Season Review and Week 5 Preview

[VObserver]

Season Review

Compared to last season, we were 13-9 after 22 games last year, 14-8 this year.

I did not compute 22 game stats for last year, but compared to season stats last year, with last year's numbers shown first:

HITTING

Batting Avg. .293 - .319
OPS .763 - .914
Runs 229 - 143 [351]
RBI 196 - 131 [322]
2B 46 - 32 [79]
3B 10 - 7 [17]
HR 22 - 23 [56]
XBH/H .194 - .335
SO 133 - 68 [167]
SF 8 - 9 [22]
SH 80 - 18 [44]

PITCHING

ERA 3.79 - 3.42
WHIP 1.61 - 1.50
OBA .282 - .259
K 191 - 76 [256]
BB 181 - 94 [231]
K/BB 1.055 - 1.306

Numbers in brackets are projections for full season numbers this year, based on current rates.

FIELDING %

.969 - .975

Once again it appears that hitting is well ahead of the pace set last year, especially as regards to power hitting and scoring. Pitching appears to be significantly better in most areas, but walks and hit batsmen remain huge concerns for this staff. Defense is basically unchanged, but appears to be trending upward.

COMMENTS ON WEEK 4

The schedule for week 4 was not quite as brutal as week 3; our midweek was with Northern Iowa, a decent program, and our 5 games over the weekend included 2 games with a top 25 aTm, 2 with a solid St. Mary's and one with a pretty bad Kennesaw State. I said before the week, coming out with a 4-2 record is above expectations in the sense that a win over aTm has a greater effect on the perception of our program than does a loss to St. Mary's.

RATINGS

Through games of 3/1/2026 Massey and WEI both have us at 44.

Ratings for the SBC, Massey and [WEI]

UL 44 [44]
TxSt 49 [59]
Marshall 56 [57]
CCU 67 [62]
Troy 70 [58]
USA 72 [81]
App 82 [72]
ULM 88 [90]
JMU 102 [107]
USM 112 [115]
GaSo 123 [112]
GaSt 135 [108]

Ratings for remaining Non-Conference opponents, Massey and [WEI]

[2x]Abilene Christian 258
[2x]Oklahoma 3 [5]
[2x]McNeese 41 [42]
LSU 16 [14]
UVa 14 [22]

Once RPI numbers are out from the NCAA and from Warren Nolan, I will include those in the ratings as well.

Using the Massey numbers, we have 4 remaining top 25 games, 5 games 26-50, 12 games 51-75, 3 games 76-100, 6 games 101-125 and 2 games 201+.

WEEK 5 REVIEW

Not having a midweek game this week is crucial for us. Our pitching needs the break. Our trip to Norman presents us with two challenges: 1. We MUST sweep Abilene Christian, ideally without using Noble or Hoover, but at all costs. 2. We must be competitive with OU. Their 2 losses are to Arizona and Long Beach [a team comparable to Troy or St. Mary's], so they are beatable for us. They are on an 8 game win streak since losing to LBSU,so all cylinders are working for the Sooners right now.

I reluctantly predict 2-2 for us this week. Anything less is totally unacceptable, 3-1 would be great, but I can't in good faith predict that.

Conference play starts in week 6.

[Turbine]

How many 'run rule' wins did Louisiana have in 2025?

[CajunVic]

How many 'run rule' wins did Louisiana have in 2025?

All of them

[VObserver]

How many 'run rule' wins did Louisiana have in 2025?

We had four games with final scores that indicate the possibility of a run rule victory. So far this year, we also have 4.

[Turbine]

We had four games with final scores that indicate the possibility of a run rule victory. So far this year, we also have 4.

Thanks

[VObserver]

Our opponents, past and future, went 11-3 yesterday.
Our conference opponents went 3-1, including a win by Troy over Ga Tech.

The SBC rankings on Massey and [WEI] after yesterday's games:

UL 43 [44]
TxSt 51 [61]
Marshall 56 [58]
USA 68 [76]
Troy 70 [59]
CCU 76 [68]
App 84 [70]
ULM 88 [91]
JMU 102 [110]
USM 108 [117]
GaSo 115 [114]
GaSt 133 [111]

A reminder that the NCAA still has not released their first RPI report of the season, nor has Warren Nolan. Once those are out, I will post them weekly for the SBC and for other teams on our schedule.