BB Final: Louisiana 2, McNeese 4

[ZoomZoom]

Anyone has MGOLF and T&F as our best spring sports on their bingo card?

[CajunSID]

Anyone has MGOLF and T&F as our best spring sports on their bingo card?

Ha!! Well done. Need a little humor sprinkled in with this.

[Big Buds]

I’ll say it again. This team is Charmin soft.

[zeppelincajun]

I’ll say it again. This team is Charmin soft.

Can’t figure the mentality aspect of this team out. They show flashes of grit like last Friday, and then you’ve got upperclassmen wetting the bed in prime spots on nights like tonight.

[sportsfanatic21]

Here’s my (rather long winded) take on this team so far.

The biggest issue is that this is a team made up of guys that would likely be bottom of the order hitters on most regional-type college baseball teams. I think Higgs is the only guy that would hit higher than 7th on most regional teams. And probably no higher than 6th. (Ironically, he hits 6th on this team).

With the above being the biggest issue, the reason is simple. Older guys that this team is counting on (Stelly, Amedee, Yuhasz, Higgs) haven’t seem to have gotten a whole lot better since they first arrived on campus. They’re all in at least their 3rd year in the program (more for Higgs) and just haven’t improved much at all. Torres and Cuff are just in their 2nd year in the program, but neither of them seems to be any different than what they were last year either.

Losing Markle was big. He was coming off a great series at Irvine and looked to be establishing himself as THE guy in the lineup. Hopefully he gets back and can pick up where he left off.

All of that being said, a TON of freshmen have played…a lot. And some of them look like they may be really good players over the next couple of years. But will they improve dramatically from year one to year two like Carson Roccaforte or Kyle Debarge? Or in a couple years like Julian Brock? Or will they be like the aforementioned current group and be the same guys two years from now that they currently are? All of that remains to be seen. Maybe Cuff will be like Brock and struggle for a couple years before becoming a stud.

As far as this year goes, I guess we need to just hope that these guys start to get some big hits at the right time. There’s little power so leaving 27 runners on base in back to back games just isn’t gonna cut it. And the 13 HRs that have been hit have ALL been solo shots. That’s a bit of an anomaly, but it’s also a trend with the lack of driving guys in and leaving a ton of runners on base.

With so many guys coming back (eligibility-wise, with the portal these days, who knows), does the staff count on development? Or do they hit the portal hard from smaller conferences and/or the junior college ranks to find some guys who are legit threats at the plate? It’ll be interesting to see which direction is chosen.

I don’t know if it’s called from the dugout, preached as an approach, or if they are doing it themselves, but I think a lot of guys (mostly the freshmen) are being done a disservice with all of the squaring around and fake bunting. I get that it gets fielders moving and possibly distracting pitchers into hitter friendly counts, but it seems like most of the time, all it’s doing is unfortunately getting young hitters into tough counts. Being comfortable in an at bat is tough enough for a young hitter, but being comfortable when you are constantly behind in the count is really tough. I also realize that it’s part of what a Deggs offense does, and guys who play for him need to be able to handle it, but it seems to currently be a bit of a detriment to the young hitters.

On to the pitching side. If we’re being honest, this team has 4 legitimate D1 pitchers on the current staff. And the best of them is currently out. Hopefully he (Chase Morgan) is back soon and able to pitch to his enormous potential. Holzhammer transitioning to a starting pitcher will be interesting. He looked good last week. And Dylan Theut is just a dog. Obviously Herrman has the ability to dominate at times, but the cryptic comments about him “possibly throwing his last pitch” every time he takes the mound is obviously concerning. Tollett looks like he’s close to moving into that category and Marcotte has shown flashes, but he currently lacks an “out pitch”. If he can develop a good slider to go with the fastball and change up, he could have a good future.

I think we can all agree that this staff tends to fall in love with “stuff”. And while “heavy” stuff and velocity are always exciting, when you are gifting a slew of base runners every inning (via walks and hit batters) does it really matter? We have 2 guys that are 1st, and tied for 2nd, in appearances this season, who both have good “stuff” that have combined to walk and/or hit 27 batters in 19.2 innings. They’ve also combined to give up 16 hits and 4 HRs in those 19.2 innings.

Meanwhile, and while nobody knows if it’s sustainable, we’ve had 2 freshmen that didn’t appear in a game at all until Sunday (Osteen and Grab who both pitched tonight) that can MAYBE reach 90 mph, but have done nothing but get on the mound and throw scoreless innings.

Also, Maddox Mandino needs to be on the mound in relief on a regular basis going forward (and probably in the line up as the leadoff hitter and DH because the kid gets on base a ton), and JR Tollett needs to be a weekend starter…at least until they prove otherwise.

Now, do I think any chance for this season to be successful is over? No. Timely hitting is a fleeting thing. And the arms that this team does have are capable of winning weekend series against anybody if the offense can be at least mediocre. It’s painfully obvious that the defense needs to improve (all of the errant pick off throws by the pitchers are just ridiculous) but that’s something that should get better as the season goes along.

[cajundiehard]

Excellent analysis. Spot on.

[NewsCopy]

True freshman Brooks Wright recorded his second, three-hit night of the season, going 3-for-5 with an RBI while Maddox Mandino went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, but Louisiana stranded 13 runners on base and dropped a 4-2 midweek contest to McNeese on Wednesday at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.

Louisiana Athletics
RaginCajuns.com
PRESS RELEASE

[Turbine]

Its been 22 years since UL got swept by McNeese in baseball.

[Turbine]

sportsfanatic21's take is a must read.

[CajunRed]

We seem to have a coaching issue and a recruiting issue this year. Not fun to watch.

[USLJim]

Can’t figure the mentality aspect of this team out. They show flashes of grit like last Friday, and then you’ve got upperclassmen wetting the bed in prime spots on nights like tonight.

Normally, I won't try and be negative toward our teams but I must say, I don't know whats going on with these guys. There are NO TIMELY HITTING, Pitching is so irratic, and I am starting to believe the coaching staff are not teachin hitting, fieldling and working to improve our pitching. Are they second guessing. I dont want to hear, "We are young and inexperienced". I expect those coming into the game to be Ready to Play and DO the JOB. Thats what recruiting does.
The one thing I do believe is the NIL is a major factor in recruiting whoas for all Mid-Majors. The one thing I believe we have going for us is OUR STADIUM AND THIS UNIVERSITY AND ITS COLLEGE LIFE.
I only hope this team plays to its fullest like we HAVE BEEN TOLD. I am tired of being told every year, THIS TEAM IS GONNA BE GOOD. Well, right now we could finish last in the SUNBELT.
GEAUX CAJUNS

[RaisingCajun08]

Curious, anyone know if Galt got hurt last night? I have to ask because why would he be pulled out of the game when he made a GREAT play at SS the previous inning only to get pulled? I cannot thing of another good reason other than an injury. Everything else makes zero sense to me.

If you want to try Cuff at SS, why not do it prior to last night in the middle of the game? Why not move Galt to 3rd? Amadee looks terrible at the plate. His ABs late in the game were bad. Not trying to dog Amadee. We really need his bat to get going. Sometimes a couple games off helps.