UL@McNeese

[CajunProud]

_ We would have won if we had Poirrier and Fuselier in there _

I agree, but I also see that as a problem as it reflects negatively on our depth.

[ManAboutTown]

_ I agree with lifetime about the sluggish starts. It seems that we arent getting going until the second time around. That seems somewhat consistent, even in this streak.

Robe talked about how disappointed he was with the bunting Sunday and throughout the win streak and said they would work on it. Well, with Monday off, I'm sure they got too much work in on so, they'll probably be getting on that soon. Not to overreact, but I think hopefully this will be a wakeup call to get them focused on improving their bunting in the clutch (even though we've had other wakeup calls on this same issue already.) It seems like Olasin's the only one who can get them down at times. Again, this is just a minor thing, but as we have seen, it can cost you a chance to tie or win. Dont take this as if I'm one of those people who thinks we've been scraping out wins and been lucky to be where we are. Far from it. We are still, as a whole, doing what we need to do to win.

Either way, its still a blow, albeit relatively small, to the RPI. Our guys didnt go out there to lose. We got to see some guys who havent played in a while and that's a good thing. I'm always disappointed in a loss, but I'm not losing sleep over this one. Just gotta learn your lessons from it and get it done Thursday. _

Agreed. I'm glad Dillon and Kyle got some playing time last night. There may come a time in the postseason when those guys are called upon. All things considered, they both played relatively well last night.

I also echo the statements of lifetime and wcd. We aren't going very far in the tournament or any regional if it takes us 5 innings to get going at the plate. Our pitching is good, but if you put those guys in the position where they have to be perfect every time out just to keep you in the ball game until the bats come around, thats a very dangerous situation. Even more concerning, even during the streak, we've had some really bad at bats against mediocre pitching. We've had some outstanding at bats, don't get me wrong, but its baffling how Lance Marvel can have 13 pitch at bats and rope a single up the middle against Ridings last friday, then come in against a Freshman lefty in the 6th inning, and strike out on 3 pitches. This is a microcosm of our offense, all year long. Yes, we've been winning, and yes, we've done a ton of things right, but in order to progress in the postseason, as you all know, we have got to maximize good AB's and minimize bad ones. And yes, its extremely odd to see a Tony Robichaux team not be able to bunt.. Another thing we can definitely improve on, because Tony will not stop calling the bunt just because the players are not executing.

These are things that have happened all year, so please, don't take this as "oh we lost, now everyone is being negative".. all though, it does sting a little to lose to the cowgirls..

[CajunProud]

_ Agreed. I'm glad Dillon and Kyle got some playing time last night. There may come a time in the postseason when those guys are called upon. All things considered, they both played relatively well last night.

I also echo the statements of lifetime and wcd. We aren't going very far in the tournament or any regional if it takes us 5 innings to get going at the plate. Our pitching is good, but if you put those guys in the position where they have to be perfect every time out just to keep you in the ball game until the bats come around, thats a very dangerous situation. Even more concerning, even during the streak, we've had some really bad at bats against mediocre pitching. We've had some outstanding at bats, don't get me wrong, but its baffling how Lance Marvel can have 13 pitch at bats and rope a single up the middle against Ridings last friday, then come in against a Freshman lefty in the 6th inning, and strike out on 3 pitches. This is a microcosm of our offense, all year long. Yes, we've been winning, and yes, we've done a ton of things right, but in order to progress in the postseason, as you all know, we have got to maximize good AB's and minimize bad ones. And yes, its extremely odd to see a Tony Robichaux team not be able to bunt.. Another thing we can definitely improve on, because Tony will not stop calling the bunt just because the players are not executing.

These are things that have happened all year, so please, don't take this as "oh we lost, now everyone is being negative".. all though, it does sting a little to lose to the cowgirls.. _

I agree with everything you said.

It is amazing to me how we have been able to win with such streaky hitting. It just looks to me (and has for the last 2 3/4 years) that we are not agressive at the plate. With the exception of a couple of players, most of the swings look mechanical and our bats look slow.

Anyway, let's hope the bats come around.

[BirdofParadise]

_ I agree with everything you said.

It is amazing to me how we have been able to win with such streaky hitting. It just looks to me (and has for the last 2 3/4 years) that we are not agressive at the plate. With the exception of a couple of players, most of the swings look mechanical and our bats look slow.

Anyway, let's hope the bats come around. _

During the streak, the biggest statistic is our ERA how much we have improved defensively.

Our ERA the second half of the season is about 2.60. Our fielding percentage is over .970.

Our batting average during the last 24 games is actually lower than it was in the first half of the season. But overall, we've had many more clutch hits than we had earlier.

It has gotten to the point now where RPI isn't a factor. A few weeks ago we needed to get our RPI in shape for a possible at large berth. But we're now in second place in the 5th rated conference. If we stay in the top three, we'll be playing after the conference tournament, regardless of what our RPI does.

Just take care of this weekend.

[LifeTimeCajun]

Yes jay I'm glad u had the numbers, cause I didn't. Relief pitching during this stretch has been very very good as well as the defense. That's allowed us to overcome some bad AB's. However we've had some clutch hits but just came up one clutch hit short last night. U know, it's very tough as a hitter to get in a rythmn after not getting game at bats, but bostick put a good swing on one, and Dillon had a couple of good swings. We need to take care of the task at hand this weekend and it will be all good.


igeaux.mobi

[CajunProud]

_ During the streak, the biggest statistic is our ERA how much we have improved defensively.

Our ERA the second half of the season is about 2.60. Our fielding percentage is over .970.

Our batting average during the last 24 games is actually lower than it was in the first half of the season. But overall, we've had many more clutch hits than we had earlier.

It has gotten to the point now where RPI isn't a factor. A few weeks ago we needed to get our RPI in shape for a possible at large berth. But we're now in second place in the 5th rated conference. If we stay in the top three, we'll be playing after the conference tournament, regardless of what our RPI does.

Just take care of this weekend. _

You're absolutely correct.

My worry though, is will we be able to compete in a regional if we can't turn the hitting around? As you know, in the college game, you can't count on winning a lot of games 2-1 or 3-2. We need to score runs.

Geaux Cajuns.

[moorecajun]

_ If we are not deeper than porrier and fuze, we in some trouble. No question we had our oppertunities. And fuzes replacement had 2 hits and almost tied the game in the 9 th with a rocket off the wall that was 2-3 ft foul. My concern is the sluggish starts we've had. We had some awful at bats the first 3 innings and then again midway thru the game. Relief pitching did it's job....I was actually suprised how well wascom and bullaird threw, not having pitched in a while. I think those are 2 arms that we gonna need in the tourney. Wish traffica could have gotten some work cause I think he is someone that can take a long relief type role in the tourney as well.

igeaux.mobi _

You are right here, it seems for the last 4 or so games we haven't started hitting until the game is half over. We could make some big strides here this upcoming series.

And clobber some WartHogs!

[raginsaints]

_ If we are not deeper than porrier and fuze, we in some trouble. No question we had our oppertunities. And fuzes replacement had 2 hits and almost tied the game in the 9 th with a rocket off the wall that was 2-3 ft foul. My concern is the sluggish starts we've had. We had some awful at bats the first 3 innings and then again midway thru the game. Relief pitching did it's job....I was actually suprised how well wascom and bullaird threw, not having pitched in a while. I think those are 2 arms that we gonna need in the tourney. Wish traffica could have gotten some work cause I think he is someone that can take a long relief type role in the tourney as well.

igeaux.mobi _

Those two guys changed our lineup drastically. It's not just the fact that they replaced two guys straight up, they changed how our lineup turned over. Instead of having a guy who's hitting .323 turning over the lineup, we had a guy batting .179 in the 9 hole. It makes a difference. My post was just saying that I'd trust Fuselier to get a clutch hit more than I'd trust Guillory, even though I was impressed with Guillory for the most part last night.