CSF has a great program, of course they're going to think they'll win. They likely don't know as much about us as we do. We would be doing the same thing.
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CSF has a great program, of course they're going to think they'll win. They likely don't know as much about us as we do. We would be doing the same thing.
SEMO's top hitters are as follows (in descending order of BA): L, L, R, S, L, R, R.Quote:
Originally Posted by CadaverDawg
So pretty balanced. But their top 3 hitters overall are Osborne, Gandolfo, and Holst, and they're all lefties.
Interesting.Quote:
Originally Posted by smootness
Wish we could get a La Tech, SEMO, & CSF fan to give us a breakdown of their team
SEMO coach Steve Bieser doesn’t know if ace Joey Lucchesi (10-4, 1.87 ERA) will start against MSU Fri. He threw 119 pitches Fri and 35 Sun.
Not sure why matchups would matter. We really only have one left starter (Pilkington) and I would be extremely shocked if he got the start on Friday as a true freshman. Seems we will be starting a righty no matter what. Now I don't know who among Hudson, Sexton and Houston fare better against lefties.
I live in W. Monroe 25 mi. from La tech., scrappy team 4-2 against Rice, beat Florida Atlantic at least twice.
Their field dimensions are 330/380/400 which is larger than Dudy Noble....if you are referring to stadium capacity you would be correct but the game is not played in the stands. Give Osborne his due...he's earned it with 15 bombs.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brando
If semo is A little on the left then I see us going Pilk.
I agree - with how cohen loves matchups I'd be shocked otherwise.Quote:
Originally Posted by I seen it dawg
eta: or hudson. would hate to have to use him but losing game 1 would be far worse
Here is my take:
Cal State Fullerton- They are your typical West Coast baseball team and in fact they are kind of the "model" team for West mid majors. They are similar to Oregon in terms of style- Oregon's coach used to be at CSF- except that they hit the ball better and their pitching is better than the Ducks. They like to bunt- A LOT. 61 sacrifices on the year. We're going to have to shore up our defense ESPECIALLY Collins, Marrero if he catches a game against them, and our pitchers because they will test us with the short game. They try to shut you down with their pitching and then wait for you to make an error on one of their bunts and beat you 2-1. They are probably the worst hitting team in this regional- they only have two guys over .300 and they have one power guy. They like to run some too. That's how they have done it since Augie Garrido was coaching them. I think playing all of those West Coast teams like Oregon, USC, and UCLA is going to pay off for us when/if we play them even though it hurt our RPI. The BEST way to shut down a small ball team like this is to throw a power arm like Hudson and Humphreys and just try to overpower them basically. We can beat them- but WE MUST PLAY GOOD DEFENSE. Runs are going to be hard to come by against all of their pitchers- all of them are sub 3 ERA guys, so we have a very small margin for error.
Louisiana Tech- as everyone has said, they are scrappy- BUT they are ESPECIALLY dangerous to us because they have a LOT of Mississippi connections. Chrisitan Ostrander is their pitching coach and he used to be at Delta State and then was the head coach at Jones JC. Ostrander might be the most respected pitching coach with native Mississippi ties other than Butch Thompson. Jake Wells used to coach for us. But what makes them dangerous to me is the fact that they have a few Mississippi kids- some of whom no doubt wanted to play at MSU and want to prove that we screwed up. They have a literal JUCO all-star team- it's basically their entire roster and I have never seen anything like it. Their best pitcher and hitter- Casey Sutton and Chance Lunsford played at Hinds. I would have to compare them favorably to USM/South Alabama even though USM is a little bit better obviously. They are an up and coming mid major and this is their coming out party.
SEMO State- They are your typical four seed in that they have a solid team and a legit ace. They are going to try to get into a slug fest and they have the most power of any of the regional opponents plus they are statistically the best hitting opponent in field. They will run some on you too. Their ace is a senior who was the OVC pitcher of the year as a junior- and he has only gotten better this year. We have to make sure that we keep the ball down and limit mistakes whomever we pitch. If their ace goes on Friday, I'm going with Hudson because their offense is too good to risk throwing someone that might be off because their ace can shut anyone down. If not, I'd probably go ahead and go with Houston or Pilkington. Since they are LH heavy, I'd have Daniel Brown and Billingsley ready for game one.
A couple of things about that:Quote:
Originally Posted by I seen it dawg
I'd rather have Houston pitching than Pilkington in a championship situation right now.
We have some good LH pitchers that we can use like Brown, Billingsley and then we have RH Blake Smith who has a really good breaking ball that can pitch to both LH/RH. That should take some pressure off of Pilkington if that's the way we go.
Our batting average is over 300 and it doesn't matter. Our guys will be focus and put some ball in play.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ifyouonlyknew
Not being a smartass, this is a serious question. Who has SEMO faced that has the pitching to qualify this team as a "power" hitting team?
Yea, Billingsley is RH, but your point standsQuote:
Originally Posted by Todd4State
100%.Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd4State
That's why I am a baseball guru.Quote:
Originally Posted by CadaverDawg
YepQuote:
Originally Posted by Backspin
that's surprising - never would have thought that was the case. still the quality of pitching he see's 75% of the time wouldn't make an SEC roster. not dogging the guy it's just what it is.Quote:
Originally Posted by Backspin
I like our chances.Quote:
Originally Posted by CadaverDawg
Glad to oblige! Excited about this regional, and the Titans playing at one of the best facilities and crowds in the nation. (Remodel plans look incredible) It'll be a huge test.Quote:
Originally Posted by CadaverDawg
Todd4State summed it up pretty well, the Titans are the prototypical West Coast baseball team, get them on, get them over, get them in. Lots of small ball (sometimes to our fans' displeasure) but we can pitch with anyone in the nation and the #1 Team ERA goes to show it. Seabold and Gavin both pitched in Omaha last season along with quite a few relievers, Eastman just won the Big West championship game on the road at our rival and almost threw a CG in it as a freshman... The list goes on.
The offense has been a question mark, it's either boon or bust. They've shown they can put up huge offensive games (18 runs at UC Santa Barbara) but then put up a head scratching series loss at home against Hawaii. It's going to be interesting to see which Titan team shows up, the team that went through a tough home regional last year and then won 2/3 at Louisville to go to Omaha, or the team that's lost baffling performances to Hawaii, USC, and Maryland.
Looking forward to it! Hoping to meet the Bulldogs in Game 2! Go Titans!
Great post. Welcome. Better strap it up against La Tech.
4 National Championships, 25 straight postseason appearances, and 38 postseason appearances in 42 years at the D1 level will do that to you. We've been spoiled, that's for sure. But that doesn't mean our fans are overlooking any of these teams in this regional by any means. They're all there for a reason, it's going to be an extremely difficult test, and traveling from Orange County to Starkville is no easy feat either.Quote:
Originally Posted by smootness
Thanks for the run down. Welcome to the board, looking forward to playing you guys. As much as I hate playing "name" programs bc it makes the Regional tougher...I also love it bc it's fun to play teams from outside of our normal geographic area, and I want to beat good teams and earn it if we're going to go to Omaha.Quote:
Originally Posted by CSUFOrange
Can you tell us what your batting lineup looks like in terms of Left handed vs Right handed? Do you guys hit RHP or LHP better? How do you field it as a team...pretty good defensively? Who are we most likely to face in Game 2 if we meet up? Is he LH or RH?
Thanks. Let us know if you want to know details about MSU.
To me, I think folks are overthinking it by trying to say "well, SEMO is throwing their ace so we gotta throw our ace." It's simple, Hudson is our best pitcher. So, pitch him against the team with the best offensive lineup. That is not likely to be SEMO. We are the one seed, so everybody will be saving their ace for us anyway. No need in trying to figure out which ace we want ours to go against.Quote:
Originally Posted by CadaverDawg
Wow, check out this post from the Cal State Fullerton board after David Murray & a few other MSU fans responded to "hick" comments....
On behalf of all Titan fans, I apologize if any Mississipians were offended. I'm sure no harm was intended. Some of our fans just don't understand the difference between hicks and rednecks.
Our Governor Brown has warned against travel to the Magnolia State due to all the discriminatory legislation. If our fans attend games at your Dudley Knobjob (sp?) Stadium, will the gays, lesbians, queers, bisexuals and transgendered among us be fairly treated? Will they be allowed to use the restroom? How about our African-American and Hispanic fans? I watched a game on TV and could not see any non-whites in attendance.
For the whole thread, click this link....
http://www.scout.com/college/cal-sta...not-a-bad-draw
The Titans are pretty well balanced in the lineup, sometimes 4 lefties, sometimes 5, but they've been so inconsistent at times, sometimes they'll mash LHP, sometimes they come up dry. Solid defensively, 20th in the nation, but can be prone to the occasional lazy error.Quote:
Originally Posted by CadaverDawg
Pitching-wise it's a toss up, depending on what happens in Game 1. I would expect RHP Connor Seabold to pitch Game 1, as long as a tweaked hammy doesn't hold him back. Seabold pitched in Omaha last year, and went 7-5 with a 2.42 ERA this year. Assuming they win, I would expect to see LHP John Gavin in Game 2. Gavin, also on last year's CWS team went 6-3 with a 2.16 ERA, but you could see the freshman RHP Colton Eastman who's coming off a dominant performance on the road at rival Long Beach in what ended up being the Big West championship game. Could also see transfer RHP Blake Quinn who's had a good year as well, but I'd doubt it.
How about the Bulldogs? Wish I could go this weekend, have relatives living in Starkville who were professors at MSU. Atmosphere should be electric.
As with every team, don't pay attention to the bad apples that spoil the rest of the bunch. We've had a bunch of trolls impersonating long-time posters recently. Expect our fans that travel to Starkville to be knowledgeable, and easy going. Hope somewhere down the road we can host Bulldog fans in Orange County to the same hospitality that I'm sure will be extended to our fans out there.Quote:
Originally Posted by CadaverDawg
We have pretty good starting pitching, but our bullpen can be suspect. Hopefully we can save our ace, Hudson, for CSF in game 2. Otherwise Sexton will start. We play decent defense, but in our losses we typically gift runs with infield errors (usually SS & 3B).Quote:
Originally Posted by CSUFOrange
Our hitting is very good. We led the SEC in doubles and were 2nd in the league in hitting overall behind A&M. Cohen is an over-thinker, so we will hit 7-ish lefty's or righty's depending on the matchup. Tons of flexibility & options in our order. Mangum, our SEC freshman of the year, is our spark plug & led the SEC in hitting with around a .420 average. Most of our lineup hits over .300, but our 8 & 9 hole guys are .280 & .220-ish respectively. We have some decent power this year, but our ballpark plays very big, which could be a big advantage to CSF and their small ball & pitching staff.
Should be some interesting Matchups.
Yea every group has their idiots. I hope your fans and players enjoy the trip down, and that your guys get to experience the best Dudy Noble, the Left Field Lounge, & the MSU passionate fan base has to offer. Obviously, I hope we win...but I think it could be a pretty awesome Regional. I'd hate to fall into the loser's bracket early, bc even SEMO & La Tech are going to be tough outs. Whoever makes it out of this Regional will have earned it.Quote:
Originally Posted by CSUFOrange
Dakota Hudson is a likely first round pick and as you can probably read here there is some debate about whether we should start him against SEMO or in game two. Austin Sexton is also very talented as well even though he doesn't have Hudson's stuff- he has been very reliable. Our third guy for most of the year has been a freshman Konnor Pilkington, but in the SEC Tournament one of our juniors, Zac Houston had a lights out outing and we'll see if he gets a start. Our bullpen has some guys that have been off and on all year and has been kind of pieced together. Hudson and Sexton usually give us quality starts so that offsets our bullpen somewhat. Humphreys is our closer but Blake Smith and Ryan Rigby have been our main bullpen guys. Daniel Brown has also emerged as a reliable bullpen guy for us as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by CSUFOrange
Jack Kruger has take over at catcher and he is a very good hitter and is solid defensively. Nate Lowe hasn't hit a ton of home runs this year, but he is a very good hitter and has a very good approach. Gavin Collins has been average defensively at third but has improved over the course of the year and leads our team in home runs. He is around .300 but his average has been hurt some because he has had to learn how to play a new position and he missed most of the fall with a hand injury. Ryan Gridley is a solid shortstop defensively and is usually good for a hit a game and second base has been an issue because of injuries to two of our MIF players. Hunter Stovall will probably get the starts because he played well in the SEC Tournament and is our best defensive second baseman but John Holland is a senior who has had some clutch moments for us despite his low batting average.
Jake Mangum is a pure hitter and is a Pete Rose type player that gets on anyway he can and is all out all the time. He is a big reason why we are where we are right now. Jacob Robson is our CF and he can absolutely fly. He's also a really good bunter. Brent Rooker and Reid Humphreys (yes, same guy as our closer) are two good corner outfielders with some power and both have good outfield arms.