The top 8 teams in the conference were separated by like 5 games. The field was wide open. We lost two. Go home regroup and get ready for the regional. What more is there to be concerened about:
is the team now magically different than guys who just won 17 of 18?
Are they quitters?
Can they not play in big games?
Did Robe screw up?
What is your concern?
igeaux.mobi
I didn't say any of those things, so stop putting words in my mouth (typing words on RP?)
The cause for concern is that this offense hasn't scared anyone all season. Yes, they put together a few nice outings, but the majority of our wins were close ones. If the pitching faulters, we're in trouble bucko. If the clutch hitting continues to be non existent, we're in trouble.. We gave up another unearned run today.. thats cause for concern..
Obviously no one wanted to go 2 and out. We all wanted our guys to win.
Just remember a similar instance this year:
4/24/2010 LeMoyne L 6-5
4/25/2010 LeMoyne W 8-5
4/27/2010 at Tulane L 2-1
Obviously its different, but I think most can agree that we played poorly against Lemoyne on Saturday and Sunday and did well to comeback and get the series. We scored against them (similar to the Ark St game) but didnt play great. Then we followed that up with Tulane where we were outdueled though we had chances to put the game away. Again, not identical, but also a game that we couldnt hit (similar to MT).
All of a sudden, one of the best teams is coming to town and we seem to be stuttering at the wrong time. However, our boys pulled it together because they knew the situation and trusted in each other (which I believe they still do.)
4/30/2010 Middle Tennessee W 3-1
5/1/2010 Middle Tennessee W 6-4
5/1/2010 Middle Tennessee W 2-1
Thing is, you can win with pitching, you can win with hitting, but either way, you win as a team. If you dont believe these guys can pull themselves up by their cleats and support our tremendous (still) pitching staff, then of course, we'll be done in the regionals pretty quick. But as most of us know, this team has more unity than almost any team since 2000. If we get out pitched or out hit, then it will probably come down to other teams having more talent, not heart
/inspirational ramblings
MT finished #3 with a 34-22 record and 18-12 in conference
UL finished #2 with a 37-19 record and 21-9 in conference
Just saying. Its not an excuse. We lost. But it wasnt to a slouch of a team.
We did throw Oz and they were tired, but there were factors working for MT as well
I like this post a lot WCD. I really do.
But my question is this: Why do people keep referring to these mediocre teams that we beat (MTSU, WKU, Northwestern State) as such good teams? Nw St has been good in their tourney, and may get an invite, but they are barely a top 50 team in America. Middle and Western aren't evening going to make the field of 64. I don't deny that Middle doesn't have some talent, and are a relatively good team, but they're not world beaters. If we plan on beating upper echelon teams, we have got to hit the GD ball. Period. Our pitching is good enough, no doubt about it. But the offense is questionable, and thats scary to me.
You play who's put in front of you. Just the way it is.
I think Osborne can go toe to toe with just about any lineup in the country.
If you dont think we are as good as the teams around us and are playing in a regional, then we just arent good enough. What do you want us to do about it? You play the schedule that you play and that's all you can do. If we arent in the same ballpark as the teams that we'll see next weekend, then I'm sure we'll be embarrassed. This team rises to the occasion though (for the most part) in my opinion
Yes they were down and the knee bending hinderance cost them about 3 very close plays------But does anybody know if they are worn down or up with certain uniforms de jour????? I know that there was a time earlier in the year when they were down and later the entire team had them pulled up---BTW Mid Tenn had about half and half!!!!!
Foo -
I think you hit the nail on the head. We don't scare anyone offensively. We are not a dominant offensive team. That is ok. We have relied on pitching and clutch hitting. That is fair enough. I just think that you can't look at these two games and say that we are no longer getting clutch hits. We got hits last night, and today we did not.
We lost for two different reasons.
1) last night a young pitcher gave up a huge inning.
2) today we did not hit the ball.
However, these kids by the work they have put in over the last two months have played themselves into a regional. And while the conference tourney may have not been a good showing, the previous two months gives me hope that they will make a respectable showing in the big tourney.
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