friday and Saturday so whoever comes out the best on those days has the best chance on Sunday. I like our chances in low scoring games because we seem to have a lot of grit and get it done. It will be interesting to see if we keep running as much as we are. At this pace we will blow up the MSU stolen bases record. I love the pressure that puts on pitchers and catchers.

[ShotgunDawg]

I think we'll be battling our rears off to win 2 of 3 this weekend and wouldn't at all be surprised to see us lose 2 of 3 in a close loss.

I think we are really good and an Omaha team but I don't love the way we are currently playing and we don't really know Westburg's status.

[Tbonewannabe]

I think we'll be battling our rears off to win 2 of 3 this weekend and wouldn't at all be surprised to see us lose 2 of 3 in a close loss.

I think we are really good and an Omaha team but I don't love the way we are currently playing and we don't really know Westburg's status.

Other than one inning that our pitchers couldn't hit the strike zone, our pitching is as good as I have ever seen. We will see now that we are getting into SEC play but we did shut down Texas Tech who is consistently a top 10 offense every year. Oddly enough, our hitting is what is kind of struggling. I like how clutch we have been so far except in the first game against USM. If our hitting gets rolling then we have the ability to go farther than we did last year.

[AlSwearengen]

We are going to have to hit better throughout the lineup. There is so little room for error in a series like this and as good as we like to think we are, Perfect Game or the like will probably tell you that Florida has more talent.

We beat a good Texas tech team that Nebraska shut out the night before. Sam Houston St. is pretty good. Other than that, no one overly impressive.

I can see us losing the series and a huge meltdown here.

[ShotgunDawg]

Other than one inning that our pitchers couldn't hit the strike zone, our pitching is as good as I have ever seen. We will see now that we are getting into SEC play but we did shut down Texas Tech who is consistently a top 10 offense every year. Oddly enough, our hitting is what is kind of struggling. I like how clutch we have been so far except in the first game against USM. If our hitting gets rolling then we have the ability to go farther than we did last year.

Absolutely. This team could win it all. Just saying I don't love how we are playing right now.

[Tbonewannabe]

We are going to have to hit better throughout the lineup. There is so little room for error in a series like this and as good as we like to think we are, Perfect Game or the like will probably tell you that Florida has more talent.

We beat a good Texas tech team that Nebraska shut out the night before. Sam Houston St. is pretty good. Other than that, no one overly impressive.

I can see us losing the series and a huge meltdown here.

That USM series will also be a good one for the resume' at the end of the year.

[Tbonewannabe]

Absolutely. This team could win it all. Just saying I don't love how we are playing right now.

Right now I don't have a lot of confidence in our hitters outside of Mangum, Westburg, Foscue, and Mac. We need Westburg back and healthy so hopefully he can take this week to get back 100%.

[Gutter Cobreh]

I heard this from a friend of a friend of a cousin of a friend, who heard it from a Pastor in central MS (very reliable sources) that Stricklin will be pulling out all the stops:

For Game 1 - Pat McMahon is coming in to give a pep talk to the UF team and provide bench coaching for this game. I expect that UF loses because it would take more than an old coach to stop Small from dominating.

For Game 2 - Mullen and his crew will be giving the pre-game speech. After all the "relentless effort" and "strain" references, I expect the UF team to be so confused Ginn mows them down and we win again.

For Game 3 and down 0-2 in the series, Stricklin fires Sully and crew and offers Gautreau the head job and brings in Cannizaro as hitting coach. We lose Game 3.

In summary - we take 2 of 3 this weekend.

[AlSwearengen]

That USM series will also be a good one for the resume' at the end of the year.

Hopefully, but Scott Berry is on the news after every game they play bitching about his team and their lack of hitting. I have a feeling usm isn’t as good as they thought they were going to be.

[TNDawg35]

I heard this from a friend of a friend of a cousin of a friend, who heard it from a Pastor in central MS (very reliable sources) that Stricklin will be pulling out all the stops:

For Game 1 - Pat McMahon is coming in to give a pep talk to the UF team and provide bench coaching for this game. I expect that UF loses because it would take more than an old coach to stop Small from dominating.

For Game 2 - Mullen and his crew will be giving the pre-game speech. After all the "relentless effort" and "strain" references, I expect the UF team to be so confused Ginn mows them down and we win again.

For Game 3 and down 0-2 in the series, Stricklin fires Sully and crew and offers Gautreau the head job and brings in Cannizaro as hitting coach. We lose Game 3.

In summary - we take 2 of 3 this weekend.

Game 3 depends on what size boobs Cannizzaro brings with him. Hell, if they bring the girl from the football game, Keegan may not be able to throw a strike. (Anyone got that pic of her in the tank top thing)

[BuckyIsAB****]

I think we'll be battling our rears off to win 2 of 3 this weekend and wouldn't at all be surprised to see us lose 2 of 3 in a close loss.

I think we are really good and an Omaha team but I don't love the way we are currently playing and we don't really know Westburg's status.

We have the best record in the country no reason to think we cant beat them. Look at UF's results they havent been impressive

[AlSwearengen]

We have the best record in the country no reason to think we cant beat them. Look at UF's results they havent been impressive

Florida’s problems have been mostly midweek. They are also relying on quite a few true freshmen, so that has to be taken into account.

I remember one season that we were unbeaten and ranked no. 1 about 15 games into the season. I think we missed the tournament. Once SEC play starts, things can get away from you pretty fast. I don’t think that happens to us, but I would like to see a little more cautious optimism around here.

[Jarius]

Florida needs to worry about us, not the other way around.

[MetEdDawg]

Florida will throw it well this weekend. Best staff we've seen. We will be the best team they've seen too by a lot (They play FSU tonight but we are better).

They haven't seen anything close to Small or Ginn. I'm expecting the bats to struggle, but I'm also expecting Small and Ginn to do pretty well. 3 or fewer runs over 6-7 innings would be good against Florida.

I think we win Friday and Saturday but lose Sunday.

[Coldsleeve Jr.]

I could see us going 1-2 or 3-0 and anything in between. Will techincally be our first road game. Either way I don't expect this series to be season-defining

[Dawg2003]

SEC play will be when we really see what we've got. Like someone else said, their issues have been midweek, so I assume we won't see that pitcher. Rowdey and Tanner have become black holes very quickly in our batting lineup. Rowdey is batting 0.186 y'all. It's bad. Who else in the SEC has someone with that batting average in the starting lineup? People keep saying he and Tanner will be fine, but they aren't fine. When are they going to be fine? Oh, and bad Cole made an appearance last weekend. I knew he was still in there.

[Todd4State]

Statistically speaking we pitch better (Florida's midweek skews this some) and we hit better (Florida's midweek doesn't skew this as much).

I'm expecting it to be an intense series as it always is especially since O'Sullivan hates us and we swept them last year. But our guys want to beat their ass too. Really could go either way but for us to win we're going to have to play a little cleaner than we did against Maine. Probably going to have to go with some small ball at least one game during the series and we need our defense to be on point.

[PKADogs55]

Florida will throw it well this weekend. Best staff we've seen. We will be the best team they've seen too by a lot (They play FSU tonight but we are better).

They haven't seen anything close to Small or Ginn. I'm expecting the bats to struggle, but I'm also expecting Small and Ginn to do pretty well. 3 or fewer runs over 6-7 innings would be good against Florida.

I think we win Friday and Saturday but lose Sunday.

Spot on Met!

[KOdawg1]

I think we take 2 of 3

[Randolph Dupree]

I won't pick against Small and Ginn all year. I think we take two of three. If we win game three it will be a scrappy win against a good team. We are a really good team IMO and if we are scrappy to boot (and Ithink we are) I'll go over to the sports book in Vicksburg and lay some smack down on us winning a natty.

[I seen it dawg]

I expect to take 2/3. Catching Florida at perfect time. We will for sure find out whether we are ready for prime time.

[HoopsDawg]

I expect to take 2/3. Catching Florida at perfect time. We will for sure find out whether we are ready for prime time.

They sure beat the shit out of FSU tonight. Bats were hot.

[PKADogs55]

They sure beat the shit out of FSU tonight. Bats were hot.

I turned it off when it was 6-0 (FSU) ... guess the shit show began momentarily after .... 20-7!

[Dawg2003]

I turned it off when it was 6-0 (FSU) ... guess the shit show began momentarily after .... 20-7!

FSU made so many errors on defense, and their bullpen imploded. Just a total mess.

[BiscuitEater]

I think we'll be battling our rears off to win 2 of 3 this weekend and wouldn't at all be surprised to see us lose 2 of 3 in a close loss.

No doubt, we win 2 of 3 'if' games were going to be at Dudy. Agree .. 'first SEC series' @ Florida will be tough and could go either way. Think more than likely that one team wins series 2 of 3 (~ 70%)

My 'best' guess ..

MSU wins 3 of 3 .. 20%
MSU wins 2 of 3 .. 40%
MSU wins 1 of 3 .. 30%
MSU wins 0 of 3 .. 10%

[smootness]

The fact that it's in Gainesville will make it very tough. I think it will be very hard for either team to sweep, but I think there's a slightly better chance we win 1 than 2.

[BeardoMSU]

The fact that it's in Gainesville will make it very tough.

Will it though? I know we're on the road, but it's not like there will be thousands of fans there giving them some huge advantage....

[PKADogs55]

Will it though? I know we're on the road, but it's not like there will be thousands of fans there giving them some huge advantage....

Yeah I was about to say .... Other than it just being at an away site, it's not like there will be a huge (hostile crowd). Never know though.

[TNDawg35]

FSU gifted UF that win last night. That was a horrible baseball game after the 5th.

[smootness]

Will it though? I know we're on the road, but it's not like there will be thousands of fans there giving them some huge advantage....

Road games are tougher than home games, every time, no matter what. Just the way it is.

[ScoobaDawg]

Florida needs to worry about us, not the other way around.

https://d2tml28x3t0b85.cloudfront.net/tracks/artworks/000/328/088/original/97ecad.jpeg

It's simple. Until proven other wise. We are winning 2 out of 3 games every weekend. We are that damn good and should start believing it.