BB G2 Final: Louisiana 3, Arkansas State 13

[Million$Mullet]

He seemed to be winning with Rove's program and now it is his and he is failing. Is just making the regionals the goal for some of you? The goal should be to WIN a regional and he has not sniffed that.

Time for some new blood if he does not fix next year. He deserves that chance, but the leash needs to be short.

He was winning with Robe’s program? Do you forget how bad the last few seasons were before he passed away? Some people were calling for him to be fired.

[zeppelincajun]

He seemed to be winning with Rove's program and now it is his and he is failing. Is just making the regionals the goal for some of you? The goal should be to WIN a regional and he has not sniffed that.

Time for some new blood if he does not fix next year. He deserves that chance, but the leash needs to be short.

Oh good grief. No disrespect to Robe, but do you not remember the shape we were in his last 3 seasons?

[jaxmc1023]

Oh good grief. No disrespect to Robe, but do you not remember the shape we were in his last 3 seasons?

It's almost as if if we dont have a 1st round MLB talent on the roster, we aren't all that good

[Dad04]

I heard him say that as well. He was ____ED and rightfully so. And when he says he’s gonna fix it, I believe him. Or at the very least think he’s earned the benefit of the doubt that he will

But, and I’ve said this many times over the last few years (when there were a bunch of negative comments even in seasons that ended with at large regional bids), the perception of what many think this program is, was, should be, etc is very much skewed.

What is the standard? Obviously being in regionals 3 straight years doesn’t give any benefit of the doubt now. Was the program under Coach Robe “the standard”?

After going to Omaha, 2 of the next 3 seasons, the Cajuns did NOT have a winning record. Getting to Omaha was amazing, but it was the outlier. And 25 years later, it still is.

Then there was a good stretch from 2005-2007…followed by a 2-year record of 57-59.

Then a great run from 2013-2016…and then Coach Robe’s last two seasons had a combined record of 62-59.

Anyone who expects to be in a regional every season is simply setting themselves up for disappointment. Even a great G5 program like ECU, who’s been to 6 straight regionals, and hosted 3 of them, is barely above .500 this year and has an RPI around 80. Hell, 2 teams in the SEC (Miss State and Ole Miss) won the national title and then both missed the postseason altogether for multiple years afterwards.

If seasons like this one begin to happen more often than what’s taken place the last 3 years, then yeah, maybe start discussing the leadership of the program. But damn, after 3 straight regionals, and last year winning the conference outright…and by 3 games…and being ranked in the top 25 for quite a few weeks, one crappy season and people want the damn coach fired??? That’s complete nonsense.

A realistic goal is to be competitive with the two top teams in the conference. By competitive, I mean top 50 RPI, 35 wins and regionals most seasons.

USM is a mid major, state school in a Gulf state. Pretty solid comp.

[sportsfanatic21]

A realistic goal is to be competitive with the two top teams in the conference. By competitive, I mean top 50 RPI, 35 wins and regionals most seasons.

USM is a mid major, state school in a Gulf state. Pretty solid comp.

I agree. And less than a calendar year ago, we finished a full 3 games ahead of them in the conference, were ranked in the Top 25, and were an at large 2 seed in a regional. And just like S. Miss, UL was in regionals the prior two seasons.

Are we just going to ignore the injuries this team had this season? They were significant. Yuhasz is one of the best players on the team and now has had 2 extended absences. Markle was playing really well and then had surgery…and was not the same when he came back. The preseason SBC pitcher of the year missed nearly a month and still isn’t the same. The best reliever coming off of TJ surgery and had to have another surgery midseason, and is just now getting back. Your #2 starter has been fighting through an arm issue all season.

None of those are excuses, but to say that stuff hasn’t had a profound effect on this team’s success is disingenuous.

Southern Miss currently is the better program. And they should be right now. Every single starter in the lineup is at least a 3rd year guy. They had 2 RS-sophomores, a few juniors and seniors and another few 5th and even 6th year guys. Meanwhile the Cajuns had late season lineups with as many as 5 freshmen and a couple sophomores in them.

That makes a huge difference. And kudos to USM for hanging on to all of those guys for so long. The odd thing is, they haven’t been losing many guys to the early rounds of the draft. So if Kyle Debarge and LP Langevin weren’t quite so good and came back, this years team would have been MUCH better. What if Carson Roccaforte and Julian Brock had been on last years team? Those things matter, and those guys are hard to replace. In hindsight, maybe keeping half as many freshmen and filling in with JUCO players would have been a better way to go. But there are quite a few of these freshmen that are talented enough to become very good college players for the next 2-3 years. I posted the other day what the Cajuns “star” players over the last few years (and Higgs this season) did as freshman. None were a whole lot better than some of this years freshman class. These guys WILL get better.

Nobody is happy with the way this year has gone. And I’d be willing to guess Matt Deggs is way more unhappy than anyone else. But people wanting to make a change at HC after one mediocre season are out of their minds. Plus, who are you gonna hire to replace him? Are there a bunch of dudes with resumes anywhere close to his begging for this job in the current landscape? Anybody who pays attention knows the answer to that.

[facelessjonmoon]

He seemed to be winning with Rove's program and now it is his and he is failing. Is just making the regionals the goal for some of you? The goal should be to WIN a regional and he has not sniffed that.

Time for some new blood if he does not fix next year. He deserves that chance, but the leash needs to be short.

He had to totally rebuild the roster when he took over. It took him a couple of years to do so after taking over

[facelessjonmoon]

I agree. And less than a calendar year ago, we finished a full 3 games ahead of them in the conference, were ranked in the Top 25, and were an at large 2 seed in a regional. And just like S. Miss, UL was in regionals the prior two seasons.

Are we just going to ignore the injuries this team had this season? They were significant. Yuhasz is one of the best players on the team and now has had 2 extended absences. Markle was playing really well and then had surgery…and was not the same when he came back. The preseason SBC pitcher of the year missed nearly a month and still isn’t the same. The best reliever coming off of TJ surgery and had to have another surgery midseason, and is just now getting back. Your #2 starter has been fighting through an arm issue all season.

None of those are excuses, but to say that stuff hasn’t had a profound effect on this team’s success is disingenuous.

Southern Miss currently is the better program. And they should be right now. Every single starter in the lineup is at least a 3rd year guy. They had 2 RS-sophomores, a few juniors and seniors and another few 5th and even 6th year guys. Meanwhile the Cajuns had late season lineups with as many as 5 freshmen and a couple sophomores in them.

That makes a huge difference. And kudos to USM for hanging on to all of those guys for so long. The odd thing is, they haven’t been losing many guys to the early rounds of the draft. So if Kyle Debarge and LP Langevin weren’t quite so good and came back, this years team would have been MUCH better. What if Carson Roccaforte and Julian Brock had been on last years team? Those things matter, and those guys are hard to replace. In hindsight, maybe keeping half as many freshmen and filling in with JUCO players would have been a better way to go. But there are quite a few of these freshmen that are talented enough to become very good college players for the next 2-3 years. I posted the other day what the Cajuns “star” players over the last few years (and Higgs this season) did as freshman. None were a whole lot better than some of this years freshman class. These guys WILL get better.

Nobody is happy with the way this year has gone. And I’d be willing to guess Matt Deggs is way more unhappy than anyone else. But people wanting to make a change at HC after one mediocre season are out of their minds. Plus, who are you gonna hire to replace him? Are there a bunch of dudes with resumes anywhere close to his begging for this job in the current landscape? Anybody who pays attention knows the answer to that.

Great post. Can't argue with that

[Cajunchuck]

I agree. And less than a calendar year ago, we finished a full 3 games ahead of them in the conference, were ranked in the Top 25, and were an at large 2 seed in a regional. And just like S. Miss, UL was in regionals the prior two seasons.

Are we just going to ignore the injuries this team had this season? They were significant. Yuhasz is one of the best players on the team and now has had 2 extended absences. Markle was playing really well and then had surgery…and was not the same when he came back. The preseason SBC pitcher of the year missed nearly a month and still isn’t the same. The best reliever coming off of TJ surgery and had to have another surgery midseason, and is just now getting back. Your #2 starter has been fighting through an arm issue all season.

None of those are excuses, but to say that stuff hasn’t had a profound effect on this team’s success is disingenuous.

Southern Miss currently is the better program. And they should be right now. Every single starter in the lineup is at least a 3rd year guy. They had 2 RS-sophomores, a few juniors and seniors and another few 5th and even 6th year guys. Meanwhile the Cajuns had late season lineups with as many as 5 freshmen and a couple sophomores in them.

That makes a huge difference. And kudos to USM for hanging on to all of those guys for so long. The odd thing is, they haven’t been losing many guys to the early rounds of the draft. So if Kyle Debarge and LP Langevin weren’t quite so good and came back, this years team would have been MUCH better. What if Carson Roccaforte and Julian Brock had been on last years team? Those things matter, and those guys are hard to replace. In hindsight, maybe keeping half as many freshmen and filling in with JUCO players would have been a better way to go. But there are quite a few of these freshmen that are talented enough to become very good college players for the next 2-3 years. I posted the other day what the Cajuns “star” players over the last few years (and Higgs this season) did as freshman. None were a whole lot better than some of this years freshman class. These guys WILL get better.

Nobody is happy with the way this year has gone. And I’d be willing to guess Matt Deggs is way more unhappy than anyone else. But people wanting to make a change at HC after one mediocre season are out of their minds. Plus, who are you gonna hire to replace him? Are there a bunch of dudes with resumes anywhere close to his begging for this job in the current landscape? Anybody who pays attention knows the answer to that.

Outstanding post. Agree with everything you stated.

[zeppelincajun]

I agree. And less than a calendar year ago, we finished a full 3 games ahead of them in the conference, were ranked in the Top 25, and were an at large 2 seed in a regional. And just like S. Miss, UL was in regionals the prior two seasons.

Are we just going to ignore the injuries this team had this season? They were significant. Yuhasz is one of the best players on the team and now has had 2 extended absences. Markle was playing really well and then had surgery…and was not the same when he came back. The preseason SBC pitcher of the year missed nearly a month and still isn’t the same. The best reliever coming off of TJ surgery and had to have another surgery midseason, and is just now getting back. Your #2 starter has been fighting through an arm issue all season.

None of those are excuses, but to say that stuff hasn’t had a profound effect on this team’s success is disingenuous.

Southern Miss currently is the better program. And they should be right now. Every single starter in the lineup is at least a 3rd year guy. They had 2 RS-sophomores, a few juniors and seniors and another few 5th and even 6th year guys. Meanwhile the Cajuns had late season lineups with as many as 5 freshmen and a couple sophomores in them.

That makes a huge difference. And kudos to USM for hanging on to all of those guys for so long. The odd thing is, they haven’t been losing many guys to the early rounds of the draft. So if Kyle Debarge and LP Langevin weren’t quite so good and came back, this years team would have been MUCH better. What if Carson Roccaforte and Julian Brock had been on last years team? Those things matter, and those guys are hard to replace. In hindsight, maybe keeping half as many freshmen and filling in with JUCO players would have been a better way to go. But there are quite a few of these freshmen that are talented enough to become very good college players for the next 2-3 years. I posted the other day what the Cajuns “star” players over the last few years (and Higgs this season) did as freshman. None were a whole lot better than some of this years freshman class. These guys WILL get better.

Nobody is happy with the way this year has gone. And I’d be willing to guess Matt Deggs is way more unhappy than anyone else. But people wanting to make a change at HC after one mediocre season are out of their minds. Plus, who are you gonna hire to replace him? Are there a bunch of dudes with resumes anywhere close to his begging for this job in the current landscape? Anybody who pays attention knows the answer to that.

Every team in the country deals with injuries. They make an impact everywhere. For every injury on this team, you had a failure in recruiting, talent evaluation, or player development. Ardoin is batting a whopping .167. This staff bamboozled themselves in to believing Parker Dilhoff was a weekend starter, and he finished with a 13.50 ERA and isn’t even on the team anymore. Then there’s the guys like Cuff and Holzhammer who showed zero progression. Then there’s the guys like Halter and Martinez who went on to fulfill more of their potential elsewhere than they did here. In my personal opinion, seasons like this one should NEVER happen. It doesn’t mean Deggs should be fired because it did, but if we accept that the standard is a range, this cannot be the acceptable low point for that range. I am heartened knowing that he is unhappy about this season but more importantly knows it is unacceptable.

[sportsfanatic21]

Every team in the country deals with injuries. They make an impact everywhere. For every injury on this team, you had a failure in recruiting, talent evaluation, or player development. Ardoin is batting a whopping .167. This staff bamboozled themselves in to believing Parker Dilhoff was a weekend starter, and he finished with a 13.50 ERA and isn’t even on the team anymore. Then there’s the guys like Cuff and Holzhammer who showed zero progression. Then there’s the guys like Halter and Martinez who went on to fulfill more of their potential elsewhere than they did here. In my personal opinion, seasons like this one should NEVER happen. It doesn’t mean Deggs should be fired because it did, but if we accept that the standard is a range, this cannot be the acceptable low point for that range. I am heartened knowing that he is unhappy about this season but more importantly knows it is unacceptable.

If you don’t mind, and have the time, please list all of the G5 teams that lost a Preseason Conference Pitcher of the year, their best reliever, and a middle of the order 3rd year player, to injury for more than a month each, that are having a great season.

Also, please list any team that didnt have a couple of recruits or transfers that had a bad season, didn’t meet expectations, or just weren’t any good.

I can assure you, the first list will be minuscule. The second will be enormous.

And by the way, Jackson Halter is batting .276 with 2 HRs this season at Marshall. And doesn’t have a defensive position.

Also, Jack Martinez’s ability had nothing to do with why he’s no longer here. And while he moved to a P4 school, his ERA as a Cajun last year was better than it currently is at Arizona State. Would he have helped this year’s team? Absolutely. Was there any chance of him being here this season? Nope.