BB G3 Final: Louisiana 14, Troy 13

[GoneGolfin]

Brian,

We can agree to disagree. Again, I understand how that parks plays. But, I saw pitchers getting behind in counts all weekend, hitting batters, walking batters and critical errors behind them at times. That my friend has nothing to do with the ballpark and everything to do with execution. That was the worst display of Cajun pitching I have witnessed in a few years. Tip your hat to some of the pitches they were able to drive this weekend, but a number of those runs were self-inflicted.

Then maybe you are not understanding at least some of my point ... because I agree that the Cajun staff did not perform to expectations this weekend. My point is simply that the park does make a difference. If you do not believe that ... then yes ... we are on other sides of the earth. In some cases, it can make a significant difference. I think the Troy pitchers are much better than their ERAs because of the park they play in, for example. That is my point.

Brian

[CajunVic]

Their pitchers are better than their ERA”#. The park allows their hitters to do,the same to our pitchers and the penalties for pitchers not being quite on are magnified because of the park.

[GoneGolfin]

Yes. Some lazy fly balls close to the track at the Tigue are not playable at Troy.

The Troy starter Grayson has decent stats, Ks, BB, WHIP .246 Batting avg against. His ERA was 6.75 before the game. That kid hits his spots. 1st team All Sun Belt 2023. Hits his spots and got lit up this year for a lot of runs and actually pitched well.

To further that point ... Noah Manning and Clete Hartzog are very good relievers for Troy. They are the best relief arms the Trojans have. They got lit up today ... a combined 1.0 inning, 6 hits, 5 runs, 5 ER, 2 doubles, and 2 bombs. It happens in this park ... especially if the weather further cooperates.

Brian

[moorecajun]

... Hit by the preseason player of the year (Shane Lewis) that had been on the bench for several weeks until pinch-hitting today in the 8th (he doubled to RCF in the 10th). While hitting those 27 HRs last year (you guessed it, a left-handed hitter intentionally scouted for Troy's ballpark), he also struck out an amazing 82 times (I recall him being feast or famine) ... about 38% of his ABs.

Lewis has really struggled this season, hitting .172 with 4 HRs, playing in only 29 games (25 starts).

I listened to the Locked on Sun Belt preview of the series tonight (after the fact) with voice of the Trojans Barry McKnight. He talked at length about Troy as a hitter's park and especially the short porch in RF (with the high wall) along with doubles alley in RCF ... and how Troy specifically scouts hitters to play in this park ... specifically left-handed hitters. For a while, Troy was loading their lineup with eight left-handed hitters. It is also not nearly all about the long ball. It is about extra base hits ... which are considerably easier in RF.

This is a prime example of how a team utilizes their home field and makes it an advantage. Shane Lewis does not hit 27 bombs playing for Louisiana.

Brian

I made the comment yesterday (after the game) that I'm glad that is not our field; I couldn't take those type games on a regular basis!

[moorecajun]

I understand the point you are trying to make. But I do not agree with the above part. You may hit just as many spots in that ballpark as you do when you are at home (also make the equivalent # of mistakes). So from a command standpoint, you are the same. But it is the penalty that is paid when you are just off of that spot. That penalty may simply be a routine fly out at home (or some other ball park). But you may pay the price in a ball park such as Troy's (a normal out to RF is off of the wall ... or over the fence). This also forces the pitchers to be finer than what they normally would be (including more pressure) ... resulting in more walks.

Brian

I'm glad you posted this.

I consider walks and hbps an error on the pitcher; there were a lot of these this weekend. I'll give our staff the benefit as they were probably trying to guide some pitches instead of throwing them. I certainly didn't give them the benefit yesterday!

I also am pretty sure the tournament park is more of a true field which I think will benefit us! You know, so that a popup to right field ends with "caught" instead of "out of here".

GEAUX CAJUNS

[CajunVic]

I'm glad you posted this.

I consider walks and hbps an error on the pitcher; there were a lot of these this weekend. I'll give our staff the benefit as they were probably trying to guide some pitches instead of throwing them. I certainly didn't give them the benefit yesterday!

I also am pretty sure the tournament park is more of a true field which I think will benefit us! You know, so that a popup to right field ends with "caught" instead of "out of here".

GEAUX CAJUNS

Or “off the wall”

[Big Buds]

Don't know how it plays but going off their website, down the lines it's 335 in left and 329 in right. Center is 390. Similar wall to Troy in right but 20 feet further back.

Sounds right. My memory has me thinking it’s a lot like Troy. Even the wall in RF.

[Turner]

The meltdowns are normal when weird things happen amongst ALL fan bases. It is one reason I rarely look at game threads. Too much emotion and not enough focus. Fortunately athletes don’t have that mindset. They try to keep competing until the final pitch.

When I first read meltdown before I read the rest of your post I thought you were talking about the players. At points this weekend it seemed like there was a meltdown on the diamond.

[CajunRage]

Coastal, Troy, Southern Miss and Louisiana... arguably the top programs in the belt. Here's how we all fared against each other:

Coastal: W 2/3 Against UL (home), Swept by Troy (home) and USM (road)
Troy: W 2/3 Against UL (home), L 2/3 to USM (road), Swept Coastal (road)
USM: W 2/3 Against Troy (home), L 2/3 to UL (road), Swept Coastal (home)
UL: W 2/3 Against USM (home), L 2/3 to Troy (road) and Coastal (road)

The only road series win was Troy going to Coastal and sweeping.

Now look at the rest of the results:

Coastal: Lost series to App and haven't swept a weekend
Troy: Lost a series to USA and only swept stAte
USM: Lost series to both GA schools and swept Marshall
UL: Dropped first game to stAte and then ran off a series win and 4 additional sweeps

We've lost 1 game to the rest of the conference while the others are losing series.

All said and done, we have a 2 game lead with 6 to play because we took care of business early. Going to Troy and to Coastal are no easy tasks. The timing of the series with us cooling off didn't help. Regardless, we didn't get swept. Look at the 4 above resumes without the emotion attached, I'll take ours over the rest.

Time to go to Statesboro and take at least two and then come home to a rowdy crowd for SouthAlSucks week and take the regular season championship.

[CajunVic]

Coastal, Troy, Southern Miss and Louisiana... arguably the top programs in the belt. Here's how we all fared against each other:

Coastal: W 2/3 Against UL (home), Swept by Troy (home) and USM (road)
Troy: W 2/3 Against UL (home), L 2/3 to USM (road), Swept Coastal (road)
USM: W 2/3 Against Troy (home), L 2/3 to UL (road), Swept Coastal (home)
UL: W 2/3 Against USM (home), L 2/3 to Troy (road) and Coastal (road)

The only road series win was Troy going to Coastal and sweeping.

Now look at the rest of the results:

Coastal: Lost series to App and haven't swept a weekend
Troy: Lost a series to USA and only swept stAte
USM: Lost series to both GA schools and swept Marshall
UL: Dropped first game to stAte and then ran off a series win and 4 additional sweeps

We've lost 1 game to the rest of the conference while the others are losing series.

All said and done, we have a 2 game lead with 6 to play because we took care of business early. Going to Troy and to Coastal are no easy tasks. The timing of the series with us cooling off didn't help. Regardless, we didn't get swept. Look at the 4 above resumes without the emotion attached, I'll take ours over the rest.

Time to go to Statesboro and take at least two and then come home to a rowdy crowd for SouthAlSucks week and take the regular season championship.

This is surely a much better analysis than being done from the results of one inning in a 50 game schedule. Commendations are in order for Rage for seeing the trees from the forest.

[CajunSID]

Coastal, Troy, Southern Miss and Louisiana... arguably the top programs in the belt. Here's how we all fared against each other:

Coastal: W 2/3 Against UL (home), Swept by Troy (home) and USM (road)
Troy: W 2/3 Against UL (home), L 2/3 to USM (road), Swept Coastal (road)
USM: W 2/3 Against Troy (home), L 2/3 to UL (road), Swept Coastal (home)
UL: W 2/3 Against USM (home), L 2/3 to Troy (road) and Coastal (road)

The only road series win was Troy going to Coastal and sweeping.

Now look at the rest of the results:

Coastal: Lost series to App and haven't swept a weekend
Troy: Lost a series to USA and only swept stAte
USM: Lost series to both GA schools and swept Marshall
UL: Dropped first game to stAte and then ran off a series win and 4 additional sweeps

We've lost 1 game to the rest of the conference while the others are losing series.

All said and done, we have a 2 game lead with 6 to play because we took care of business early. Going to Troy and to Coastal are no easy tasks. The timing of the series with us cooling off didn't help. Regardless, we didn't get swept. Look at the 4 above resumes without the emotion attached, I'll take ours over the rest.

Time to go to Statesboro and take at least two and then come home to a rowdy crowd for SouthAlSucks week and take the regular season championship.

I think Troy is currently the best team in the league. Sweeping Coastal on the road is strong no matter how Coastal is playing.

But as you said, Cajuns have handled the rest of the league better than anyone. If they take the series against Ga Southern and South Alabama, gotta think that gets the league and should get an at-large.

I don’t care what the RPI says…Cajuns are a top 40 team. Find a way to get to the postseason and roll the dice. They have their issues but it’s clear they will compete hard.

[sportsfanatic21]

All said and done, we have a 2 game lead with 6 to play because we took care of business early. Going to Troy and to Coastal are no easy tasks. The timing of the series with us cooling off didn't help. Regardless, we didn't get swept. Look at the 4 above resumes without the emotion attached, I'll take ours over the rest.

Exactly. Had the Coastal series been in week 2 or so, and the Troy series prior to S. Miss, it would be sunshine and rainbows around here

Also, to your point about not being swept, one of this weekends whiners mentioned our coach’s mentality of “don’t get swept on the road” as a loser’s mentality. Obviously that person feels every college baseball coach…ever…is a loser. That’s how you win conference titles, and EVERY college baseball coach says it, take care of your business at home (win series), don’t get swept on the road, and have a couple of good weekends where you sweep a couple teams. It’s tried and true.

And it’s EXACTLY what this Cajuns team has done so far.