Circle The Wagons: We Ain't Done Yet

[ShotgunDawg]

We're all frustrated. It's extremely frustrating to get beat by a team that has the largest unearned advantage in college sports. John Cohen, lead a charge to fix that shit. It's not right particularly to programs that pour their money & hearts into the sport. I know Corbin is your best friend, but it's not right for the sport & it's time to take a stand. Just complete garbage that this sport has been allowed to stay at a level where 1 team has a completely unfair competitive advantage in the sport.

That rant being over, here are some thoughts:

- Huge outing by Keegan James & Cerantola. Those two saved our bullpen. Pitching, if JT Ginn can be JT Ginn tomorrow, we are in good shape.

- Tanner Allen needs to drop the Bam Bam act & become a complete player. Too many brain dead decisions by him both on the bases & in the field that are costing our team. He can really really hit. In fact, he can hit so much, he's probably going to play in the Major Leagues someday. That being said, he won't stick there unless he adds something else to his game. He cost us twice today.

- I realize everything is an uphill battle now, but we only have to win 3 games in a row. We've done that numerous times this year & we beat Vandy in a Super Regional at their field last year. Oddly enough, the last 4 innings today may have given us some confidence vs them. We started to get to them a little & now we've seen their closer for 3 innings should we face him again.

- Our coaching staff is outstanding, but they went' brain dead for about an inning today. They called a 2-2 FB to Scott in which he hit a HR that chased Plum, then inexplicably brought in a pitcher that hasn't thrown strikes all year, & then brought in Self. It was obvious that they should've gone to Colby White immediately. They needed strikeouts but, due to their lack of trust in him for some reason that his stats don't indicate, they put in the wrong pitcher twice in that situation. The 2-2 fastball pitch call on Scott's 2nd HR was trash. They had him set-up for a changeup.

- Skelton & Rowdy need to go find a fat chick & sacrifice a chicken. Both have looked completely non-competitive at the plate thus far & it's causing a massive hole in our lineup.

- We can beat Louisville tomorrow & beat Vandy twice. We are capable of such things, but it comes down to us. The fact of the matter is that this experienced, older team that has been to Omaha twice & Supers the last 4 years has played like freshmen in this tournament thus far. Outside of the 9th inning vs Auburn, it's completely plausible that this is the worst this team has played all year. Mental & physical mistakes. Bad ABs, etc.

- Win tomorrow & there is a 50% chance of rain on Friday in Omaha. Boy would that be YUGE for us. Would allow us to pitch Small on Saturday & Plumlee on Sunday. Win tomorrow & hope the angels are on our side.

It's not over. This team just has to play better.

[BuckyIsAB****]

For once I agree with the whole post

[BuckyIsAB****]

And I'll say this. Lville is just about as good as Vandy is. They def look the part to me

[Commercecomet24]

Good post, Gun! We've made it tough on ourselves but if theres any team in American that can overcome this and win it's this one.

It was a 2-2 FB that Bleday doubled on that chased Plumlee, but your point was relevant, just a terrible pitch call.

[ShotgunDawg]

And I'll say this. Lville is just about as good as Vandy is. They def look the part to me

They're pretty good but they don't have the depth or electricity on the mound that Vandy has.

Rocker & that closer today aren't college pitchers. You've could've dropped both in a ML game today they would've been fine

[ShotgunDawg]

Good post, Gun! We've made it tough on ourselves but if theres any team in American that can overcome this and win it's this one.

It was a 2-2 FB that Bleday doubled on that chased Plumlee, but your point was relevant, just a terrible pitch call.

Correct. It was Bleday. It was a brutal pitch call. We had him set up for a changeup away & inexplicably went fastball.

JJ Bleday has a lot of Larry Walker in him. He's different. You simply can't give in to him & think it's a college hitter & everything will be fine. He's the single best player we've played against this year & maybe a few years.

He's a future ML All-Star that you can't give into. Unlike most every other college hitter, he's not going to miss.

[Cooterpoot]

It’s going to be tough to win it all now. We win tomorrow, we have to throw Small Friday. Then, we don’t have much left. Today was huge and we flopped.

[Cooterpoot]

Good post, Gun! We've made it tough on ourselves but if theres any team in American that can overcome this and win it's this one.

It was a 2-2 FB that Bleday doubled on that chased Plumlee, but your point was relevant, just a terrible pitch call.

The choice to throw Self vs Scott was a horrible decision. We basically threw him the same place he hit his first bomb.

[Commercecomet24]

Correct. It was Bleday. It was a brutal pitch call. We had him set up for a changeup away & inexplicably went fastball.

JJ Bleday has a lot of Larry Walker in him. He's different. You simply can't give in to him & think it's a college hitter & everything will be fine. He's the single best player we've played against this year & maybe a few years.

He's a future ML All-Star that you can't give into. Unlike most every other college hitter, he's not going to miss.

Absolutely right. I would've never thrown that kid another fb there.

[MetEdDawg]

The combo of Ginn, Leibelt, and Gordon is better than what they will trot out tomorrow. I think we win tomorrow.

Question is if we win, what the hell do we do after that? I think you have to go Cerantola plus everyone left available, then if you win you go Small as an opener plus everyone available.

We put a lot of guys on against Rocker today. He's just really good and made good to great pitches when he needed. We can hit and we can score, but we can't give up 6 to Vandy.

I'll be interested to see what we look like tomorrow. Do we play like the magic is gone or do we battle hard. We battled today in the 7th. How much more do we have left in us at a high level?

[Commercecomet24]

The choice to throw Self vs Scott was a horrible decision. We basically threw him the same place he hit his first bomb.

Self has done a lot for us but I would only pitch him in blow outs. He shouldn't be pitching with games still on the line. He's just can't get good hitters out anymore

[MetEdDawg]

And by the way Lemonis just said he would not be comfortable starting Small on Friday of it came to that

[Marvin]

And by the way Lemonis just said he would not be comfortable starting Small on Friday of it came to that

That’s 4 days rest... Gotta nut up this time of year.

[KB21]

And by the way Lemonis just said he would not be comfortable starting Small on Friday of it came to that

I can't blame him. Ethan has a major league career ahead of him. No sense in risking blowing his arm. Look at what happened to Kevin Abel this year after the way Oregon State used him in last year's CWS.

[KOdawg1]

Cerantola has shown us in his last 2 outings that he's improved a lot. I feel like he could at least give us a few innings against Vandy since he didn't throw that many pitches today

[AlSwearengen]

We finally got a 1st rounder to come to school and we acted like that was going to get us over the top. The fact of the matter is, Vandy seems to get one every year. Maybe it isn’t that often, but they got Rocker this year and next year they get Leiter’s son, who supposedly would have been a top 10 pick.

I agree that something needs to be done but ain’t shit gonna happen. The ncaa gives a shit about baseball and they give a shit about MSU.

While i’m semi ranting about it, Vandy should be ashamed that they haven’t won the series every other year for the last 12 years.

[MetEdDawg]

That’s 4 days rest... Gotta nut up this time of year.

We still have to win another game after that. Give him his full rest and pitch him in the Saturday game.

Like another poster said. Small just got drafted 1st round. Lemonis has to balance being irresponsible with Small and putting his university in the best chance to win. Small can just as easily pitch on a Saturday

[Lord McBuckethead]

Agree, but the SEC tourney was the worst.

[Cooterpoot]

We still have to win another game after that. Give him his full rest and pitch him in the Saturday game.

Like another poster said. Small just got drafted 1st round. Lemonis has to balance being irresponsible with Small and putting his university in the best chance to win. Small can just as easily pitch on a Saturday

Nope. There won’t be a Saturday if we throw Smith. We didn’t invest millions to piss away chances. 4 days rest when we didn’t extend him shouldn’t be a problem. He doesn’t have to go 9.

[MetEdDawg]

Nope. There won’t be a Saturday if we throw Smith. We didn’t invest millions to piss away chances. 4 days rest when we didn’t extend him shouldn’t be a problem.

Smith, Cerantola, and Keegan are what we have.

Sorry you don't like that but you don't potentially screw a kid up throwing his arm out after he just got paid because you want to feel better about our position.

Lemonis has to bring other kids in and has to balance his school vs. his player's health. If Lemonis says he's not comfortable there's a damned reason why and all the arm chair coaches out there don't have the nuts to do what Lemonis is doing. That's why he's getting paid to do this job and we aren't.

Pitch him Saturday. It's the smart move. And I bet if that were your son that just got drafted 28th over all and your coach said to your face exactly what you just said, you would be pissed.

[shoeless joe]

Self has done a lot for us but I would only pitch him in blow outs. He shouldn't be pitching with games still on the line. He's just can't get good hitters out anymore

He did what he was brought in to do. He got the double play ball. Now why we pitched to the next guy instead of walking him I?ll never know. Shoulda been 2-0 goin to bottom 5.

[shoeless joe]

Good post gun.

IF we are to win this thing did anybody think we’d do it this easy way?! That said I think we fall short again against vandy.

[Dawg2003]

Maybe Ethan said he wasn't comfortable pitching Friday.

[Activated Alpha]

Just disappointed in our batting. Once we got to Omaha it has basically disappeared. In order to win 3 games in a row, 2 against Vandy, our bats need to turn red hot and stay that way

[Commercecomet24]

He did what he was brought in to do. He got the double play ball. Now why we pitched to the next guy instead of walking him I?ll never know. Shoulda been 2-0 goin to bottom 5.

Agree on that, but Self has gotten rocked to many times this year for me to have much confidence in him, especially against a team like Vandy. Self has been a great Dawg but just hasn't been the same this year, it happens.

[Barkman Turner Overdrive]

We're all frustrated. It's extremely frustrating to get beat by a team that has the largest unearned advantage in college sports. John Cohen, lead a charge to fix that shit. It's not right particularly to programs that pour their money & hearts into the sport. I know Corbin is your best friend, but it's not right for the sport & it's time to take a stand. Just complete garbage that this sport has been allowed to stay at a level where 1 team has a completely unfair competitive advantage in the sport.

That rant being over, here are some thoughts:

- Huge outing by Keegan James & Cerantola. Those two saved our bullpen. Pitching, if JT Ginn can be JT Ginn tomorrow, we are in good shape.

- Tanner Allen needs to drop the Bam Bam act & become a complete player. Too many brain dead decisions by him both on the bases & in the field that are costing our team. He can really really hit. In fact, he can hit so much, he's probably going to play in the Major Leagues someday. That being said, he won't stick there unless he adds something else to his game. He cost us twice today.

- I realize everything is an uphill battle now, but we only have to win 3 games in a row. We've done that numerous times this year & we beat Vandy in a Super Regional at their field last year. Oddly enough, the last 4 innings today may have given us some confidence vs them. We started to get to them a little & now we've seen their closer for 3 innings should we face him again.

- Our coaching staff is outstanding, but they went' brain dead for about an inning today. They called a 2-2 FB to Scott in which he hit a HR that chased Plum, then inexplicably brought in a pitcher that hasn't thrown strikes all year, & then brought in Self. It was obvious that they should've gone to Colby White immediately. They needed strikeouts but, due to their lack of trust in him for some reason that his stats don't indicate, they put in the wrong pitcher twice in that situation. The 2-2 fastball pitch call on Scott's 2nd HR was trash. They had him set-up for a changeup.

- Skelton & Rowdy need to go find a fat chick & sacrifice a chicken. Both have looked completely non-competitive at the plate thus far & it's causing a massive hole in our lineup.

- We can beat Louisville tomorrow & beat Vandy twice. We are capable of such things, but it comes down to us. The fact of the matter is that this experienced, older team that has been to Omaha twice & Supers the last 4 years has played like freshmen in this tournament thus far. Outside of the 9th inning vs Auburn, it's completely plausible that this is the worst this team has played all year. Mental & physical mistakes. Bad ABs, etc.

- Win tomorrow & there is a 50% chance of rain on Friday in Omaha. Boy would that be YUGE for us. Would allow us to pitch Small on Saturday & Plumlee on Sunday. Win tomorrow & hope the angels are on our side.

It's not over. This team just has to play better.

Didn?t read, but it?s over. Appreciate the optimism, tho. At least one hasn?t given up.

[basedog]

Good post, Gun! We've made it tough on ourselves but if theres any team in American that can overcome this and win it's this one.

It was a 2-2 FB that Bleday doubled on that chased Plumlee, but your point was relevant, just a terrible pitch call.

Come on, wasn't a bad pitch, it was the location. I know you know better. Not a bash but every pitch called can be questionable. Bleday is a great college player, gotta give up credit.

[basedog]

Agree on that, but Self has gotten rocked to many times this year for me to have much confidence in him, especially against a team like Vandy. Self has been a great Dawg but just hasn't been the same this year, it happens.

Yes, Self isn't the same.

[basedog]

It?s going to be tough to win it all now. We win tomorrow, we have to throw Small Friday. Then, we don?t have much left. Today was huge and we flopped.

Flopped you say, Vandy is the real deal, most talented team in the NCAA.

[ShotgunDawg]

Come on, wasn't a bad pitch, it was the location. I know you know better. Not a bash but every pitch called can be questionable. Bleday is a great college player, gotta give up credit.

It was a bad pitch call.

[basedog]

It was a bad pitch call.

Pretty easy second guessing after the fact. Location is way more important for a pitcher.

[Commercecomet24]

Come on, wasn't a bad pitch, it was the location. I know you know better. Not a bash but every pitch called can be questionable. Bleday is a great college player, gotta give up credit.

Fastball over the heart of the plate to one of the best hitters in college baseball? I know you know better. I've called thousands of pitches and I'm gonna tell you right now, there's no way in heck I throw that kid a fb, NO WAY.

[basedog]

Fastball over the heart of the plate to one of the best hitters in college baseball? I know you know better. I've called thousands of pitches and I'm gonna tell you right now, there's no way in heck I throw that kid a fb, NO WAY.

No different than throwing a hanging curveball over the middle of the plate.

Give the batter credit. Every pitcher has several bad pitches regardless of the pitch called.

Overall we pitched ok except for a few pitches, it's baseball.

I said location was the problem.

[NCDawg]

Self has done a lot for us but I would only pitch him in blow outs. He shouldn't be pitching with games still on the line. He's just can't get good hitters out anymore

Not to mention Barlow. If Barlow could throw strikes, he possibly could be pretty good. He just can't find the plate.

[Commercecomet24]

No different than throwing a hanging curveball over the middle of the plate.

Give the batter credit. Every pitcher has several bad pitches regardless of the pitch called.

Overall we pitched ok except for a few pitches, it's baseball.

I said location was the problem.

Yes location was wrong but the pitch call was wrong. Hitters sit fastball on 2-2 because they know a pitcher doesn't wanna go 3-2. Wrong pitch call. And I don't second guess I first guessed and would've called an off speed pitch there and on the next one as well. Peyton aint gonna blow bleday away with his fb and he didn't. And I do respect your opinions basedog. You're on of the better posters on here. We just think different on this one

[Commercecomet24]

Not to mention Barlow. If Barlow could throw strikes, he possibly could be pretty good. He just can't find the plate.

No doubt, Barlow has good stuff just hadn't harnessed command yet

[shoeless joe]

Fastball over the heart of the plate to one of the best hitters in college baseball? I know you know better. I've called thousands of pitches and I'm gonna tell you right now, there's no way in heck I throw that kid a fb, NO WAY.

Rocker hung several sliders his last two innings. We didn?t take advantage. Bleday did

[Commercecomet24]

Rocker hung several sliders his last two innings. We didn?t take advantage. Bleday did

No doubt about it, kid didn't miss and doesn't very often.

[bobtail bob]

My confidence is shot after watching what they did to us today. I don't like the approach we had at the plate but really probably didn't make much difference . Rocker is a pro pitcher.
It's time to close the loophole that Vagny takes advantage of

[MSSTATESEEYA]

We're all frustrated. It's extremely frustrating to get beat by a team that has the largest unearned advantage in college sports. John Cohen, lead a charge to fix that shit. It's not right particularly to programs that pour their money & hearts into the sport. I know Corbin is your best friend, but it's not right for the sport & it's time to take a stand. Just complete garbage that this sport has been allowed to stay at a level where 1 team has a completely unfair competitive advantage in the sport.

That rant being over, here are some thoughts:

- Huge outing by Keegan James & Cerantola. Those two saved our bullpen. Pitching, if JT Ginn can be JT Ginn tomorrow, we are in good shape.

- Tanner Allen needs to drop the Bam Bam act & become a complete player. Too many brain dead decisions by him both on the bases & in the field that are costing our team. He can really really hit. In fact, he can hit so much, he's probably going to play in the Major Leagues someday. That being said, he won't stick there unless he adds something else to his game. He cost us twice today.

- I realize everything is an uphill battle now, but we only have to win 3 games in a row. We've done that numerous times this year & we beat Vandy in a Super Regional at their field last year. Oddly enough, the last 4 innings today may have given us some confidence vs them. We started to get to them a little & now we've seen their closer for 3 innings should we face him again.

- Our coaching staff is outstanding, but they went' brain dead for about an inning today. They called a 2-2 FB to Scott in which he hit a HR that chased Plum, then inexplicably brought in a pitcher that hasn't thrown strikes all year, & then brought in Self. It was obvious that they should've gone to Colby White immediately. They needed strikeouts but, due to their lack of trust in him for some reason that his stats don't indicate, they put in the wrong pitcher twice in that situation. The 2-2 fastball pitch call on Scott's 2nd HR was trash. They had him set-up for a changeup.

- Skelton & Rowdy need to go find a fat chick & sacrifice a chicken. Both have looked completely non-competitive at the plate thus far & it's causing a massive hole in our lineup.

- We can beat Louisville tomorrow & beat Vandy twice. We are capable of such things, but it comes down to us. The fact of the matter is that this experienced, older team that has been to Omaha twice & Supers the last 4 years has played like freshmen in this tournament thus far. Outside of the 9th inning vs Auburn, it's completely plausible that this is the worst this team has played all year. Mental & physical mistakes. Bad ABs, etc.

- Win tomorrow & there is a 50% chance of rain on Friday in Omaha. Boy would that be YUGE for us. Would allow us to pitch Small on Saturday & Plumlee on Sunday. Win tomorrow & hope the angels are on our side.

It's not over. This team just has to play better.

Stop whining. We win with our backs against the wall. We got outplayed and out coached. We needed a wake up call. Our guys had chance and are as good as Vandy's. They did not take advantage and they lost. Hopefully it wakes em up but don't count our guys out. Go Fkn Dawgs.

[basedog]

Yes location was wrong but the pitch call was wrong. Hitters sit fastball on 2-2 because they know a pitcher doesn't wanna go 3-2. Wrong pitch call. And I don't second guess I first guessed and would've called an off speed pitch there and on the next one as well. Peyton aint gonna blow bleday away with his fb and he didn't. And I do respect your opinions basedog. You're on of the better posters on here. We just think different on this one

And I have no problem with your opinions. I ain't mad, I just know Vandy is loaded with ML talent.

I do think we have enough pitching to win tomorrow, we can't look ahead and just worry bout tomorrow.

We didn't hit today, middle of our lineup has to come alive. But in saying we didn't hit, Vandy pitched well!

[Commercecomet24]

And I have no problem with your opinions. I ain't mad, I just know Vandy is loaded with ML talent.

I do think we have enough pitching to win tomorrow, we can't look ahead and just worry bout tomorrow.

We didn't hit today, middle of our lineup has to come alive. But in saying we didn't hit, Vandy pitched well!

Lol i ain't mad either. Don't get me wrong I in no way think that pitch cost us the game, it was just one pitch. Yes they are loaded. And I agree on playing for tomorrow at this point it's survive and advance at all costs. And you're right we have to start hitting with runners on. We've left to many in these 2 games.

[Todd4State]

We're all frustrated. It's extremely frustrating to get beat by a team that has the largest unearned advantage in college sports. John Cohen, lead a charge to fix that shit. It's not right particularly to programs that pour their money & hearts into the sport. I know Corbin is your best friend, but it's not right for the sport & it's time to take a stand. Just complete garbage that this sport has been allowed to stay at a level where 1 team has a completely unfair competitive advantage in the sport.

That rant being over, here are some thoughts:

- Huge outing by Keegan James & Cerantola. Those two saved our bullpen. Pitching, if JT Ginn can be JT Ginn tomorrow, we are in good shape.

- Tanner Allen needs to drop the Bam Bam act & become a complete player. Too many brain dead decisions by him both on the bases & in the field that are costing our team. He can really really hit. In fact, he can hit so much, he's probably going to play in the Major Leagues someday. That being said, he won't stick there unless he adds something else to his game. He cost us twice today.

- I realize everything is an uphill battle now, but we only have to win 3 games in a row. We've done that numerous times this year & we beat Vandy in a Super Regional at their field last year. Oddly enough, the last 4 innings today may have given us some confidence vs them. We started to get to them a little & now we've seen their closer for 3 innings should we face him again.

- Our coaching staff is outstanding, but they went' brain dead for about an inning today. They called a 2-2 FB to Scott in which he hit a HR that chased Plum, then inexplicably brought in a pitcher that hasn't thrown strikes all year, & then brought in Self. It was obvious that they should've gone to Colby White immediately. They needed strikeouts but, due to their lack of trust in him for some reason that his stats don't indicate, they put in the wrong pitcher twice in that situation. The 2-2 fastball pitch call on Scott's 2nd HR was trash. They had him set-up for a changeup.

- Skelton & Rowdy need to go find a fat chick & sacrifice a chicken. Both have looked completely non-competitive at the plate thus far & it's causing a massive hole in our lineup.

- We can beat Louisville tomorrow & beat Vandy twice. We are capable of such things, but it comes down to us. The fact of the matter is that this experienced, older team that has been to Omaha twice & Supers the last 4 years has played like freshmen in this tournament thus far. Outside of the 9th inning vs Auburn, it's completely plausible that this is the worst this team has played all year. Mental & physical mistakes. Bad ABs, etc.

- Win tomorrow & there is a 50% chance of rain on Friday in Omaha. Boy would that be YUGE for us. Would allow us to pitch Small on Saturday & Plumlee on Sunday. Win tomorrow & hope the angels are on our side.

It's not over. This team just has to play better.

Great post.

[Homedawg]

Lol i ain't mad either. Don't get me wrong I in no way think that pitch cost us the game, it was just one pitch. Yes they are loaded. And I agree on playing for tomorrow at this point it's survive and advance at all costs. And you're right we have to start hitting with runners on. We've left to many in these 2 games.

And there it is... we just haven't gotten many clutch hits.... they had they bombs and the big inning. We had the same number of hits. It's not a bad approach, it's just not getting it done. Easy to say very hard to do. It's amazing, everyone expects our pitchers to get everyone out. Yet we are supposed to just smoke the other guy. Look at it like this, Colby white throws 92-96 without a secondary pitch basically and he's been great all year. Rocker throws 92-96 with a Wipeout slider. It's tough to hit w that velo. It's super tough to hit w a superior secondary pitch. Unless you are rouge and Dawg61. Clearly they can do it.

[msstate7]

And there it is... we just haven't gotten many clutch hits.... they had they bombs and the big inning. We had the same number of hits. It's not a bad approach, it's just not getting it done. Easy to say very hard to do. It's amazing, everyone expects our pitchers to get everyone out. Yet we are supposed to just smoke the other guy. Look at it like this, Colby white throws 92-96 without a secondary pitch basically and he's been great all year. Rocker throws 92-96 with a Wipeout slider. It's tough to hit w that velo. It's super tough to hit w a superior secondary pitch. Unless you are rouge and Dawg61. Clearly they can do it.

That 2nd to last sentence is great haha

[Commercecomet24]

And there it is... we just haven't gotten many clutch hits.... they had they bombs and the big inning. We had the same number of hits. It's not a bad approach, it's just not getting it done. Easy to say very hard to do. It's amazing, everyone expects our pitchers to get everyone out. Yet we are supposed to just smoke the other guy. Look at it like this, Colby white throws 92-96 without a secondary pitch basically and he's been great all year. Rocker throws 92-96 with a Wipeout slider. It's tough to hit w that velo. It's super tough to hit w a superior secondary pitch. Unless you are rouge and Dawg61. Clearly they can do it.

Dang spot on with this. It ain't easy hitting these guys, these are elite arms for a reason. And the best pitchers breaking balls look exactly like their fastballs which is what makes it so hard to lay off. That being said gotta find a way to get those runners in. IMO us and Vandy are the 2 best teams in the country it's just a shame we're matched up on the same side of the bracket.

Great post Homedawg

[BuckyIsAB****]

And by the way Lemonis just said he would not be comfortable starting Small on Friday of it came to that

Do you want to win the national championship or not? Its simple. You have to nut up and do it or start Smith and be down by 5 in the 2nd inning. Only way I wouldnt throw Small would be if he said I aint going.

[preachermatt83]

If we win tmr I’d pitch Cole Friday and small Saturday.

[BuckyIsAB****]

If we win tmr I’d pitch Cole Friday and small Saturday.

Cole is going to pitch at some point tomorrow. Hopefully not much but I would be shocked if we beat them without Gordon throwing a pitch

[Todd4State]

If we win tmr I’d pitch Cole Friday and small Saturday.

He's better utilized coming out of the bullpen. That way we can use him in multiple games.

[Homedawg]

He's better utilized coming out of the bullpen. That way we can use him in multiple games.

Agree.

[deadheaddawg]

Good thread shotgun

This team and the coaches will not quit. And they have worked their ass off and brought a lot of joy and excitement to everyone of us.

They want to win more than we do. It's means something even more special to them.

If all us old out of shape Al Bundy's sitting on our sofa's can't muster up the strength to not give up yet, then YOU have let the team down.

And considering how many times they have proven to us they won't give up, I refuse to let the team down.

This is still a team I'm damn proud of.

Hail State

[Cooterpoot]

I feel like Gordon and Leibelt throw tomorrow. I can’t see Ginn going deep.

[AlSwearengen]

Stop whining. We win with our backs against the wall. We got outplayed and out coached. We needed a wake up call. Our guys had chance and are as good as Vandy's. They did not take advantage and they lost. Hopefully it wakes em up but don't count our guys out. Go Fkn Dawgs.

You don?t know how much I hate saying it, but we aren?t as talented as Vandy. To further exacerbate the situation, Rocker is considerably better now than he was early in the year, whereas JT has a tired arm and not the same pitcher he was early.

If JT hadn?t had arm/fatigue issues, he would probably be even better now and he and Small would give us a shot against Vandy. They can match up with Vandy talent wise. We just don?t have as much high end talent as Vandy. No one does.

[Todd4State]

You don?t know how much I hate saying it, but we aren?t as talented as Vandy. To further exacerbate the situation, Rocker is considerably better now than he was early in the year, whereas JT has a tired arm and not the same pitcher he was early.

If JT hadn?t had arm/fatigue issues, he would probably be even better now and he and Small would give us a shot against Vandy. They can match up with Vandy talent wise. We just don?t have as much high end talent as Vandy. No one does.

I think we're a little bit different as a program though. Mississippi has a few raw but really high end athletic guys like Cumbest and Renfroe and Vandy does not get those. We just need to start adding a few JT Ginn's to go along with those raw baseball players and we will be in good shape to compete with anyone. That's the key- start getting some of those top 200 draft prospect talents to come to school to go along with what we usually get.

[HoopsDawg]

Absolutely right. I would've never thrown that kid another fb there.

How do you pull Plumlee if the plan is Barlow and Self. I just don't get it. The best hitter in college baseball hit a fastball, so what.

[HoopsDawg]

All that matters right now is Louisville. Need Ginn to bring his A game.

[Randolph Dupree]

I'm going to get ridiculed for this, but I'd start Cerantola tomorrow. If I'm playing to win the whole thing, I do that and piece it together. That leaves Ginn for Friday and Small for Saturday. If you're going to make it to the championship series you're going to have to do something like that anyway and our back is against the wall so I'd rather do it against Louisville than Vandy.

[HoopsDawg]

I'm going to get ridiculed for this, but I'd start Cerantola tomorrow. If I'm playing to win the whole thing, I do that and piece it together. That leaves Ginn for Friday and Small for Saturday. If you're going to make it to the championship series you're going to have to do something like that anyway and our back is against the wall so I'd rather do it against Louisville than Vandy.

yeah, that's silly.

[Cooterpoot]

Screw it. I’m getting in the medical Mary J. This team needs to just kick the shit out of Louisville. Drop 15 on them and pitching works itself out.

[Randolph Dupree]

yeah, that's silly.

Probably the reason I didn't get the job last year

[Commercecomet24]

How do you pull Plumlee if the plan is Barlow and Self. I just don't get it. The best hitter in college baseball hit a fastball, so what.

Yeah I thought Plumlee was throwing well. I wouldve rather seen him stay in than Barlow or Self. I have much more confidence in Plumlee than those 2 at that point. Now if we had gone to Colby White that would've been a much better plan.

[Todd4State]

I'm going to get ridiculed for this, but I'd start Cerantola tomorrow. If I'm playing to win the whole thing, I do that and piece it together. That leaves Ginn for Friday and Small for Saturday. If you're going to make it to the championship series you're going to have to do something like that anyway and our back is against the wall so I'd rather do it against Louisville than Vandy.

If we get hot and start performing baseball miracles:

You start Ginn tomorrow as planned. Now, I would be fine starting Cerentola on Friday.

[HoopsDawg]

Yeah I thought Plumlee was throwing well. I wouldve rather seen him stay in than Barlow or Self. I have much more confidence in Plumlee than those 2 at that point. Now if we had gone to Colby White that would've been a much better plan.

If we go to White, we win.

[ShotgunDawg]

If we go to White, we win.

Agree but for some reason the staff has never trusted him.

[Todd4State]

Agree but for some reason the staff has never trusted him.

I can't figure this out. He has much better numbers than most of our other pitchers and significantly better numbers than Barlow or Self. Plus Self is more of a contact guy. White strikes people out, doesn't walk people and doesn't allow very many hits.

[Bothrops]

Our offense probably explodes tomorrow. I think we score a lot.

[ArrowDawg]

Good thread shotgun

This team and the coaches will not quit. And they have worked their ass off and brought a lot of joy and excitement to everyone of us.

They want to win more than we do. It's means something even more special to them.

If all us old out of shape Al Bundy's sitting on our sofa's can't muster up the strength to not give up yet, then YOU have let the team down.

And considering how many times they have proven to us they won't give up, I refuse to let the team down.

This is still a team I'm damn proud of.

Hail State

Sentimental bullshit. Save your post and use it every other time we get to Omaha in the future, because it's going to end the same freaking way every time.

[Dawg61]

We make it to the natty series it's gonna be on the backs of several other pitchers besides Small and Plum. If Lemons isn't starting Small till Saturday you can forget about Plum starting until the natty series too. He just pitched today no way Lemons pitches him again on only 2-3 days rest. I think we need Gordon to start a game and go very deep.

[Cooterpoot]

Gordon isn’t starting a game. This staff isn’t going try anything different. This season has been one big lesson in consistency. We don’t change the lineup or the pen. And that would be fine excepted we faded down the stretch a little and never really developed our pen depth (limited talent).
Badly need Ginn to go 5+ today.

[BuckyIsAB****]

Our offense probably explodes tomorrow. I think we score a lot.

Been hearing this a while away from Stark. Aint happened yet. Dont know why, do we need to bring our batters eye with us or something?

[Scared_Hitless]

One item being overlooked is how bad Foscue is slumping in the postseason. He has been responsible for leaving ppl on base multiple times and also has had some trouble in the field. We really need him to get right to have any chance against Vandy.

[smootness]

If Small isn't going to start Friday, don't start him Saturday, either. Just save him and cross your fingers.

Unless everything goes perfectly, the teams who win in Omaha are the teams who use their best pitching as much as they can. This is not the SEC Tournament.

[gravedigger]

We're all frustrated. It's extremely frustrating to get beat by a team that has the largest unearned advantage in college sports. John Cohen, lead a charge to fix that shit. It's not right particularly to programs that pour their money & hearts into the sport. I know Corbin is your best friend, but it's not right for the sport & it's time to take a stand. Just complete garbage that this sport has been allowed to stay at a level where 1 team has a completely unfair competitive advantage in the sport.

That rant being over, here are some thoughts:

- Huge outing by Keegan James & Cerantola. Those two saved our bullpen. Pitching, if JT Ginn can be JT Ginn tomorrow, we are in good shape.

- Tanner Allen needs to drop the Bam Bam act & become a complete player. Too many brain dead decisions by him both on the bases & in the field that are costing our team. He can really really hit. In fact, he can hit so much, he's probably going to play in the Major Leagues someday. That being said, he won't stick there unless he adds something else to his game. He cost us twice today.

- I realize everything is an uphill battle now, but we only have to win 3 games in a row. We've done that numerous times this year & we beat Vandy in a Super Regional at their field last year. Oddly enough, the last 4 innings today may have given us some confidence vs them. We started to get to them a little & now we've seen their closer for 3 innings should we face him again.

- Our coaching staff is outstanding, but they went' brain dead for about an inning today. They called a 2-2 FB to Scott in which he hit a HR that chased Plum, then inexplicably brought in a pitcher that hasn't thrown strikes all year, & then brought in Self. It was obvious that they should've gone to Colby White immediately. They needed strikeouts but, due to their lack of trust in him for some reason that his stats don't indicate, they put in the wrong pitcher twice in that situation. The 2-2 fastball pitch call on Scott's 2nd HR was trash. They had him set-up for a changeup.

- Skelton & Rowdy need to go find a fat chick & sacrifice a chicken. Both have looked completely non-competitive at the plate thus far & it's causing a massive hole in our lineup.

- We can beat Louisville tomorrow & beat Vandy twice. We are capable of such things, but it comes down to us. The fact of the matter is that this experienced, older team that has been to Omaha twice & Supers the last 4 years has played like freshmen in this tournament thus far. Outside of the 9th inning vs Auburn, it's completely plausible that this is the worst this team has played all year. Mental & physical mistakes. Bad ABs, etc.

- Win tomorrow & there is a 50% chance of rain on Friday in Omaha. Boy would that be YUGE for us. Would allow us to pitch Small on Saturday & Plumlee on Sunday. Win tomorrow & hope the angels are on our side.

It's not over. This team just has to play better.

How are we going to beat Vandy twice if it's true that they are so much more talented than us? You repeated that quite a bit yesterday.

[ShotgunDawg]

I can't figure this out. He has much better numbers than most of our other pitchers and significantly better numbers than Barlow or Self. Plus Self is more of a contact guy. White strikes people out, doesn't walk people and doesn't allow very many hits.

It’ll be one of the mysteries of this season.

Every great team needs a fireman that can strike guys out. White is/was that guy but this staff never allowed him to completely assume that role. Not sure why.

[ShotgunDawg]

One item being overlooked is how bad Foscue is slumping in the postseason. He has been responsible for leaving ppl on base multiple times and also has had some trouble in the field. We really need him to get right to have any chance against Vandy.


Foscue looks too intense to me right now.

He needs to loosen up a bit. Always has a growl on his face.

[Todd4State]

It’ll be one of the mysteries of this season.

Every great team needs a fireman that can strike guys out. White is/was that guy but this staff never allowed him to completely assume that role. Not sure why.

He literally trusted our statistically worst pitcher in our highest leverage situation of the year. Absolutely mind blowing.

[ShotgunDawg]

How are we going to beat Vandy twice if it's true that they are so much more talented than us? You repeated that quite a bit yesterday.


Because it’s baseball and we are good enough.

We have 4 position players and 4 pitchers that would start or be heavy contributors for them, so it’s not like their talent is on another galaxy than ours. They are just deeper and have more room for error.

[ShotgunDawg]

He literally trusted our statistically worst pitcher in our highest leverage situation of the year. Absolutely mind blowing.


I can’t explain it.

I will say that this is the trap many college coaches get caught in. They start liking certain players more than others because of makeup and work ethic and get away from the actual tools of the player. It’s my only explanation.

There’s a legitimate chance that White pitches higher leverage innings in MLB than he was allowed to at MSU. It’s frustrating

[drunkernhelldawg]

We did make bad pitching decisions yesterday. We haven't played well in either game. Yet I do believe that we can play our game and win three in a row.

I'm excited to see Ginn tonight. I predict we'll see a dominant, mature performance.

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

The bullpen decision making has been strange all year. Lemones did a fantastic job managing the hitters and their slumps, and the starting rotation was handled well all year. But the bullpen? Pulling guys who were on a roll to put in an unknown, insisting on using Gordon only as a closer meant we got less innings from him than we could have, and White has been used less since he got the changup than he was before! Barlow has proven in his last 5+ outings that he's a walk machine yet the staff still pretends he's a valid high level pitcher over guys like White or Gordon. They keep trying to work Self in there, which is fine if you're up 4 and just need 1 inning from him to save the rest of the pen.... but in a high leverage situation? He's never even given the hint he has the stuff for that, so why are they trying to work him into that role?

I don't know, it just seems like since SEC play started the bullpen management has been strange. They try to get 2 from Leibelt and Self yet never let Barlow (when he was good), or White do the same even if they were rolling their first inning. They picked what rolls guys like White and Gordon would play and refuse to deviate from it. It's not terrible management, but it's not the optimized use of our arms

[smootness]

Because it’s baseball and we are good enough.

We have 4 position players and 4 pitchers that would start or be heavy contributors for them, so it’s not like their talent is on another galaxy than ours. They are just deeper and have more room for error.

I don't know if they're deeper or not. What they do have is better talent at the top. If this team had a Brent Rooker or a healthy and 'on' JT Ginn, we would compare more favorably. But Austin Martin and JJ Bleday are on a different level from any hitter we have, and Scott is really better than anybody we have as well. And then Rocker pitching at the level he is right now, that is what puts them over the top.

[Scared_Hitless]

I don't know if they're deeper or not. What they do have is better talent at the top. If this team had a Brent Rooker or a healthy and 'on' JT Ginn, we would compare more favorably. But Austin Martin and JJ Bleday are on a different level from any hitter we have, and Scott is really better than anybody we have as well. And then Rocker pitching at the level he is right now, that is what puts them over the top.

This is how I feel as well, I think this is our best overall team in a long time, but we do not have a dominant player in the lineup. No Rooker or even a Renfroe, that 2013 team had a better 1, 2 punch with Fraizer and Renfroe then we currently have. We are better 1-9 but we need a game changer and I am not sure we have that. So we are going to need some luck to beat Vandy and someone is going to have to play above their talent level for a game or 2.

[drunkernhelldawg]

The bullpen decision making has been strange all year. Lemones did a fantastic job managing the hitters and their slumps, and the starting rotation was handled well all year. But the bullpen? Pulling guys who were on a roll to put in an unknown, insisting on using Gordon only as a closer meant we got less innings from him than we could have, and White has been used less since he got the changup than he was before! Barlow has proven in his last 5+ outings that he's a walk machine yet the staff still pretends he's a valid high level pitcher over guys like White or Gordon. They keep trying to work Self in there, which is fine if you're up 4 and just need 1 inning from him to save the rest of the pen.... but in a high leverage situation? He's never even given the hint he has the stuff for that, so why are they trying to work him into that role?

I don't know, it just seems like since SEC play started the bullpen management has been strange. They try to get 2 from Leibelt and Self yet never let Barlow (when he was good), or White do the same even if they were rolling their first inning. They picked what rolls guys like White and Gordon would play and refuse to deviate from it. It's not terrible management, but it's not the optimized use of our arms

I don't think that's fair. Baseball is a game of role players, and it's not a small decision to expand the role of our one lights out closer. Also, you don't give up on a player in a slump. You know what he's capable of, and you either continue to give him opportunity or give up and cut him from the team.

[msstate7]

Foscue is sporting an ops over 1. He has to hit if we wanna stay alive

[smootness]

I don't think that's fair. Baseball is a game of role players, and it's not a small decision to expand the role of our one lights out closer. Also, you don't give up on a player in a slump. You know what he's capable of, and you either continue to give him opportunity or give up and cut him from the team.

I think you're right in terms of the season as a whole, but in the CWS, it's not about giving guys opportunities. It's about winning. We didn't give ourselves the best chance to win yesterday. Hold them to 2, or even 3, in that 5th and then don't hold Allen up at 2nd, and we win that game.

[ShotgunDawg]

Foscue is sporting an ops over 1. He has to hit if we wanna stay alive

Foscue is a good hitter. He just isn't swinging at many strikes right. For whatever reason, he's not seeing the ball well right & chasing out of the zone.

[deadheaddawg]

Sentimental bullshit. Save your post and use it every other time we get to Omaha in the future, because it's going to end the same freaking way every time.

Then why do you even watch? Seriously? What kinda of mental illness causes someone like you to watch sports? Remember this is entertainment. I am sorry your priorities are screwed up and you are emotionally stunted, but even that doesn't explain your actions.

You claim to know we will never win enough to satisfy you. You have no hope in it. So why do you even care? Why dont you find some other hobbies? I am being 100% serious too. No troll. I would honestly like you to answer. What is wrong with you to make you even watch? Do you think its like a drug addiction? Do you get some sort of rush out of being a miserably asshole?

Go find Jesus or buy a bass boat. Get your life and priorities in order

But I doubt you will. You young kids are all the same. Quitters. Dont want to even try. You expect it all to be handouts. Hopefully when you get older you will realize pouting and stomping your feet get you nothing.

[drunkernhelldawg]

I think you're right in terms of the season as a whole, but in the CWS, it's not about giving guys opportunities. It's about winning. We didn't give ourselves the best chance to win yesterday. Hold them to 2, or even 3, in that 5th and then don't hold Allen up at 2nd, and we win that game.

I tend to agree. To me, the worst decision was not starting Ginn.

Lemonis does not seem to be a shifter. His strength to me is that he sticks with his plan. In CWS, maybe it's not a strength, but it has been special and extraordinary all season.

[smootness]

I tend to agree. To me, the worst decision was not starting Ginn.

Lemonis does not seem to be a shifter. His strength to me is that he sticks with his plan. In CWS, maybe it's not a strength, but it has been special and extraordinary all season.

I said from the beginning the plan should be Small Sunday, Ginn Tuesday, Small Friday, and then Plumlee Saturday if necessary. Once the game shifted to Wednesday, it would have been tougher to use Ginn, and I'm ok using Plumlee there anyway. And Plumlee pitched well and gave us a shot.

Now, the right move is unquestionably to use Small Friday if we win today. If our plan is to not give Small any chance of pitching in the championship series, then that's a bad job. I get that you want to be protective, but you still can be. He's going to start pitching every 5th day once he moves to the minors. He'll only pitch a few innings each start, but you can do something like that here. Let him pitch 4-5 innings Friday, then be available for the same Wednesday for Game 3 if you get there.

To wait, and to have your best-case scenario be that you only use 1 of our 3 starters in the CS, is just planning to lose. You have to approach things differently in the CWS.

[drunkernhelldawg]

I said from the beginning the plan should be Small Sunday, Ginn Tuesday, Small Friday, and then Plumlee Saturday if necessary. Once the game shifted to Wednesday, it would have been tougher to use Ginn, and I'm ok using Plumlee there anyway. And Plumlee pitched well and gave us a shot.

Now, the right move is unquestionably to use Small Friday if we win today. If our plan is to not give Small any chance of pitching in the championship series, then that's a bad job. I get that you want to be protective, but you still can be. He's going to start pitching every 5th day once he moves to the minors. He'll only pitch a few innings each start, but you can do something like that here. Let him pitch 4-5 innings Friday, then be available for the same Wednesday for Game 3 if you get there.

To wait, and to have your best-case scenario be that you only use 1 of our 3 starters in the CS, is just planning to lose. You have to approach things differently in the CWS.

Lemonis has already said no Small on Friday. See what happens.

I'm okay with saving Small for Saturday. Have to win both anyway. If we win tonight, that is.

[smootness]

Lemonis has already said no Small on Friday. See what happens.

I'm okay with saving Small for Saturday. Have to win both anyway. If we win tonight, that is.

Right, but by throwing Small Saturday, you give him no shot of coming back for the CS in any capacity. That's my point. If you have to win both anyway, pitch him Friday and let him be available in some capacity for Game 3 of the CS.

I know we're not going to do it, I'm just saying it's the right move.

[BuckyIsAB****]

The bullpen decision making has been strange all year. Lemones did a fantastic job managing the hitters and their slumps, and the starting rotation was handled well all year. But the bullpen? Pulling guys who were on a roll to put in an unknown, insisting on using Gordon only as a closer meant we got less innings from him than we could have, and White has been used less since he got the changup than he was before! Barlow has proven in his last 5+ outings that he's a walk machine yet the staff still pretends he's a valid high level pitcher over guys like White or Gordon. They keep trying to work Self in there, which is fine if you're up 4 and just need 1 inning from him to save the rest of the pen.... but in a high leverage situation? He's never even given the hint he has the stuff for that, so why are they trying to work him into that role?

I don't know, it just seems like since SEC play started the bullpen management has been strange. They try to get 2 from Leibelt and Self yet never let Barlow (when he was good), or White do the same even if they were rolling their first inning. They picked what rolls guys like White and Gordon would play and refuse to deviate from it. It's not terrible management, but it's not the optimized use of our arms

Lemonis has said several times all year he has a way of doing things. By the book. He is not going to stray from that. He doesnt like using White or Gordon when we are down, he doesnt like extending Gordon, exception being LSU in hoover bc he didnt have much choice.

My opinion he is out of choices now, you do what you have to to win each inning and you worry about the next one when you get there. Most important stat of all is that we were 2-19 hitting with runners on yesterday and 2-11 with RISP. That has to improve or we probably wont beat Lville

[drunkernhelldawg]

Right, but by throwing Small Saturday, you give him no shot of coming back for the CS in any capacity. That's my point. If you have to win both anyway, pitch him Friday and let him be available in some capacity for Game 3 of the CS.

I know we're not going to do it, I'm just saying it's the right move.

You're right, unless we're somehow blessed with a rainout day.

[drunkernhelldawg]

Lemonis has said several times all year he has a way of doing things. By the book. He is not going to stray from that. He doesnt like using White or Gordon when we are down, he doesnt like extending Gordon, exception being LSU in hoover bc he didnt have much choice.

My opinion he is out of choices now, you do what you have to to win each inning and you worry about the next one when you get there. Most important stat of all is that we were 2-19 hitting with runners on yesterday and 2-11 with RISP. That has to improve or we probably wont beat Lville

We haven't played well in Omaha. That has to change tonight.

[smootness]

He doesnt like using White or Gordon when we are down, he doesnt like extending Gordon, exception being LSU in hoover bc he didnt have much choice.

If this is his approach, he's never going to win a CWS unless we just blitz everyone for 5 games.