Season long look at UL's trek through the Baseball RPI rankings

[Zeebart21]

I thought that Harmon pitched well also. Four innings of work out of the bullpen can be tough this early in the year. He was very effective until he got tired in the ninth. How about the relief job that Zorich did on Saturday!!

You wouldnt be in Hattiesburg Saturday, would you?

Z.

[Just1More]

Isn't that true about every fan of every school? Just like kitty cat fans when you inform them that their real name has some sort of rambling trail of letters after it. I can hear 'em now...

"Well we don't go by that", "That's NOT our real name", "Well nobody really calls us that", "but its IN BR not AT BR", blah, blah, blah.

Mineshaft doesn't mind being called mini shaft, small shaft, small winky, or little pud. It is all the same to him.

[GoneGolfin]

You wouldnt be in Hattiesburg Saturday, would you?

Z.

Are you going to be there Z? I will be there Friday and Saturday with the family.

Brian

[Southpaw03]

You wouldnt be in Hattiesburg Saturday, would you?

Z.

No, but I'll be checking in on the webcast. Got a little get together planned with the family. Brandt flies out to spring training Sunday AM.

[GoneGolfin]

Brian,


You have to remember these fans are very fickle. You have to say there name right or they get mad. remember they are very petty about this. if i was you i would just call the USL.. See if that gets em stirred up some more..

It seems you are confused. I did use the correct name. I used Louisiana to refer to the Cajuns out of the Sun Belt. I used Lafayette to refer to the Leopards out of the Patriot League.

Brian

[CajunKahouna]

Brian,


Thanks for all of the information you've posted. The majority of us understand exactly what you've written.

And, best just to ignore anything Mineshaft has to say. He just like stirring up crap in his simple minded way.

[Zeebart21]

Are you going to be there Z? I will be there Friday and Saturday with the family.

Brian

Brian, I think I'll make Saturday, maybe Sunday too. I had plans to meet my wife and daughter for a softball tourney in Shvport, but my daughter has the flu, and tendonitis in her throwing elbow.(the 2 are not related, by the way ) Those plans are shot. Tuscaloosa is a heck of alot closer to Hattiesburg than it is Shvport anyway! I'll be looking for you!

Z.

[Zeebart21]

No, but I'll be checking in on the webcast. Got a little get together planned with the family. Brandt flies out to spring training Sunday AM.

Enjoy your weekend! Give my best to your son!

Z.

[Zeebart21]

It seems you are confused. I did use the correct name. I used Louisiana to refer to the Cajuns out of the Sun Belt. I used Lafayette to refer to the Leopards out of the Patriot League.

Brian

LOL! Was there ever any doubt?

Z.

[CajunProud]

Illinois can hit and hit very well. Moody pitched 5 innings, one hit, no runs.

http://www.athleticnetwork.net/uploads/base6.htm

Thanks. I think I said he gave up 1 run. My bad. I certainly didn't mean to imply that he pitched poorly. I actually thought he looke very good, especially for someone who has not faced live bats for some time. My comment was really more of a compliment to Illinois.

I also think the reason we were in the right place to catch the hard hit shots was due to our excellent coaching staff placing the defense in the right position for the pitch that was called.

I think Moody will only get stronger as the year goes on, same with all of our pitchers.

[Cajun Express]

For the RPI to be effective you need a reasonable number of games to have been played. Boyd Nation usually begins publishing his estimate of the NCAA RPI formula in the first or second week of March.

To give you an example, Louisiana is currently #59 in the Base RPI calculation (calculated by SEBaseball.com). This does not include any of the bonuses or penalties added to the base formula by the NCAA. Meanwhile, Lafayette is currently #2 having only played two games thus far. Toledo is #3, Davidson is #4, and Furman is #5. This latest edition of the Base RPI includes games played through Saturday 2/24.

In the meantime, Paul Kislanko at SEBaseball.com was playing around with what he considers an improved RPI formula (not necessarily what the NCAA uses). It is dubbed RPI2. The Top 25 looks much more reasonable than that of the Base RPI. But more games are still needed. Lafayette is #1 in the latest edition. The Cajuns come in at #8. Southern Mississippi is #13 and Troy is #18. This does not include Sunday's Troy win over Southern Mississippi.

I understand the concept of playing enough games to give the RPI a valid base, but how does Lafayette with two games, against I don't know who have a higher rank than a team with 8 wins and no loses? That defies logic. I might understand it if the team with two wins also was a national power year after year, but the Lafayette Leopards?

[rhineaux]

Thanks. I think I said he gave up 1 run. My bad. I certainly didn't mean to imply that he pitched poorly. I actually thought he looke very good, especially for someone who has not faced live bats for some time. My comment was really more of a compliment to Illinois.

I also think the reason we were in the right place to catch the hard hit shots was due to our excellent coaching staff placing the defense in the right position for the pitch that was called.

I think Moody will only get stronger as the year goes on, same with all of our pitchers.

To add my two cents on the weekend, the season so far, and whatever else...

I think our pitching will get better. Remember how little work they were able to get in January with all the weather. Plus, in recent years, we didn't have a whole lot of depth and so there wasn't as much initiative for one player to step up. this year, you ahve several guys (other than Moody and glass) who are battling for two starting spots (Saturday/midweek, depending on where glass ends up, and sunday). that competition will definitely force somebody to step up and take the slot, and will definitely put that pitcher in a position to take over in case some of our pitchers decide to go a different direction come amateur draft time.

Secondly, one of the beefs that i've had the past several years with tony's clubs is the runners left on base. they have consistently done this over the past threee or four years for sure, and haven't shown much improvement, if any at all. I can't remember how many time i would listen to a game where we'd lose by a couple runs, and then leave 8-10 runners on base for the game. this team left plenty of runners on base this weekend, but, they also hit the ball a lot. there is a difference between getting the lead man in scoring position, then flying/grounding/striking out the next three, to having runners on the whole inning, and then there happens to still be runners on base when the third out is made. this team did a pretty good job of hitting with two outs this weekend. It certainly seems that, whether becasue of Sczef's system, or Sczef's recruiting, that the hitting is really coming around. We are beginning to see guys that aren't just good hitters or fielders, but have both, in addition to the other small tools that you need to be competitive nationally. Thanks Coach Sczef.