College Baseball Season Thread

[Dawg83]

Also broke the on-campus attendance record in an eerily similar fashion to the last time they did it in 2014, also a comeback win against Ole Miss. And the game winning hit in both games was a chopper through the six hole by a true freshman.

 

Not surprised to see this coming down to a Sunday rubber game, my gut says Ole Miss is the better team though and I think they win tomorrow.

[Bulldogs4]

Ole Miss has certainly played better in both games but State somehow persevered today.

Tomorrow? Who knows? Scoring was more liberal today. 
I think that State is 16-2 when issuing less than 5 base on balls in a game. Of course last night we only walked two which was a huge reason why Ole Miss only scored 3 runs. Today we only walked two and even though Ole Miss scored 7 runs it could have been more had we issued more free passes. 
Not sure how the pitching will shake out tomorrow but my gut feeling says the winning team will score in double digits. 
Fans have gotten their moneys worth both days. No reason to think it will be any different on Sunday. 
Today was a season saving win for State.

The loser tomorrow, while not completely dead, will be on life support. OTOH , the winner will be just be on a life raft but the storm will still be swirling around them. The lighthouse will be visible but the glow of the beacon light will be dim. 

[maroontide06]

State won the game today in cardiac fashion, but when the bases got loaded and Dakota Jordan was up to bat I had this gut feeling he was going to get a hit to win the ballgame and boy did he ever!  Great win today, but tomorrow is another day and probably the most crucial game. There’s no way of knowing what is going to happen tomorrow, but the momentum obviously needs to get passed onto Jurrangelo.  I just hope he can give us a quality start.

[Dawg83]

There’s plenty of negative to be said about State’s season so far but there’s no denying some of the talents on this team. Dakota Jordan is a superstar in the making, and Hunter Hines has kinda quietly had a great first two years on campus.

[Dawg83]

Hindsight is 20/20 but it’s hard to not question Bianco going with a true freshman pitcher in the 9th inning in THAT environment Saturday afternoon. And it clearly blew up in his face.

[maroontide06]

8 hours ago, Dawg83 said:

Hindsight is 20/20 but it’s hard to not question Bianco going with a true freshman pitcher in the 9th inning in THAT environment Saturday afternoon. And it clearly blew up in his face.

I honestly don’t think it would have mattered.  What Bianco decides or doesn’t decide to do shouldn’t be our concern.  Let that be @rebmus ‘s problem LOL!

[maroontide06]

I will say this though.  I think we saw the game reward Dakota Jordan last night and that was a good thing to see.

[Bulldogs4]

I know this is baseball but the State girls just had a great golf match with A&M for the SEC Title.

Lost 3-2 in match play on the third sudden death hole. 
 

But was very tense and nerve wracking!!! 

[maroontide06]

Dawgs win again!  Great win!

[Bulldogs4]

Great series 

State with a huge win and more importantly if Nixon can pitch like this with Dalm our closers could be a force going forward. 
Ole Miss is still a very good ball club and if Elliot comes back healthy, they can still right the ship.

But 3-12 is going to be a huge hole to climb out of. 

[Dawg83]

Big series win for State. Next two weeks on the road will be tough, but believe it or not Auburn and Tennessee both have the same conference record as State right now. So it’s not like there’s not an opportunity. Just need to keep stacking wins.

 

Tough series loss for OM, I thought they pitched well today, State literally won the game with two swings. 3-12 is obviously a very bad spot to be in, especially with LSU coming to town next. It’s going to take an unreal run down the stretch to make the NCAAT. I still think State is a long shot too but 5-10 and 3-12 feel like two entirely different animals.

Edited April 17, 2023 by Dawg83

[Bulldogs4]

Earlier in the thread, I said I hope both teams play well and that we win the series.

 

That definitely came true as I thought both squads played very well throughout the weekend. All three games were tight though I agree with 83 that Ole Miss dominated Friday Night even if the score was 3-2. 

[MSTSatchmo]

I thought OM had played well in most SEC games, they were just on the wrong end of some close games against good teams.  
 

State now has won 2 SEC series in a row, and they do not look like the dumpster fire from the first two weeks.   Clean up the errors and don’t walk batters and they’re a decent team.  Big series win for State.  They needed it with the schedule remaining. 

[rebmus]

I've been on the road all day and see that MSU took game 3 today. 

MSU took 2 of 3 which is what I expected. 

 

MSU has a puncher's chance of making something out of this season. Ole Miss is very much a longshot to get any postseason action right now. 

 

Kudos to MSU for the series win. 

[BrickCity]

On 4/16/2023 at 12:26 AM, Dawg83 said:

Hindsight is 20/20 but it’s hard to not question Bianco going with a true freshman pitcher in the 9th inning in THAT environment Saturday afternoon. And it clearly blew up in his face.

The state and ole miss games have been some instant classics over the past 8 years. Im starting to think it doesn't matter who is on the mound. State has answered to being thrown in some tough situations.

[BrickCity]

State is left with some difficult series ahead

Auburn

Tennessee

Arkansas

LSU

A&M

If somehow we can take 3 series out of these remaining 5, I think post season is very possible 

 

 

[maroontide06]

41 minutes ago, BrickCity said:

State is left with some difficult series ahead

Auburn

Tennessee

Arkansas

LSU

A&M

If somehow we can take 3 series out of these remaining 5, I think post season is very possible 

 

 

State obviously doesn't have any room for any error, but if you can sweep Auburn, Tennessee, and A&M, then get a win against LSU and a win against Arkansas, then you'll be sitting at 16-14 in conference play and yes you would probably be close to a lock for an NCAA tournament berth.  But like you said if we can win those series, it may be enough without the sweeps, but I think a sweep or two would definitely help matters for sure.

[Dawg83]

1 hour ago, BrickCity said:

State is left with some difficult series ahead

Auburn

Tennessee

Arkansas

LSU

A&M

If somehow we can take 3 series out of these remaining 5, I think post season is very possible 

 

 

I don’t think Auburn is very good, State really needs to win that series. Tennessee is struggling but still super talented, that will be really tough in Knoxville but not totally out of the question. I feel like State needs 3-3 at a minimum, possibly 4-2, from the next two weekends.

 

Last three weekends will be really tough, you kinda just hope you can win 1 against Arkansas and LSU. And then that final series at home against A&M could end up being massive for State’s postseason chances.

 

But like I mentioned, for this conversation to continue in any realistic way, State has to win the series at Auburn this weekend.

[maroontide06]

15 minutes ago, Dawg83 said:

I don’t think Auburn is very good, State really needs to win that series. Tennessee is struggling but still super talented, that will be really tough in Knoxville but not totally out of the question. I feel like State needs 3-3 at a minimum, possibly 4-2, from the next two weekends.

 

Last three weekends will be really tough, you kinda just hope you can win 1 against Arkansas and LSU. And then that final series at home against A&M could end up being massive for State’s postseason chances.

 

But like I mentioned, for this conversation to continue in any realistic way, State has to win the series at Auburn this weekend.

If our pitching can hold up this weekend and our offense and fielding can get just a tad bit better, then a sweep this weekend is very doable.  If State can exceed the expectations and go 5-1 over the next two weekends and get the two wins at Tennessee, then that will set things up nicely going into the Arkansas and LSU series.  State just can't let their foot off of the gas pedal at any point.

Edited April 17, 2023 by maroontide06

[Dawg83]

I just can’t get over State and Tennessee having the same conference record, never in a million years thought that would be the situation 2-3 weeks ago. Depending on if State can beat Auburn twice, that series in Knoxville could be a massive one in terms of the NCAAT bubble. Which is crazy on both sides of the equation.

[maroontide06]

I don't know exactly what this means at this point, but State is #24 in the RPI.  If State can keep the RPI up and keep the momentum with the wins who knows what will happen, but it will be hard to keep them out of the post season.

[Dawg83]

27 minutes ago, maroontide06 said:

I don't know exactly what this means at this point, but State is #24 in the RPI.  If State can keep the RPI up and keep the momentum with the wins who knows what will happen, but it will be hard to keep them out of the post season.

Good RPI but the SEC record isn’t where it needs to be yet. Likely need to get to 13 SEC wins, which would mean going 8-7 in the remaining league games.

[maroontide06]

State should be well rested and will have the full arsenal of pitchers available for the weekend against Auburn since tomorrow's game against Southern is cancelled because Southern has to make up a conference game that got postponed on Saturday.

[Bulldogs4]

Kind of mixed feelings about the game being canceled. A win would hurt our RPI but it would have served as another opportunity to get some other pitchers some work. 

[Dawg83]

State is tough for me to evaluate right now. When they aren’t walking the park, they look like a very competent team, and their resume backs this up with some of the quality wins they have. But man, when they can’t find the strike zone, it is UGLY, as seen in the Kentucky and Vandy series. This was not a problem against Ole Miss, but in the back of your mind you know it can rear its head again at any moment. At the same time, another part of you wants to be optimistic about how the pitching has improved recently and how that could be the key ingredient for a big turnaround.

 

I mean you’re talking about a wide range of possible outcomes for a team like this. It’s probably not an exaggeration to say that they are equally capable of making Regional, or even winning it with the right draw, as they are of not making it to Hoover. I still lean toward them probably missing the NCAAT, but it’s definitely not the sure thing it seemed like two weeks ago.