Cajun Baseball Talk

[GoneGolfin]

Brian... don't forget Olason. He is a great center fielder and is a solid hitter. _

I like Olasin as well. But he is not one of the *younger* players to which I was referring. Olasin is a junior.

Brian

[cajunbaseball1]

UALR would play a good game with Texas southern. Doesn't mean I'm not impressed that we handled up on them the weekend. And by no means am someone who roots against us. Whether you believe it or not I have had nothing but good things to say about Les Smith as far as the future of our program. I'm glad we were able to find talent like him. As far as eating my words I don't think I will. At the time everyone was "accepting" mediocre play and saying how great we were. I just wanted to point out that we should not become ok with hitting 250. We should be ok with 5 ERA's. The Cajuns took a HUGE step in the tight direction this week going 4-0 rather convincingly against some well below average teams and no one is more happier than me.

Nebraska looked very weak here and had played NO ONE up to the point I posted that. I will still be very surprised if they finish .500 in conference. But that's what makes college baseball so great. In 2006 I'm sure a lot of people turned their backs on us when we were 11-12 or whatever the record was. But when we finished with 39 wins and were snubbed a trip to the tourney I'm sure a lot of people said there's no way that was the same team we faced earlier. Any team can turn the corner at any point I'm the season.

And I really hope we have...

So once again don't think I'm here to sugar coat anything, but I'll never be here telling everyone it's ok. We have 2 guys over .300 and we are ok when we aren't. I give credit when it's due and good job Les. And I'll never be here trashing players because I know how that feels.

Brian... don't forget Olason. He is a great center fielder and is a solid hitter.

igeaux.mobi

[cajunbaseball1]

And I don't believe you were ever one of the people saying we were ok.

You sure are eating a lot of crow this week. Nebraska is doing just fine. How about the Huskers shelling All-American Andy Oliver Friday night? He lasted 3 2/3 innings and Nebraska won 11-4. The Huskers then followed up with a 12-4 win Saturday. Taking 2/3 against Oklahoma State is no small feat ... especially after splitting a two game road series at SEC leader Arkansas in midweek. Arkansas is 6-0 in the SEC thus. That was five very difficult games in six days for Nebraska.


... and you were saying????

Les Smith has been quite impressive thank you. Very few freshman find their power stroke. He has already found it and is hitting over .300. That is exciting *and* impressive.

Meanwhile, Fuselier threw a gem against a solid hitting UALR squad. 2-0 with a 3.70 ERA against solid competition is stellar as a freshman. And he stepped right up this weekend and took the pressure of the Friday night role head-on.


You had better go look at Nebraska's schedule again. It is nowhere near a cream puff schedule.

(4) games at UL
(2) games vs. Missouri State (at Sam Houston)
(1) game vs. Sam Houston State
(4) games vs. Cal State Northridge
(3) games at Texas Tech
(2) games at Arkansas
(3) games vs. Oklahoma State

14-7 overall and 3-3 in conference. Nebraska is a solid team ... not the team they were last season ... but a solid team.

As for the Cajuns ... I said in the beginning of the year that I thought this would be a rebuilding year and a middle of the pack Sun Belt finish. I still think that is the case and that is OK. But I really like what I am seeing from the younger players ... especially Les Smith, Alex Fuselier, Thad Griffen, Matt Goulas (who performed well as a freshman), and Blake Wascom. I am in no way expecting postseason play, but simply enjoying watching the players develop.

Brian

igeaux.mobi

[Dad04]

Greg Fontenot is having a break out season so far. Hopefully they have turned the corner. MT will give them a good test and valuable experience this weekend.

[ManAboutTown]

_ Greg Fontenot is having a break out season so far. Hopefully they have turned the corner. MT will give them a good test and valuable experience this weekend. _

We're at FIU this weekend. And thats the team that scares me, not Troy or WKU.

[LifeTimeCajun]

the bottom line is that we are a struggling team that ran into a real bad UALR baseball team that cant figure things out. However, we needed this, but we cant think for one minuite that we are good cause we played a bad baseball team. this week it did seem like we were a totally different team with Goulas back in the lineup. the real test will begin during the midweek when we put Matt Broussard back out there to see if he can get it done again, this time against better compitition. Hopefully we can carry some momementum from this weekend into the week. I hope that les smith tweeks something in his stance or swing again this week...he was prettty unconsious this weekend!

[ManAboutTown]

_ the bottom line is that we are a struggling team that ran into a real bad UALR baseball team that cant figure things out. However, we needed this, but we cant think for one minuite that we are good cause we played a bad baseball team. this week it did seem like we were a totally different team with Goulas back in the lineup. the real test will begin during the midweek when we put Matt Broussard back out there to see if he can get it done again, this time against better compitition. Hopefully we can carry some momementum from this weekend into the week. I hope that les smith tweeks something in his stance or swing again this week...he was prettty unconsious this weekend! _

The results speak for themselves, but the most impressive improvement this weekend was the approach at the plate. UALR's Friday and Saturday starters are solid pitchers.. Having said that, their defense choked the life out of them all weekend. Having Goulas in the lineup gave us a ton of flexibility, and he was the proverbial "spark" that everyone was referring to. Fontenot was in a mini-slump and he burst back onto the scene as well. You could also see what our pitching stuff is capable of when they are not under constant pressure to keep us in the game. I will say that we are still striking out too much, and Scott Hawkins is missing everything right now, we're still making ridiculous errors, Thad is a sucker for anything that breaks; its feast or famine with him. We'll see what we're made of in Miami this weekend, but there was a vast improvement on all areas in this series.

[LifeTimeCajun]

i agree with what you have said...just hope that we can do it against a better ball club Pitching looked good...you are right. A Lil concerned about lil Robe. Hes been hit a little harder than last year. i am sure he will be fine, i just dont look as dominate as last yr? Thad is becoming a great catch and throw catcher.

[ManAboutTown]

_ i agree with what you have said...just hope that we can do it against a better ball club Pitching looked good...you are right. A Lil concerned about lil Robe. Hes been hit a little harder than last year. i am sure he will be fine, i just dont look as dominate as last yr? Thad is becoming a great catch and throw catcher. _

Thad is the best defensive catcher we've had since Danny Mazziatte. I don't recall one instance where he failed to throw a runner out at second.

Robe had been bothered all year with that Tendonitis. I think once that clears up, and he gets some work, he'll be fine.

[GoneGolfin]

_ the bottom line is that we are a struggling team that ran into a real bad UALR baseball team that cant figure things out.

While UALR may be the most horrid defense club I have ever seen at the Div. I level, they can hit the ball. Their bullpen is also the worst in the Sun Belt. But how many other teams have swept a three game series from UALR this year? The answer is none. The Trojans actually went on the road to take 2/3 from an FAU team that swept two games from us at Moore Field. Some may try to equate UALR with Texas Southern ... but that is extreme exaggeration. Texas Southern is not in Arkansas-Little Rock's league ... they are in Arkansas-Pine Bluff's league.

Sometimes what a young team needs is some success ... any success. And whenever you get a conference sweep against a team that was .500 in conference play entering the weekend, that is success.

Brian