SB G2 Final: Louisiana 4, App St. 0

[Turbine]

There's no question that, at times, the pitching makes one want to scratch their head and try to figure out what is going on.

I can't explain why the pitchers have, at this point in the season, hit 34 batters, the same number as all of last year.

As far as for the walks, the 100th batter was walked in the last game. That's an average of three walks per game. May not seem like a lot, but it's many more than in previous years.

When I say capable, I mean capable of giving the team quality innings. Maybe not four or five, but one or two to come in at any point in a game and be effective.

Is Justin calling more inside pitches than last year?

[Reality Check]

If our players are so elite then why did we lose to App State? Does anyone actually think we’re going to the WCWS this year? If so, please explain why.

Come on man. Really? Anybody can lose a game to anybody on any given day. History is full of one game upsets. The Cajuns won the series. I would have bet the farm that Tennessee would have beat Bama in Game 2 this weekend with Bama pitching their No. 2/3 pitcher depending on who you talk to. But the young lady pitched her rear end off and Bama's lackluster offense actually found some mojo with their bats and gots some hits to back up their pitcher. Upset in game 2 of their series. Take Fouts out of the equation (though she is looking pretty pedestrian right now), the Cajuns talent level is currently very comparable to Alabama's imo for comparison purposes.

[Cajun Soldier]

Sure. But, first let me assume that both you and bbhstiger believe the former coach was better in every category. That simply is not true. Here is the truth.

Hitting…Last year the Cajuns had the second highest team batting average in the nation. Only Oklahoma had a higher one. The former coach’s players hit more home runs. Glasco’s teams manufacture more runs. It’s two different ways to approach developing an offense.

Pitching. The former coach had fifteen years of pitchers. Glasco is in his sixth year. The former coach did not have a pitching coach. Most years he had one, sometimes two capable pitchers. Glasco now has a handful of pitchers that are capable.

Defense. I would say similar. The former coach’s team’s fielding percentage was always around .970.

Last year, the Cajuns’ fielding percentage was .964, so not much difference.

Base running. Not even close. I think the most bases the former coach’s team ever stole was 64. In 2019, Glasco’s team stole 169. That’s 105 more. Next question?

Crowd Support. About the same. Last week 120 fans went to Southern Miss.

Recruiting. Glasco, by a long way. The former coach only had a regional recruiting budget. Most players were either local, or from Texas. Glasco is nation-wide and has had players from other countries. Just because there’s a great player playing at a high school in Louisiana doesn't mean they can compete at the division one, college level. See Maci Bergeron from Notre Dame.

Game Management. That’s an easy one. Let me remind you of the Auburn regional in 2015. Bottom of the 7th, two outs, Louisiana 10, Auburn 5. After a walk, a single and two fly outs, (that’s two outs) Wallace walked the next 5 batters before the former coach replaced her in the circle with Hamilton who walked the next two batters to tie the score. That game management might be the worst game management in the history of college softball. Winning by five with one out remaining and the team loses. Next question?

Player Development
Fielding. I did not attend practices when the former coach was in charge. I know people who did. More than one told me the former coach did not work much on fielding. Instead, he focused on hitting. So, I don’t believe he developed players defensively.

Hitting. The former coach developed hitting. But, there were some issues. Players had to adapt to his swing technique or else and it took a very long time to learn it. Sometimes two years or more. D. J. Sanders did not hit a home run her freshman year until midway through the season and she ended up hitting four that year. Her sophomore season she hit 18. So, it took a year to develop her power. Kelsey Vincent hit four home runs her freshman year and had the lowest batting average of any Ragin Cajun in the last 10 years at .135. Her sophomore year she hit seven, her junior year 18 and senior year 15. So, it took her two years to “get it”. In today’s softball world, there isn’t a lot of time for development. If a player can’t hit and does not see playing time, because of the transfer portal, many move on. It’s just different.

Pitching. The former coach did not develop pitchers. He abused them. Next time you see Ashley Brignac or Jordan Wallace, ask them how their arm and shoulder feel. If the former coach was not fired, Summer Ellyson would have never developed into the pitcher she became. She redshirted in 2016. In her freshman year in 2017, she only pitched 20 innings. The former coach was enamored with another freshman, Alyssa Denham as she pitched 129 innings, 109 more than Ellyson.

Assistant Coaching Staff. The former coach had a very, very good assistant in Chris Malveaux. He is now the hitting coach at Tennessee and is doing a fantastic job. That’s the best one I can think of. Glasco had Joe Guthrie who went on to become the head coach at UAB and is now an assistant coach at Texas A&M and in his first year is helping to turn that team around. Glasco also had, arguably, the best pitching coach in America in Mike Roberts.

I asked you the question and I respect your answers/opinions I don't think JMV was asking about one coach I feel he was asking about the program as a whole compared to Glasco. My opinion which means nothing to no one but me is that other than recruiting players we were the same or better. Developing players Glasco can't touch anyone that was a previous coach because no one ever recruited players that are supposedly at the level Glasco does. But we developed STARS that weren't just pitchers. But I do respect your perspective as you probably forgot more about softball than I will know in my lifetime. Thank you for your response.

[Cajun Monkee]

Define "so elite" and where did you hear that term?

Was it Extra Innings that said we had a #1 recruiting class? Followed up by the #11 class (I think?)?

I think we can extrapolate #1 recruiting class into "elite".

Not judging the talent.

Just a little concerned about pitching, fielding, and some coaching decisions.

[du42]

We are playing 90 percent underclassmen every game. Our talented Soph class are all going thru the Soph slumps that are real. Their confidence has taken a blow. It’s something that they will have to battle thru and they will.

[RoarMan]

I asked you the question and I respect your answers/opinions I don't think JMV was asking about one coach I feel he was asking about the program as a whole compared to Glasco. My opinion which means nothing to no one but me is that other than recruiting players we were the same or better. Developing players Glasco can't touch anyone that was a previous coach because no one ever recruited players that are supposedly at the level Glasco does. But we developed STARS that weren't just pitchers. But I do respect your perspective as you probably forgot more about softball than I will know in my lifetime. Thank you for your response.

You're welcome.

[JMV JustMyView]

We are playing 90 percent underclassmen every game. Our talented Soph class are all going thru the Soph slumps that are real. Their confidence has taken a blow. It’s something that they will have to battle thru and they will.

I wasnt going to say this but that is true.

[SlickRick]

I wasnt going to say this but that is true.

Agree. From a hitting perspective, Langliers, Hayden, and Stormy jump to the front of the page as not producing on the same level as last year. I don't have the stats, just my opinion having watched most of the game this year. Piskos is coming on strong. Campbell is not a soph, but she isn't producing as much as last year. Just a thought, but maybe hitting against all of those elite pitchers early in the season hurt their confidence. We should see an uptick against the SBC teams....hope so!

Pitching....Landry and Lamb are both struggling to find consistency. But, Heath is pitching really well, which is good considering. I think Lamb's injury last fall is still holding her back to some degree.

I think the number of hit batters is due to Robe having them pitch inside more. Someone else mentioned this already, but it does stand to reason that a coach with baseball experience would be asking for this more often.

[SportyCajun459]

I wasn't going to say this but that is true.

So because the Cajuns are starting a bunch of sophomores and freshmen, it's understandable that they are going to play below their talent level? So what's the reason for programs with a starting roster comprised of seniors and 5th year players that play below their talent level? IMO, the Cajuns woes have nothing to do with starting a young roster. Campbell isn't committing errors because of youth. She is committing them because she is playing out of position. Glasco's constant revolving lineup has instilled zero confidence in his players. They never know what position they will be playing or if they will be playing at all. It is affecting their hitting because they are being moved in and out of the lineup. Like someone said in another post, maybe Glasco is trying to keep girls happy and out of the portal. So far this season, we have seen Hayden at LF, CF 3B, SS and I think 2B also. She has been moved up and down the order in the lineup. Others have had the same happen to them (i.e. Langliers, Kotzelnick, Piskos, etc.). Multiple positions, sitting out some games, being moved around in the batting order. This has to play on their psyche. So I don't buy "youth" being the reason for the up and down season. I blame Glasco's constant tinkering. He also tinkers too much with the pitching when he should leave it up to Justin. One last thing. I came to watch a fall ball inter-squad scrimmage. I sat by myself and stayed until the end. A gentleman came and sat down a few seats over by me during the scrimmage and we struck up a conversation. Turns out that he was the father of one of the players who saw a fair amount of time in 2022 but wasn't an everyday starter. We started talking about hitting and he told me that when the season starts, Glasco does not make any in-season adjustments with the hitters when they start to struggle. They are on their own to figure it out. He said Glasco told the girls he doesn't have time when the season starts to work with every one of them. This floored me when he told me this. The parent swore this was the truth. I am not saying it is fact nor am I saying it is fiction. I am just relaying what I was told. I would have figured with Glasco's reputation as a hitting guru, he would be working with the struggling hitters to work out their problems.

[JMV JustMyView]

Agree. From a hitting perspective, Langliers, Hayden, and Stormy jump to the front of the page as not producing on the same level as last year. I don't have the stats, just my opinion having watched most of the game this year. Piskos is coming on strong. Campbell is not a soph, but she isn't producing as much as last year. Just a thought, but maybe hitting against all of those elite pitchers early in the season hurt their confidence. We should see an uptick against the SBC teams....hope so!

Pitching....Landry and Lamb are both struggling to find consistency. But, Heath is pitching really well, which is good considering. I think Lamb's injury last fall is still holding her back to some degree.

I think the number of hit batters is due to Robe having them pitch inside more. Someone else mentioned this already, but it does stand to reason that a coach with baseball experience would be asking for this more often.

Lamb is not getting much playing time, but has pitched well. Lamb and Schorman both had injuries in the fall that kept them out.