Bulldogs4

Good bounce back by Ole Miss. One game for a trip to CWS. I was looking at the attendance numbers and the crowds in Tucson have been solid; 5800+ and almost 7500 last night. You guys may not be aware but Arizona (or the impetus on how it came about) is the reason State holds all these attendance records. AZ held the all time on campus attendance record that dated back to the 1970’s with a game against Arizona State that drew 10K+. In 1988, Coach Polk announced that we were going to try and beat the record when we played LSU at home in a DH. We not only beat the record, we smashed the record (14K+). We were there. It was incredible. Leading up to that, I don’t think anyone thought it was even possible to bust 10K not to mention 14K. The other thing bizarre thing about that night was we exceeded three MLB games that same night in attendance.

UT with a 4-2 win over LSU KO with the tying run on second.

Even though Bednar struggled today the third inning was huge. ND had a chance to do some damage with the bases loaded and one out with one run home and he had back to back strike outs to end the inning. That was very important in the big picture.

That was an awesome matchup

One other factor is that none of these ND players have played in a SR. That is a lot of pressure on this stage and at a venue like DNF. Experience is a huge factor and I think State’s advantage there along with the home field advantage (as 83 noted) were huge today. They had made 27 errors all year and made 4 today and they were in crucial situations. Only 7 of our 9 runs were earned which was the difference in the game.

Fugly game at DNF so far. ND should be blowing us out but they have let us stay in the game to this point.

I believe we will be ready. Our guys have been through the ups and downs within a game. ND can rake but our pitching has been mostly solid all year with just a handful of bad overall games. McLeod is inconsistent but I think he will pitch well. Some of the other bullpen guys are capable as well if we need them. Throw strikes, minimize the BB’s, play solid defense and take advantage of our opportunities on offense and we will be fine. Solo HR’s won’t beat you but three run HR’s will. Our philosophy last weekend was great. Just throw strikes. If they bomb out, all well and good if it is a solo shot.

A couple of thoughts about ND. Because of a bunch of wx cx’s they have only played 44 games (about 15 fewer or 25% less than just about anybody else. Is that good or bad or no difference at all? Second, everybody talks about the crowd and DNF being an intimidating place to play but how do you all think the weather may affect ND, particularly their pitchers? Today is going to be hot and humid. If we are able to extend at bats and get their pitch counts up it may work to our advantage. The heat is tough on pitchers this time of the year particularly in the middle of the day. Thoughts? Obviously we will see how it plays out today , tomorrow and possibly Monday.

His ERA was 5+ so that is not very good for a Friday night starter.

The other thing with Casey was his use of Kevin Abel in the 2018 CWS. He threw 247 pitches in three outings over a six day period. He was a Freshman. Yes they won the CWS but then the following season (2019) he had surgery and missed the season. Then 2020 was a lost year. He had a decent season this year (good ERA, a lot of SO’s but control was a problem with a ton of BB’s) but it makes you wonder if Casey sacrificed his long term career for a short term gain. That is when a coach has to be the MAN and the COACH. You know a pitcher is always going to say “I am good , I can go another inning.” Then it is up to the coach to say “NO, I am not going to risk you being injured to win this game by letting you throw too many pitches.” and take the heat from fans/alumni who just want to win. Otherwise, there is no doubt he is an elite coach with three titles under his belt.

Yep, don’t think Sully is going to Red Stick. It will be interesting to see who LSU eventually gets. They are a bit delayed now since they are still playing. I could still see Bianco going (though the odds are low) or Vitello or someone else that we may not be familiar with. Is there any possibility of a current Assistant moving up there?

One thing I am glad about is that the final game with Campbell was pressure packed and we came through. With the tying run at third and the winning run at bat, it took some fortitude to finish out the game. That is good prep for this weekend and beyond (if we make it farther). Blow outs are fine but too often at this point you are going to be in tight games. Winning close games is one of the best confidence builders a team can acquire during a given season.

Even though I am a State alum/fan, Bianco has always been one of my favorite coaches. I guess it goes back to his LSU days as a player. I liked him then as he was a gritty, tough nosed player who maximized his talent through work, preparation and effort. State-LSU had some great games in the late 80’s/early 90’s when he was there as a player. He has been a great coach at Ole Miss and assuming he does not go to LSU (that would be the only job that I could see him leaving Oxford for) then I believe he will be there for more years to come. That anybody would entertain firing him after all these years of success is unfathomable in my humble opinion. Particularly this year, he has done a superb job. Ole Miss is a top ten/fifteen baseball team. Why would replace the person responsible for that?

Now you will get the whiners (not on this board but around the country) that will cry that they should reseed the teams when they get to Omaha. Some have advocated that with the Final Four. Thankfully they have not been successful with that idea. I kind of like the current system where after the brackets are set then the chips fall as each game is played and you may end up with a quirky match up in Omaha if someone upsets their way there. But that is okay.

Congrats to Ole Miss and USM on a real gritty effort today. Each team left it on the field and that is all you can ask.

Notre Dame IMO is an easier match up. I say that not because they are a not a great team, as they are a great team. But on paper they are equal to us (in the sense of being a D1 team with stature). Playing unknown teams that are talented is very difficult and puts a lot of pressure on your team. The expectation from some of the idiots around was that this weekend was going to be a walk in the park for State. I knew better than that. Even Saturday night was a tight game until the bottom of the sixth. I am proud of our guys for playing each game one inning at a time and taking care of business. That can be very difficult to do sometimes. It shows good maturity on our part. Now it will be a battle with ND. Atmosphere at DNF will be off the charts. But I think our guys will be ready and will play with confidence but also have fun as well.

Hats off to Campbell. Great effort by that squad. As I said usually nothing is easy in a Regional. Great effort by Harding and Sims came through at the end with some great defense behind him. I can breathe again. Nerve racking at the end there.

Certainly a good win for USM and they have some momentum but I still like Ole Miss’ chances tomorrow. You still have an advantage in pitching as this will be their 5th game in four days. It most likely be a slug fest and OM can certainly hold their own there. Campbell leading VCU 14-10 in the seventh inning. I think if we just get a decent pitching outing from Fristoe/Harding & Co. tomorrow that we will be in good shape regardless of who wins this game. Still you have to care of business.

WOW TCU out is a bit of a surprise. USA just bounced Miami. Good win for USM. I predicted this to happen.

It would appear that the chances of playing baseball this afternoon and/or even tonight are zero to a minus 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. Looking at the radar, a lot of rain is headed N/NE from the gulf. I remember the monsoon regional in Hattiesburg some years ago that State beat USM twice to win. Vaguely I recall that the Regional has to conclude by Tuesday (please correct me if I am wrong).

State breaks open a competitive game with a 9 spot in the bottom of the sixth inning to go up 15-4. NC State leads LA Tech 8-3 in the ninth inning.

Excellent win by Ole Miss. Should be a good game between USM and FSU tomorrow. OM is in good shape regardless now. Good start for State but a long way to go.

Yep USM with a great goal line stand to preserve the shut out....LOL

What a thud for Florida in their own regional. Nice bounce back by USM Bama still alive LSU struggling with UCONN-Central and a football game has broken out at DNF between Samford and Campbell

Concerning VCU, yes they are on fire but maybe they peaked tonight. 5 HR’s and 18 runs is tremendous but sometimes it is hard to duplicate that performance again. We will see how it plays out tomorrow evening. I look for both USM and OM to win tomorrow and then see if USM can beat FSU Sunday afternoon to get a chance at OM Sunday night.